Analysis of the Front Cover IPC

What type of photograph is on the front cover? The front cover of the magazine, is a picture of a middle aged man, dressed in punkish, clothing which represents the genre of the magazine. Its a portrait shot image of Mark Ronson.

It is a close up, medium shot or long shot? It is a medium shot

Discuss the composition of the image. The image is a medium shot photo, which was taken from a straight angle. It is placed on the right of the magazine, to allow space for writing and sub headings, to represent what will be included in the magazine.

Why is the image on the front cover important? The image on the front cover of the magazine, plays a very important part in the magazine, because this is what attracts readers attention and gets them to buy the magazine, as it gives a very clear idea about what genre the magazine is. It also covers up most of the space, to make it look full and interesting.

How does the image attract the audience? Image attracts the audience as it gives the audience a very brief idea about what the magazine will be about, without them even looking at it, and it will specifically attract a certain audience. E.g NME will attract people who are interested in rock, and inde music.

How do we know what is inside the magazine? On the front cover there is a brief description of what will be in the magazine, and special features.

How is information arranged on the front cover? The tittle is on the left of the page, this is because the way magazines are layed out in shops, the left side of the magazine is on show, so it tells buyers what magazine it is, which is why it has to be written in big bold letters, and a bright contrasting colour to attract attention.

What colours have been used on the front cover? The background of the magazine is in white, and the writing is in red, these two colours go very well as they contract each other, and brings out the main information which needs to be shown.

Are there any iconic signs? Yes, there is another magazine inside the ‘NME’ magazine, called ‘THE CLASH’ which is an icon for rock people, so people from that era would get the magazine.

Are there any symbolic signs?Yes, the trumpet is a symbolic sign, Mark Ronson is famous for having trumpets in his music, him holding a broken trumpet shows that he has developed a new style of music.

Are there any indexical signs?

What are they?

How do these signs appeal to the identified audience?

What colour is the masthead? The mast head is Orange, it is very significant that it is a bright and contrasting colour to make it stand out, and obvious for people to notice it.

What type of font is used? Big bold letters are used.

Why do you think this font has been chosen? To make the name of the magazine stand out, for people to identifiy it from far, and get drawn to looking at it.

Is there a website for the magazine referred to? Yes at the bottom right corner of the magazine.

Why do you think this is? Incase any of the customers or buyers of the magazine become very interested, and would like to view the features of this magazine online, or for people who would rather read the magaznie online or buy it online.

How much is the magazine? £2.30

Where are we told how much it is? For people to be aware how much they are going to spend on the magazine

What representational issues can you identify (e.g. gender, stereotype, positive/negative, mediation..)

How is language targeting the audience? The language used isn’t very formal, so it shows that the magazine is for the younger generation, it’s also most likely aimed at the male gender, because its set it in a more bold, standard set out, and also ‘mark ranson’ is a male who is an icon of rock, which emphasizes why it’s aimed more at males

Who is producing this magazine?

Do institutional factors affect the look of the magazine?

Contents Page

Give a denotative description of the layout of the contents page. Had two pages, one page is a large advertisement for men’s deodorant, the other has the contents, it also has photos of people that feature in the magazine and quotes written underneath the photos. In the centre of the page there is a relatively larger photo of the Clash, as there is a free magazine inside on them.

 Give a connotative analysis of the layout of the contents page. The layout has an almost circular way to it. The photos are almost mapped out around the main photo of the clash, so the reader’s eye is drawn to this; it makes it a key selling point. This photo is in black and white, whilst the others are in colour, this also makes it stand out, and gives it more emphasis.

 How many fonts have been used and why? Around 6 different fonts have been used, not only don’t types, but always the size and boldness varies a lot, I think this has been done, so the page has different levels to it, and is more interesting to the reader.

What images have been used and why? Photographs of celebrities that are feature have been used in the contents page, and underneath each image, there is one of their quotes, I think this has been used to let the reader know what sort of things the magazine talks about and what is featured in it.

Analyse the representational issues in the images. Most of the photographs used, are of white middle aged men. This could be because most people who read the magazine of this category.

How is language targeting the audience? The language used is colloquial yet it is not slang, and is comprehendible to the average reader. I feel the language used is not aimed at a very young audience, perhaps not to people under sixteen, as there is reference to drugs and swear words have been used in the quotes.

Give examples“Fuck! Fuck! Oh Fuck! You cannot ask me that , this is torture”, “Are you serious? I still smoke weed everyday!”

Discuss the use of colour using denotation and connotation Black and white are the colours mostly used in the contents page, the backround is white, and writing is black. All photos save one are in colour, the one that is not, is in black and white. This colour scheme is quite striking and also makes it easy for the reader to see the and understand the page, it’s not too busy, it’s really quite simple.

How does this attract the audience? This attracts the audience as it helps them see if they are interested in anything in the magazine, because the page isn’t too busy and everything is clear to see.

Double Page Spread

Give a denotative description of the layout. On the first page, there is a large photo of the man, wrapped around the bottom and right side of the photo there is writing. On the second page, the top of the page has various different images, then theres is a six paragraphs underneath them, then underneath these paragraphs is an advertisement of champagne and a single.

Give a connotative analysis of the layout. I think the layout has been set out like this, so it seems like there is more writing than there actually is. The photo and images fill up a vast amount of the page. The advert has been placed in to balance the page out, so it is attractive to readers.

How many fonts have been used and why? Three main fonts have been used, one for the introduction, another for the subheading of each paragraph, and another for the main bit of writing, I think this has been done so as not to confuse the reader, also it looks neater like this.

What images have been used and why? As the double page spread is on one man, the images are all of him and his work, there are old images and newer ones.

Give an analysis of the representational issues in the images. The images re-present the authors career and some of this work