Technical Codes

The Visual language of this magazines front cover immediately shows as begin a Christmas addition. The various dots of snow and the glitter effect on the master head give off the Christmas feel. But as the same time the Master Head is still the traditional NME logo. The main image in this is of the band beady eye. The images background is very dark, reflecting the feel of the band, Indie/ Rock band. Another part that reflects this is the expression on the faces of the band members; they are all slightly scowling and looking “mean”. This is the connotation of the image. Some of the cover lines in this addition are within the flash’s (In the shape of the Christmas baubles.) Again the connotation of this is to reflect the idea of the magazine being for Christmas, these cover lines are probably the obvious give away that you get when you glance at the magazine, and they are also visible within the left third so you would see them when the magazine is on the shelf. The rest of the cover lines are as they normally would be in any edition of the NME Magazines, the usual house style.The image of the band is also shot in a very darkly back dropped studio, this

connotation again of the band being quite mean, as is the norm with this genre. They are all stood up with their chests kind of puffed up to make them look a lot more imposing. Their hair is the same sort of thing that you would expect from the genre of music, long, dark, scruffy looking hair styles. Symbolic codesThe most prominent symbolic code from this front cover is with the imagery used in the background of the cover. The band “Beady Eye” is pictured in the background, with similar expressions on the face, looking with a slight glare at the camera, as well as a snarl on the face on one of the band members. The symbolic code of the image is reflective of the hard and edgy style of the music the band play. Also you could say that the contrast between the imagery depicted and the Christmassy feel of the rest of the page are a large contrast. The connotation of this is that the band is quite rebellious and goes against the grain a lot of the time.

Technical Codes

The contents page of the Christmas addition of NME is well balanced in terms of the pictorial and textual levels. All the information on the page is well laid out and not too over whelming. This is Key because for nearly every person who looks in magazines, the first thing they actually turn to is the contents page so that they can navigate the magazine to all the top stories etc. within it. This contents page is really good because it visually displays all the contents of the magazine, but at the same time, it doesn’t look too overcrowded with text and images. The locations big main articles are pictured with big, bold, black numbers on it so it is obvious where they are.The denotation of this that NME have tried to put across is the idea of it being not to complicate, but simple and to the point. The connotation the audience take from this reflects the genres that you usually see within NME. The style of the indie bands that you usually see in this type of magazine is quite plain and simple, but also edgy at the same time (if that makes sense). So like the cover they can look quite complex but are actually easy to understand when you find your way around them.

Symbolic Codes

The first thing your eye is drawn to on the page is the large red rectangle in the middle of the contents page. In the corners are small snowflakes. Obviously because of these elements of the magazine, you see the magazine as being Christmassy, because it is a Christmas addition that means that NME have successfully detonated the image they were trying to show. The medium close up images of the artists on the page all have their own connotations.

I mentioned noel Gallagher in the previous part but in this section it has a similar connotation. He has a mindless look on his face, the connotation the look of mindlessness and how he doesn’t care what you think of him. With the rest of the images, you get a sense of anger or aggression, rather than emptiness, because all the artists are glaring slightly.

Technical Codes

The gold letter S is the first thing the eye is drawn to when reading the article, This is called a “Drop Cap.” This is normally what is used in news papers and some novels (Informative texts.) Reflecting the style of the article which gives information about Liam Galiger and his new band “BEADY EYE”The lead image is of Liam himself and not of the band as a unit, the connotation of this is that he is the star of the band and doesn’t really think of himself of a band, he is an artist in his own right with a support band in a way.

There is a pull quote on the right hand page, this says “ I think the album is a good as if not better than definitely maybe”This is a regular feature of magazines.

There are 3 columns in this magazine making a three column DPS flush left but wit the third column pictured on the right hand side. Around the columns are small snowflakes, as with the front cover, it reflects the Christmassy feel of the magazine and keeps the contents of the magazine consistent

Symbolic Codes

The expressions on the face of Liam Gallagher show no kind of conscious emotion, or at least that he doesn’t really care about emotion.

This reflects on their music, the songs they sing. Also the light spots in the picture, make him seem something more than huma, because of the shining light behind his head.

Technical codes

This is the front cover of q magazine, the style for this cover is known as a poster style, usually seen on the subscribers additions of the magazine

The style means that the attention of the reader is instantly drawn to the image. In this addition the image is of U2 .

The Master head is the usual master head seen in Q magazine. Its simple bold red design that contrasts with the white capital Q is an excellent way of drawing the readers eye with out the need for too much design.

The imagery of U2 pictures all of them with very different expressions on their faces. One angry, one scowling, one confused and the other looking mischievous. The contrast in this is to give the reader an idea of each individuals personalities.

The Flash text (pictures left) are a good way of displaying information with it just being text, this avoids cluttering up the page and overfilling it

The connotations of these elements tell you that q magazine is going to be simple and too the point, because the imagery is simple with nothing complicated on the page.

Symbolic codes

The mixed facial images of each member on the band on the front cover show :-•Bono is powerful and imposing on stage.•The member behind him is edgy •The band behind ^ is slightly indecisive.•The member at the back is a bit of a rock star

Technical codes

The balance of the page is very even, the text is kept to a minimum with little extracts of each article under the images giving the page very even balance.

The first thing your eye gets drawn to on the page is the left hand column of the page, where Q are advertising a Free CD, Because of the bold text that is vibrantly coloured.

The sections showing all the articles have a small border under each on that is coloured to look like the title to maintain the consistency of the page.

The text is a simple black against the usual white of paper, this is to make it easy to read and clear to see in the magazine.

Symbolic codes

The images of the people on the page all have one similarity that is not in the other two magazines that I analysed. Where as in the other two there were a variety of expressions, these images all have a similar expression, they all have very serious expressions. Showing that they want to be taken more seriously as artists

They are all more about the music than the exposure in the magazine.

technical codes

The “T” is white-on-red style font. It is known as a drop cap, usually placed within in all articles in magazines etc, it

The eye is drawn to the large image on the left of the spread. Of Peter Gabriel, with a pride ridden expression on his face. On top of

The font colour is red or black with some sections in a bold text. It goes with the house style of Q white on red logoSymbolic codes

The imagery of the artist pictured on this spread gives the expressions of very deep emotion. This reflects on the style of his music, having very deep and meaningful themes and lyrics, very deliberate by Q

Technical Codes

The Image posted on the front of the magazine is a black and white image that has been placed in grey scale to create contrast with the red and white text, that draws your eye to the page.

From this you can tell that the addition will contain an item on the artist pictured on the front of the page.

The Master Head at the top is the usual NME style. Bold blocky letters with the letters all in capitals. This is a distinctive style of Master Head that only NME use, it also reflects the simple style of the bands that are within.

The cover lines on the page follow a red, white and black style. It adds to the consistency that maintains the professional style of the magazine . I think the magazine reflects the style of NME really well.

There is a pull quote (all be a controversial one) that says “WHAT WOULD I DO IF I MET LENNON? I’D LCICK HIM FROM HEAD TO TOE” This from the article on Liam which is used to try attract the reader to what is inside the magazine, meaning they would have to buy the addition. The skyline is also consistent with the styyle of the page and although there is alt of text on the page, covering a lot of the image, it doesn't look over crowded.

Symbolic codes.The fact that Liam is wearing glasses in this image, could be seen as a symbolic code. In that, you cant see his eyes, and the eyes are said to be a window to the sole, also telling a lot about what the person is thinking. But because you can’t see his eyes you remain in the dark .

Technical Codes

It would be easy for people to navigate the page. Which is vital because the contents page is the firs thing they see.

The magazines contents page is very well laid out because there is a lot of information on the page but it does not look to overcrowded.

As is the norm with NME The layout of the page has images of all the people that are mentioned in the main articles of the magazine, along with the big bold simple Number that tell you what page there article is on.

The denotation of this that NME have tried to put across is the idea of it being not to complicate, but simple and to the point. The connotation the audience take from this reflects the genres that you usually see within NME. The style of the indie bands that you usually see in this type of magazine is quite plain and simple, but also edgy at the same time (if that makes sense). So like the cover they can look quite complex but are actually easy to understand when you find your way around them.

Symbolic codes

The main image on this page is the one in the centre of the page . The image is of the same all he surrounding images are smaller. This shows that the main article is the one that the main image shows. The background colour of the page looks like parchment paper, but is actually the normal glossy magazine paper

that you get in all magazines. NME did this to make it look more vintage which is the trend in it target audience at the moment.

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Technical codes

The main image of the magazine in this DPS is of Liam Gallagher looking quite messed up, maybe even almost drunk .

The large pull quote on the left of the spread is in bold and capital letters. Making it seem louder on the page. Also there is larger emphasis on the word never, it is RED and underlined.

There is also a red circle that contains another pull quote, this is pictured towards the end of the article so that the reader has something to read toward and break up the article.

As with all, (or most) magazines the first sentence has a drop cap at the beginning, which draws the eye to the start of the article showing the reader where to start from when reading it

Symbolic codesThe symbolic code of the angry look on Liam's face is empty and expression less. It reflects in the genre of his music which is a slightly slow version of rock.