AS Media Studies November 2009
Section A
NME Front Cover
Masthead: The Masthead is in the colour red which could indicate such things as; red is symbolic for fearlessness and strength, also for blood, lust and love. This could mean that any people, who are like that, choose to read NME. Also the NME logo has a white outline which could mean that the magazine also has a softer side to it, for the more laid back and quieter people. Finally there is a black background which makes the logo stand out from the rest of the front cover.
Headline: The headline is the biggest and boldest font on the page. The majority of the text is filled in with pure white, which then contrasts with the outline of the NME logo. It is then outlined with the red we saw from the NME logo, which shows that the magazine creators are making the colours match and contrast to give the magazine a classier look.
Coverline: The coverlines are basically what ‘sell’ the magazine; they show what is actually going to be in the magazine. “Brilliant Birmingham”, why it’s the new Yorkshire” first indicates to me, alliteration. If you were living in Birmingham and saw this coverline, you would instantly be attracted. “Fratellis Explosion kicks off” would automatically attract a reader of whom is interested in Rock’N’Roll/Indie music, as The Fratellis are well known in that genre. Next to that piece of text is the lead singer outlined with the same white that was outlining the NME logo, which again contrasts, but also attracts the reader and the picture stands out from everything else. On the bottom right hand side of the page is a list of 9 different musicians and bands in a bold red colour, in fact the same colour as the NME masthead. If you were an onlooker and saw that potentially quite a few of your favourite musical artists were in that magazine you’d want to buy. “574 gigs UK’s Biggest Guide” – Which means that included in the magazine is a list of 574 gigs, and it is the biggest list in the UK. People could have instant attraction to this, if they are trying to find a gig to attend. Finally at the top right hand corner of the page it says “The Pixies new album – The exclusive story”, most magazines will try and worm you in with the language they use, and the way it is said, with never before seen pictures and this is why it attracts an audience to NME.
Main Photo: The background of the photo is blue which is a completely different colour and style to the rest of the colours on the cover. In the photo there are 4 men and one really stands out, you can tell it must be the lead singer as he is in the foreground, where the rest of the band members are in the background. The emotion the band is portraying seems to be sarcasm with a slight smile, which could indicate they were trying to look powerful.
The cover also features a barcode, price, website and date which are all situated in the bottom right hand corner of the page. The cover is very unique to other covers I have seen because you can tell that the designers are trying to make it an individual design, and that the colours they use are very contrasting toward each other.
MOJO Front Cover
Masthead: Most of the large white basic styled font is covered up by the main article photo, but what you can see is that most defiantly it contrasts with the bac
kground, which is pure black.
Headline: The headline is again pure white but this time it looks like someone has used a spray can and sprayed it in different places, almost like graffiti. The font is similar to the masthead, but the only difference is that there are lines going through the centre of each letter, which gives the magazine a very sheik look.
Coverline: The coverline that stands out most for me is “The return of America’s ultimate Rock’n’Roll delinquents!” This is because it is in a grey font, which stands out from the black contrasting background. “WE’RE BACK – The Police, White Stripes, Van Helen and Bright Eyes” – This would instantly attract a reader of an older generation because the bands listed are from an older era, the 90’s down. “Stone Bottled – Ron Wood nearly killed me” makes the magazine look a whole lot more interesting, other than being a music magazine, using coverlines like that, make it sound more like woman’s weekly. “Wired! Pentangle – their folk revolution” – Again indicates that the band ‘Pentangle’ are from an older generation with the language used, ‘Folk Revolution’. The font colours are again contrasting with the black as night background. At the top of the front cover is information on 2 bands, one is “Genesis” and the writing states: “Genesis speak” – We have already established that this is a magazine catering for older and modern rock bands, and using an older band’s comeback could sell the magazine a lot. The other piece of text is “Arcade Fire – It’s the end of the world as they know it” – Anyone reading the text would think they might be splitting up, or something has seriously happened in their careers. But if you know them as a band you will realise that “It’s the end of the world as we know it” Is a title of one of their songs off their new album. To attract more readers MOJO are giving away a CD to every buyer to get people interested in the magazine.
Main Photo: The background to the whole photo is black, and the picture is of one man half naked holding a microphone stand. Something would indicate to a viewer that this is a Rock’n’Roll magazine as that is the type of critic and mainstream attitudes music artists go by. You can see that the angle of the picture is slightly to the right, and it is a mid-shot photograph. I think they chose to do this because it gives it a more dramatic and unique look.
Audience
NME:
· For NME I think the audience would be around 16-25 and would love indie, Rock’n’Roll cultured music. I think both boys and girls would read it, but looking at the style and creation of the front cover, it looks more masculine and would interoperate that boys are most likely to read it. The typical person of who would read this would not be a mainstreamer; I think that they love and crave to be individual and that they love the attention of others. I think because of the price any wealth unless in poverty could afford to read this magazine whether they chose to or not, is not my decision.
MOJO:
· I think that the audience is older people, probably between 25-45. I think that they are most probably people who adore music. And are most probably male. Because the magazine is £4.10 I don’t think it will stop them as I think the person will do anything for music.
Section B
Contents 1
· The layout of the contents page instantly says to me… Boring. There is nothing exciting or colourful about it at all. The layout almost seems to be in ‘brick’ form, just like a wall of bricks. You can tell that it is a music magazine by the language they use i.e. “A-Z of releases”, “Paul McCartney”, “Bjork” and “Richard Swift”. Though if you then look deeper into the contents page, you will see that there is a part called “UNCUT FILM” – which then indicates it is a film magazine too. The negative thing about the contents, though it is a regular occurrence is the “Contributors”. There is a whole section on where they were born and what religion they are, readers now days do not want to know this, and would rather it be filled up with useful or interesting information. The only picture that really stands out from the contents is the picture on the top left hand corner. Though the picture is not interesting, because of it’s size the viewer becomes attracted and wants to learn more about it. To me, as a whole this certain contents page looks like there is too much information crammed into one space. Finally, the masthead hardly shows on the paper, and is not an interesting font that would attract people.
Section A
NME Front Cover
Masthead: The Masthead is in the colour red which could indicate such things as; red is symbolic for fearlessness and strength, also for blood, lust and love. This could mean that any people, who are like that, choose to read NME. Also the NME logo has a white outline which could mean that the magazine also has a softer side to it, for the more laid back and quieter people. Finally there is a black background which makes the logo stand out from the rest of the front cover.
Headline: The headline is the biggest and boldest font on the page. The majority of the text is filled in with pure white, which then contrasts with the outline of the NME logo. It is then outlined with the red we saw from the NME logo, which shows that the magazine creators are making the colours match and contrast to give the magazine a classier look.
Coverline: The coverlines are basically what ‘sell’ the magazine; they show what is actually going to be in the magazine. “Brilliant Birmingham”, why it’s the new Yorkshire” first indicates to me, alliteration. If you were living in Birmingham and saw this coverline, you would instantly be attracted. “Fratellis Explosion kicks off” would automatically attract a reader of whom is interested in Rock’N’Roll/Indie music, as The Fratellis are well known in that genre. Next to that piece of text is the lead singer outlined with the same white that was outlining the NME logo, which again contrasts, but also attracts the reader and the picture stands out from everything else. On the bottom right hand side of the page is a list of 9 different musicians and bands in a bold red colour, in fact the same colour as the NME masthead. If you were an onlooker and saw that potentially quite a few of your favourite musical artists were in that magazine you’d want to buy. “574 gigs UK’s Biggest Guide” – Which means that included in the magazine is a list of 574 gigs, and it is the biggest list in the UK. People could have instant attraction to this, if they are trying to find a gig to attend. Finally at the top right hand corner of the page it says “The Pixies new album – The exclusive story”, most magazines will try and worm you in with the language they use, and the way it is said, with never before seen pictures and this is why it attracts an audience to NME.
Main Photo: The background of the photo is blue which is a completely different colour and style to the rest of the colours on the cover. In the photo there are 4 men and one really stands out, you can tell it must be the lead singer as he is in the foreground, where the rest of the band members are in the background. The emotion the band is portraying seems to be sarcasm with a slight smile, which could indicate they were trying to look powerful.
The cover also features a barcode, price, website and date which are all situated in the bottom right hand corner of the page. The cover is very unique to other covers I have seen because you can tell that the designers are trying to make it an individual design, and that the colours they use are very contrasting toward each other.
MOJO Front Cover
Masthead: Most of the large white basic styled font is covered up by the main article photo, but what you can see is that most defiantly it contrasts with the bac
kground, which is pure black.Headline: The headline is again pure white but this time it looks like someone has used a spray can and sprayed it in different places, almost like graffiti. The font is similar to the masthead, but the only difference is that there are lines going through the centre of each letter, which gives the magazine a very sheik look.
Coverline: The coverline that stands out most for me is “The return of America’s ultimate Rock’n’Roll delinquents!” This is because it is in a grey font, which stands out from the black contrasting background. “WE’RE BACK – The Police, White Stripes, Van Helen and Bright Eyes” – This would instantly attract a reader of an older generation because the bands listed are from an older era, the 90’s down. “Stone Bottled – Ron Wood nearly killed me” makes the magazine look a whole lot more interesting, other than being a music magazine, using coverlines like that, make it sound more like woman’s weekly. “Wired! Pentangle – their folk revolution” – Again indicates that the band ‘Pentangle’ are from an older generation with the language used, ‘Folk Revolution’. The font colours are again contrasting with the black as night background. At the top of the front cover is information on 2 bands, one is “Genesis” and the writing states: “Genesis speak” – We have already established that this is a magazine catering for older and modern rock bands, and using an older band’s comeback could sell the magazine a lot. The other piece of text is “Arcade Fire – It’s the end of the world as they know it” – Anyone reading the text would think they might be splitting up, or something has seriously happened in their careers. But if you know them as a band you will realise that “It’s the end of the world as we know it” Is a title of one of their songs off their new album. To attract more readers MOJO are giving away a CD to every buyer to get people interested in the magazine.
Main Photo: The background to the whole photo is black, and the picture is of one man half naked holding a microphone stand. Something would indicate to a viewer that this is a Rock’n’Roll magazine as that is the type of critic and mainstream attitudes music artists go by. You can see that the angle of the picture is slightly to the right, and it is a mid-shot photograph. I think they chose to do this because it gives it a more dramatic and unique look.
Audience
NME:
· For NME I think the audience would be around 16-25 and would love indie, Rock’n’Roll cultured music. I think both boys and girls would read it, but looking at the style and creation of the front cover, it looks more masculine and would interoperate that boys are most likely to read it. The typical person of who would read this would not be a mainstreamer; I think that they love and crave to be individual and that they love the attention of others. I think because of the price any wealth unless in poverty could afford to read this magazine whether they chose to or not, is not my decision.
MOJO:
· I think that the audience is older people, probably between 25-45. I think that they are most probably people who adore music. And are most probably male. Because the magazine is £4.10 I don’t think it will stop them as I think the person will do anything for music.
Section B
Contents 1
· The layout of the contents page instantly says to me… Boring. There is nothing exciting or colourful about it at all. The layout almost seems to be in ‘brick’ form, just like a wall of bricks. You can tell that it is a music magazine by the language they use i.e. “A-Z of releases”, “Paul McCartney”, “Bjork” and “Richard Swift”. Though if you then look deeper into the contents page, you will see that there is a part called “UNCUT FILM” – which then indicates it is a film magazine too. The negative thing about the contents, though it is a regular occurrence is the “Contributors”. There is a whole section on where they were born and what religion they are, readers now days do not want to know this, and would rather it be filled up with useful or interesting information. The only picture that really stands out from the contents is the picture on the top left hand corner. Though the picture is not interesting, because of it’s size the viewer becomes attracted and wants to learn more about it. To me, as a whole this certain contents page looks like there is too much information crammed into one space. Finally, the masthead hardly shows on the paper, and is not an interesting font that would attract people.
Contents 2
· This contents page has a much more fun look compared to the other one. The main thing that stands out on the page is the masthead, “Iron Maiden”. The font is quite old fashioned which gives the whole page a more medieval look. The left third is filled with all the information about what’s in the magazine, in an interesting manner, compared to the other “boring” contents. In the middle of the page is a special offer to attract readers “Subscribe and receive a free iron maiden DVD”. You also can receive 2 free magazines with this certain one, which again attracts the readers. The main picture is of the main person from iron maiden, and it looks like a real rock’n’roll picture.
Talisa Harness
