Format Research: Contents page 1

Branding:
The magazine brand continues from the font cover onto the contents page. The magazine however seems to become less formal at a first glance. The main image is of a woman that is exposing her body which could be considered as informal. The fact that this image is in the contents page and not the on the front is because of the fact that it is a revealing image and indecent exposure which is nowadays frowned upon to have on a front cover of a magazine. As well as this it shows a section of the magazine that promotes an offer for the magazine, which shows as well as a story it shows that they are also trying to sell the magazine. NMA magazines have the their same logo in the same position across all of their front covers and contents page which constantly reminds the reader who the publisher and author of the music magazine.

Text and Language:
The contents page text is seemingly easy to read. The subheadings for each of the different topics within the magazine is written in white on a black background which makes it stand out even more which emphasises its duty in giving the reader an insight in what the magazines contents are. Along with this, the heading at the top of the page is written in large black writing which is capitalised which further enhances it's visibility.The use of capitalisation as well as making it easier to read, is used for dramatic effect and makes 'THIS WEEK' more exctiting to read. The magazine also shows a play on words by mixing the band name shown in the article with a common phrase which gives more of an impact on the subtitle and attracts the reader to continue reading the article.

Images:
The contents page doesn't contain that many images and only has one picture that can be used to have in insight in what one of the story's might be with in. The Picture that is shown suggests what the main story with in the magazine is going to be and is highlighted by a subtitle to the image. As well as this image, it also shows a promotional image with a a picture of a previous magazine cover which states an offer of which is available for the customers.

Layout:
The layout of this particular magazine is fairly similar to most of its other issues. The 'NME' logo is seen to have continued in the same place from the front cover onto the contents page which suggests how popular the magazine because it doesn't need to show its logo.

Music Magazine Analysis 2

Audience:

The audience for this particular magazine would appear to be aimed towards young adults, people in their teens or general people who like a  specific variety of different music genres that are seen on the front of this magazine. This can be seen through the various different bands that we can see featured on the cover and the focus of the main cover line on the arctic monkeys who are seemingly a popular band among young adults and teens, with this in mind, it further suggests who the magazine would be aimed for. The fairly 'easy to look' at style and layout also could suggest how it were to appeal to a younger audience. Despite this, the story used for the header is about a band that has been around for 25 years or so, which suggests that the magazine could also be aimed at those who could be of an older audience, who know the older bands that can be seen on the magazine.         

Masthead:

The masthead is rather small compared to others i have seen and is placed in the upper left of the page which is actually considered a normal design for most music magazines.  The masthead doesn't seem to contain a strap line, however this doesn't seem to effect the job of the logo it self because of the fact it is so big and an abnormality among the page.  I feel that the magazines masthead has bright contrasting colours and the unique shape helps it to stand apart from other music magazines despite it have some aspects of it that are similar to other magazines.. The single letter logo with different colour scheme helps the masthead to stand out from the rest of the images and stories that are on the page, as well as this, it also adds a professional touch to that of the layout of the magazine. The masthead is only slightly obscured by the main image, but not so much that it reduces the impact or visibility of the masthead. The Q magazine masthead is always seen in the same place across all of their magazines and is never fully obscured by a main image meaning remains poignant and really stands out in the page, however this may be down to its small size, which frees up more of the cover for images and cover lines.

Text:

The 'sub' cover line used for main cover line uses a list of three to help its sentence flow better. The magazine uses a fair amount of cover lines to attract interest the reader at first sight, using techniques such as alliteration (Under the white lies cover line) and pull quotes. The text is also written in a similar font throughout the whole front cover which further makes it stand out and adds a professional touch to it, as well as this, the main cover lines are all written in upper case letters which means the reader can instantly see them and gather the information from just scanning the page. 

Main Image:
The main image for this particular magazine features four members of the band centered around the front cover, However only one of them is seemingly looking directly at the reader, with the others looking at each other  and away from the camera. This suggests to the reader that the person addressing the camera is the main member of the band as he is trying to engage the reader and camera. The serious expression shown by the main singer combined with the questioning expression shown by the other members, suggests that there is a interesting topic to be read in the magazine about this band.  All of the band members have closed mouths which could have the connotations that the matter is quite serious.

Branding:

The branding for this magazine is fairly easy to understand due to the fact the masthead stands out as clearly as it does which grabs the readers attention at first sight, as well this, the main image displays some sort of hidden message in the use of their facial expressions which could also entice the reader to buy.

Music Magazine Analysis 1

Audience - From the front cover, i can tell from this that that the magazine is aimed at those who are fans of the genre of music, teenagers and predominately could be more attractive to males. The font in which the text is written is seemingly informal and so this further suggests that it is aimed towards those who are of late teens or possible early adulthood. The genre of music would also give good reasons as to why it is aimed at this specific age range seeing as though it has rather new bands featuring on the cover.

Text - The text on the front of this music magazine is seemingly informal. This could indicate that the magazine would be for a younger audience and in particular teenagers. The main subheadings on the front cover are in a bigger and bolder text than the rest of the writing on the page, this creates dramatic effect and emphasises the contents of the magazine. As well as this, the text is written as the same font throughout the front page which gives it a more professional flowing look, this is because if the text was in different font throughout the front cover it would look out of place compared to the rest of the design. The fact that they have have written it all in one text means that it looks as though it should be there.

Main Image - The main image of this magazine is of two men staring out at the reader, the colour of the main image is dull and not very bright which makes it look boring. However, the way in which the two persons are engaging with the reader adds a sort of mysterious feel to it and draws their attention as to why they are on the front cover of this particular magazine. The main image, because of the colours, looks as though it is an old image or a new one edited to further portray the mysterious of the two men, the fact that it could be mysteriuous links in with how it is their first major interview for some while.

Mast Head - The mast head of this music magazine seems to follow the norms of most other music magazines available to buy. The mast head is last and colourful which sets itself from the other text on the front cover because it is being emphasised by the an outlining of white around the mast head its self. From my own research, this magazine is an old version compared to the newer magazines. We can see that they 'NME' have changed thier Header over the years.

As you can see from the image above, a newer version of the NME music magazines the header no longer has a border around it. This could be because it makes it look more modern and less old fashioned. However, you could suggest that because the old one had this border it made it stand out more and project itself on the front of the magazine where as the mast head on the newer version sort of blends in with the page and doesn't have much on it for it to stand out from the rest.