Real Media Analysis 1
NME’s masthead is iconic and is always in the same top left hand corner. It has the same font and colour in every issue. This makes the magazine distinguishable in shops and easy to spot. This gives it a sense of unique identity. The masthead is usually of a bright red, bold typography – this is to grab people’s attention. NME’s front cover usually only has about four colours and fonts on the front cover so that it does not overdo it too much and keeps with a regular pattern. The main image is linked to the feature article, this is to give added importance and the image takes up the majority of the cover with offshoots of sub headings and images around it. In this issue singer-songwriter Jake Bugg is the featured artist, he has been picked as he appeals to the typical NME reader target audience, sixteen to mid-twenties indie/alternative music fans. Jake Bugg is a leading artist in modern day indie music. The image is in regards to Jake Bugg touring America, so the mise-en-scene of the image, specifically a Coney Island glass, also by the looks of thing sitting in a diner, sells the title well. There are only four colours on the front cover, red, yellow, white and black. These are for the most point bold and bright colours that will stand out to the reader. This also doesn’t overdo it either; the main titles are parallel to the masthead, the colour red. This is to keep with the codes and conventions of the magazines themes, red also stands out as one of the first colours we see, and as this magazine wants the main title to stand out amongst the sub-titles the colour red has been used cleverly here. Other names such as Noel Gallagher, Interpol and Bjork have been put in yellow as these attract a specific target audience of readers wanting to read about their favourite artists. There is only three fonts, this helps keep the front cover simple. The main title is in bold red typography similar to the masthead, this draws attention to the feature article of the magazine straight away. The main image is Jake Bugg and the title is Jake Bugg, this makes it ever clearer that the feature article is about Jake Bugg. Sub-titles with important names such as Noel Gallagher are in yellow to hold more relevance than other text to raise our awareness of what’s in the magazine. The Killers’ Wembley show tickets are in a red circle underneath the masthead on the left to avert attention to the advertisement. There is a title for Nirvana unseen pictures above the masthead along with images of Kurt Cobain to the right appealing to a specific target audience of Nirvana fans. They will pick the magazine up just to read about their favourite band. There is also a barcode in the bottom left to show that the magazine is for sale. It also has a web address which means that the platform is a multi-media platform product.