NME Review - Article Research

This is a music magazine which mainly focuses on indie music. The layout of the magazine consists of the cover stars as a background and then images overlayed on the top. The masthead appears below the centre of the magazine as main coverstars are in the center.The magazine title ‘NME’ appears boldly at the top of the page, because it is in capitals and bold, red text it contrasts with the colour scheme for the rest of the cover. I think that it has been designed this way so that it is clearly seen and is instantly recognised as the magazine name.

The main story in this magazine about The Wombats.This is recognised as the main feature story because the font is big, bold and stands out from the rest of the stories around the page. The colours used are quite bright and bold, this again catches the eye and stands out. The yellow text is significant because it stands out from the rest of the story and gives the reader a quick insite as to what it is about. Also the text is quite spaced out on the story so that it takes up more of the front cover space than the rest over the stories.This is another indication that it is the main story in the magaine.

This magazine also includes other feature stories around the page. This intrigues the reader as there is more information about the content so therefore makes them more likely to buy it. Usually magazines have incentives which also make the reader more likely to buy it, however this magazine doesn’t. Instead, it advertises upcoming events such as Glastonbury, which would interest the reader into buying it. The significance of the event being in the banner of the cover is because it will appeal to a wider audience and therefore more people will be interested in it. The way that some of the sub features include quotes such as, ‘I was sick before going onstage at Wembley’ show how the designer has thought about what the reader would see at first glance. This technique makes the reader want to read the rest of the story and therefore want the magazine. At the footer of the magazine, there is a barcode. This is usually placed at the bottom of a magazine because it is most convenient.  

The design is rather simple, and therefore can be easily recreated onto Photoshop. By putting all of the images in different layers and then correspond them to the order they overlap in the magazine, it will create the overall layout for the magazine. By using the ‘rectangular marquee tool’ it is easy to recreate the banners on the cover by selecting the colour necessary. Then by using the ‘text tool’ it is easy to add the corresponding information onto the cover. By adding a ‘stroke’ to the title ‘NME’, it is easy to have the black outline on the text by going through ‘blending options’. Furthermore, by using the ‘move tool’ it is able to select text and change the angle of it.