Magazine cover analysis

Dateline. Kicker Explanatory text.

The kickers and explanatory texts aren't like they would be on a conventional magazine, also, the Kicker isn't usually under the explanatory. They don’t seem to go as in depth

and there are a few more than usual.

Mast head

ExplanatoryMain cover

line

Kicker Explanatory.

The mast head is one of the biggest things on the cover and

it’s the main thing that the readers need to associate with

the actual magazine. It is mainly bight, bold and big to catch the

attention of readers.

The kicker is a very short phrase which advertises an article

about a band within the magazine. The explanatory

describes more from the kicker and gives a very brief summary

of the article. These help the reader to asses the magazine

before they buy it.

The main cover line usually depicts the

biggest story/article of the week. The main

picture accompanies the main cover line, this

makes it stand out more.

Barcode

Splatters are used to grab the readers attention about

what is inside the magazine.

Splatter

Eye flow of the cover.

This is a diagram from eye flow that is used for design.

The cover doesn’t really seem to naturally follow the usual eye flow. The main cover line is right in the eye flow but the rest of the kickers and explanatory's aren't in the eye flow. The main person in the picture is followed by the eye flow and the small splatter is also included in the eye flow. It would be better if more articles and more of the magazine followed the eye flow.

Language

The language is quite informal and it tells the audience a lot about the main content of the magazine. The exclamation marks make it informal and they show that the stories are big and current news. The text that is in capitals shows the importance of the articles. The word ‘Sicko!’ shows that this magazine is aimed for younger people, for example people of the ages of 16-25. The chatty tone of the band who talk about America gives the magazine a more relaxed feeling. The word ‘fancy’ makes it seem more comfortable and less controlled because it doesn’t give a certainty. The font is cosistent on the front page. Its quite a heavy font which adds to the rock genre of the magazine. The only main font that isnt in captials is the Explanatory above the main cover line and the which possibly could show the unimportance of the sentence however, it possibly could also highlight the sentence.

Colour scheme.The red and white is used all over the magazine, in the text and the splatter. The main pictures core colours doesn’t match the rest of the magazine and this makes the picture stand out. The colour scheme brings the entire magazine together. The red and white colour is used on a lot of NME covers as it matches the recognized masthead. The colours bring an edgy and rock look to the magazine, this reflects on the main genre of music the magazine focuses on; which is rock.

Mise en sceneAll of the band members on the cover are looking straight at the camera, this shows that the band is collaborating with the magazine, rather than the magazine looking on at the band. The fact that one band member is standing further in front of the other members highlights his importance in the band and his sunglasses also make him stand out from the other members. There's not much going on in the picture but I think the positioning of the members on the band reflect on their importance and possibly how well known they are.

This section at the bottom shows how much more there is in the magazine. It also shows the variety of artists included. There are other artists all over the cover and this uses very little space to introduce the artists.

The colour and font of the splatter brings the readers attention to it. Its bright red so it attracts the reader, it doesn’t have a kicker or an explanatory but the short, snappy overview of the article adds in more information about inside the magazine on the front cover, without having to take up much space.

The bright colours of this section, at the top right hand side, make the articles stand out from the cover. The size of the black text highlight the focus of the certain articles in the magazine. There is no other yellow text on the cover, so this shows the importance of the yellow text in this section.

What inspires me.

Generally, I really like the colour scheme of the magazine which gives that ‘rock’ look. I also like the layout of the bottom half of the magazine. I also like the picture because its simple, yet quite stylish. I like the clash of the colours of the text and the main picture.

However, I don’t particularly like the fact that all the text is in capitals because visually, I don’t think it looks that good. I feel that the magazine could also follow the eye flow more to make it more appealing to the audience. I not sure I like the language used, either because, I feel its too informal and immature.