Analysing

FRONT COVERS

The header summarises what is included within this is magazine which will intrigue people to purchase it. The “autumn tour special” is written in a bold font to stand out and capture the audiences attention.

The masthead NME clearly stands out at the top of the page- with its strong, bold font to stand out to the audience. It is written in its normal title colour of red showing its consistent detailed content and so it can be recognised worldwide. The black border allows the title to be the centre of attention.

The main image of Dizzee Rascal can be described as a mid shot or a long shot. This could be described as a mid shot because his whole body is compacted in a small space however as we can see his whole body, it is a long shot to some people. Dizzee Rascal is looking straight at the camera, with a joyous look showing his happiness in his success, as if he is enjoying himself. The ghetto background and the silver chain he is wearing represents the type of person he is, and the type of music he sings which is based around hip-hop/ rap. His clothes match the colour scheme showing he is the main person or the centre of attention.

The main sell line anchors the main image so that anyone can see who the man is. The font is also bold and in white, to make you look instantly at who is the centre of attention within this magazine. The catch line underneath where it says Dizzee Rascal, expresses his music to be inspirational and make others around the world listen to it. This also relates to the image of him as he has a bog smile on his face showing his happiness.

Bar code, date/issue and price are all essential elements on magazine if they are to sell copies!! Its normally in a small box and tends to be put towards the bottom right of the page (out of the way of the main copy).

The footer includes all the other big artists, related to hip hop music and included within this magazine. This will make people pick the magazine up because if Dizzee Rascal is not their favourite artist, then there is a chance that an artists name within the footer will intrigue them to buy NME.

Layout observes rule of thirds to add interest to the target audience.

NME MAGAZINE

XXL MAGAZINE The masthead takes up approx. one fifth of the overall layout to stand out and catch the audiences eye. The bright red colour to the black background shows quite a rebellious theme which indicates the type of music they sing. Although the ‘L’ cannot be clearly seen on the magazine cover, it doesn’t really matter because as it is a well-known magazine hip hop magazine worldwide, people will know which magazine it is.

Main ImageThis long shot of Lil Wayne shows his surroundings and his body position. His mean look shows a sense of arrogance and proudness, as if he thinks he is world class. His body position, with clenched fists indicates that he is angry and lethal relating to rap music which can sometimes be aggressive. As it shows his surroundings, on the moon, it implies to the audience that he is quite ambitious and can go somewhere far in life.

The main sell line indicates his arrogance, to try to appeal to the reader who he is and his music worldwide. This follows the same colour scheme to blend in.

The bar code is included on the bottom left hand corner of the magazine page which is challenging magazine layout as normally the barcode is on the right hand corner. This shows rebellion but also uniqueness.

The selling lines here includes all the artists within the magazine to attract the audience/ people walking past to buy it. The selling line on the left is with a bold font to stand out and attract the audiences eye.

VIBE MAGAZINE

The masthead Vibe takes up a quarter of the magazine page showing its significance. As this is quite an old magazine (seeing by the barcode), it is essential that people know what your magazine is called so you can recognise it in the future.

The colour scheme is quite dull with different shades of brown to show its unique to normal vibrant colours. However, some words are highlighted in a bright red to stand out to the audience.

The mid shot of Tupac allows us to see him locked up indicating he is crazy or misunderstood. It relates to his hip hop music of him being misunderstood, rapping about life and what its about.

The bar code in the bottom corner shows the pricing, the date it was issued out and the barcode.

The bold heading “is Tupac crazy” is written in bold to stand out and attract the audiences attention as it would grab their eye to read an interesting article in vibe magazine. The black colour of the writing links in with the dull background colours to have the same effect of an old look.

CONTENTS PAGES

The heading of the page is indicated in a bold font (the same as it is on the front cover) to show it united and as part of the same magazine.

NME magazine contents page

The writing from the editor with the picture indicates a special magazine with some one off articles. This persuades the reader to look through the magazine as it shows all the interesting facts that will be included. It is in a black background with white writing to stand out and become the centre of the page.

The red, white and black colour scheme links in with the title and front cover allowing us to see that all the pages are linked together and there is a general theme running throughout the magazine. This is essential to have the same colour scheme as not only does it make it look more professional, but it means people can recognise the magazine by its colour scheme in future.

The right side of the magazine shows feature articles in bold texts to stand out whereas the left side of the magazine shows everything included in the issue so people can flick to any page they want to.

The subscribe box at the bottom of the magazine shows how you can get all the magazine issues for a cheaper price and keep informed with the new articles. This is one of the main features on the contents page as it keeps everyone interested in the next weeks issue.

Vibe magazine contents page

The V in the background shows that the magazine is Vibe and links the whole magazine together.

The title of the page “contents” is written in a unique way, not all in one line, showing it’s a unique magazine which is rebellious and has different articles.

The background colour is quite dull but yet makes it quite unique as normally you would have bright colours but to fit in with the urban theme, shades of grey are used.

The right side of the page shows the main features included within the magazine without any of the other subheadings of the pages. This means that as vibe magazine has been out for a long amount of time, people already know what the regular pages are and what is normally included. The posh font type challenges the stereotype of an urban look to show it is rebellious.

The mid shot of Kanye West not only expresses his facial emotions but also his body language. He seems quite proud of himself with an aggressive look. It also shows his clothing style as many people see Kanye West as a fashion icon or a role model so by displaying his clothes will allow them to dress like him.

Main categories are used to divide the long list of contents into manageable chunks of text. They also add more information about the magazine.

Large text is used for titles, smaller text is used for the descriptions and different coloured text is used for the page numbers so you know which page to turn to quickly and without having to search for it.

The title of the magazine (Q) reminds you what you are reading.

The close up shot of the artist shows the main subject of the issue, what most information will be about. The close up shows a stern look, as if he has no emotions on his face.

The red colour of the “232” and the other page numbers makes it stand out to the audience to attract their attention but also connects with the red logo so links it all together.

Q magazine

The white background colour makes all the text stand out so it makes it bold and clear to see.

DOUBLE PAGE SPREADS

NME magazineThe whole left page is filled with a picture of Dizzee rascal. This shows that the article is about him and what he has been up to. As he is an inspiration and role model to many people, his dress sense is also shown to the audience so they can copy or follow him.

The background of the image shows an urban theme to it representing his music style and what he sings. This can also link to his personality.

The title for the double page spread is in big bold letters to stand out to the audience. It shows quite a rebellious theme as they are not aligned in rows but tilted a bit.

Dizzee Rascals name is made in a bold font to stand out to show who is the centre of attention and what the article will be based on.

The synopsis shows what the article will be about (Dizzee Rascals life). This persuades the reader to read on by using words such as amazing to indicate it’s a special report.

The image at the bottom of the right page indicates what is included within the article. It makes it more interesting adding pictures instead of a big block of writing as people can get bored just reading a whole huge paragraph in one go.

The layout of this double page spread is really busy and crowded with images of the band. The way Kerrang have set out the double page spread is a good way of showing who the article is about. The main images consists of mid shots. The reason Kerrang did this is because they wanted to show the emotion on the artists face. Furthermore, you can see that the main colours are red, white, brown and black. None of the pictures are in colour which suggests the type of band that they are. The other page has the text on it and also the photos underneath to describe what is happening.

The colour red, white and black symbolises their music and personality as quite rebellious and rock type.

The title is in a bold font, in colours white and red to stand out to the black background grabbing the audiences attention. “The best mcr” is in a bigger font and in white compared to the other part of the title to show its significance as them being the best.

The “world exclusive” is in an arrow shape to show its significance as a big thing. It makes the page look unique as you don’t normally see different shapes on a page.

The text is written in a white text to stand out to the audience or a black colour to stand out on a white background. The small font means that there’s a lot of information to compact into one space which means it must be a good article to read.

KERRANG magazine

The “news” icon shows the website so the audience can go to it. This will get Kerrang more readers/ viewers because internet is the new thing is society.

One thing I have noticed with all these double page spreads is that they all have one page with a big picture of who the articles about. This is a close up of Wiz Khalifa to show the emotion on his face. He looks relaxed as if he is proud about his music. The smoke coming out of his mouth gives him this gangster stereotype along with the cap. The font colour on the other page links to his yellow/orange cap which shows it is a professional page. The high quality image completes the page making it look at the highest standard.

The big WK catches the readers eye instantly, which are the initials of Wiz Khalifa. The use of colours links to Wiz’s cap making it look professional. The use of a dark and a light colour represents his personality as a good (bright) side and a bad (dark) side.

The black to the white background shows his music as sometimes happy and joyful to sometimes dull and depressing. It shows he has two sides to him.

The synopsis of the text suggests what is happening and how it is good.