NME double page spread analysis

Immediately drawn to left page, covered in pictures of Mighty Boosh, center one of Noel Fielding on floor with top up, eyes wide open.

Dressed up in all pictures, looks fun and entertaining. Pictures are bizarre so you would read the article to find out what they are doing!

Every picture has been put at a canted angle - as if it's been put together in a rush, no effort - creates image of being unorganised, rather use the time to do better things - and to find out what those things are you have to read on.

Right hand page, massive title, with the 'Mighty Boosh' signature symbol inside the O's - instantly recognisable.

Quotes in bold randomly on page to lure you in. Some smaller writing in capitals to stand out more.

Page has theme of black, white and blue.

Whole DPS looks fun - wants to reflect contents of article.

NME contents analysis

Drawn to Dizzee in the middle first of all, in the center of the page, he's looking at the audience, head slightly tilted , hand near face in a gesture.
Buildings behind him. Biggest writing on page 'Dizzee became PM material'. This is luring and creates enigma so we want to read on and find out more as it comes across as a suprising idea - we all know Dizzee.
Band index in small down left hand side, alphabetical order so easy to follow.
Short descriptions of what's inside, listed under different heading to also make it simple to follow.
'NME' at the top, same design - brand identity.
Keeping with black and red colour scheme to go with front cover - easier to recognise as NME and that they are together.
Advertisement box at the bottom, in yellow writing which goes against colour scheme, stands out more.
Arrow at bottom right hand corner as an extra.

NME front cover analysis

Cover image of Noel Fielding crowd surfing, all in black, big smile, young people having fun - gives effect that he's 'mad' so article will also be like this.
His arms are lighter, probably from the flash suggesting it is an ammature shot taken from a gig.
'NME' is in the top left, noticeably in red, covered slightly by Noels hand - which shows it must be recognisable.
Coverlines in circles, looks slapped on like stickers.
Sets theme of craziness, like a gig/party should be
Tickertape at the bottom is in the conventional place

Kerrang double page spread analysis

Starts off with two pages of pictures of 'frontman Matt Tuck'. Both dark, close up shots/mid shots with focus on face as its the lightest thing on the page compared to everything else. He's looking at the audience, one straight on, he has a smouldering look and he has his arms behind head, looks relaxed.

The article page stays with the dark theme, big picture of Matt Tuck in action, a green light behind him.

The writings very small, no lures until last page - even then, theres only a box in the top corner of 'lessons learned' perhaps as an inspiration for those who look up to him.

Kerrang contents analysis

'Contents' is written in big writing at the top in the same colour and style as some writing on the cover so it links together.
This writing is carried on as the headings on black backgrounds so they stand out, the rest of the page's background is white.
Main picture is of someone dressed up as superman, looking to the audience. Its bright and eye catching - makes you want to find out why he is dressed up. Has a fun look about him.
Other icons around main picture, some action shots, mainly close up or mid shots. Shadow effect around them looks like they are almost buttons, coming off the page. Most are dark pics so there is emphasis of facial features where the light is, two have colour from behind them.
Quotation underneath 'contents' to make people laugh and want to read more things like that.
small picture of cover next to small paragraph of writing - not eye catching.

Kerrang front cover analysis

The mast head is in the same place in every issue, making it recognisable.
Photo image of band, center page, lead singer closer up, clear he's lead.
Coverline with picture "Foo Fighters, is it all over?" creates enigma - you want to find out.
Freebees - stickers, posters - get your moneys worth - bribe?
Bled off page.
Barcode at bottom right - out of the way - not important/not noticeable.
Band looking at audience, makes you feel they are looking at just you.
Coverlines and pictures unevenly put on page, overlapping, messy, reflects relaxed 'personality' of magazine, introducing their 'mode of address'.
Little snippet of information on bottom strip/ticker tape, not detailed - and on top strip.
On coverline "..." to encourage you to read on.
Exclamation marks make it more exciting.

Questionnaire and results

Questionnaire.

1. What is your name?

2. What is your gender? Male/Female

3. How old are you?

4. Which do you prefer?
Punk

Rock

Ska

Hip-hop

Pop

Drum and Bass

RnB

Other (please state) ...............................................

5. What colour do you like more and would like to see on a magazine?

Red

Yellow

Blue

Orange

Pink

Black

Grey

6. Name one thing you would like to see in a magazine

Gig listings

Quizzes

Interviews

7. Do you read music magazines? Yes/No

If yes, please state why ..........................................................................................................................

8. How much is a reasonable price for a music magazine? .....................................................................

9. Do you prefer pictures in a contents page to no pictures? Yes/No

10. What do you look for to read about in a double page spread? .......................................................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................................................

Results

I asked my focus group of 15 people to fill out my questionnaire to help me research and make decisions about my music magazine. There were 5 boys and 10 girls who completed them for me, all ages between 15 – 19.
From looking at my results, the majority of people asked tended to be into/prefer similar things. My target audiences preferred music genre was ‘Drum and Bass’ music, being the clear winner, closely followed by ‘R&B’ music. Also, three colours – black especially, red and blue stood out by a long way as the colours they would like to see on a magazine. When asked what they would want from a magazine, the three options which were gig listings, quizzes and interviews, came out as pretty equal with quizzes just slightly falling behind.
I also found that only four people out of the fifteen currently read music magazines so hopefully I can change that by asking more questions about why they don’t read music magazines if that is the case. One reason for this could be the pricing of the magazine which the majority of my sample said they thought that £2.00 is a reasonable price to pay. They added to that by saying they prefer pictures in a contents page – which would maybe interest them and entice them more than having no pictures and just words. If I were to create a questionnaire again for the same reason I think I would ask more questions in detail and maybe before I started making it, think more about what I want to gain from my results and what would be most helpful for what research I needed. I would also try to ask an equal amount of males and females as mu current sample shows evidence of gender bias.