The masthead of the magazine cover stands out brightly against the black and white color scheme. It helps readers identify important parts like artist names. The masthead is placed behind the artists to show their importance. The magazine cover breaks conventions by not following the rule of thirds, promoting a rebellious attitude aligned with the band featured. The band's name "Nirvana" contrasts strongly with the background through size and color to differentiate it as the most important part. The band's ideology and time period are reflected in the black and white photo from the 1980s-1990s era of free will they came from. Short flashes throughout provide quick previews of stories without taking up much space.

1. The Masthead is extremely bright compared to the black and white colour scheme. The Masthead is not the only bright coloured part of the magazine, certain other parts are also highlighted yellow. It helps reader to identify the more important parts of the magazine for example the name of the front cover artists or artists relevant to the magazine.(Arctic Monkey's etc). The Masthead in this situation is placed behind the artists. It shows the importance of the artists and also shows how most of the buyers purchasing NME are already familiar with the name The magazine front cover does not follow the typical rule of third which could portray somewhat rebellious behaviour to go with the smoking band member. It promotes anarchical type behaviour which helps to attract younger audiences 'Nirvana' is showcased as the most important part of the magazine partly because the colour and mainly because the size of the text. It contrasts to the background and the picture of the band which was NME's intention. It allows them to differentiate the important parts of the article to the less important. The artists ideology fits their time frame. ‘20 years ago’ show ‘Nevermind’ were a group of artists from the 80-90’s. The 80’s were a time of free will and carelessness which could also be why the name of the band is ‘Nevermind’. The main picture is taken black and white because of the time the artists were around making music. NME do not use a selling line signifyi- ing that the band featured are enough to get it sold.

2. Masthead is clear and consistent and does not stand out from the style of the magazine but at the same times does a good job being the most noticeable thing on the page (Excluding Dave Grohl's infuriated facial expression) 'I'M NOT DEAD' refers to the internet rumours that Dave Grohl died although it can be interpreted differently by the reader and was done intentionally by NME. Not only could it refer to his apparent physical death but it can also refer to the death of his musical career which gives the reader a reason to read on. Notice the artist is also placed behind the NME text which is strange because most artists are placed in front. It adds to the idea that Dave Grohl's music career may be dead. The Lead Article is also clear and consistent with the rest of the magazine but differentiates in certain ways. It first of all has a grunge type effect fitting the indie audience the magazine has and is extremely large which makes the article/magazine seem that much more interesting. The magazine style contains many flashes. Flashes aren't portrayed as the most important part of the magazine but give the reader a quick insight into a story and it helps them anticipate it as something they may like. It's a great selling point and allows NME to fit a number of important stories without the large text and appealing images. NME use the sticker effect advertise things such as 'WIN A GUITAR. STUDIO TIME AND MORE!' help attract even those not as interested in the music world today. Their main aim may be to aspire to the artists in the magazine and competitions which give them the opportunity to do so is a great selling point for NME. The selling line used by NME is short and sharp. It isn’t to elaborative but enough to want the reader to keep on reading.

3. Bright red with a black outline, there isn’t anything different about NME’s Masthead. The Masthead is typically large and overpowering. The photo is usually placed in front of the masthead or behind it. You can tell by the photo that the ideology differs from artist to artists. The first artist is looking up to the sky hoping to achieve greatness and ‘move up’, the second artist is tugging at his hair and looks a little tired giving off the message that his music career is a strain on him, the third artist is jumping in the air and looks the most relaxed and careless. Cover lines used to promote other articles in the magazine. NME go use the left third which is vital for sales in shops where the magazine is not shown full-frontage. The title must be easily recognisable in a display of dozens of competitors. The bold Yellow heading instantly attracts attention and suits the indie theme. The yellow used connotes a hazardous message which is reinforced by the picture of the artists. They all seem to be engaged in physical activity. NME do not use a selling line in this magazine, instead they have the name of their magazine underneath the Masthead. NME place a number of cover lines throughout the page which try not to take too much attention away from the reader. NME use 3 main colours throughout the page. Red, Yellow and Blue. They establish what is important to the reader and what is not.