Magazine analysis: NME

When we first look at the cover the first thing we notice are the photoshopped wings behind the main feature Jamie T (styled in casual wear with bright lighting to bring out features, in particular his eyes which are directly addressing the audience) who is in front of the master head. The main image instantly brings our attention to the main cover line "Back To Life" and acts as an anchorage. This goes to show that wings are a connotation. Jamie T is positioned as mentioned in front of the master head, his eye line matches ours (addresses the audience directly). This is also a universal symbol and makes the model the main focus. "Manics exclusive" is what is quoted at the top right of the cover, acting as a teaser as this makes you want to pick up the magazine, open it and instantly find out what that is about. In this issue, NME have kept the cover simple with no skyline. Also there isn't a lot that is printed on the cover to draw your attention to it however they have used more than 3 colours (all very bright and relating to the picture) to buy the reader. Colours like blue and white to go with the "back to life" theme. They have also used many different fonts yet they have kept it formal and neat. The barcode, price, date, branding and issue have been made clear bottom right of the picture. The contents page only uses one page which sets out everything important that is included in the magazine in vertical columns with only one picture in the middle of the contents page which is a close up shot of and artist with his hands covering majority of his face expect for the eyes. This once again goes on to directly address the audience as the eye line meets. The middle column has all the important features of the magazine listed whereas the first column has regulars listed and the last has bands listed. Instead of calling it the contents page, they have called it "inside NME" which to me feels as though they are trying to put out to the reader that by picking up and buying a NME, you have almost instantly become a part of the company and the magazine itself. They have kept the colour scheme very simple (black, white, red & grey) but have used different fonts to draw the readers in. The contents page, links to the cover in many different ways. Two of which are the colour scheme and the main feature. The cover also contains the colours red, black and white. The cover has Jamie T as the model and the contents page gives you the page in which you can find the article on and also has a short but effective description which is as follows: "back after five year break, the Wimbledon wide boy reveals the demons that kept him away". This links to his actual picture as in the picture he is portrayed as an angel and the article is explaining what has kept him away for 5 years. The language used both on the cover and contents page is formal. The DPS which I read and analysed was based on an article about a producer called flying lotus who speaks about his first album that's being released after a two year gap. At the top of the page we see a quote they have pulled out of the interview in large font. The magazine have purposely done this because if you are looking through a magazine and see the words "have you ever seen a dead body" you almost instantly being to gain major interest in the article. The article it's self is informal as it uses colloquial language. The time go the text is not as though you're reading an interview it's more like a conversation you'd have with a friend.

DPS (the two images put together made the DPS)