Textual Analysis- EXAMPLE1

Here is the first example of a typical music magazine.

MASTHEAD ...
The title of this magazine is 'NME', followed by the slogan 'New musical Experience'. It is in a bold, outstanding, bright, attractive font and colour and almost immediatley catches your attention because of how it is presented. Because it is in red it gives out various messages, perhaps warning, or blood, or danger, or stop. The fact that this colour is used to resemble 'Stop', it makes you stop and look at it. It is outlined in thin white lines which brings it out compared to the black background on the text. The font is important for the masthead as it establishes who the intended audience is and is one of the main aspects when it comes to selling the magazine to that audience. In this case- which usually occurs to other magazines, the masthead is the most bold and eye-catching on the page. The main image of the magazine cover partly conceals the bottom right corner of the title, but because the magazine is so popular, the audience can still identify what magazine it is because of it's logo being so recognisable.

HEADLINES ...
The headlines on this magazine cover are in two different colours; red and white. These colours stand out in comparison to the yellow background which makes them easy to read and understand, it also makes them noticeable and make the audience want to read them. They are in uniform colour with the rest of the elements of the magazine and are all in line down the right hand side of the page. This both looks good yet professional too. There is a main story headline on the front that is presented further into the centre, in a bolder and more eye catching colour and font, this is the same case for all magazines. It lets the audience know what the main story is.

MAIN IMAGE ...
A popular music artist is always used on the cover of a magazine, in this case Beth Ditto has been used, posing naked with a kiss mark on her bottom. This kiss mark matches the colours used on the magazine cover which makes it relevant. It also relates to the main headline which really highlights it's relevance. The image itself almost fills the full space of the cover, which is purposely done to simply make the magazine more attractive to the audience it is aimed at. The reader is more likely to purchase the magazine if they recognise the figure on the front, and therefore the producer uses an artist they think their intended audience will know.

LOGO ...
The logo, similarly to every magazine out on sale, is placed at the bottom right hand corner underneath the barcode. This makes it visible on the page but isn't used as a main feature on the cover. Again, like other existing magazines, it is presented in the uniform colours, red, black, yellow and white. It gives the audience the opportunity to fully identify the magazine and in this case the logo is presented within the details at the bottom. It is shown in the middle of the website which gives it an original effect.

DATE ...
The date on this magazine cover is also shown within the barcode. It is simply written, in a small black font, plain and simple. The date is put on a magazine cover so that the audience can see when the information inside is from, and they can see whether the stories in it are relevant or not.

DETAILS ...
The details on NME magazine, like on others, are placed in a small, less descrete font and colour at the bottom. There is a white block that contains both the details and the barcode, placed in the right hand corner. Because the text has a white background it makes the writing more visible to the audience. It is written in black and red writing, again, uniform colours, but are not used as a main feature on the page. The details allow us as an audience to see were to find extra information and how to contact the makers of the magazine.

COLOUR SCHEME ...
For this magazine, the colour scheme is yellow, red, black and white; simple colours, mainly primary colours. Even though it uses very simple colours, the magazine looks very effective because of the way the colours have been used. All existing magazines use a colour scheme, although sometimes, magazine producers use different colour schemes for various issues. The colour scheme is what gives the magazine it's originality and is always used to create different effects.