The document analyzes various elements of the New Musical Express (NME) magazine, including its front cover, contents page, and a double page article spread. It examines the layout, house style, and main images used. The analyses show that NME uses a bold, informal style with vibrant colors to appeal to its target audience of 16-20 year olds. Main images are chosen to represent the music genres and artists featured. Elements like mastheads, drop caps, and placement of text/images follow NME's house style to create a recognizable look while breaking conventions.

1. Analysis of front cover (NME)
Cover line
Masthead The cover lines are fairly
informal, especially the main
one which is tilted. This
Main Image shows how NME is breaking
rules and not following
Flash conventions, much like the
music itself. The informal
language like ‘man’ links
well to the artist and his
music genre. Also, the use of
the colour white for cover
lines could be perhaps
Main cover line representative of the fresh,
new music that NME brings.
Sans Serif font is also used
to show the bold,
seriousness of the magazine.
Footer Barcode
Left third

2. Front cover (continued)
• MAIN IMAGE - The main image is a long shot of a popular, well known artist. This
encourages the reader to buy the magazine as they know it features him and a certain
style of music (rap and RnB). His positioning is inviting, bold and energetic and the
image is anchored to the quote from Dizzee Rascal as he seems to be reaching out to
the audience. The mise en scene also reinforces the music genre as the
background(street art), clothing(gold chain) and facial expression could all easily be
associated with rap music.
• MASTHEAD – The masthead is a vibrant red colour. This has many connotations but here the
main one is energy and joy which links with the main cover line. Most of the NME covers use
red for the masthead as it is ideal because all music genre’s can link fairly easily with the
colour red in some way. It also uses a bold outline, to make it stand out even more and this
provides a strong impact as well as fitting in with the house style of NME.

3. Analysis of contents page (NME)
LAYOUT: The layout is fairly basic and this is mainly because it uses the Rule of Thirds structure.
The banner at the top of the page takes up two thirds, and the main image is in the middle of the
page with some text underneath which are placed in an image of what appears to be a road case
(used for going on tour) this image is anchored with the text well and is a clever way of getting
across the information whilst linking it with the images. The subscription box in the right third of
the page appears to be less important than other magazine features but still stands out and this is
mainly due to the fact that it does not fit with the house style. There are sub headings above the
subscriptions box which help readers find exactly what they are looking for quickly and this is
helped by the page numbers in the left third.
HOUSE STYLE: The masthead from the front cover is also featured on the contents page to add
familiarity to the page and also the red, black and white colours used help readers recognise NME
immediately by keeping the same house style of the masthead throughout. The subheadings are
all bold and again keep with the red, black and white theme by placing font colours over
contrasting background colours e.g. black font on white background or vice versa. A drops cap is
also used in the middle section of the text to make the reader realises this story in the main
feature.

4. Analysis of double page spread (NME)
LAYOUT: The layout is very simple. The first
page being purely an image of Dizzee Rascal
with a bright and appropriate background
which lets the reader know the article is about
him and also the mise en scene of the image
(e.g. street art, gold chains and the positioning
of Dizzee) may help readers realise the genre
of music/artist that this feature is about. The
second page has a by/headline that takes up
most of the top half of the page. Underneath
that is the subheading, follow by the article
which is split into 4 different columns. All of
this text is over a faded image, and in the top
right hand corner there is a tag saying ‘Dizzee’.

5. Continued…
MAIN IMAGE: The main image of the double page spread is extremely appropriate to both Dizzee
Rascal, his genre of music and the target audience that are likely to read the article. We can
assume the audience are fairly young and outgoing as the graffiti used in the background of the
image is sometimes typical of street youth. The pose and expression of Dizzee suggest that he is
quite confident but also quite sneaky and maybe unique which is what NME is all about. Finally,
the clothes Dizzee Rascal is wearing suggests he is brave, powerful and perhaps dangerous, these
ideas all coming from the connotations of the red jacket he is wearing. The reader will instantly
feel more comfortable with Dizzee as they are given an idea about his background and his music,
and that essentially helps them relate to him as an artist.
HOUSE STYLE: The headline is extremely bold and certain words are given bigger font sizes to add
emphasis e.g. “tags” and “riches”, this is so draw attention to the use of specific language and to
make readers realise there is play on words with “tags” instead of rags from the popular saying.
Drops cap is used to start the article but apart from size, keeps the style of the rest of the text.
The tag in the right hand corner of the spread tells us that the article is about Dizzee and does so
in a fairly informal way. By doing this it gives the entire article a more relaxed and friendly
approach and so the reader will feel more comfortable.

6. New Musical Express (NME)
www.nme.com/magazine
The NME is a popular music magazine that has been published weekly in the United Kingdom
since 1952.
It started as a music newspaper and gradually moved into a magazine format.
It was the first British magazine to include the singles chart.
Over time is has changed in structure and has adapted to new technology, mainly due to the ever
changing target audience (due to new artists and music genre’s).
NME is published by IPC Media and edited by Mike Williams.
TARGET AUDIENCE:
Age – 16-20 (core target audience)
Mostly males, but both genders.