Joshua Scott AS Media
F r o n t c o v e r
The masthead of NME is very simple and clean in design. As I stated above, it’s a red box featuring the title and the date of the issues in simple white text. The title is bold and contrasts well with the red which gives the cover a very distinctive look. The dates run vertically next the ‘N’ of ‘NME’ so it doesn’t distract from the impact of the main title and maintains the very clean look of the masthead in general. The title doesn’t feature any strap lines which would clutter the masthead and subtract from the minimalist look of the title. Also stated above, the title looks very similar to red top magazines like ‘the Sun’ and ‘the Star’ which deceives the reader into thinking that NME is as important as the newspapers due to the very similar appearance of the titles.
The cover lines on the covers of NME are usually very minimal and feature a very simple and modern design. This issue follows along with that trend perfectly with a few red, white and black cover lines in the top right corner of the cover and a splash in black and white towards the bottom of the page below the feature cover line. The cover lines the right of the title feature the exact same font and colour scheme as the masthead with the addition of black font so that it’s visible against the background. The masthead and cover lines come together very nicely which makes the upper regions of the cover very bright and eye catching. This draws the eye in which will cause the reader to read the other cover lines and see the splash at the bottom of the page. It’s in black and white which connects it to the main cover line and the little plus sign at the top also connotes additional information which makes the audience even more likely to read it.
New Musical Express or NME is published by IPC Group Limited on a weekly basis and costs £2.50. Between July and December of 2013 the magazine had a circulation of 19,491 copies, which is pretty poor when compared to Kerrang or MOJO.
The magazine is primarily targeted towards 17-30 year old men in the lower middle class or upper working class. Hence its name, NME tends to stick to the newest trends in music and often features the current trending artist or group. Appealing to this group of people is quite wise as they are the most likely to keep up to date with modern music and the upper ages in their target audience would most likely have a moderate amount of buying power so capitalising on that market is a very clever choice. There has been some controversy surrounding NME as it primarily features men on its cover and very few women have even been seen on it. However, there have been more female artists such as Lily Allen and Lana Del Rey who have managed to find themselves on the cover of NME.
Surprisingly, this issue of NME features an artist who became famous in the mid seventies and died in 1980. It features a cover line suggesting that new information has been found about the artists which fits much more in line with NME overall theme. The Main photo is displayed in a grainy black and white which gives it a retro feel and the black and white cover lines relating to the photo help to reinforce that theme. Other than the retro theme, this issue has maintained the iconic identity that NME is so well known for. The white title sits in a red box at the top left of the page and look incredibly similar to what you’d see on a newspaper like ‘the Sun’ or ‘the Daily Mirror’. The cover lines at the top of the page are in the typical red, white and black that NME is known for which helps them contrast with nearly any colour of background. The main cover line and all the text concerning it are simplified to a black and white to give them some separation from the rest of the cover lines which signifies their importance.
The main photo of the cover is of Ian Curtis resting his head on his hands on a long table. He’s quite small in the image and the way the table is shown gives the feeling that you’re sitting opposite Ian Curtis. The photo is also in black and white to represent the time in which he was famous and the noisy quality of the photo helps to add to that retro feel. The expression on his face looks guilty and as if he’s being punished for something. His expression combined with the composition of the photo gives the feeling of an interview and is very dramatic to look at. The overall feel the photo is imposing and would pull the reader in as they’d want to find out more about the very tense photo on the cover. NME went for a statement look here as they usually do and it’s worked very well. This cover would stand out among others as it’s very engaging and interesting to look out when compared to other magazines such as Mojo.
The feature cover line uses the same font as the rest of the cover lines and the title but it spreads across almost the whole width of the cover. It’s in white which contrasts nicely with the grey background and is underlined with a spectrum of colour that has quite a retro look to it. The whole cover line says ‘the unseen notebooks of Ian Curtis’. This phrase combined with the guilty looking expression in the main photo suggests a scandal and makes the article seem a lot more interesting. Also the fact it says ‘unseen’ adds a certain value to the magazine as the audience will feel like they’re getting something they won’t get anywhere else. The summary underneath adds to this as it states he was a ‘troubled genius’ which raises questions for the reader which they can only answer by buying the magazine and reading the article. The splash underneath also has the same effect as it shows an ‘exclusive into from Deborah Curtis’ which adds a further value to the magazine for the same reason. Overall, the feature cover line tries to lure the reader in with exclusives and raises questions for the reader just to tempt them in even further which is a very clever tactic to get your magazine sold quickly.