1. The genre isthe type of magazine it
is.This is a musicmagazine,asa
popularmusicartistis the model of
thisissue’sfrontcover.The target
audience forthisparticularissue
will have aninterestinthe sub-
genre of rap/hip-hopgenre music
and so Dizzee Rascal,whoisa well-
knownrap icon,will be easily
recognisable and appeal tothe
target audience, asthismodel
representsthis magazinetobe
abouta genre of musictheylike.
However,Ithinkthe usual sub-
genre of thismagazine isalsorock
and indie rockmusic,asthe media
language usedinthe othercover
linesdenotes(shows) iconsof rock
music,suchas ‘Muse’and
‘Kasabian’.These bandsare well
knowninthe rock sub-genre,
makingthemiconsof rock, and
presentingthistobe a rock
magazine.
The main Image is positioned inthe
centre of the frontcoverto
automaticallyengage the
audience’sattentionasthiswill be
the firstthingtheysee.The main
image isa full bodylongshot (as the
top of hisheadand hisfeetare
visible) thathasbeencroppedby
the overlayingtexttoamedium
close up of hischestand face,which
isdone to make the modelsface a
mainfocal pointto furtherdraw the
audience in,sothey see hisfacial
expression.The audience will see
the use of mis-en-sceneinthe form
of directaddress, whichcreatesa
sense of intimacybetweenthe
audience andthe model,and
therefore makesthemwantto
know more about hisstoryand read
the article inside.
The strapline isplacedacrossthe
top of the front cover,above the
masthead,toadvertise anexclusive
feature of thisissue thatisinside
the magazine.Thisisdone to show
the target audience thatthis
magazine hasmore to offerthan
othermagazinesthatmay be on the
shelf andsomakesit more
appealingtothem.
The layout of the magazine followsthe
usual codesand conventionsof amagazine
frontcover byusing rule of thirds, by
splittingthe page 3 timeshorizontallyand3
timesvertically.Thisistomake the
significantfeaturesof the covervisible,
whichhelps tosell the magazine,suchas
the mastheadandpuff showingextra
featuresof thisissue,whenthe magazineis
partlycoveredbyothermagazinesonthe
shelf.
The mis-en-scene iseverythingthatmakes
up an image,withuse of colour,lighting,
acting,makeupprops,andsetting.Aswell
as Dizzee Rascal’sfacial expression,the
red,white andblackcolourscheme isalso
part of the mis-en-scene.The colour
scheme followsthe usual codesand
conventionsof amagazine,asthisiswhat
catchesthe targetaudience’seye,and
givesthe magazine it’strademarkcolours,
thusencouragingbrandingandselling,by
makingitrecognisable andstandouton a
shelf.
The masthead is the name of
the magazine,so‘NME’ isthe
mastheadhere.Itiswrittenin
a large,boldfontto standout
as soonas the audience look
at the page,sotheywill know
whichmagazine thisisand,as
thisisa weeklymagazine,
automaticallywantto
purchase it.
The target audience iswhothe magazine
isspecificallyaimedat.Ithinkthe target
audience age range isbetween 15-30
years,due to the connotations
(messages) behindthe rockbandnames
and rap artistslistedinthe coverlinesand
maincoverline,showingmusicthat
wouldappeal topeople inthisage group
the most. I thinkthe genderof the target
audience ismen,asthe dominant
stereotype isthatmenpreferthissub-
genre of musicoverwomen.Also,the
serif andsans serif textonthisfrontcover
isquite standard,whichwouldappeal to
menmore,whereas womenwouldprefer
more decorative text,andlightercolours,
such as pink,etc.I thinkthe ethnicityof
thistarget audience is adiverse range of
backgroundsdue to the mainimage
breakingthe stereotypeof usingawhite
model forthe mainimage,andthe fact
that the majorityof today’srap iconsare
dark-skinned,soshowingthisonthe front
coverappealsmore to the target
audience interestedinthissub-genre of
music,bygivingthemsomeone theycan
relate to.
The barcode is shownwiththe
dateline of the magazine,which
tellsthe audience howoftenthis
magazine isreleased.Itisalso
shownwiththe price and issue
numberandis usuallyshownonthe
frontcover.
The cover linesare positioned
aroundthe mainimage,telling
the target audience the
articlesandfeaturesof this
issue.The maincover line is
bigger,makingitstandout in
the page andis the most
significantstoryof thisissue.It
isdirectlyanchored tothe
mainimage,puttingastory
behinditandtherefore
makingthe audience wantto
readmore aboutthe model in
theirfeaturedinterview,etc.
