NME textual analysisMatthew Lathlean

NME Front cover: November 18th 2016 edition

A very simple and bold front cover compared to the Q magazine and the mixmag cover. But similar to the mixmag cover NME is using a minimalist style to show it is a modern magazine and is keeping up with the current times.The masthead writing is very bold and in capitals this makes it stand out against the white background so readers are more likely to notice it.

The rule of thirds here has been used a lot in the layout as the Mast head uses the rule of three as it approximately takes up around the top third of the page as this is the part the reader is most likely to look at first. The rule of third has also been used on the Protagonist as he has been placed in the centre third to show he is the most important thing in the magazine.

A splash image of the singer Bruno Mars has been used on the front cover. He is wearing very dark clothes to make him stand out against the lighter colours of pink and white on the front cover.The cover is very simple laid out with very little on it , this has been done so that the protagonist is the main focus and there is nothing else on the front page that can take attention away from the potagonist.of the whole cover as the selling point for the magazine. This is reinforced by how the splash image is placed in front of the masthead showing that the protagonist is more important than the magazine itself. This is ultimately done so the magazine can attract the protagonists fans as well as the magazines itself fans.3 splash features have been used here using the visual of a solar system using a play on words with the protagonists name. These are bright and bold to try and attract the reader to read about the protagonist inside.

A plug has been used to give the user a short summary of what to find in the magazine , But this is in plain black with a transparent background so doesn’t stand out ,this is probably done so that attention is not drawn away from the protagonist NMEs main selling point of the magazine.A colour scheme of pink, white and black this gives the front cover a feel good factor and allows the protagonist dressed in black to stand out.

The camera angle used is a long shot to show the whole of the protagonist at eye level. The long shot shows the casual clothes that the protagonist is wearing.

A short cover line has been used here to try and show the information what they might learn and pull them in to come and look at the article.

NME contents pageNovember 25th 2016 edition

NME has used a single spread double page like mix mag , this is probably because they're a weekly magazine so has a lot less content than Q magazine so they don’t have as much they could put on the contents page.

The colour scheme is very simple as for the majority of the contents page white and black has been used with pink indicating important parts of the contents page to make them stand out such as the masthead and specific page numbers and using the same colour of pink continued from the front cover for continuity throughout the magazine.

The rule of thirds has been used on this contents page to keep the page neat and even. This is seen in the left third has the editors note on it and the bottom fifth has the publishers information. These two parts of the page are largely black and white so it doesn’t take any attention away from the photo and contents on the middle and right thirds of the page which has plenty of colours on it so it stands out in appose to the black and white.

The main focus of the contents page is the photo used here medium long shot with high key 3 point lighting has been used here to show off the unusual costumes being shown to grab attention. The colours used on the costume are very light and exiting, the use of gold suggests the star of the photo is very precious and important.

The style of writing used for the note from the editor is very informal and suggests that’s how the magazine will be the whole way through. The style suggests that they try to involve the reader within the magazine. And can tell us about the reader of the magazine.

The list of contents have been split into a hierarchy so that the larger font size at the top is the most important articles from that week and the further down the list the less important the article is.NME have used branding for different sections of there magazine as seen for the “agenda” , “Radar” and “live". This means that colours are used so it stands out also the branding means that fans of NME can easily recognise them ad gives the sections a unique feel compared to similar sections in other magazines.The contents has been boxed

in for a very neat and clean effect which makes it easier for the reader to find the page number they are looking for to start reading.

The masthead has been positioned in the top right third of the page because its most likely the thing the reader will look at first because we are taught to read top left to bottom right.

NME double page spread pg1November 25th 2016 editionThe main photo on here shows a picture in blue and red with a medium shot of the artist showing a serious pose looking to the right where a 3 point lighting system is highlighting the right side and front of the artist face.

The colour scheme used thought the double page spread is red, blue and white carrying on from the colours used in the image. Also red has been used to highlight important information such as the articles subjects face. Although the red and the blue are contrasting visually and with the connotations such as red can be seen as a dangerous colour while blue is more of calm colour. This could be showing the subjects personality is cool and calm most of the time but can be fiery and dangerous.

The page uses a play on words with the use of the phrase “Get ready for the weekend” with the word weekend replaced with the covers subject name ‘weeknd’. The phrase is unique and uses word play to make it stand out to the reader. The title stands out because it is white and contrasts against the red and blue background. The play on words used means it adds humour the humour means it some likely that the reader is going to remember this article compared to others.

The article subject is in a leather jacket to make the subject look very tough.

The magazine has been set up into traditional columns to split the blocks of text up so its easier to read.

NME double page spread pg. 2November 25th 2016 edition

The font used is very easy to read implying a formal manor and uses a sans serif font to reflect the modern genre of the subject of the article.

The use of language in the magazine is slightly less complex than say that used in the Q magazine ,this could show that NMEs target group could be younger than Q.

The credits for the pictures is very hard to find and notice as its in extremely small text on a vertical angle so it does not stand out and take any attention away from the photo because the credits are not seen as important compared to the main selling points of the article.

The columns of text has been split up by using titles to show different aspects of the article ,this helps the reader get to the information they want quickly it also helps any potential reader to know what sort of information the article contains as the sub titles stand out from the use of red.. Also the titles have carried on the play with words with all the title including the subject of thearticles name the “weeknd”, this adds originality and humour to the article

The writing has been blocked with white so that the black text is a lot easier to read that it would against the red background.