The front cover of this NME magazine is very striking. It is set up in a memorial way, like a grave stone type. It is all in black with white and gold royalty, the gold represents royalty indicating that although these artists are dead they are still loved, remembered and respected like royalty figures are. They have also used these colours as they are the ones which stand out the most on a plain black background, it also fits with the typical colours of NME which are black, red and white.
The font along the sides of the cover, looks like someone has written all the writing onto the front cover itself, this is a very good effect as it makes the cover seem more authentic than fake if it had just been written in a serif or sans serif text. However, in comparison to the main headline text 'Special tribute issue', this text is written in a serif font to make it look more professional and official like a real grave stone.
The image on the cover is of rock legend Kurt Cobain. His image is a very similar size to those which are seen at funerals. It is placed dead centre of the cover with writing around it in the gold and white, again giving the authentic feel of a grave stone/plaque. The photo itself is taken in a sepia mode which gives it an old yet authentic theme but again linking back our minds to images of funerals. The way the model looks can be seen in different ways, had he been alive and presented as someones boyfriend or partner, then friends may turn their noses up or look down on that person because he upholds a very masculine, rugged look with stuble on his upper lip and chin indicating to the reader that he hasnt shaved in days prior to this photo. With bags under his eyes it also looks like he hasnt slept in days too, with old news of Kurt Cobain and peoples knowledge of his life many would have said he was probably 'off his head' which is why he looks like he does.
However, because this man is not alive any more we see the image in a different light. The look of the unshaven stubble gives a strong, manly appearance in contrast to looking like a 'druggy'. The bags under the eyes show a man that was in love with his music and was probably at a studio writing new material or at a club performing. Finally the idea of him being 'off his head' is dismissed as ludacrous.
Contents page
NME magazine doesnt really have a contents page, commonly found in magazines on the third page. Instead, this magazine has a band index in which they can find all artists featured, all in alphabetical order. The following pages instead consist of news within the music industry, they also feature the top 10 tracks for readers to listen to of that week.
The colours again or constantly the same throughout the magazine, black, white and red. This is because it is effective to keep continuity all through the magazine. Although there are no red colours within any of the images on the contents page, it is deemed irrelevant and they will continue to use the 3 common colours. There are a mix of large and small images used which gives and idea as to how important they may be and how long the interviews may also be, e.g. the bigger the image, the longer and more important the song.
Further pages
There are, on average, 8 pages of news within the magazine at the beginning. This covers events from all across the globe, no matter how small. There is was cover from the MOBO's and views from tinchy stryder on one section, then on the same page is a minute article about Lil Wayne, an american rapper becoming friends with another musician. The magazine does this to prove that they are interested in all genres and aspects of music, not just the indie scene. All font colour are again either black or red, usually the black is used for all normal text whereas the red is used to highlight some key information like locations.
The adverts used within the magazine clearly relate to the old fashioned theme of 'sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll'. There are adverts for vodka, possibly the most easily known and famously sold alcoholic drink in the world. There are also commonly adverts for the NHS on help to kick smoking and drug addictions. They also keep to the gothic type theme by advertising mainly horror films as well as some male hair stlying products as this is something that clearly appeals to their key demorgraphic, so the more they advertise these things, the more business both parties will receive. It is then clear why magazines similar to NME, like Kerrang and MOJO, don't advertise products like skin care or hair care as this is not something that would appeal to their key audience.
Within an NME magazine, their are 66-67 pages. This seems like a good amount for a music magazine, however all pages are not music related, atleast 45-50% of these pages are adverts. Many of which are found towards the end in the classified section, here is where you find tour dates for bands and where they will be playing.
Articles
The layout of articles in magazines will always have some unique thing about them which separates them from any other. In NME the interviews with musicians, there is a large image to go along with the interview itself. A common link between the two is that the larger the picture seen on the page, the larger the article is going to be too. This is proven within several issues, this one in particular. The 'lost legends' issue has interviews with musicians who were influenced by the famous artists who have tragically passed away over the years.
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