The document compares and contrasts the front covers of two music magazines, Q and NME. Q targets older audiences in their 30s-40s interested in music itself. NME targets younger audiences aged 16-20s interested in fashion, gossip, and new bands. Both magazines use consistent mastheads as their logos to identify the brand. When applying the Gutenberg design principle of reading top to bottom, left to right, the magazines place their mastheads in the primary optical area to identify the magazine. The main images also differ - Q uses a close-up of Florence to look sophisticated for its older audience, while NME uses a long shot of The Maccabees to show fashion and appear fun for younger people

1. Media Studies – Front Cover Analysis
In this essay I will compare and contrast the front covers of two very different music magazines.
The magazines I will be using are Q and NME.
Each magazine attracts a specific target audience, for example the target audience for Q magazine
are the older generation such as people in their 30’s and 40’s who are looking for a different mode
of address and a more sophisticated insight and basically just want to know more about the actual
music rather than the style and or background of an artist. However the target audience for NME
Magazine would be of a younger audience of around 16 to early 20’s, I believe this because younger
people tend to be the ones who care more about the latest fashion, gossip and newest bands, they
are also more likely to go to concerts and gigs and would want to read up on the latest news about
the artists/bands.
Both magazines have their own house styles for instance all Q magazines have the same masthead
to keep consistency throughout and also so the viewer always knows which magazine it is they are
purchasing. This could also be seen as the logo of the magazine as it’s short and easy to remember
and associate with as being the brand name. NME magazine is similar to that of Q as it also has the
same masthead for each magazine released which could also be considered as the logo as it’s short
and memorable. Other house styles which the magazine has would be that the photographs used for
the magazine make direct address with the reader, bold font colours and celebrities names in white
font as they are the main focal point of the magazine.
The Guttenberg design principle is a suggestion that people are assumed to read the content top
to bottom and left to right. This will then help you to split a page into four quadrants. The primary
optical area which is in the top left the strong fallow area in the top right, the weak fallow area in the

2. bottom left area and the terminal area in the bottom right. When this is applied to my chosen
magazines it gives a similar effect for example for the Q magazine my eyes are firstly drawn to the
letter Q which is the masthead for the magazine and it straight away gives me ideas on what the
magazine will be about. My eyes are then straight away moved onto the big image of Florence the
main image of the artist, this is done purposely to as she is the unique selling point of the magazine.
Other stories are then place in the strong and weak fallow areas this is done because these are the
final things which we as the viewer will come across. In NME magazine it’s done in a similar way by
having the masthead in the primary optical area it straight away sells the magazine by giving the
viewer a big clue as to what the magazine will be about before they even look at any images. Also
like Q magazine we are then drawn to look at the main image of a band which is the unique selling
point of this magazine as it’s the main story, the fillers of the magazine are placed within the fallow
areas of the magazine just like on the Q magazine.
The main images for each of the magazines are completely different. This is because Q magazine is
aimed at a much older audience and doesn’t concentrate on the style of the band or artist so
therefore doesn’t rely on a long shot of them to sell their magazine. For instance the main image for
the Q magazine which I have chosen is of the artist Florence. A close up image as shown, this makes
her look powerful and dominant yet sophisticated which is important as the magazines audience is
looking for sophistication rather than fashion. It also makes her look serious and focused which
would help to sell the magazines to its intended audience as it sells themselves as being confidant
and serious about music which is what older people like to see. However in NME magazine which I
have picked the main image used is a long shot of a band called The Maccabees. The use of the long
shot is important as it shows of their fashion sense which most young people are interested in also
the use of colour is important as its all high-key and bright which makes it stand out and come across
as more fun and less of a serious magazine which is important as the target is for a teenage audience
and also young adults who are stereotypically referred to as care free and outgoing.