The document analyzes magazine front covers from NME, Kerrang!, and Rolling Stone magazines. It discusses design elements like mastheads, cover images, headlines, lists of bands, and barcodes. For the NME cover, it notes the use of color and positioning of text to draw attention. The Kerrang! cover features listed gigs and interior content previews. And the Rolling Stone cover focuses on Amy Winehouse with her large image and caption placed below. Common conventions like mastheads, barcodes, and interior previews are followed across magazines.

1. ANALYSING MAGAZINE FRONT COVERS

2. NME Magazine: BiffyClyro Lure The magazine uses a lure to catch the readers’ attention. ‘Introducing the new NME’ is an exciting prospect and readers would want to buy the magazine as it is 9 of 10 special edition covers. Masthead NME’s masthead follows main conventions of a magazine cover. It is positioned on the left size of the magazine towards the top of the page. The font is bold and this is typically known of NME. It allows the readers to identify the magazine without fully reading the name of it. Another eye catching part of the front cover is the colour of the text. ‘NME’ and ‘BIFFY CLYRO’ are both a bold blue colour. This would have been a conscious decision because they want the audience to read these two pieces of text. The guitar is also the same colour, this relates to the band. The other colours on the front cover are very plain (black, white, dark red) which makes the main focus more eye catching overall in comparison. Cover Image The cover image fills the page and the band are set in a fairly care free and natural position. This suggests their music is laid back and easy to listen to. List Of Bands NME follows the convention of music magazines by displaying a list of featured bands on the front cover to the right side of the page . This grips readers because they know what type of music will be featured within the magazine. It is also a good selling point if they like the bands. Headline Apart from the masthead, ‘BIFFY CLYRO’ is the largest font on the front cover. The font is bold and easy to read. There is a quote underneath the headline saying “being in a band isn't about getting rich, its about spiritual fulfilment of the soul”. From this, the audience gather that an interview from the band will be included inside the magazine. Barcode Follows the codes and conventions of magazines by positioning its barcode in the bottom right hand corner.

3. Kerrang! 30 Seconds To Mars Listed Gigs Masthead Kerrang’s masthead follows main conventions of a magazine cover. It is positioned on the left size of the magazine towards the top of the page. The font is white which stands out from the darker shades on the front cover. The masthead is also the same colour as the band name: ’30 SECONDS TO MARS’. The masthead is partly covered by the main star. This is probably because Kerrang! Has already established a brand identity and therefore does not need to show the entire masthead for it to be recognised by the target audience. Kerrang! has established a clear and unique brand identity through the black lines which appear through the white font. This makes it appear shattered and gives it more of a ‘rock’ feel. This would appeal to their target audience of 15-28 year olds because it has an edgy and young look. Kerrang! follow the convention of adding as much interior context to the front cover as possible. Cover Image The image of 30 Seconds To Mars covers a majority of the front cover. They are primarily the main focus and the headline of the bands name stems off of the image. In addition to this, all three of the band members are wearing a black leather jackets. This represents a more ‘rock and roll’ image and readers of the magazine would most likely also own a leather jacket. They have slightly stern, confident and dark expressions. Poster Special Barcode Follows the codes and conventions of magazines by positioning its barcode in the bottom right hand corner. Kerrang! is following the conventions of a magazine front cover by including the contents of the magazine on the cover. By doing this, readers will want to buy the magazine more because of the posters inside.

5. Rolling Stone: Amy Winehouse Added Story Masthead The box to the right has no relevance to the magazines purpose. It is just an extra story included. It presents the same punk, crooked look as the Rolling Stone brand because it is canted at and angle. However, the maturity of the magazine is still shown with just the two colours used in the advert. The technique of enlarging some parts of the sentence is used to portray the more important aspects in the headline. The first thing we notice on this front cover is the image of Amy Winehouse. It takes up a large proportion of space and dominates the cover. The masthead is barely noticeable behind the image. However, Rolling Stone develop the same design for the masthead in each issue - like many other magazines. Because Rolling Stone have made their masthead known to the audience to many years, we immediately identify the magazine without fully reading it. This is mainly because of the unique font style. Headline Amy Winehouse is the main feature of this issue. Because of this, a larger caption is presented with it. It would have been important that Amy Winehouse is seen clearly and that she is the main focus so the headline is towards the bottom of the page. Although it is lower, it is layed above the image to make it stand out and also to look more interesting. The caption is a similar colour to the mast head. This could represent the fact that Amy Winehouse is an important part of Rolling Stone. Another reason the headline could be lower down is because Amy Winehouse is a well known musician so people buying this magazine could easily identify who she is without reading this headline. List Of Bands The artists which are listed here are positioned in an organised way. They are all the same colour and size.