This is definitely an iconic issue, sometimes I believe that the absence of text and pull quotes and sky lines can be just as important as the inclusion on them, when conveying the representation and the image of the featured artist. The absence of these respective features convey the iconic view of Kurt Cobain and his memory. The gritty, edgy black and white image conveys the rawness of Kurt Cobain and Nirvana, yet the upward gaze of his grungy eyes indicates a dream like, abstract quality to their music which has a veneer of hardcore and attitude yet with a vulnerable core. The cover lines are bold in comparison to the soft black and white image and the barcode is placed so it will not obstruct the image of Kurt Cobain the skyline offers normal details (price, date etc.) and offers of a free poster but no other articles are mentioned, we can assume the whole issue is dedicated to Kurt. The masthead is 3D, exciting and energetic looking it stands out amongst the rest of the features, which are grainy and almost melancholy
When other backdrops for studio shoots are neutral colours, usually white, this backdrop is a navy/midnight blue, which co-ordinates with Conor Oberst wearing what appear to be pyjamas and sitting on a bed, this conveys the artistic, maybe even surreal nature of the artist and the magazine. Conor Oberst’s music is of an alternative nature, and this is represented by the surreal nature of the magazine front cover. This magazine is also unconventional, in the sense that Conor Oberst has what appears to be a large cake in his hands, in the music magazines I have researched in, featured musicians on front cover rarely interact with objects, and even those objects are usually musical instruments. The font of the main article blends in with the font and colour of the backdrop and the cover lines, I think that with front covers consistency is very important when it comes to graphics. With the masthead, it is strange because it isn’t outlined in black but the bold red stands out against the blue.
What I find interesting about this front cover is that I’ve never seen the featured artist interact with the masthead in such a way. This also co-ordinates with the pull-quotes “Matt Bellamy is out of control” and “I bought 50 tins of beans and an axe” conveying the rock-and-roll lifestyle. I would like my magazine to take inspiration from this try to be presented in an unconventional way. Matt Bellamy does this to convey the rock-and-roll image of Muse and is also dressed in such a way, with spiky hair and what appears to be eye-makeup, also, it should be noted that the red trim of the jacket co-ordinates with some of the cover lines and the colour of the masthead. I think the dark-grey studio backdrop co-ordinates well with the consistent black, red and while colour scheme and the block capitals and bold typography make the cover lines stand out, there are a lot of cover lines in this front cover but it does not obstruct or draw attention away from the photo of Matt Bellamy. The skyline of the issue “The UK’s Biggest Music Magazine, the word “biggest” is written in slight