The target audience of NME magazine is adults, particularly those in their 30s and 40s, who enjoy indie music as the magazine focuses on bands from earlier eras. The masthead uses bold colors and a simple font to represent the music genres covered in the magazine. The cover of the issue summarized focuses on the band Pulp, with the main image showing one band member and the main cover line hinting that the band may be reforming or making new music.

1. TARGET AUDIENCE AND GENRE
The target audience for NME seems to be people who
like indie music as this seems to be the music genre it is
based around. I would say that the age demographic of
the magazine would be adults possibly in their 30’s and
40’s. I say this because a lot of the artists that are
focused on in the magazine are bands that older adults
used to listen to when they were younger.
MASTHEAD
The NME masthead is very recognisable for its bold
colour and simplicity. The masthead doesn’t give much
insight to the music is represents but the font and
colours are bold and noticeable and this could be a
portrayal of the bands and artists.
THE GUTENBERG DESIGN PRINCIPAL
The primary optical area of the magazine consists of
the masthead, instantaneously telling the audience
what the magazine is and the style of music
incorporated in the actual magazine, as this is a brand
heavily associated with indie music. There aren’t any
other main focuses on the cover apart from small titles
suggesting the edition is heavily focused on Pulp.
MAIN IMAGE
From the main image we can tell that the band Pulp
seem rather retro and different. Also we know that
because there is only one person on the cover then we
aren’t to expect there to be interviews with the whole
band and instead just him.
COVER LINES
There are three cover lines in the top right corner and one in
the bottom left. Seen as these aren’t the first places you would
look at when you look at a cover this suggests that they are not
the most important focuses of the magazine.
MODEL CREDIT
The model credit of this cover is the only imagery
included perhaps showing the importance and emphasis
of the artist.
MAIN COVER LINE
The main cover line of this magazine is ‘is it over? Don’t
be so sure…’ This hints to the audience that the band
Pulp could possibly be reforming or planning to create
new music so this is an important thing to have as that
main cover line as it would draw peoples attention and
make them want to purchase the magazine so that they
could learn more about the bands plans.
COLOURS/TYPEFACES/HOUSE STYLE
NME use the colour red for all of their magazine covers
as this is the bright, vibrant colour it has always been
associated with.
BANNERS/FLASHES/BADGES
The banner in this magazine is on the ‘P’ which is a
clever way to make it stand out because out eyes are
drawn to this area because of the colour.