The document compares and contrasts the layout and design elements of articles about the band My Chemical Romance from two different music magazines: NME and Kerrang. It analyzes the fonts, headlines, images, captions, pull quotes, columns and other stylistic choices used in both articles and how they are intended to attract readers' attention and guide them through the content. The key differences noted are that Kerrang uses a more complex layout with multiple small black and white images compared to NME's single large color photo, and Kerrang's structure leads the eyes around the page more while NME's is more linear.

1. Jesse McNamara

4. • A sans serif font is used in the
title with the addition of making it
bold in order for it to stand out
from the rest of the magazine. It
is the same type of font and style
as other articles in NME showing
consistency within the magazine.
The fact that it is made to stand
out shows that the article is
about them and connotates that
it is a big and important band.
The purpose of a headline is to
outline what the article is going
to be about, as used here as it is
showing that the article is going
to be about the band.

5. • In the Kerrang article a sans serif font is used
again in the title. Unlike the NME magazine which
uses a plain font with a colour that stands out
from the background (following the rule of less is
more) to draw attention, Kerrang used red and
white writing to draw attention to the title with the
addition of it being bigger than the rest of the
writing. “The Best MCR” is the biggest writing of
the title A sans serif font is used in the title with a
white font which stands out more than the red
which immediately draws our eyes to it. Also like
NME it uses the same type of font and style as
the other articles which is comforting to the
reader as it shows consistency and makes the
magazine easier to follow. The use of an
abbreviation (“MCR”) connotates that it is a well
known band as the audience wouldn‟t understand
the abbreviation if they weren‟t. The title is
important as it highlights what the article is going
to be about, as shown here the article is about
how MCR are improving themselves.

6. • The purpose of a stand
first/slug/subheading is to draw you in to
read the article. The stand first in this
article has used the same font as the
rest of the article but in a bigger size in
order to make it stand out to the
reader, it is also placed at the top of the
article above the beginning of it in order
to, again, bring attention as the attention
will be brought to the beginning of the
article. The words used in the stand first
are important as one that was plain and
boring wouldn‟t make someone want to
read the article. For example, strong
words are used like “hate” and “shot” to
make it more enticing. They also use
phrases like “nothing will stop” to bring
attention to the reader as it connotates
that the band are going further and
further in their success.

7. • The purpose of a stand first/slug/subheading is to
draw you in to read the article. Where the stand
first in the NME article has used the same font as
the rest of the article but in a bigger size in order
to make it stand out to the reader and also placed
it above the article away from the title, Kerrang
have chose it to also be placed above the article
but below the title, this brings attention as we are
drawn to the medium between the two and the
use of the bold writing of “my chemical romance”
draws attention also. bring attention as the
attention will be brought to the beginning of the
article. The words used in the stand first are
important as one that was plain and boring
wouldn‟t make someone want to read the article.
For example, in NME they used words such as
“shot” whereas in Kerrang words like “invite” and
“their” are used which makes it sound like a
privilege for Kerrang to be there. Also the way
that the stand first is written makes MCR sound
like they are totally focused in to their music and
shows that the article will focus on this.

8. • A drop cap is where the
beginning letter of a sentence
is made bigger than the rest
of the words. Here, the drop
cap is used exactly like that
with a highlighted
background in order to make
the article look more
significant on the page. The
way that the drop capital is
highlighted brings our eye
towards it, enticing us to read
the article.

9. • A drop cap is where the
beginning letter of a sentence is
made bigger than the rest of the
words. Like NME, the drop cap
in Kerrang is used exactly like
that although whereas NME use
a highlighted background in
order to make the article look
more significant on the
page, Kerrang uses just a red
bold M which shows consistency
with the house theme and isn‟t
too distracting from the article
while still drawing attention.

12. • The reason behind columns and
grid systems is to make the page
easier to read and more
organised rather than having it
all laid out without any order.
They are encouraged to read the
article as it looks easy to read
and each text used in the article
is left aligned which shows a
house system which is used
continually in the article. It‟s easy
to follow the article as only one
pull quote is used which doesn‟t
distract too much attention from
the article yet it adds attention to
the article in general.

13. • The reason behind columns and
grid systems is to make the page
easier to read and more
organised rather than having it
all laid out without any order.
Like the NME article the text is
left aligned which is comforting
to the eye. The article is in two
columns and is smaller in
comparison to the rest of the
text. The third column on the
right hand page is music the
band have done which is more
information about the band so
the reader can find out more
about them.

14. • Pull quotes show a quote used in the
article but with the font size bigger to
make it stand out. It‟s a typical
convention used in magazines, if the
reader reads the pull quote first and
the quote interests them they are
more likely to read the article so the
text used has to be picked cautiously
so that it looks interesting, for
example words like “shot” are used to
gain attention, with the following “it‟s
no big thing for me” which makes the
reader think „why is it no big thing‟ and
will make them want to read it. The
pull quote in this magazine has been
strategically placed in order to break
up the article and make it easier for
the audience to read.

15. • Pull quotes show a quote used in the
article but with the font size bigger to make
it stand out. It‟s a typical convention used
in magazines, although unlike NME,
Kerrang have used a more clever way of
introducing the pull quote as the quote is
both a pull quote and the title. If the reader
reads the pull quote/title then they will gain
more information about the article and will
come to a decision of whether or not they
read it so the text used has to be picked
cautiously so that it looks interesting, for
example words like “best” are used to gain
attention, and different words are of
different sizes which draws your eye to it.
The pull quote in this magazine has been
strategically placed in order to not make
the article look too full.

16. • A caption has been used in
NME to give credit to the
photographer and explain
who was in the image
which adds anchorage as it
gives meaning to the
image. They are important
so that the audience know
that the images are relevant
to the magazine.

17. • Whereas NME uses one
photo and one
caption, Kerrang uses four
photos with four captions.
The captions add
anchorage to the images as
they show what they mean
and who is in the image.
They are important so that
the audience know that the
images are relevant to the
magazine.

18. • NME uses one image in their article in order
to draw attention. The image is in full colour
and the image in articles usually display the
band and who is in the band or who will
feature in the interview as done here. Music
magazines usually make the main image
take up a whole page which is what has
been done here. The setting for the image is
in what seems to be a family home which
connotates that the band are calm and
casual about being famous and still remain
level headed. The image is quite unusual as
they have people who are not part of the
band with things tied around their eyes
which suggests that the band are a bit quirky
(considering the setting also) unlike other
bands who pose in an actual setting. The
lighting of the band is made to make the
immediate eye focus on the band sitting
around the table.

19. • Unlike NME, Kerrang have chose to
include multiple images that are black
and white in order to make the main
focus on the title and text. Each of the
photos has been manipulated for it to be
this way in order to create a certain style
of imagery, for example the images
edited in this article are almost gothic
and emo which is the type of music that
My Chemical Romance produce. The
size of the band is evident considering
the pictures they have chosen which
connotates their success. The separate
images increases the fandom of the
band as it makes the reader feel like
they are included more in the article
rather than just having one image of the
band.

20. • The structure of NME is
straightforward and the
parts in the magazine are
placed specifically in order
to make the magazine flow
for your eyes, for example
the magazine makes your
NME
eyes go from left to right to
left. The information is
revealed straight away as
NME seem to jump into the
article.

21. • Unlike NME, Kerrang‟s structure
is less straightforward and more
complicated as it uses multiple
images and different parts to the
article which has the same eye
catching effects as NME but
makes it look a lot complicated.
Whereas NME makes you go
Kerrang from left to right to left, Kerrang
makes your eyes go all over as
there isn‟t a certain part of the
magazine to focus on and
different things included in the
magazine distract you when you
are focused on something.

22. • NME‟s mode of address in the
article is indirect which keeps up
the interview. A direct mode of
address in an interview would
most likely cause confusion to
the reader. Words such as
“rippers” are used in the article
which is slang and words like
NME “indie” are reader specific as an
older person would most likely
not understand what this means.
The article is wrote in first
person which makes it more
personal to the reader.

23. • Like NME the article is written in
first person which again increases
the fandom of the band as the
readers feel more connected with
the article. The mode of address is
indirect in order to not make
confusion with the writing, as the
reader may not understand
whether the band or the writer is
talking. Unlike NME, Kerrang
Kerrang doesn‟t use words that are slang.
Words that are reader specific are
used, for example My Chemical
Romance is shortened down to
MCR which assumes that the
reader is already aware of what the
band are called and who they are
and will know what MCR stands for.

24. • NME follows the house style of
left aligned text and a colour
scheme of black, pink, purple
and blue. It is maintained
through the article as everything
(such as the title, text, logo) is
left aligned, the drop cap‟s
background is purple, “new
NME noise” is purple, pink and black
and the square in the bottom
right hand corner includes all the
house colours. The house style
is also continued onto the actual
image where writing on a shirt is
blue.

25. • Kerrangs house style is
black, white and red. The text
is left aligned in the actual
article but the title/pull quote
is center aligned. Kerrang
have followed the house style
colours really well and even
Kerrang the images included are
black and white to make the
article seem more consistent.
The title includes two colours
(red and white) and the
background is black in order
to pull it all together.

26. • The identity that the
magazine are creating for the
Chapman family is a small-
town band that are easy
going as the band member
didn‟t seem to bothered
about being shot. The
magazine creates an identity
NME for the band as if they are
unstoppable, by using words
such as “nothing will stop”
and acting as if they should
have already stopped
because they have been
shot.

27. • The identity that the
magazine are creating for the
Chapman family is a small-
town band that are easy
going as the band member
didn‟t seem to bothered
about being shot. The
magazine creates an identity
Kerrang for the band as if they are
unstoppable, by using words
such as “nothing will stop”
and acting as if they should
have already stopped
because they have been
shot.

28. • The identity that Kerrang
are creating for My
Chemical Romance is an
old band that are doing well
for themselves and are
continuing to improve. It is
Kerrang representing social groups
such as goths and emos by
the gothic editing of the
pictures and the black and
red constant house theme.