Analysis of 2 magazine front covers

Analysis of two existing magazine front covers

NME

This magazine uses one main image on the front cover. The band that have been photographed are looking directly at the camera which catches the audience’s eye. The image of the band also relates to the lead story line ‘war paint’ which immediately tells the reader what is going to be in the magazine. The image is of women which could appeal to the male audience. It could also appeal to a female audience because if they see there are women on the front cover they could think that perhaps that this issue of the magazine may appeal to them because of the female content. According to the socio-economic scale I think that the target audience for this magazine would be C2, C1 and B or a middle/lower upper class audience and mostly male. I think the age range of this magazine would be between 18 and 30 because of the content. For example, the picture of the band featured is of a similar age to the target audience and therefore, the audience would be able to relate to them.
There is a definite colour scheme for the front cover of this magazine. It sticks to using red, black and white which are typical magazine colours. The colour red is used to highlight the important or most interesting parts of the magazine. By using a bright colour like red could represent a young target audience as bright colours are often associated with younger people such as teenagers. The use of black and red together could symbolise violence and death which is more likely to appeal to men than women. This could imply that this magazine is targeted at a male audience rather than a female audience.

Q Magazine

Similarly, this magazine also uses one main image except it’s of a band member rather than a whole band. However, he too is looking at the camera which attracts the audience. The image of the band member also relates to the lead story line ‘Foo Fighters’ as he is the member of that band. The man pictured is holding a guitar which implies that perhaps this is aimed at a male audience because they are more likely to listen to rock music. I think the age of the man is of a similar age of the target audience as I think the age of the target audience for this magazine would be between 20 and 40. However, by having a picture of a man, it could attract a female audience because the image of him would appeal to them. I think that the target audience for this magazine would be A, B and C1 according to the socio-economic scale. I think this because of the content of the magazine and also the price. Even though it is a bumper issue it still costs over £1 more than NME so therefore would put the readers of Q magazine higher on the socio-economic scale than the NME readers because they are more willing to pay that extra for the magazine. I also believe that the audience for this magazine are more likely to be male simply because of the music genre. However, I do think that a larger female audience would buy Q magazine compared to NME because Q often has a larger variety of genres of music rather than sticking to a very small number.
The colour scheme is similar to that of NME using black white and red. However, they have used Gold to show that is a special edition. Also, by using the colour gold it could show wealth, targeting their upper class audience. Another thing is that they have used a colourful background. This could attract an audience in as it will stand out from the other music magazines. The background is of a field and blue sky which could relate to one of the cover lines ‘Your festivals survival kit’, implying that some of their audience go to festivals.