The denotation of this magazine is the National Music Express, and it is a weekly British magazine that is largely associated with rock, alternative and indie genres. The genre of something is the style of a product.

The target audience is the audience that the product is aimed towards, for example, the gender, age, eth-nicity, social status and lifestyle of the audience. For NME the target audience is presented as men aged 17-30 who are middle or working class. I can tell this as the fonts used are quite bulky and bold, and don’t ap-pear to be very sophisticated. This implies that the magazine isn't aimed at older or upper class men who are more educated. I can also tell that the magazine is aimed toward this age range because Dizzee Rascal fits into this age range, and so he would have been chosen for the main image as he would be seen as more re-latable. NME is aimed towards rock, alternative, indie fans, and fans of other genres that are stereotypically listened to by men. This is a niche market which means that it targets people with specific interests. You can tell this from the coverlines and the images.

The masthead is the title of a magazine and conventionally they are very bold and easily recognisable as they are commonly an icon for the magazine. Here it clearly stands out as it is in a huge bold font. It would be the same style for every issue, so that the target audience will be able to recognize it. The capitals create emphasis and make it seem more important to the audience as it suggests that the title is being shouted at the reader. This signifies the genre as NME publishes content about typically louder music such as rock and alternative music. This will help to attract the target audience as the magazine is aimed towards fans of these genre of music. As the magazine is branded, the masthead can still be noticeable and eye-catching when behind the main image, which is what’s happening on this cover. This shows that the masthead has already become an icon for the magazine, as the target audience is able to recognize it even when there is an image over the top. The masthead on this edition of NME is written in a red font, which illustrates that the magazine is aimed towards men as this colour holds connotations of danger, warning and aggression, which links to the fact that men are stereotyped as very aggressive and angry compared to women. The connotations of something are the ideas suggested by that thing or word. The red masthead is part of the house style, which is the features of the magazine that are repeated for every issue of the magazine. This shows that every is-sue of NME is targeted towards males, not just some of them. A sans-serif font has been used, which means that the lettering is the same thickness for the whole of the letter. This also makes it seem less so-phisticated.

The main coverline is the coverline that is the most important on the page. This is conventionally the big-gest coverline on the page. A coverline is a piece of text placed on the front cover that tells the reader some of the features included inside the magazine. For this magazine, it is written in a very bold font, making it stand out a lot. Again the use of capitals make it seem very important and exciting. As it relates to the main image, it is clear that this is the main article in the magazine. The main coverline will appeal to the target au-dience as it is ‘Dizzee Rascal’, the name of a very well-known artist, which is designed to catch the eye of the target audience as they will recognize him and want to read about him.

The other coverlines are the smaller coverlines included on the page. Despite the fact that they are a lot smaller than the main sell line, they are still noticeable as the title is written in a large bold font, and is in capitals, implying that even though it isn't the main article, it’s still worth the read.

The main image is the only image on this page. The model is the subject of the image, and on the cover of this magazine it is Dizzee Rascal, who is the well-known R&B artist mentioned in the main coverline. This im-age would appeal to the target audience as fans of this genre are included in the target audience. Mise-en-scene is the elements that make up and image or shot, including the costume, setting, props, lighting, pos-ture and colour used in an image. In this image, Dizzee Rascal is wearing very casual clothing and he is po-sitioned in a way that makes him look very comfortable. This makes the image seem a lot less formal and so-phisticated, which again links to the lower age range that NME is targeting towards. He is also wearing a chain around his neck, which is stereotypical of R&B artists and fans, which again illustrates that the target audience should be interested in genres like this. A long shot has been used for this image, which means that you can see the whole of the subject’s body. This allows the audience to see his whole outfit, thus help-ing to attract the target audience. The fact that he is looking directly at the camera creates direct address, as the audience would feel as though he was looking directly at them. This is conventional for all magazine types as it makes the magazine seem more welcoming and therefore will make the target audience more likely to want to read it.

The strapline is the header of the magazine and gives the audience extra information. Here it tells them about tours that the target audience will be interested, and also gives the name of multiple artists that are featured in the magazine. For example, it says ‘Kasabian’ which is a rock band, and so will be recognized by fans of this genre, which fits into the target audience as rock is stereotypically listened to by males rather than females. The colours used for the strapline are black, white and red. These are the main colours in the

colour scheme, which are the colours used repeatedly throughout the magazine. These colours help to at-tract the target audience as they appear to be very masculine. The red again connotes anger and aggres-sion, which links to the stereotypical male, and the colour black also suggests mystery and danger.

The footer is the same as the strapline but is placed at the bottom of the page. It gives even more informa-tion about the artists included. Fans of these artists will be included in the target audience. The fact that the page is framed by a strapline and a footer makes it look more organized and professional, which makes it look more visually appealing.

The puff is a coverline placed inside a shape, such as a star or a circle. Here makes information that will at-tract the target audience - news about a popular band reunion - stand out more, making it more noticeable and eye-catching. The fact that the puff is red links to the colour scheme and again helps to attract a mascu-line audience.

The issue number tells the reader what edition of the magazine it is, and how recent it is. It is included as it makes it easier for the audience to organise if they collect the magazine.

The price is the amount that the magazine is sold for. It is written in a small font as the magazine isn't free, and so it isn't one of the main selling points.

The barcode used is shops to sell the product and is included for legal obligations.

The colour scheme includes mainly red, black and white. The colour red has connotations of aggression, which implies that this colour was used to target men, as men are stereotypically more aggressive than women. Black and white will have been used as they are neutral colours and contract well with each other, which will make information easier to read.

The Rule of Thirds is where the page is split into thirds both vertically and horizontally, and the main fea-tures of the page are placed where the lines intersect to make them more noticeable. It has been applied on this magazine cover as important features such as Dizzee Rascal’s face and the main coverline are both lo-cated where the lines would intersect, which makes them more visible. The masthead and the main cover-line are located in the left third which is conventional as it means that when the magazine is stacked on a shelf, these features will still visible, thus still being appealing to the target audience.

The mode of address is the formality of the language used. Here it is quite informal, due to the colloquial language used. For example, words such as ‘man’ and ‘wowee’ make it seem friendly, thus making it more welcoming. This also indicates the younger age range that NME is targeting as it seems a lot less sophisti-cated and educated, which is stereotypical for younger people.

The layout of the page seems very busy and unorganized. This is due to the slanted angles that both the main image and the main coverline are placed at. This also adds to the lack of sophistication, which high-lights the younger age range that NME targets.

The overall impression of this magazine is very busy, which makes it look as though it is full of information which the target audience will be interested in. I also get the impression that this magazine is very exciting due to Dizzee Rascal’s facial expression and the use of exclamation marks.

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