A Level Media Studies Blog By Andy Edwards

The magazine NME isn’t about a specific genre of music it is more general as it has different types of rock music. This magazine is designed for people from the age of 16-25. So this is specifically aimed at students, who enjoy listening to general rock music. There hobbies would probably consist of going to rock gigs and listening to music.

The main image on the front cover is a medium close up of a band giving a direct mode of address. There body language shows us they look very serious and slightly intimidating. The way they dress has a rocky feel, which tells us there in a band. Long hair could also suggest this as it is another attribute which shows they’re rebels of rock. Also there are the tattoos they have. All of these attributes could appeal to a younger generation. Mainly men, as it is a fact that more men enjoy rock music more than women. The image on the front cover represents the rock star way, as they look laid back, serious and cool.

Throughout the magazine several texts are used. Approximately there are four. They are all different sizes but aren’t really relevant with the type of music.

The colour scheme is different throughout the magazine. The front cover is fairly basic as there is just a picture with the red NME logo and text of what’s inside. The contents page is also very simple as it is just two colours and then the rest is made up with pictures. The main page spread is made up of pictures, blue and white. This proves that different pages have different themes.

My magazine caters for all students from the years 7 – 13. It provides news and gossip within the school community.  My magazine follows the conventions of layout and page design by having another magazine which inspired my design. I had similar colour scheme and layout. My contents page follows the style of the front cover as they are from the same magazine so they can look similar and professional. My contents page showed some of the same stories that were on the front cover and had a similar colour scheme.

My image on the front cover is an image of a year seven student. I made it brighter to create a positive feel about the magazine. For example the student in my picture is wearing uniform this connotes that the school is smart and proud of the way they look. He is also reading a book this could connote that the school is hard working. His facial expressions show that he is concentrating on his work. For my front cover I have used bright colours which symbolises happiness. This continues onto my contents page. On my contents page I have used images relevant to the stories written. These however were not taken by me.

My font style shows that my magazine appeals to all ages within the school. It has a comic feel to it but it’s not over the top. The text I wrote on the front cover stated the main and best stories within the magazine. This attracts more readers. To also attract more readers I wrote a lot of buzz words to make them want to read the article. I used the same fonts on the contents page as well. I used anchorage text on the contents page but none on the front cover.

The colour scheme I have used is made up of red, black and yellow. This continues throughout the front cover and contents page. This makes them look like they are part of the same magazine. As the main colours on the pages are yellow and red this can create good vibes about the magazine.

I used two graphics. One was a plus sign. This is used instead of wording to create and effect. I also used a free sign. This is very clear to make sure that they know it’s free. It has the effect of an explosion; this makes it stand out on the page.