This document analyzes the contents page of the music magazine NME. It discusses various design elements including the main image of Dizzee Rascal, which helps indicate the target audience is aged 17-30. While Dizzee Rascal suggests a focus on the black ethnicity, other artists featured represent different ethnic groups. Most elements follow magazine design conventions like using a grid system to draw the eye to key elements. Overall the cover aims to attract its target rock music audience through exciting visuals and prominent coverage of popular artists.

1. Task 1a – Analyse the contents page from NME
Mis en scene- the mis en scene describes the arrangement ofscenery in an image (everything in the
image). This can range from makeup, to costume andto props and so onand so on. It is usedin order
to create a main feature ofthe magazine inorder to make the target audience want tobuy it. It also
helps make use of space and make the cover look more exciting and fun tolook at as it will draw the
audience’s attention towards them first. The mis enscene is conventional for all magazines in order
to help portray the genre – e.g. rock magazines use guitars, gigs etcto showhowtheir magazine fits
into rock. The main image of this NME magazine is of Dizzee Rascal, whichis supported by the large sell
line in the middle third of the page. This helps us have an idea as towho the target audience of this
magazine is. Dizzee rascal is age 29. As there are quite recent people suchas him, muse, maximo
park, the yeah yeah yeahs andmuse (whoall are about the same age)it suggests to me that there is
a target audience aged 17-30. Not only does it tell us about age range it tells us about ethnicity.
Dizzee rascal has a ‘black’ ethnicity. As he is the main image ofthis magazine it suggests that this
magazine must also be focused at those of the same ethnicity, whoalso enjoy his music and rapping.
However, most ofthe other bands named on the cover contain white ethnic members. This suggests
that the magazine is aimed at different ethnic groups. Furthermore, it is a stereotype that most rock
singers or bands are males. This is supported as most ofthe bands mentionedinclude all male
members. You could alsosay that gender is represented by Dizzee rascal because he is a male and
the only personon the cover, thus showing ho the magazine should be targeted at. However, there
are female members inbands suchas paramore and the yeah yeah yeahs. Therefore this suggests
that the magazine could have a potential female audience but is mainly basedaroundmales. The
price of the magazine is £2.30. As this isn’t too expensive it suggests to me that the target audience
will have a working lifestyle and will be able toafford it andgo andbuy it in their spare time. He is
looking straight at the camera, which creates a sense of direct address and makes the magazine seem
user friendly. He looks very happy and his arms are spread out wide. The connotation of this is that he
is reaching out and welcoming the target audience to the magazine. His clothes and accessories – a
white vest, baggy jeans, a golden chain andpumps denotes that he is not a typical artist that would
generally appear in this rock basedmagazine. Therefore he doesn’t stereotypically fitintothe genre of
the magazine. This could connote that this editionofNME is a special edition andit is a one off which
features an unusual artist which wouldn’t normally be considered to feature in a rock based magazine.
His posture is crouched, whichsuggests a more informal magazine as he portrays a funand happy
personality rather than a serious, harsh personality. Furthermore the way he is crouching andsmiling
creates a sense that you are at his concert and he is on stage crouching down at you. This makes the
audience feel like they are being directly looked at and makes them feel special as they wouldfeel as if
they have just spoken tohim. Conventionally, the phototaken ofDizzee rascal is a long shot because it
includes his whole body. However it appears as more ofa medium close up because of his posture.
Colour scheme –thereis a distinctcolour schemeshown on this front
cover. You canseethat the colour ofsomewords, shapes and the
masthead allshare the samecolour to Dizzee rascals shoes,and the
persons jacket in thebackground.The useofsuch colours (red, white
and black) is used tocreatea housestyle which isconventional for all
magazines. A house style isaparticular layout and coloursused on
each issue, in order for it to becauserecognisable to the audience and
so will brand the magazine. The vibrant colours included onthis
magazineissueareusedto enticetheaudience and catchtheir
attentionso that they mightpurchasethemagazine.
The masthead-‘NME’ clearly stands out atthetopofthepage
because it is big,bold writing which is filled with a vibrant red
colour. It takes up mostof thetop third, anduses a large dramatic
font in order to reachits target audienceor nichemarket.
Because such abig font isused, it will become recognisableto
the reader. Thusthe point ofthe masthead isto brand the
magazine. Due to this, on some magazinesthemasthead can be
covered or have lettersmissing aspeoplewillstill recognise
what magazine it is. The black outline makes thetypography
stand out, and makes it morevisible tothereader.
Main sell line– the main sell line is a short punchy sentence
(conventionally a quote or the person in the images name) and its sole
purpose is to immediately sell the magazine to the audience just by what
it says. It reads ‘Dizzee rascal’. This is done as a means to endorse the
audience because the use of such a famous celebrity will intrigue the
audience to buy the magazine. The typography is in a big white font, and
fills one third of the page. It is in such a big size in order to connote high
importance, and it creates a hot spot for the audience to look at as it is
within the rule of thirds. The font is 3D and had a shadowed outline. This is
done to enhance the overall 3D effect of the cover (due to Dizzee rascals
open arms).
Main cover line – the main cover line is conventionally a quote or a piece of text
that will immediately reach out and entice the audience into reading the
magazine. It is the main focus of the magazine issue and will relate to the main
image and mis en scene of the cover. It reads “I’m spreading joy around the
world, man!” A main cover line is a common convention used on the cover pages of
magazines, and always links to the mis en scene. The quote says it spreading joy,
which can be linked to the facial expression on Dizzee rascal. The cover line tells
you a bit about what will be featured in the magazine, and gives you hints as to the
content, thus intriguing the niche market/target audience and making them want
to buy the magazine. The use of punctuation such as the exclamation make also
intrigues the reader and makes the magazine seem user friendly as it makes the
content sound fun and exciting to read.
Barcode/date/issue/price – a barcode is an essential
element neededon allmagazine covers inorder to
inform the reader andsell the product. It is generallya
small box, andplacedinthe bottomcorners ofthe page.
Footer – The footer of a music magazine generallynamesother artists/bands that will feature inthe magazine. It is ina black fo nt andhasa white
background inorder to make the writing stand out andmake it more visible andeasyto read for the audience. Fromthe bands featuredinthe
footer, it helps you determine what sub genre the magazine is if you cannot denote this from the mis en scene (ifyou don’t knowwhothe person
is).
Header – the header generallysummarises the content of the magazine, and
some bands or artists that will be featured. As the genre of the magazine is
rock, the bands featuredwithinthe header are rock bands that the niche
market / target audience willbe familiar with and enjoyreading about if they
are fans of their music.
Puff – A puff is an eye-catching graphic, which is simply used toadvertise
more exciting information that can be found inside the magazine. It is also
often usedto present cover mounts, which give the audience a chance to ‘win’
a competition or to get their hands on free merchandise. They appear at the
side of the page aroundor slightly behind the main image (it wants to be
noticed but doesn’t want todistract the audience from the main feature of
the magazine). This puff appears at the side of the page, and generally contains
cover mounts, important news or free merchandise that would appeal to the
target audience. This particular puff uses buzz words suchas ‘news’ and
‘reunion’ in order to entice the audience’s attention. The use of a red
background for the writing makes it standout because ofits vibrant colour, and
it also links to the colour scheme, thus making a house style for the magazine.
Rule of thirds – The rule of thirds -a common convention for all magazines
-uses a grid (shaped like a hash tag - #) in order to create hot spots for the
reader to look at by aligning the image with intersection points on the
grid. For example, Dizzee rascal is placed in a way such that his eyes appear
on the line of thirds. This therefore creates a hot sport where the reader
will instantly look. Furthermore by doing this, it creates a sense of direct
address because the person in the image is looking directly at you. Using
rule of thirds helps create a layout for the magazine, which can be made
into a house style so that it becomes recognisable to the reader. The left
third of music magazines generally contains the cover lines and puffs or
other key content/sell lines, and the right thirds contains the image and
barcode.