Chosen Magazine: NME - July 17th 2010
By Milan Shah
Analysis of the Front Cover
The type of photograph on the front cover is a medium shot. The composition of the image is that Eminem’s name is on the centre of his body, this means that anyone who does not know who he is can connote that it is him due to the text layered on the image of Eminem. The light is also directly shining upon Eminem’s face showing that he is the star of that particular issue of NME, additionally; Eminem’s eyes also appear to be looking directly at the top left corner on the eyebrow of the magazine which says in capital letters, “Free new music”. The audience of the magazine will view this making them more tempted to buy it after seeing the word “free”. Additionally, Eminem’s face has a shine of light on it, which creates an emphasis onto his face which connotes that his true identity has been revealed, the lighting effect that has been used here is called low-key lighting. The image is on the front cover because it shows the main story of the issue, meaning it most probably the most popular article of Eminem’s “Comeback”. The image attracts the audience as the targeted audience for NME is mainly men between the ages of 17-30. Therefore, Eminem is an iconic symbol towards fans and others who read the magazine. The text on his lower body also attracts the audience as it states “The comeback that’s stunned the world”. This means that Eminem has probably made a comeback concert to show that he is back and better than before.
The cover features both “eyebrows” and “ears”. This makes the cover quite crowded, hence why it appears to have a great deal of content. We know what is in the magazine by looking at the front cover because of the “eyebrows” and “ears” as they are easily noticed by the audience. The information has been presented like this to represent the fact that
NME magazine is packed with a great deal of information as it conveys this through the crowded front cover of the magazine. NME has quite a dynamic colour scheme of red, white and black. This mirrors the masthead (which is in white) in keeping the magazine’s reputation and style easy to recognise. The main image shows Eminem dressed in dark colours, this image matches with the NME colour scheme. I feel that a white masthead for the magazine is significant as it contrasts with the other dark colours such as Eminem’s clothing and the background colour.
There are three iconic signs within the front cover and they are; Eminem himself, the “NME” logo and the “T in the Park” logo. These signs appeal to the identified audience as most of these signs are iconic sings, which are easy to recognise if the targeted audience are very fond of the magazine.
The type of font used on the front cover is Arial. I feel that this font has been used as it makes the magazine cover easy to recognise and identify because of the bold letters surrounding the pictures. NME is a brand in its own right, as it has developed a brand identity, this is because it has many other products than a magazine itself; it has its own website (www.nme.com), television channel and also its own radio station. NME use their products for cross media promotion so that everyone can identify NME from mediums such as; the radio, television, magazine and the internet. NME is owned by the publisher, IPC Media, which also publishes a massive range of magazines and websites across many different regions, this includes “Look” magazine, “TV easy” television guide and many more.
The magazine costs £2.20, the reason it has a fixed price of £2.20 is because of the printing fees and the glossy pages (the front cover and back cover). It is cheaper than others as it has many adverts; this is where NME receives its money from, adverts. We are told how much it is on the bottom right hand corner, next to the barcode. The price and the barcode are always situated in the same place on all NME magazines. There is one representational Issue which shows a positive representation towards Eminem when stating “From rehab to recovery”, “The comeback that’s stunned the world”. This portrays Eminem as someone who is now cured which encourages others to follow in his footsteps. The language used in the front cover is very basic and informal; this shows that the magazine is for teenagers and young adults. I feel that institutional factors do affect the look of the magazine as NME magazine has changed drastically over the years. During the early years, it was a general music magazine, meaning it had all news on music of nearly all genres. However, during the 1970s, the magazine has focused more on the “Punk Rock” genre of music.
Analysis of Contents Page
The layout is set in three columns, which are under the title, this shows that the magazine is organised. It also shows that there is a great deal of information within the following pages. Each picture has a quote under it and a number on the right hand corner of each; this is showing a reference to each page rather than having a “standardised” contents page with barely any references to articles. Most pictures are the same size, but some are bigger than others, this may be because the bigger pictures represent more interesting or larger stories and the smaller pictures represent quick reviews and stories/articles.
Many fonts have been used in the contents page. The main font used is “Arial”. This is because the font “Arial” stands out the most as it is very bold and it is very noticeable to a wide range of readers of NME. All the images that have been used have been used as these images are related to each of the highlighted stories/articles. There is a representation issue within the images as all images are the same gender. This represents that NME Magazine is for males as the contents page summaries that all the content within the magazine is for men. Furthermore, the language is targeting the audience as it is informal language and very quick to read, meaning the contents page is represented as a quick read. For example “The band makes precisely no money”. This shows that it is informal language and it is a quick read as it gets straight to the point.
The colour of the contents page is black and white, this connotes that the magazine is professional and is old fashioned. The fact that it has no colour shows that the rest of the content within the magazine is like the contents page, which is quite dull and boring. However, the pictures are very colourful which connotes that the articles within the magazine are interesting to read and are very entertaining. This attracts the audience as it shows the magazine to be entertaining with colourful pictures and shows a sense of professionalism with the colour scheme of the contents page.
Double Page Spread Analysis
The layout of the page shows pictures in certain angles, which connotes that there is a “holiday” feeling within the article as the Bombay Bicycle Club are obviously not in their home town. The fact that there are so many columns in the article shows why it is a double page spread, because of the fact that it is meant to imitate a newspaper article and give the reader a great amount of information to read. There are many captions next to the images because they are explaining what the images are about and what they relate to.
There are two fonts used within this double page spread, which are “Arial” and “Sans Serif”. These are the standard fonts used for many articles. These fonts have been used because “Arial” is a very bold font which keeps to the theme of NME magazine; this is used for the headings. The main text is in “Sans Serif”, which is a professional font and is a standard font for most articles in NME magazine.
The colour scheme of the article is in black, orange and white. These colours connote happy, relaxing and calm feelings, which relates to the pictures as they are related to a “holiday” theme. The content targets the audience as the Bombay Bicycle Club appears to be a popular band which has regular stories within NME magazine. Therefore the content may attract many fans of the Bombay Bicycle club and read the latest stories on them. Overall, the content connotes the “love of music” when people play for the fun and love of music, rather than the money and fame.
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