Print Media - Magazine Deconstruction

Front Cover

The front cover of the NME Magazine shows The Courteeners front man Liam Fray, it shows only him and not the rest of his band as he is the main face of his band and people are more likely going to recognise which band it is just by him. Liam is looking directly into the camera, with a very serious expression on his face; this could mean that he has some big news to tell us about his band. He also has his hand inside his jacket, this could either mean that his hand is meant to be on his heart, this could mean he is making a promise to us as some people put their hand on their heart to promise, it could also mean that he’s hiding something in his jacket, meaning it’s a secret he wants to share with us the readers.
 He has a few necklaces one of which has a religious symbol which could mean he’s religious; he is also wearing a red shirt which could symbolise the colour of the devil. There is also a moon shining behind him which in a lot of horror movies a full moon means something to do with a werewolf, he also has a werewolf-like hair style .

 The NME is in big bold letters at the top of the magazine so you can easily see what the magazine is called, its striking and draws in attention. The Courteeners is in big bold red writing which stands out against Liam Fray’s black jacket, and all the writing around The Courteeners writing is in a large font to show what this issue of the magazine is mainly going to be about.
 There is also some bold writing about festival scams and other different bands; this draws readers in to make them want to find out more about it.

Contents Page

The contents page has down the left hand side all the page numbers of what’s inside, all of the pages are in alphabetical order, and the font is small but red, the red font stands out against the plain white background.
 At the top of the page there is a huge title saying “snap shot” this draws in the reader’s attention, it also tells you the name of the person in the snap shot and on this issue its “Jamie T” there’s also a small box of text telling you information about Jamie T saying Panic Over, the white box stands out over the darkened picture of Jamie T.
 At the bottom of the page there are bold adverts to buy NME Magazine, the font is black which stands out against the plain white background.

The Double Page Spread

The double page spread is linked to the front cover being The Courteeners, and again the front man Liam Fray is the only person featured on this page. Most of the double page is a large picture of Liam Fray with the caption “Get used to this face” beneath his face, this shows that he is planning on making it big with his band, and he plans to be a music legend. Again he is looking straight into the camera only this time looking a little more relaxed than on the front cover, this could mean that he’s told us what he needed to and feels more relaxed that we now know. He’s holding his hands up which could link to the writing in the top right hand corner which has said that many people have doubted the talent of The Courteeners, Liam could be holding his arms up casually meaning something like “don’t doubt us” and he’s planning on proving the doubters wrong.
 The big “O” on the right hand side draws the reader in to make them want to read about the band, and again on this page the black font stands out against the plain white background.