Research

Front Covers

These two magazines have many similarities and differences, they both target an indie market but NME also try and target a bigger market. Clash has a very specific niche market and relies purely on this dedicated market to make a profit. Where as NME target a much wider market but include a lot of indie music to appeal to this audience.

Clash 

The central visual interest in clash is very bold connoting importance, she is wearing red lip sticks connotes elegance and class. She is also wearing limited makeup connoting natural beauty. Her hair is softly curled connoting sophistication and maturity. She is also wearing a low cut top connoting somewhat sex appeal. 

Also the font used on the masthead is sans serif with quite a casual font which contrast with the rich and classy look given of by the central visual image. Also it is in capitals that connotes urgency and significance, the colour of the text is white which is a mutual calm color that would appeal to both sexes.

NME

There is more than one central visual image on NME but most of the images are very saturated making them much brighter and more attractive to look at but then they contrast this with some black and white pictures. The images are all on different angles making them look like they have been stuck on the one cover, this makes the magazine look less formal and connotes a more laid back, relaxed feel to the magazine. The fonts used on this magazine are all sans serif and bold this makes it stand out. The color scheme for this front cover is red, black and white. The color red connotes power and love but also a sense of danger and anger it is typically associated with males but appeal to both sex. The color black connotes elegance but can also symbolize death and finally white connotes purity and kindness. All these colors mean a lot things and can all relate to the target audience. 

Contents Pages

These are 3 very different contents pages I have decided to use as my research, not all of them are necassarily targeted at my target audience but I think that they have close connections and good ideas on them. They all have the same job (to inform the customer of whats inside the magazine) but how they lay out the contents is very different.

Contents 1

For this contents they have used really bright colors with plain white. They have chose to use one big image instead of a couple smaller ones. This image is of some vinyls but because it is so close up you can struggle to tell this, this connotes that its for a generation that's maybe older or maybe a newer generation that is interested in vintage things. The writing is plain white and and placed 2 columns, they have chosen white because it is the only color you can read on such a busy background. I think this is a interesting and unique design for a contents but I feel that it doesn't work as well as it should because it is hard to read because of using such a busy background. 

Contents 2   

This contents has a much simpler design with a few pictures running down the center. The color scheme is black and white connoting vintage and old. This would appeal to the target market this contents is targeted at and would also appeal to mine. It has a simple layout so is easy to read and follow, with the main features wrote in a slightly larger and bolder font. Also the font is a simple serif font and wrote in black connoting simple and layed back but also gives it a feel of originality. I think this contents page works really well its nice and simple for the customer to read, yet still appealing to the eye.

Contents 3

Contents 3 is my personal favorite contents out of these 3 contents. It shows a real good use of an image and the pose and expression given by the model connotes power. This contents is really eye catching but yet has all of the information you need set out neatly and its very easy to read. Because the image is so large there isn't a lot of writing which I think is good because you have only put the main stories on there leaving you clueless about the other stories making you want to have a more in depth look at the magazine. The color scheme is monochromatic (grey, white, black, silvers ect) this collerates with the model who is wearing a grey dress,so it is effective as its stylistic and it looks desirable to buy due to the silver worn by the model. The fonts are a mixture of the both sans serif and serif but this still works really well with this contents. Overall this is the best contents and this has given me an idea that I can use for my magazine.

Double Page Spreads

These are some of the double page spread that are used in Clash. They use lots of different techniques and all of the pages are very unique and different. This appeals to the target audience they are targeting. One all four of these double page spreads the images use edited and very unique compared to the images you normally find in magazines. They do this because this magazine is targeted to people that are individual and unique so they try and do something that not many magazines do to appeal to the audience. Also the target audience are normally interested in photography and most of the images used are edited in some way to make them really stand out. 

The Images

This image used is photo films, the image bleeds across one page to the other and goes right down the center. This is used to separate the page and it also links to photography which appeals to the target audience. The pictures on the film are of a man lounging about this connotes relaxation, the pictures are also in black and white. Photographers use black and white photography because its versatile and will work in any light, also because its much more chilled out, where as color is much more in your face. Also black and white photography connotes old and vintage, this applies to the target audience because the indie style is vintage clothing etc.

This image is also in black and white but has some parts in color, they do this because they want to draw in the reader. The expression on this mans face connotes his determination to do well, this is linked to what the article is about, because its about ambitions. The photographer has got him to stare at the camera, this connotes that his got his eye on the focus in life and by having him staring at the reader it is automatically forming a connection with the reader even before they start reading. It is also a bleed and fills both pages, acting as a background on the second page. They have done this because they wanted the image big so it is the central visual focus on the page. 

This photo is really edited, it is in black and white but parts of the picture are in colour they do this because it makes a focus on certain parts of the image. Also there is a cross over the centre of the image its ambiguous and polysemic.

The picture on the top right has been cut in two this connotes a sense of distance in person and also makes the image more interesting. This is also a bleed and bleeds across the two pages.








The Main Body

On this double page spread the text is very different to how you would normally find text in a standard magazine. The text is wrote over the image but they have put white behind it so you can see it, it brings immediate attention to the body. Also they have used a drop cap to start the article off, they do this to show where the body starts.

They have also done the same on this page but slightly different. In this one the type is a light green, this connotes peace and calm and the whole article is written in this color. The background of this whole article is white and very plain, connotes emptiness, yet sophistication. No tacky or over the top background to distract you from the seriousness of the article. The background it simple yet effective.

This pull quote is much larger and bolder than the rest of the body, it is positioned in the center of the page and is the first thing you see when you turn to this page. It is also underlined and in capitals this connotes urgency and significance of this quote. Also this pull quote has very big gaps in between some of the words this connotes that it hasn't been set out by a professional and makes it more real.

They use drop caps to start nearly all of the body in this magazine, they normally use this to get peoples attention and draw them straight to the start of the article.

This is a quote and they have put it in a slightly lighter colour and italics but missed the speech marks out, this attracts the audience to this part of the text.

Although the background behind this text is very busy you can still clearly see the headline. The font is serif but not bold this is because the writer didn't think the headline was the most important part of the article so didn't want to make this the biggest boldest thing on the page.



This is very large on the page and wrote in sans serif, its all centred and in the middle of the page. This is the main feature on this page and the words "the silent insurgents" connotes a sneaky silent spy. This relates to the article because its all about a person that know one knows is there. It also relates to real people because sometimes people feel like there not noticed and almost invisible.

On this double page spread they have used a thick boarder that goes around the whole article, with a star symbol in the top left corner to break it up.  The border denotes control.  Also the use of using a bleed image in the bottom left corner has broke the boarder, this connotes breaking the rules and stepping out side of the box.