Front Cover Analysis

1. Target Audience: The target
audience is clearly for adults aged
around 15+ as it contains
information about Noel Gallagher,
who was a member of Oasis which
was a well-known band formed
around the 1990’s. The genre is
alternative rock as main image uses
direct address and the colours used
are grey which is synonymous to the
alternative rock genre and also has
red which contrasts with the grey.
House Style: The general house style
is that red is commonly used in all
NME magazines with the masthead
being red and NME magazines tend
to have the coverlines down both
sides of the front cover. NME also
has a banner on the top of the front
page which is also an example of the
house style for this magazine. On the
first page, the same theme runs
throughout all NME magazines with
a main image on the left hand side
and ‘Inside this week’ contents page
on the right, followed by a main
image in the middle with images
around it. The next page is also
similar as the same technique is used
but with ‘On Repeat’ on the left hand
side and a main image on the right.
Design principles issued: The
magazine uses the Gutenberg design
principle by using the masthead in
the primary optical area and then
putting ‘NOEL’ in red, bold writing in
the weak fallow area to bring the
readers eye towards it. The
magazine cover also uses badges in
the strong fallow area and contains
some cover lines in the terminal area
and on the right hand side to attract
the reader’s attention to the whole
of the magazine.
Main Images/Image: The main
image features Noel Gallagher
dominating the whole magazine
cover wearing a white shirt
against a similar colour
background, however the
shadows within the image gives
the magazine a more grey
colour scheme. Noel is giving
direct address with a serious
facial expression which is quite
formal, attracting the target
audience, but his facial
expression is also quite careless
but aggressive which may be
synonymous to the ‘rock’ part of
the alternative rock genre.
Masthead: The masthead ‘NME’ is in
large, red, bold, writing in the
primary optical area and that is
where the reader’s eye will
automatically be drawn towards. The
colour red is used throughout the
magazine, but also it helps to make
the masthead bolder and capture
the reader’s attention. ‘NME’ is an
abbreviation for ‘New Musical
Express,’ however the name has
been abbreviated for the masthead
to show the popularity of the
magazine. Noel Gallagher’s head is
also covering part of the letter ‘E’ for
the masthead to show how the
reader will automatically recognise
the magazine when it’s covered up.
Lead Article/Model
Credit/Coverlines: The lead
article begins with ‘Noel’ in
large, red capital letters which
shows that the main article of
the magazine will be about Noel
Gallagher, which will attract the
target audience attention as
Noel Gallagher is popular and
has been hugely successful for
the past 20 years, making
people over the age of 15,
predominantly male, be
interested in what information
the magazine contains about
Noel Gallagher. ‘Noel starts
over’ also reminds the reader of
the history of Noel Gallagher
and the band, Oasis, which will
make Oasis fans more
interested in what the magazine
has to say. The quotation “It’s
like when ‘Definitely Maybe’
came out. Everything feels out
of control” makes people be
intrigued as it suggests that
there is an interview with Noel
Gallagher, giving personal
feelings about his new life,
which may not be able to be
read anywhere else.
Genre: The genre is alternative/indie
for people that are beginning to start
becoming more interested in music,
aged/indie for people that are
beginning to start becoming more
interested in music, aged 15+. The
magazine cover suggests that the
genre is indie/alternative rock as it
has Noel Gallagher at the front, who
is a member of Oasis and uses the
colour scheme of red and grey.

2. Target Audience: The target
audience of this magazine is for
people, mainly male, aged 16-35
maybe older as The Smiths are the
main image, which were more
popular in the 1980’s. The masthead
also uses serif writing which may
make the target audience be aimed
at adults rather than 16 year olds as
the writing is more formal.
House Style: The house style of the
magazine makes the magazine
memorable to the audience as they
use similar techniques throughout the
whole of their magazines. The
masthead ‘Q’ is in the primary optical
area on every magazine using the
same colours and the same font, as
well as the cover lines being on the left
hand side; which is a technique used
to help people looking for the
magazine to find it easier on the shop
shelf. The cover lines also use the
same serif font with each magazine,
creating a more organised and
memorable technique. The page
layout such as the content page is also
similar with every magazine by having
a variety of images in the middle with
page numbers at the bottom to show
where everything is.
Main Images/Image: The main
image features The Smiths
bands containing only 2 of the
members. This is because the 2
members are the main band
members, Johnny Marr and
Morrissey, which the target
audience will be more
interested in reading about.
Both members are wearing
black clothing like a leather
jacket which is synonymous to
the alternative rock genre which
the magazine is part of. The
main image is in black and white
white is also quite iconic to the
genre and they are close
together in terms of proxemics.
Lead Article/Model Credit/Cover
lines: The lead article begins with
‘the SMITHS’ in bright, bold pink
writing which will attract the target
audience and fans of the Smiths.
The lead article is also in the
terminal area which people will
automatically go to read first,
which is a unique selling point as it
will attract the target audience to
buying the magazine. The model
credit accompanies the lead article
as the lead article is about the
Smiths, and the model credit cover
line explains how the Smiths have
been around for a long time but
still bringing new things out. This
will make people buy it as they are
interested in the new things that
the Smiths are up to, and the cliff
hanger ‘… a murder’ is synonymous
to the Smiths making people want
to read about the Smiths in the
magazine as the cliff hanger seems
interesting, but also people will
understand the pun. The cover
lines also shows the reader than
there is information inside the
magazine, not only about the
Smiths, but also about artists such
as Lily Allen and the 1975 who are
more modernised artists and may
have a different target audience,
making the target audience wider.
Genre: The genre of this magazine is
alternative rock for people
interested in older bands such as The
Smiths, but also newer bands within
this genre such as the 1975, who are
mentioned on a cover line. The
magazine suggests how the genre is
alternative rock as it has the main
members of The Smiths as the front
cover and uses the colour scheme of
black and white.
Design principles issued: The
magazine uses the Gutenberg
principle by putting the masthead in
the primary optical area in a red
background with white writing,
making it so that the reader will
notice the name of the magazine
straight away. The magazine cover
also uses cover lines within the weak
fallow area to make the readers eyes
draw towards it. ‘The Smiths’ cover
line is in the terminal area which the
reader will automatically be drawn
to, which will advertise the magazine
well as fans of The Smiths will be
able to find out that there is
information of the band as there is
an image and a main cover line.
Inserts such as ‘The 1975’ is in the
strong fallow area also to help fans
know that they will be in the
magazine.
Masthead: The masthead uses a
serif font which attracts the target
audience. It is also in the primary
optical area, which the reader will
instantly look at so the name of the
magazine will be memorable and
noticeable. The colours that the
masthead has are bright and bold
such as red and white, which will
attract the reader’s attention alone.

3. House Style: The house style of the
magazine is that red is generally used for
important information such as the
masthead and lead article. VIBE
magazines usually have a solid colour as
the background, such as grey or white,
with an artist of the same genre showing
direct eye address and attitude to the
audience. The cover lines tend to be
either white or black, depending on the
colour of background; for example, this
magazine shows a grey background with
white cover lines. Throughout the
magazine, a wide variety of adverts are
shown, especially on the first few pages;
which may attract the target audience’s
attention. Looking through the
magazines, many of the models used
tend to be mixed race or black, which
may be seen as stereotypical to the
genre of magazine.
Target Audience: The target
audience for ‘VIBE’ magazine is 25+
as looking through the
advertisement the magazine
contains adverts for cars and
makeup which older people will be
able to buy. However, the font, being
bold and sans serif may make the
target audience also aimed at
younger people as it is more
informal.
Design principles issued: The
magazine uses the Gutenberg design
principle as the masthead starts in
the primary optical area, however it
takes over both the primary optical
area and the strong fallow area, and
is covered by the main image’s head
to show that the magazine is popular
and memorable. The magazine also
has leading cover lines for the weak
fallow area and has a barcode and
cover lines in the terminal area.
Masthead: The masthead uses sans
serif font which shows it may be a
more informal magazine. The colours
are red, bold and capital letters which
makes the masthead stand out and
more memorable, although the main
image is covering the letters. The main
image covering the letters shows that
the magazine is memorable and
popular therefore the whole of the
masthead does not need to be seen
for people to recognise it. Another
reason may also be because the main
image, being Eminem, may be
important, so the magazine is showing
how important that this artist is as a
form of a marketing technique of how
to sell the magazine. Above the
masthead is a banner saying ‘Obama:
are you still down?’ in the same font as
the masthead and rest of the
magazine. This helps to sell the
magazine as people may find it
interesting to see what the magazine
says about Obama.
Genre: The genre of the magazine is
Hip Hop/RnB as we can tell by the
main image being Eminem who is a
common code for this genre. Even if
the reader did not know who
Eminem was, you can still tell that
the artist belongs to this genre as his
clothing is showing him wearing a
beanie hat and a chain type
necklace. The name of the magazine
also shows this as ‘Vibe’ is quite a
slang word used in this genre of
music.
Main Images/Image: The main
image shows the artist,
Eminem, wearing a beanie hat
and a chain necklace. This
shows how he belongs to the
Hip Hop genre as he is dressed
informal and shows a common
code to this genre. The main
image also shows Eminem
giving direct eye contact to
show intimidation or strength
which shows he has an attitude
to convey the genre. The main
cover shows Eminem as he is an
extremely popular rap artist and
will be a huge USP for the
readers to buy as there are a
wide range of Eminem fans.
Lead Article/Model
Credit/Coverlines: The lead
article shows how there is a section
of the magazine about the famous
and popular artist ‘Eminem’ to
attract the target audience’s
attention. The writing of ‘Eminem’
is in the same font and colours as
the title, suggesting that the lead
article is just as important as the
magazine itself. The model credit
accompanies the lead article as it is
still speaking about Eminem. The
model credit speaks about a film
which Eminem was in being
reunited, which widens the target
audience as Eminem fans will be
interested but also the fans of the
movie. The lead article and model
credit both have a badge above
saying ‘EXCLUSIVE’ which attracts
the audience as it shows how the
information can’t be read
anywhere else. The coverlines
which are used are still in sans
serif font but in white writing to
make them stand out more. They
contain information about other
artists such as ‘KESHA’ which
makes the target audience wider
as people who may not be fans of
Eminem will still want to read
what’s inside.