The first thing i notice about this NME front cover is the simple yet eye catching colour scheme. The bright red logo is recognised by many therefore it can be slightly obscured by the image. By adding a white border around the letters and usign a plain black background it makes the title stand out even more. The only other colours used on this front cover are white and beige - by using these fairly neutral colours it draws attention to the title first, then the other text. The black background also creates a more dramatic atmosphere when paired with the main image. The photograph of the Arctic Monkeys is dramatically lit and has very dark shadowing. This gives an effect of seclusion, like the band are alone in a dark room and their expressions are fairly blank - which links to the statement near the bottom of the front cover. This reads "We can't worry about what other people think" - portraying the fact that the band are not bothered how they are seen, they are only concerned with their music and their fans. By using an extract from an interview such as this on a front cover it tells the reader that there is a full interview inside the magazine, without actually stating it.





This NME contents page is typical to most issues of the magazine. It has a simple layout with two main images (this time of Oasis "kicking off their world tour") By using images relating to live gigs, concerts or tours it grabs the attention of most of NME's target audience; this is because the majority of them regularly attend music related events. They may even be able to say they have tickets to or have been to this Oasis tour, therefore making them want to read up on it and see what reviews it has got (which will be inside the magazine.) The colours used are red and black, upkeeping with the colour theme of the "NME" logo. Down the left hand side of the page is a "Band Index" so that reader's can flick to pages they want to read depending on what bands or artists they like most. On the right they have seperated the features of the magazine under sub-headings such as "News" and "Reviews". This again makes it easier for the reader to find exactly what they are looking for easily and quickly.








This "Rolling Stone" magazine cover is similar to the NME cover because the title is also obscured by the main image. This is more common in Rolling Stone magazines but in both magazines it shows their popularity; that people know what magazine it is without even needing to see the whole title. Because of this readers may be persuaded to buy the item and also not be bothered by a higher price, as they believe it to be a popular, well known, good music magazine. They have chosen a plain white background for the magazine to contrast with Amy Winehouse's Black hair and top. This image of Amy is simple, she isn't wearing an etravegant outfit; they have done this so that her main feature is her tattoos, showing a rebellious side. The only other colours used for text on the front cover are red and pale blue. The pale blue is used for the main title and for the name of "Amy Winehouse" at the bottom of the page. The focal point of the page is Amy's face, therefore they have added a bold headline of a feature inside the magazine right next to her face, so that our eye then travels to it after scanning the main image.






This is the only contents page for Rolling Stone magazine that i could find on the internet. It differs from most other contents pages as it does not include photographs. Instead it has one large image of a painting. The painting is not realistic, but probably looks like who it is meant to be (this contents page is froma fairly old Rolling Stone magazine) - almost like a charicature. The colours in the painting are neutral, whereas the colours used for the title line and the page reference of a feature (relating to the painting) in the corner are quite vibrant. The features of the magazine are listed in a simple manner, with different headings to make it easier for the reader to find what they are looking for. This contents page is relevant to the target audience of the Rolling Stone magazine and can be widely appreciated by different types of reader - as the painting adds a different element to the contents page.









I have chosen to analyse this double page spread from NME magazine. The layout of features like this is very important and this particular article uses a large quote as a title in an attractive and intersting style to grab attention. Instead of having a boxed in image or an image on one page of the spread they position the image of Lily Allen to overlap onto the middle column. The white space is spread evenly over the two pages so that the layout is pleasing to the eye. And the only main use of colour is Lily's shirt whereas a lot of articles will use bright colours for the headings etc. The main body of text is arranged in short columns underneath the kicker; which spreads right across the top of these columns and is about the same width of the title. This arrangement makes the text look tidy and easy to follow. The dropcap is just one letter long and is very large - which means the reader will easily find where the article starts. There are not any bold sub-heading quotes within the text, this is probably because the title of the piece is a quote and they do not need to repeat themselves.







This double page spread is from KERRANG magazine and is a lot different to the example from NME above. They havent layed the pages out into three columns, intead - one page is a big image of Greenday and the other is all the text. This consists of a large kicker in capitals to attract the reader's attention and the rest of the text is written as one block of paragraphed text. Therfore there are no gutters - which makes this example of a double page spread different to a lot of others and in some ways original. The dropcap in this article is a couple of words long and is bolder than the rest of the text; making it clear where the reader must begin.