Colour Scheme

The colour scheme of this Kerrang! front cover is based around the colours of the models/artists clothing and hair; thus making the page appear bright and gives off a very fun/ positive vibe.

Mast Head

The title of the magazine Kerrang! is an almost onomatopoeia title; this word sounds like the sound of a guitar strum, specifically, an electric guitar. This effect gives connotations of rock music and thus, encourages someone who enjoys listening to rock music, to pick up a copy of the magazine. Also, the masthead appears cracked/shattered which enhances the rocky vibe of the cover. Finally, the large bold capital letters, with the exclamation mark at the end of the word, is eye catching and relates to the rebellious element of rock music.

Competition

This area headlining the page encourages the reader to buy the magazine, it also adds less formality to the page.

Left Third

Kerrang! makes use of a conventional left third, highlighting main rock bands and images of the bands upon this area of the page.

Clear Font

All lettering upon the page appears in capitals.

Vernacular

Slang words to ease the formality of the magazine.

A reveal

What bands are inside? This footer includes the main featured bands inside the magazine so one can skim read this area of the page to see if one’s favourite band shall appear inside the issue if not already mentioned upon the cover.

Text Boxes/Shapes

Eye catching shapes including important information about what’s inside the magazine appear often upon the page.

Barcode

There is use of a conventional bar code, highlighting the issue number, date and price of the magazine.

Eye Contact

In comparison to the Kerrang! and the conventions of normal magazines, this front cover portrays some unusual conventions. An example of this is, no direct eye contact made by the artist in order to connect with the reader, however, I feel that this works in this example as so much is going on and the stance is as equally exciting.

Mast Head and Sell Line

The large red Q logo appears on the top left hand side of the page. The sell line appears directly upon the logo. What is interesting about the cover page of this issue is the fact that the editor has merged two aspects, mast head and dominant image, together. The right hand/arm of the model is linked with the Q within the logo/masthead. This is unique and unconventional, but I think, works well for this instance. This is one way in which Q is different from Kerrang! – Also, the mastheads are almost complete contrasts of each other. The lettering of Q is much more flowing and sketchy, compared to the jagged font used for Kerrang!

Left Third

There is literally no left third that is prominent upon this front cover, however, this magazine has gained a lot of attention and has been publishing issues since 1986. Therefore it is a fully established magazine and has a large number of subscribers and fan base of buyers who are willing to go out and purchase this magazine every time a new issue appears on the shelves. This is contrasted with Kerrang! As they include a very prominent left third feature.

Headlines

All headlines that would normally appear within the left third of the magazine seem to appear over on this right hand side of the page.

A Reveal

Q also includes a reveal of what bands shall appear inside of their music magazine.

Barcode

Conventional use of a barcode, similar to that upon Kerrang! Portraying the date, issue number and price.

Dominant Image/House Style/Text Boxes

The first noticeable feature upon this page which is unconventional about this issue of NME is the fact that there is more than one focus of artist upon the front cover. Instead of one artist/band, NME have decided to layer different images of different bands and artists within a cloud burst in the centre of the page. Upon the image, appear many text boxes, similar to the text boxes analysed in the first magazine I looked at; Kerrang! The house style of the magazine is very comic, the way the images upon the page are edited in a certain way to look like they have been drawn instead of photographed. The main images upon the pages within the cloud burst are also coloured black and white, making the copy upon the page pop out of the page at the reader; especially the main title “The 75 Moments That Defined The Year” – Like that of which was analysed in Kerrang!, NME also have used a constant range of capital lettering throughout the image. The burst from within the page really brings your attention to the magazine cover, also the contrasting colours of peach, white, yellow and black draw the buyer in.

Competition

Similar to that of the Kerrang magazine, NME have made use of the header for advertising the fact that they have a competition. In this case, tickets to the popular Reading and Leeds festivals.

Masthead

The main masthead is slightly covered by the image, although one can still clearly make out which magazine this is.

Barcode

As upon all magazines analysed so far, a barcode appears revealing the price, issue number and date.

Vernacular

Vernacular is used upon the front cover of this page within a text box, just as it is used upon the cover of Kerrang! – slang is used to de-formalise the magazine.

A Reveal

This shows what is inside this issue of NME; it is similar to the footer bar used by Kerrang! And Q, however, this area is advertising voting for the NME awards and not what bands shall be inside the issue, due to the large popularity of that feature upon the main/dominant image.

Dominant Image/Colour Scheme

The main focus upon the page is the dominant image of the African American rapper T.I. Compared to the rocky rebellious style of NME magazine; this front cover appears more mellow and relaxed. The artist’s hands are clasped together and direct eye contact is made, gesturing a serious/business-like formality about the man. I think the name vibe corresponds correctly to the type of magazine they are trying to produce; R&B stands for rhythm and blues and as this type of music is mellow and relaxing in some ways, I think the theme of the magazine links well. Overall, in comparison to the other magazines, which portray upbeat music, this magazine reveals a sense of calmness. This calmness is also conveyed through the colour scheme used upon the page. The blue gives connotations of the ocean and makes one think of relaxing, serene environments. The red really pops out of the blue to make the mast head, which is partly masked by the dominant image, stand out. The colour white is also used to stand out from the dark colours of the background and the skin tone of the artist which really draws the eye to the main headlines upon the page. Again, there is a use of capital letters throughout the headlines upon front page, similar to that upon the covers of NME and Kerrang! magazines.

Header

This area of the page reveals an article within the magazine that may interest the buyer.

Headlines

The headlines appear in block capitals and highlight key features within the magazine that would urge buyers interested in this style of music to purchase this magazine.

Date Line

The date, issue number and price is highlighted upon this area of the page.

Left Third

There is no use of a conventional left third upon this side of the page. There is, almost use of one, but what I do not think was a sensible idea of the editor was to make use of this vitally important area of the page to put the bar code vertically upon.

Bar Code

Despite its awkward placement, there is use of a barcode upon the page.