NME Contents Page Analysis

I this contents page there is one image in the centre of the page, this is to catch the reads eye first. This is the main focal point of the contents page because it wants to entice people to read one of the main feature articles in the magazine. Overall in this contents page there are seven photographs, this is significant because it tells us that the reader of this magazine will be more likely to read the feature articles in this magazine if there are images to go with them. Underneath each picture in this contents page has a quote which has been pulled out from the article; they have chosen to pull these pieces out of the text because they are the most eye catching piece in the whole article. This is because they want the viewer to turn to the articles as they have read the quotes and have found them interesting. This contents page has been split; feature articles, and regular articles. All of the images used tell us that they are a feature article. And in a small box in the midst of all of the image articles there are the regular features. This is because they are in the magazine every week, and the reader knows what to expect in these articles, these regular features include: reviews, a gig guide, fan mail and a cross word. Also in this magazine there is an advertisement for a subscription to this magazine. This magazine was issued in October so it is relatively near to Christmas, and this advertisement is saying that the reader could give this subscription to a friend for their Christmas gift. This is significant because it tells the viewer that the target audience of this magazine is for someone who has a lot of money, so they will be mostly be male ABC1 aspirers between the ages of 19-25. I know this because the price of this magazine subscription is £74.99, and this is a lot of money to spend on someone. Also there is a clue to the gender of the target audience as mostly all of the subjects in the images are male, so this magazine will mostly appeal to a male market. One of the IPC publications aims was to target 44% of UK men, and as they publish this NME magazine shows that they have successfully attracted a male audience through this magazine. The colours used in this contents page are very simple, black, white and red. The text is black and the background is white, this is successful because it is very clear for the reader to understand, and the colour red has been used for the advertisement in the bottom corner, this is because it has to attract the readers’ eye. The title for this contents page is entitled ‘inside this week’ this has been written using serif font, this makes the title and the whole contents page look classy as this typography is normally associated with importance.

NME Double Page Spread Analysis

In this double page spread, there is one main image which takes up the top half of both the pages. In this image is the same subject but in different poses, so this image has been digitally manipulated to depict the same person. The main colour used in this image is blue, therefore this colour has been continued for the letters of the drop cap, and they are the same colour as the background in this image. There are two pull quotes in this article, this is because the writer of this article wants the reader to read these first, and they are normally the most exciting parts of the text, so this will entice the viewer to read the whole of the article. There are six columns of text in this article, they are quite short, this is because the image has taken up half of the page, so the text quite inviting to read. The fact that there are six columns of body text makes it equal on each page (three on each), this makes the page balanced. There is a kicker underneath the main image and the title of the article. This gives the reader a brief idea to what this article is about. San serif font is used in this double page spread title, this is because the viewer can read it easily and will not miss read it at the bottom of the page there is a small side bar, this is advertising the NME website, which is informing the reader that there is a video for them to watch of this same article, this is significant because the target audience (male ABC1 aspirers between the ages of 19-25) of this magazine will be more interested in the visual side of the article opposed to the written article. This article is featured in this magazine because it features politics which is one of the main things that the New Musical Express focuses on. The reporter for this article has tried to put a new light on this celebrity by focusing on who he really is, they describe the strange things he talks about and the strange things that they see when interviewing him

Smash Hits magazine Analysis

The publishing company of this magazine was Emap. Smash Hits was a monthly magazine. The first issue was released in November 1978 and unfortunately the last issue was released on13 February 2006. This magazine became an iconic title whose sales peaked at a million in 1989 but fell steadily to 120,000, just behind BBC rival weekly Top of the Pops, which was helped along due to the TV programme. Emap also closed Just Seventeen in 2004, the closures signifying a switch in teenage spending from magazines to online and mobile phone based media. The week the closure was announced, a copy of the first issue sold on EBay for £30.
In this image of one of the many issues of ‘Smash Hits’ a photograph of a young teenage boy holding a bunch of roses is denoted. This image could link in with the article featured on the magazine, so this could be Ben Adams from A1. The colour of the roses he is holding are red this could connote romance, therefore giving the audience a clue to what the targeted audience is. I think that the target audience is young teenage girls aged 11-15, this would be because; firstly the colour pink is used a lot, secondly all of the pop groups mentioned are ‘girly’ such as ‘Westlife’ and ‘S Club 7’ and lastly because of the photograph of the young boy on the front of this magazine. The price of the magazine which was £1.45 could indicate that the target audience was a working class teenager who didn’t have too much pocket money, so the magazine needed to appeal to this audience in order for the young teens to spend their money on this. I think that this magazine has done this successfully.

The main colours used are blue and pink, the colour pink is associated with girls and the colour blue is associated with boys, so the colours used on this magazine cover could suggest that this magazine is trying to reach out to a wider audience which includes teenage boys. Another element that suggests this is the fact that the boy who features on the front is also wearing the colour blue so this could suggest that he could be a good role model and idol for both boys and girls to aspire to.

As the viewer looks to the bottom right side they will see another element that indicates towards the female market. There is a list of bands that feature in the magazine, (BSB, Five, Westlife, Steps, Ant & Dec, S Club 7, and Bewitched) when I hear the names of these pop bands I automatically think that the audience will be mostly females. In the box which says this, the colours used are yellow and pink; this is because they are two very different contrasting colours which help it stand out and the colour pink is a very feminine colour.

When looking through at lots of different issues of ‘Smash Hits’ the same font has been used for the title of the magazine, this is so when the magazine is on the shelf amongst rival magazines the target audience will automatically be able to pick it out from the others. But sometimes the colour will change from white with a red background to red on the plain white background but still using the same font. Sometimes the location of the title will differ according to what the image is on the front of the magazine.

Billboard Magazine Analysis

The main focal point on the front of this magazine cover is the large old fashioned CD player; this is because it is largest thing on the cover. When people look at the CD player they will then notice the title of the magazine, the fact that this is layered over the top of the title makes it harder to read the title, but certain areas of the text is visible therefore making it recognisable. Once the viewer has looked at the title of the magazine their eyes will travel down to see that someone is holding this CD player up. The subject in this magazine cover is holding the CD player slight forward; this is what makes it stand out more because it seems to be larger than the subject who is holding it. When people see the magazine at a first glance will wonder who this is on the front cover, but when they look at it more closely the will see the large typography on the left and realise that it is Justin Bieber. The fact that Justin Bieber is on the front cover of the magazine will automatically make this issues’ target audience teenage girls between the ages of 11 and 16, this is because they are more interested in this musician.

The colours used in this magazine cover are all primary colours (red, yellow and blue). These colours are very simple but they are very neutral colours, I don’t think that these colours are supposedly targeted to one particular gender. The background colour goes from a darker blue going up to a lighter blue this is to ensure that a lot of emphasis can be put onto the subject on the front of this magazine. The font colours used are very simple as they fit in with the rest of the colour scheme, they are very complimentary colour. The white font is used to make the fonts stand out as they are the main articles in the magazine. Under the main subtitles the text is I black, this is so the text doesn’t stand out as much and detract from the other text and images in the cover. The fact that the other text on this front cover is considerably smaller the other text on the page, this is because the main focus can be put onto the image and the title.

The house style of this magazine is that in every issue the title is the same. This is significant because when it is on the shelf alongside other magazines that reach out to a similar target audience, this magazine will instantly be recognisable, due to the distinctive title. Every issue has elements that attract both a male audience female audience. This is good because not many magazines reach out to both sexes therefore making this magazine quite unique in doing this. The people featured on the front page of this magazine are always targeted to a young market, I know this because they bands and artists featured are always young, upcoming and popular, for example this issue features Justin Bieber another issues feature Taylor swift, Miley Cyrus and Soulja boy.

My Demographic Target Audience

The demographic profile of my target audience is the psychographic profile of mainstream teenage girls and boys this is because they are 40% of the normal teenagers. They will be aged between 14 and 20 and of a working class background. I know this because of the mood board I have created. For example teenagers will get up in the mornings at around 11 o’clock, unless they have an alarm clock which means that they have to get up for something important, such as school, college or work. But sometimes they will have to get up early to earn their weeks money for petrol for their moped, by doing a paper round. My target audience would live in an urban setting, this is because they will be more aware of their surrounding and be interested in all of the latest music releases because they are constantly surrounded by it in their everyday life. The social status of my target is C2DE this is because they will mostly be working class, this means that they have parents that have to work hard to make a living, with lots of supervisors and managers above them, but are willing to work up to that height of authority. For breakfast my target audience will have some crisps and some Coca-Cola, this is because mainly because these are convenience foods and these things are high in sugar and fats, they will be ready for the day ahead as their body will be filled with caffeine. After that they might watch their favourite programmes on the television, these might include the ‘X Factor’; which is very popular between working class teenagers, or they may watch ‘Celebrity Juice’ which is very crude but this age group would find very entertaining. Instead of watching the television, they may decide to watch a film, the female part of this target audience will watch ‘Man Girls’ which stereotypes people into all sorts of groups, but they will find amusing. And the male side of my target audience will watch ‘American pie’ which is again very crude, but they will be able to relate to it as the characters in the film are of a similar age range to my target audience.

My target audience will shop in shops such as ‘Super dry’, ‘H&M’, ‘New Look’ and ‘River Island’. All of these shops are very popular s they hold affordable fashion in the high street. They will see celebrities on the television and in magazines who are wearing similar things to what they have seen in the high-street. My target audience’s parents will take their family on holiday to somewhere such as Spain, this is because flights to Spain are quite cheap and cheerful; therefore they will want to save their money a much as possible. This is because both parents will have to work to earn a living, and thy will want the holiday to be enjoyable but affordable. The music that my target audience will listen to is quite a mainstream variety, as they will like elements from all different types of genre. If my target audience is in the category of over 17, then they will probably be able to drive, and I believe that they would have quite a small but ‘smart’ car, such as a ford focus or maybe a VW golf, but if they are unable to drive they will have a moped to get them from A to B, as they will want to depend as little on their parents as possible. But if they are still too young to have a moped then they would have to rely on others, like their parents or they would have to catch a bus.

Original Images

I have decided to use the third photograph for the front cover of my magazine, this is because it is a medium closeup, this is significant because you can see the facial expressions of the subject more.

For the contents page i have decided to use the fourth image, this is because it looks as if the three subjects are happy and enjoying college, so this feeling will be mirrored in the viewers when they see this image. I will also use the first image along with several others for my contents page, this is because from conducting a questionnaire I have found out that my target audience likes alot of images, as it makes the magazie interesting to look at.

Analysis of Contents Page

In this contents page of my magazine I have used a photograph that I have taken of three friends, this is significant because they all look as if they are enjoying their time at college and it will make the viewer maybe from another college understand that they will have a good time at this college also. In have included several images, this is because from my research I have found out that one of the main features in a contents page is the images. I have also included images of new releases and upcoming films, this is because it will tell the reader that the magazine will focus of many different genres of film so they will find on which will appeal to them. I like the way that the films are all small and are like thumbnails along the bottom, this is almost like a bottom strip, but with pictures instead of words.

I have continued the same typography as on the front cover onto this contents page, this was because I did not want the audience to be bombarded with lots of different confusing fonts and graphics, I also wanted there to be a there which will continue all the way through the magazine. All of the listed items which will feature in this weeks’ issue of the magazine are all written in the same font which is very easy to read and cannot be miss read. Also this is the same font which has been used on the front cover. This then makes the reader comfortable reading this as they understand it and like the connection between the front cover and the contents page. Continuing with the same theme as on the front cover I have kept to the same three colours (black, white and red) this is to keep it simple but eye catching. I decided to outline the images along the right side to make them stand out, because if I had not done this then the images would not be so prominent. I images I have used are of people of the same age group and class of the target audience, this is to make it easy to relate to the people in the images.