Media Studies Magazine Analysis

By Debbie Onyemelukwe

The NME magazine

Language and Mode of address

The language on the front cover of the NME magazine is rather formal. I believe this is because there is a slight limitation because there are no articles or reviews on the front cover where an informal writing style may be used; instead there are only coverlines, kickers and explanatory text which should be clear, concise and to the point. However, one could argue that the line ‘The 50 greatest debut albums ever’ is of a statement of colloquial (conversation-like) language because of the use of ‘ever’.

 The mode of address is indirect as there is no mention to the

potential buyer. For instance, there is no address to the audience as the use of ‘you’ or ‘your’ is not present on the front cover of this magazine. Personally, I believe this is a hindrance as it doesn’t draw in the person which may be a contributing factor of the customer not buying the magazine.

Colour schemeThe colour scheme on this issue of NME is black, white

and red. The colour scheme is kept consistent throughout the front cover, resulting in a professional look. The model’s clothing also compliment this colour scheme as they’re all dressed in black, which is appropriate with the music genre they’re part of. The set of the magazine is an all-white background meaning there is a large majority of white space in the image. This is a safe background choice as using an alternate colour or a different setting; a park for example, could clash with the text colour and cause the writing to be illegible.

Also, black and white are classic colours which often go with any colour, so the black, white and red combination work very well on the front cover.

FontThere are a number of different fonts used on the front

cover of the NME magazine. For example, Franklin Gothic Heavy for the magazine title is a suitable font as it is clear, bold and memorable. All the fonts used on this issue of the magazine are fitting because all of the fonts are comprehensible and easy to understand.

The size of the font is also appropriate as I don’t believe people would have trouble reading anything on the front cover.

Using different types of font is also a good idea so the reader will not get bored of looking at the same thing.

Magazine Title font

LayoutThe layout of the front cover is simple and understandable. The

title is situated on the top left hand corner with the price and issue date directly above it. The coverlines, kickers and explanatory text are located in various positions around the magazine, for example some are right aligned, whilst others are left aligned while the main coverline is centre aligned. Some are positioned near the top of the magazine, whist others are near the bottom. Having things placed in different areas adds interest to the cover and also gives it an interesting spatial design.

 In the western world, we read from left to right, starting at the

top, and going down to the bottom. The positioning of the title, the date and pricing is placed at the start of where an English person would start reading as these are the factors that a potential buyer would look for first and possibly could make the decision in whether or not to buy it.

Model GazeThere are four models used in this version of the cover for NME. All are

female but do not look like the stereotypical models seen in the magazines such as Vogue.

Although none of the coverlines, kickers or explanatory texts directly addresses the audience, the models’ gazes do. This is because they’re all looking towards the ‘camera’ which is effectively you. Having all the models keeping eye contact gives a sense of consistency to the image.

However, because the image is simplistic and of people, the emotion in their eyes communicate a lot. The model to the left has one eye covered by her hair which shows connotations of mystery and ambiguity, which my imply the band embody these characteristics also because everything that is placed in the image has been put there for a reason.

Barcode Position

The barcode is positioned in the bottom right hand corner of the front cover.

A main colour used in the magazine is white and this is in good relation to the barcode as it is white also. When the front image is something alternate to white of the colour white is not used in a colour scheme, the barcode can look almost slightly intrusive pending on whether it clashed with the background.

It is of a relatively small size and has been rotated.

How the barcode is positioned on the magazine

Image Analysis

The mise en scene of the used image in 4 female models in front of a white background, resulting in a large use of white space. They are positioned at different levels adding more dimensions to the photograph.

There are no props used within the image and this may because they wanted to keep it realistic. However, all the models are dressed in the same attire which would’ve been pre-planned.

The lighting used is artificial as the model’s faces are well-lit which may not be the case in the use of natural lighting.

Price LineThe position of the price of the magazine is a crucial location

as this is arguably the first and most important thing a customer would look for before making a purchase. The location should be clear and visible so the potential buyer will know all the significant details of the magazine before making an informed decision on whether or not to buy it.

 The NME creator paid specific attention to this because the

price of the magazine is actually repeated. It is written at the top left hand corner of the magazine on top of the ‘NME’ title, which is a prime location because once the customer will see which magazine it is, they will then look to find how much it costs. So, the close proximity between the magazine title and pricing initiates easy eye flow.

Selling line/StraplineThe selling line of the NME magazine is the ‘Free

Classic Posters’ section along the bottom. This is an effective selling/strapline as it pleases the customer as they get free posters of various bands if they buy the magazine. This also acts as a form of propaganda as seeing this strapline will cause the customer to think that NME is one of the best magazines.

This section of the cover is extremely important as it may cause the customer to go ahead and buy the magazine instead of not being fully sure if they’re getting the full value of their money, hence the term ‘selling line’.