Analysis of Magazine Contents Pages

Analysing NME Contents page

Colours

The colours on the contents page follow the same house style as those on the front page, being red, white and black. This keeps the feeling that the magazine is about rock after having multiple colours on the front page. All the contents of the magazine are in a bold red which makes them stand out more to the reader. The title of the contents page, saying “What’s inside”, is in white against a black background so that also stands out too.

Design and Images

The design for NME contents page is quite dull and a bit boring. All the contents are listed on the left hand side which makes them easy to notice and easy to read. It’s quite small though which could be hard to read for people with bad eye sight. The dull page does not work well with the rock and heavy metal genre which is quite lively music. Along the bottom of the page there is an advert for a money-off voucher. This is quite eye catching as it’s really big and bold and stands out on a white background, next to a dark picture. The only image present takes up most of the page and is of a celebrity with a short article about her on the bottom of the image. The image is a medium close up and is quite boring, however, the background of the image is black which works with the colour scheme.

Language and Words

The language and words on this page comes across as quite lively and excited to work with the exaggerated and loud feeling of rock and heavy metal. The way things are said also seems quite relaxed, normal and nice which does not follow a rock style.

Overall Impression

I didn’t like this contents page very much as the page is very dull and boring and seems very bland. Although the contents is easy to see, there isn’t much excitement on the page and I think there should be some more pictures. I don’t think it portrays a rock magazine very well either and it wouldn’t interest the audience to read it.

Analysis of Magazine front covers

Analysing Mixmag magazine - DJ/House genre

Colours

The colours of this magazine are completely different most magazines as the main ones are black, pink, white and yellow. The colours mean that the magazine appears to be gender specific to girls with the pink and yellow, yet it is targeted to both genders who love Dance and House style music. This makes it unsuccessful as not many boys would dare to pick up the magazine due to pink stereotyping towards girls. However, the colours create an exciting, loud and lively feeling which is what the type of music is like as well. The colours also appear to be mimicking disco lights which are bright also.

Design and Images

The design of this magazine is extremely effective. This is because it’s very exciting and loud. Everything has been put against a white background which means any colour they use will stand out. The mast head is at the top of the page in big bold letters which attracts everybody’s eyes to the magazine. The feature headline is also in big, bold black and also big bold pink ones and is very exaggerated and over the top. It creates the perfect image for the lively audience it is trying to attract. Along the right hand side are all the cover lines which also follow this house style in pink and black. Although being a lot smaller and less bold, they still stand out against the white background. Although there is no feature image, there are many smaller images surrounding the feature headline. The images are in hexagonal shapes rather than the mandatory squares or rectangles and appear to be coming off ‘disco light’ lines form the feature headline. All this makes the magazine cover very exciting and bold and eye catching for every person who walks past. This means that the magazine attracts more audiences than planned to. 

Language and Words

The magazine’s language and words are used very well to attract their audience. All the words used imply excitement and liveliness, such as, “BOOM!”. It follows a very informal trend, and more like it’s trying to be different and hyper, as is the music it’s about.

Overall Impression

I think this magazine cover does a good job as it attracts so many different audiences with the bright colours and exciting designs as well as its targeted audience. All the colours and large, exaggerated words mean that the whole page stands out to everybody’s eye. The magazine captures the same style as its music extremely well and looks like it would be a good magazine to read. In my opinion, the only problem is that the colours mean that it is gender specific and therefore, doesn’t attract males, who also like this music a lot.

Analysis of Magazine front covers

Analysis of Q Magazine - Rock genre

Colours

The colours used on Q magazine are again, a red, white and black style. As with NME, this is associated to rock, heavy metal and indie music. All the colours are very bold and stand out and are stereotypical colours for their target audience. This means that the target audience are attracted to the magazine straight away. All three colours mix well together yet stand out separately which draws the reader’s eye to every part of the magazine.

Design and Images

The design of Q magazine seems very neat, tidy and gives it a sophisticated look, yet the colours, big and bold words and image used means that it keeps that rock feeling. The huge masthead ‘Q’ in the top left corner on a bold red background catches the reader’s eyes straight away as it can’t be missed. The slogan below it reading, ‘DISCOVER GREAT MUSIC’ tells the readers that it must be a really good magazine about music and not celebrity gossip. The feature headline is located along the bottom of the page but is hugely visible as it’s in bright, large red and white letters. All the cover lines are going down either side of the page in fonts which give it an excited feel. This draws attention from the reader as they think that there’s going to be some good articles and stories inside. In the top right corner there is a pug used which catches the reader’s eye also.

The feature image used is taking up most of the page in the middle and is quite simple, yet very effective. The image Of Liam Gallagher’s face is very plain but in his glasses, there is a reflection of the rest of the band. This looks exciting and clever and readers want to know more about it. Although the image is plain, it still has a sophisticated rock style to it which is well aimed at the target audience.

Language and Words

The feature headline and feature image create a clever and effective pun. The headline reads “ Liam’s beady eye kick off” which works well with the image of Liam as the story is about him, yet the rest of the band is included into this story still and in the feature image as they are in the reflection of his ‘beady eyes’. This suggests that Liam has had a kick off with the rest of his band and creates excitement for the reader, attracting their target audience, music lovers. All the cover lines are interesting stories, using exciting quotes and random words. This automatically attracts many different people to the magazine which means that is has many different audiences as well as it’s focused one.

Overall Impression

I think that this front cover attracts its main audience and other readers extremely well. The house style of the magazine (sophisticated yet with a rock style) means that rock lovers and more mature music lovers will want to read the magazine and therefore, it has attracted more audiences than originally aiming for.  All the elements of the magazine stand out and your eye can’t miss anything. 

Analysis of Magazine front covers

Analysing NME Magazine - Rock Genre

Colours

The colours used on the magazine front cover follow a red, white and black house style. Using these colours, readers are attracted to the magazine as it’s bold, exciting and stands out. They are attracted even more so as these colours are stereotypically associated with rock and heavy metal and are therefore, more aesthetically pleasing to their target audience and regular readers. The colours used also mean that the magazine is not gender specific as it hasn’t got any stereotypical colours associated 

with girls or boys, E.G pink and blue.

Design + Images

The design of the magazine consists of a large, bold masthead situated at the top in the left corner. The location, size and font of the masthead means that it is very eye-catching and stands out to readers. The design of the front cover is quite plain with a mast head, feature headline, feature image and cover lines. Although it is simple, it means that the reader can take in all the information on the front page without being distracted by other, not as necessary, information. The huge feature headline is located directly in the middle of the page with the band’s name in big bold white letters and the rest of the story in a bold black background. This means that the reader’s eye goes directly to the story to interest them in the magazine. All the cover lines are situated at the top of the page or at the bottom, in white letters, meaning they’re close to the masthead and feature headline so you can’t miss them. The feature image is used over the whole page to capture attention directly to the feature headline making readers more interested.

The image used is of the band ‘Vampire Weekend’, on a blue background with hundreds of multi-coloured confetti falling around them. All the bright colours draw the readers in, even when seen from the corner of their eye. The excitement of the image portrays the idea that there’s going to be a really good story inside and lots more excitement along with it. However, the use of multi-coloured confetti gives off the idea that it is a ‘pop’ genre and not a rock magazine which is the wrong impression for the target audience. However, the idea of ‘pop’ changes when you read the feature headline...

Language and Words

The feature headline is quite formal in the way it’s spoken, and the image isn’t very rock-like but the last line, “Redefining the rock star”, clues together why the words used and the image, haven’t followed a rock style. The band are quite regular and normal, but extremely successful in the rock band world and there for have re-shaped the image of rock. The words on the cover lines are all quite regular and formal as well. This means that the magazine can attract new readers to it as the original rock style has changed a bit.

Overall Impression

The magazine cover is effective in that it attracts its main target audience and more. This is due to the rock like colours, fonts and headlines and also the none-rock like images. The popular band make it clear it is still rock based but the colours of the image show elements of other genres and therefore, more audiences.