Conventions of NME Magazine NME magazine claim

themselves to be ‘the longest running music magazine. ‘ Unlike Kerrang! Magazine the layout of NME magazine is a lot less busier. NME’s masthead is red with a white outline written in capitol letters, simple but effective as this will catch the readers eye.

Frequently NME only uses one main image that links with the main story which can be an exclusive that will attract the readers attention this is because by having exclusives on the front cover, this is giving the magazine a unique selling point as no other magazine has covered this exclusive cover story. The main image normally covers the whole page so is also part of the background of the magazine. Having the main image in the middle of the magazine makes it the main focal point of the magazine. NME only sometimes use smaller images on their front covers as secondary leads, however a lot of the time they don’t bother. Apart from the masthead, the next text that gets the readers attention in the main coverline, this is normally in capitol letters with a pull line underneath it to grasp the attention of the reader and get them to buy the magazine to read the rest of the article. Along the sides of the magazine are various box outs and kickers that are making the reader aware of other articles and features included in the magazine. Also normally at the top or the bottom of the magazine, there is always normally a banner with names of artists and bands also included in the magazine.

This is the masthead of NME magazine. The colours and text are simple but very bold and bright, the masthead is always in the top corner of the magazine as this is the first thing that the readers will see when the magazines are stocked on the shelf. Red is a very powerful colour that can sometimes mean anger, which could therefore reflect the music that this magazine is based on.

The main image on the front cover takes up the whole of the page with all of the text brought to the front, this makes the main image the focal point of the front cover.

This is the main cover line, the cover line for NME normally consists of the artists or bands name that the main story is about.

This is the pull line that is taken from the main story and put on the front page in order to get the readers interest in reading the rest of the article.

This is a box out with a small image and a small secondary lead that also allows the reader to gather information on another article included in the magazine.

This is a kicker which again is another article included in the magazine, has a sub headline instead of a picture and a page number to the readers know where to find the article.

This is the barcode and price of the magazine, which is a legal requirement for all magazines.

This is another kicker that again gives the readers some interesting information on the features included in the magazine.

This is a competition ad in the form of a box out which will persuade the readers to get more involved with the magazine.

Again, a feature frequently used by NME on their front covers are exclusives which gives them a unique selling point as they interview artist and bands that other music magazines haven't been able to. This exclusive also has a small image to back up the text written with it.

This is a subheading in the contents page which is the title basically for the list of bands that are included in that particular issue of the magazine.

This is a list of all the bands and artists that are included in the magazine along with the page numbers specific bands and artists are in the magazine. This is a good feature to have as if a reader is specifically interested in one band they will be able to find them a lot quicker.

This is the main focal point of the page as it has an image in the centre a long with a heading and some information. This is a small article in order to keep the readers interested, sometimes these will be only a section of an article and the full article will be further on in the magazine.

This is a box out which has an advertisement in it to subscribe to NME magazine. By putting this advertisement on the contents page, the readers have been able to see all the different features and articles available and on offer to read in NME magazine.

The masthead is consistent throughout the magazine, however in this case the masthead has been incorporated with the heading of the page.

This is the heading of the page which is a different colour from the masthead, but also has a different colour background so it stands out.

These are subheadings of the different types of features and articles available by NME. They sub headings are in the same colour and font as the heading, only smaller. These section up the contents page to make it easier for the reader to find what they are looking for in the magazine.

These are the lists of articles and the page numbers they are on. As you can see the text is very small after the main name of each article there is smaller writing to give a little description on what each article is about.

This is a box out giving readers information on a specific feature and where to find it.

On this double page spread, this is the main image of the spread, as you will see, it is also the only image on the double page spread. The image takes up the whole of one of the pages to attract the readers attention, also the picture being in black and white gives the image a rocky edge.

This is the head line of the double page spread . It is the largest text on all the page to ensure it stands out. Also the colours of the text have also been chosen to ensure the headline stands out, which includes black writing on a white background and red writing on top of the main image. The font used is clear and bold and written in capitols which has been chosen in order to make the headline stand out.

These are page numbers, their sole purpose is to show the readers what page their on in the magazine and to keep the magazine in order, the page numbers are always in very small numbers in the bottom corners of the magazine pages.

This is a pull quote, which is a quote that has been taken from the article. This pull quote is slightly bigger than the main text and is in a slightly different font and colour, this has most likely been put in place to pick out interesting parts of the article to keep the audience interested.

This is the main text of the article is the smallest text on the page, also the font is very simple and bold, the writing is also black so it would stand out from the background this is to make it as easy as possible for the readers to read the article.

This is the introduction to the main article, this text is slightly bigger as this is the first part of the article that the magazine wants the readers to read, therefore needs to capture their attention. The text written in red are key words that the magazine wanted to emphasise on for maximum reader attention.