The document analyzes the design elements of a music magazine cover and contents page. The magazine cover uses bold colors, prominent artist names and images to attract its target audience of teenage music fans. Key elements like the masthead, cover lines and main image are carefully placed following design principles. The contents page similarly uses clear layout, images and offers to guide readers through the magazine in an appealing way for its youthful readership.

1. Masthead
The masthead is red and bold which helps it stand out
on the page. Your eyes are instantly drawn to “NME”
which makes it instantly recognisable. Red is a colour
that is mainly associated with men, who predominately
make up the target audience. It also features a lot on
this front cover and helps maintain a consistent colour
scheme. The placement of the masthead is consistent
as it features in the same place in every magazine. This
gives a strong sense of unity and familiarity. It is
placed in the left hand corner unlike the majority of
magazines where it appears centrally. By placing it on
the left the connotations are casual and friendly as it is
a similar format to a letter.
Puff
The puff is advertising
important content that is
inside and it wants to
make this clear to the
reader. The text used is
very informal further
suggesting a teenage
target audience. Its
placement beneath the
masthead means it will
be easily seen. It's also
placed in the left section
of the rule of thirds.
Footer
Medium shot
Due to Dizzee Rascal crouching down, it is a little difficult to tell what type of
shot this is. However I believe it is a medium shot which allows us to clearly
see the image and he is staring directly at the camera so he is directly
addressing the audience and it gives the front cover a personal connection
with the audience.
The footer features even more names of
artists that fans will be familiar with. The
footer is one of the last bits of
information the readers will see so it is
used as one final way of persuading
people to buy the magazine.
Header/skyline
It promotes one of the main features of the
magazine and its likely to attract many fans who
want to know when their favourite acts are on
tour. It sounds like an in-depth look into this and a
unique look at some of the biggest artists. The
font used is clear and bold. It is easy to read and
draws the reader's attention to the text.
Cover line
The cover l ine features the names of several
bands whose names will be recognisable by
many. Fans of these bands will instantly be
intrigued. The use of the word "more"
excites readers and makes them eager to
find out who else features.
Barcode
This is an essential part of a magazine as it needs
to be scanned at checkout. The positioning of this
barcode is where it usually features as it is not
one of the hotspots and it would be a waste to
have this in valuable space.
Issue number
The issue number is
another key part of the
magazine as if people buy
this magazine they want
to know how many issues
they have missed out on
and attempt to purchase
them.
Grab quote
This text anchors the
main image and fits with
the main cover line. The
use of the word "man" is
slang and is commonly
used by their target
audience of teenagers.
People will be intrigued
by this quote and want
to see how he is
spreading joy.
Main image
Dizzee Rascal is the main focal image. The name
Rascal has denotations of trouble and mischief and
when we look into the mise en scene we realise the
denotations. The graffiti in the background and
Dizzee Rascals mischievous expression give us the
denotations that he used to be a troublesome young
person who has left this behind him. . His genre of
music is rap and the ethnicity that mainly likes this is
mainly black but white people are increasingly
getting interested in it. His popularity helps attract
people to this magazine. This interview with him is
the unique selling point that will separate them from
other music magazines. He is directly addressing the
audience by staring directly at them.
Colour scheme
The colour scheme of red, black and white
is quite simple but undoubtedly effective.
The black and red stand out nicely on the
white background and all the text is easily
readable. The gender of the target
audience is likely to be male but the colours
would not put off females. Any ethnicity
could be targeted however Dizzee Rascal is
probably an artist that is more popular with
black people.
Price
The price of this magazine is £2.30
and this makes it affordable. It is in
the range that teenagers can
purchase with their pocket money.
The target audience is likely to be
middle class and this is a good
price for them. It will not take a lot
of money out of their budget and
due to what appears on the front
cover they will be convinced it will
be a worthwhile purchase.
Rule of thirds
This front cover uses rule of thirds
to create a tidy and appealing
layout which focuses reader's
attention on the key elements of
the front cover. The audience can
easily see all aspects of the
magazine because the layout is
neat and organised.

2. Main image
In this image Dizzee looks mischievous and like he
is up to something. This is emphasised by him
pretending to spray paint the wall. This links in with
the main headline but also how his past used to be.
The whole article is on him and all the attention
whereas on the front cover there was a lot going on
so the reader's attention was not fully focused on
him. The same colour scheme is used again so it's
kept consistent. Fans of his are likely to have
bought this magazine solely for him so this piece
will be exciting for them. He appeals to quite a
large audience so those who normally buy the
magazine will also be interested.
Headline
The headline is a clever play on words as the word "tags" is
used instead of "rags" due to the background he came from.
"Tags" is a word to do with graffiti. This links in with the main
image and makes it an article that links up nicely. It is an
article intended to inspire and inform. He came from an
unprivileged background and is now a highly successful artist.
Not all would have been aware of this transformation so the
article will inform them.
Sub-heading
The sub-heading gives the
reader an insight into what
the article is going to be
about. It's just a slight
taster. With stars like
Dizzee many assume they
have always had a
privileged life but he has
had to work very hard to
get to the top and that is
the focus of not only the
article, but the whole
double page spread.
Secondary image
The secondary image has connotations of a party
environment with empty beer bottles and a music player.
This mise en scene adds to the image of him being rebellious
and adds to the feeling that despite being famous he doesn’t
always have to follow the rules and act sensibly all of the
time. He now has a much higher quality of life and can enjoy
himself a great deal more.
Article text
The article is broken into four separate columns which makes
it much easier to read and much more appealing to a target
audience of teenagers who may not particularly like reading.
They typically prefer less text and more visual qualities. This
has been done by having the main image very large and by
splitting the text into much more readable paragraphs.

3. The Masthead
The masthead is once again used but
this time much smaller. It is one of
the codes and conventions of
content pages and helps give the
magazine consistency and branding
as people will become more and
more familiar with them. The same
colours are used to help build on this
and to create a house style.
Contents list
Main image
The main image is relates to what
the header was advertising. Below it
says "touring special" to show it is
dedicated to this. It feels like this will
not feature in all the magazines so
this is a "special" one off. It is a
medium shot so we can see both
what appears to be the MNE
editor/reporter and a tour bus that
links in with the special. The bus is a
prop so is part of mise en scene.
The contents list tells you what is in the
magazine and makes it easier for the reader to
find what they are interested in. It is broken
into categories which makes it more
attractive. Some readers will just read the
whole magazine so will not use the contents
list but for others they may want to read the
Dizzee Rascal feature first for example. The
headings are put in bold to make the reader
excited to read the features.
Index
Like the contents list, the index
makes it easier for the readers to
read the magazine and find the
parts they are particularly
interested in. The page numbers
and bands are written clearly in
the colour scheme of black and
red and it stands out clearly on the
white background.
Rule of thirds
The rule of thirds is used to present
this contents page in a clear and
appealing way. The three columns
are a code and convention of
contents pages. The target audience
of teenagers are put off by a huge
quantity of text so they have
presented it this way to cater for
their preferences.
Offer
Teenagers typically do not have a lot
of money to spend and their
purchases are often determined by
how much pocket money they have.
This deal will appeal to them as they
will be saving money and receiving
all the issues in the process. The
prospect of it being delivered to
their door will also be very
appealing,
Editor's introduction
Thi s is the editor introducing the
magazine and this is a nice touch
to make the readers feel
welcome and to also outline
how the editor feels about the
i s sue.
The Date
The date is one of the least
important features of this
contents page but is a welcome
features nonetheless. It is a code
and convention of contents pages
and it is good for readers who
may be reading an old issue or
readers who may want to try to
collect them all as they can easily
see the date.
Borders
Around the images are borders
which leave space around the
image. This artistic feature draws
your eye to the image and
separates the different features.