Analysis of magazine covers / contents pages / double page spreads of the indie rock and pop genre of music

The title of the magazine ‘NME’ is in red writing that is big and bold, for this reason it is clear and easy to read as it is contrasting to the white. The title of the magazine ‘NME’ is in red writing that is big and bold, for this reason it is clear and easy to read as it is contrasting to the white background. It is important that the title is clear so that it is immediately obvious what magazine it is

the name of the artist is also clear and in bold black

writing which stands out. This immediately lets people know who the main feature

of the magazine is.

The names of the other artists featured throughout the

magazine are included in on the cover to attract fans of theirs to buy the magazine and to also let customers know who they can

read about within the magazine.

There are quotes on the cover from an inside interview to give the reader an insight into what is

included in the article

Commonly the artists on the covers of indie rock

magazines have very serious expressions,

these artists however are smiling which shows they

are slightly different to other artists of this genre

The female in the middle is nearer to the camera and overlaps the other two artists which shows she is the lead in the group

This cover is quite plain and there is no mention

of other articles included which shows the audience that the

band ‘HAIM’ are possibly the main focus

of this magazine

the unusual positioning of the

artists show that they are fun and quirky and do not follow

typical conventions of a standard

standing straight post

The issue number and date are next to the title but in very small font, this is because the information should be offered but it does not

need to stand out

The title is in a large, bold font which is easy to read and it contrasts slightly

with the background therefore making it easy to see

The main image is of the featured group, they all have serious expressions which links to their style of music which is very mellow this also fits in with the conventions of indie music magazine covers

and the poses of the artists

the title of the band is in large bold font, it is in white which

contrasts to the brown undertones of the image behind it

There is mention on the cover of articles in the magazine to show people what is included in the magazine if they buy it

You can see from the cover that there

is a chance to win free concert tickets within the pages of

the magazines which would be an incentive for people

to buy the magazine

There are a few lines under the title of the name of the artists to let

people know what the article inside will mainly be about, this gives them a taster but would make them want to read more inside and therefore

buy the magazine

The artists are positioned in a line and this could

represent that they are all of equal status within the group, however the one in

the red jacket is slightly further forward possibly

showing that he is slightly the leading the artist

It is written that there is an ‘exclusive’ interview inside which would make the target audience want to buy the

magazine as there is something in it they cant get anywhere else

There is a variety of different font colours when mentioning the

other artists which contrasts them to the main group featured

which makes it stand out just how many other

artists are included in the features of the magazine

The colours of their clothes are very similar to the colour of font used which ties the cover together and makes it look organised and neat

Main cover lines are used to categorise the different articles into sections, this makes it

easier for the reader to be able to locate where articles are by topic

The colour scheme used is red white and black but

the text describing a competition is in yellow it draw attention to it and make it catch the eye of

the reader

A bold text is used for the title of the article to make them

stand out and be clearer and the page number is in a

different colour once again making it immediately obvious to the reader what page that

specific article is on

There is a band index which occupies the left third of the page which notes all of the artists that are featured in the magazine and gives as indication as to the artists that are commonly found within the genre of music

that this magazine represents, in the case of

NME the genre is indie rock

The title of the magazine is featured on this page to once again clarify what magazine it is and it is in bold and a red font to make it stand out, underneath where it says this week the date is written so that people know what the current issue is

There is a main image in the centre is of the page which

shows the main artists featured in the magazine, it

enables readers to know who the main article will be

about and the text box below the image gives an

insight into what the article will be about and what is

mentioned within it

The image is not a posed one and is of a band

performing which gives the impression that there

will possibly be some behind the scenes

information regarding this performance

A part of the magazine that would be thought to be highly popular is featured in a red arrow which will attract the readers attention and inform them staight away of the page that it is on, the use of the arrow is also quite difference to most of the text which is included in boxes. This gives the impression that it is a slightly different article to the others included in the magazine

There is a big feature showing that you can get a weekly subscription and it included images of other articles, it offers a deal and that is in the largest font of the text box and some other of the possibly less apealing or important details are in a much smaller font below

The colour scheme of this contents page is red, white and black. The

magazine ‘Q’ that this contents page is from

usually always uses this colour scheme, therefore making it easy for people

to recognise the magazine simply from the

colour scheme used

The name of the magazine is featured in the left top corner

reminding people of the magazine they are reading

There is the conventional image of a band on the right hand side of the contents page which takes up quite a large space. There is also a

little text box with a large page number indicating that they have a large feature in this issue of

the magazine

On the left of the page there is the contents of the

magazine with page numbers. Not all of the articles are

featured, only the main ones. This is slghtly unclear but

does however highlight the main articles making it easier for people to find them and be aware of what bands of

musicians are included within the magazine

There is an every month section at the bottom left of the page. This includes special features unique to

the Q magazine which people may want to find

quickly and easily, for example a crossword and

a chance to enter into competitions

The word ‘contents’ is in big bold writing so that readers

immediately know that they are looking at the contents page

The musicians in the main image on the page

are all wearing dull clothes and have quite

serious expressions. This is common in images of musicians of this genreOne of the musicians is standing

slightly further forward than the others which demonstrates he is the leading member of the band

‘the courteeners’

Down at the bottom of the page are more articles featured within the magazine that are slightly less

important than those mentioned on the main section on the left of the page, we can tell this as the font is

smaller and do not stand out as much

The smaller image of a member of a band nearer the bottom of

the page shows that they have a feature in the magazine however not as much of a feature as the

musicians in the main image

The title of the band is in very large font that is bold. This

makes it immediately apparent to the reader who the band in

this article is

The colour scheme of the article is quite dull and looks washed

out. This once again is a common colour found in relation to

musicians of the indie rock music genre. The blue is then used to

make certain elements of clips of text stand out from the rest,

highlighting key elements

The image of the band takes up one whole page and then two

thirds of the other page

The stance of the men is quite simple in the image and they are present with their instruments which

shows us that they are a band that plays their

own music and the guitars and the style of

their clothing reiterates the genre of

music they fit in to.

One man is standing in front of all the others which signifies he

is the leading member of the band

All the musicians are looking directly at the camera which

helps the reader to feel engaged

Having the photo running across both pages shows that the articles are related and are together rather

than being separate

The blue font in the middle of the article is an important quote

and therefore is written in a different colour to make it stand

out to the reader

Under the title there is a short amount of text which informs the reader about the article

beneath it. It let the reader know who the article is about and how the article is an interview. It also

gives the name of the interviewer and the date that

the interview took place, enabling the reader to know how

old/recent this article may be

There is also mention of the photographer in case the reader

is interested in knowing who took the image

Their clothes almost look dirty which adds

to their theme of being slightly grunge

The colour of her shirt makes the image stand out

from the plain white background

It is straight away apparent who the

article is about as the image immediately catches the eye of

the reader

The image of the artist slightly

overlaps onto the other page to show

the relation between the two pages, the same feature was

present on the previous double page

spread

The colour scheme of this particular article is read, white

and black. This is a colour scheme that is commonly found

through out NME music magazines

The different sized letters used for the large clips of text gives

the impression that she is quite rebellious and goes against

standard formsInstead of having a

large title of the name of the artist one of the main

features along with the image is the large text of a quote. This gives an impression

of the type of person that she is and lets us

know that the following article will

probably contain things that she has

said directly, such as the large quote

above it

All of the article text is in black apart from her name

and the name of the interviewer, this makes

these two names stand out among the rest of the text

which is in black

The short cropped hair style and the baggy shirt that she wears gives the impression she is not very feminie and

possibly quite boyish

The main quote that is featured gives the impression that she is honest and to the

point and will therefore make for quite an interesting article as she will be speaking her mind and expressing her thoughts honestly

The pose is not the usual pose that artists are seen doing which once again could represent her individuality both

as a person and as an artist

The blank background makes

the text easy to read and the image stand

out much more