The genre of Clash is not pinned down to one certain genre they seem to use varied genres and artists, this could be an advantage for them as they will be appealing to a wide range of people who like music, but could also be a disadvantage because they are trying to accommodate for to many people and genres and might neglect a certain genre. The Masthead is right at the top of the magazine this again is a typical convention for a magazine, they have not used a contrasting background or colours because all colours that are used are bleak and are all the same type of colour whites and greys, this could be hard to read for the reader and this could become an issue for the magazine. Again as the same as the first magazine they have used the main image as the background, this could be showing that they take the artists they feature in the magazine as important and want to show them off instead of using just a plan one colour background, or that the magazine could be all about this particular artist. There is barely any text or images, this is showing how simplistic this magazine is it almost suggests that they don’t have to try and impress anyone by using images or exciting colours because their magazine is so well known. The models facial expressions is interesting he is looking upwards, it looks like they are looking up at the Masthead, could be symbolising that people should and or do look up to the magazine because of how popular and interesting it could be with people. This magazine is a total contrast to the first magazine, it is very minimalistic and has a clean cut look, and this could be preparing the reader for what is inside the magazine, that the look and idea for the magazine is exactly the same throughout.
NME genre is Rock; there are obvious signs on the front cover to suggest that this is the genre, for example the band The Horrors, this reflects the genre because it is negative and suggests anger and fear which fits that type of music that the genre is. They use a red background behind the title this is an obvious technique for a magazine as it bolds the Masthead so that it stands out, it is key that it stands out because there is a lot of text that surrounds the Masthead. They have used colours to differentiate from the sub headings by using red and white for the Masthead and then blue and white for the sub heading, this could be symbolising that NME is unique and is different from any magazine that is out there because of how the red is so rare on the front cover. The main image almost acts as a background; we see the models looking directly at the camera suggesting that they are looking right at the reader. There facial expressions represent their genre as they are not smiling, they have blank expressions showing that Rock is serious, which is a total contrast for a Pop magazine for example which would have happy facial expressions. They have a puff in the top right hand corner of the front cover, they have made the ‘100’ larger than the original text, this is showing that the makers of the magazine want to emphasise the ‘100’ because it looks impressive to have a promotion with a hundred things, it makes it seem more impressive and would drag a reader in to find out more. In the pull out quote they have underlined ‘Beyond Hard…’ this shows what the band is about, it is almost suggesting that they believe that they are one of the best bands around, the ellipsis creates almost tension as to what they will say next as they have come out with this bold stamen about themselves.
The genre of this magazine is Pop, they have again made it obvious in their front cover and the conversation that they have used e.g. the bright colours there is no set colour scheme or a set layout. It symbolises that there is no rules to the genre artists can do what they want, also symbolising the lifestyle of their demographic which would be kids going into teenagers. The front cover is very much image heavy, there is several images put in different places around the page, this is a good thing because then it lets the audience have freedom to start reading the front cover from any part of the page, there is multiple entry points. The masthead is a lot different to the other two Front covers, although it is at the top of the page it isn’t as obvious that it is the Masthead like the other magazines, for example NME use a red background and then has the rest of the backgrounds for the text as blue to differentiate, whereas they have the same colour background for multiple text throughout the front cover. The disadvantages for this type of front cover is that it has a disorganised and cluttered look, for a parent of the demographic looking to buy a magazine for them, because the target audience is a young audience they probably wouldn’t be buying it on their own, the parents would be put off by this because it wouldn’t appeal as they aren’t the target, this could lose readership.
Front covers analysis
