LIIAR analysis (market research) 3 products

Market research LIIAR analysis of NME

The masthead of this magazine is large and in the top left of the page like most magazines. It is dominant red in colour to make it stand out being eye catching. Part of the masthead is not visible due to the image of a band member covering the letter E, only a well known magazine could do something like this, because this magazine is famous it is clearly an NME magazine and the fact the masthead is covered doesn’t matter.

The image used on the front is in a style how most of NME magazines are, this is part of NME’s trademark design. The image on the front cover is always a band or artist placed there to show what the main article of the magazine will be based on. The fact band members are shown on the front cover will make a person who is a fan of the subjects in the image buy the magazine or other fans of the same music genre. There is a lot of use of reds and blacks, they are both very contrasting colours and are worked around with the make an effective house style which is persistent throughout the magazine. The colour red is usually associated with NME magazine and other music magazines; it is seen as the NME magazine identity. Below the image an interesting quote is listed from an interview with the featured band on the front cover and is humorous to a fan of the featured band, it shows hooking information of an interview which the magazine contains, this entices a reader to buy the magazine to read the rest of the interview. Other major headlines are listed on the right of the page in a fairly large font so it is easily visible; there is smaller font information about each subheading which is handy for a viewer to see what the magazine will contain. There is a black graphic circle to the top left of the page with yellow font with information about a new album that is being released. The use of colour makes this stand out despite it not being very large. There is a headline above the masthead which is unusual compared to other music magazines, the font is in yellow listing ‘studio news’ this makes it more eye catching and draws a fair amount of attention to the top of the page to read the rest of the information which is in white font.

On the contents page a handy and effective tool is used, there is a list of bands in a ‘band index’ which is handy for a reader to find information about certain bands they wish to read about. Information on subscribing to the magazine is listed at the bottom. It is very appealing due to the size of the font and yellow colour used in comparison to the band index and other smaller font information. The house style colours are persistent in the contents from the front cover; the logo of NME is at the top of the page like the front cover masthead. In the centre of the page there is an image with a major story the magazine features, all page numbers are listed around the image unusually but it is still easy to read. There is a large red graphic of an arrow pointing right, toward the next pages in the magazine. Inside the graphic there is information about a ‘No1 gig’ and the page number is listed. On the right hand side of NME’s contents page there is an index with different categories allowing simple ways to find pages and what information is listed on those pages. The date of the issue magazine is listed below the title to the contents which is shown as ‘this week’ if a person was new to reading this magazine there is no information on this magazine being a weekly issue, but the fact it is listed in contents would give information to the new reader.

In the double page spread the artist Lilly Allen is covering a whole page of the double page spread. She is dressed in a very iconic way to the style and genre of the magazine, the fact she is wearing a red tartan which is associated with the ‘punk’ culture represents what NME magazine is about. The image is dominant, seconding how dominant the image of who the article is based on is a major inspirational quote of an interview which is clearly from Lilly Allen as she is featured in the double page spread. The fact the quote is spread all across the page makes it more interesting to look at, the font is in a very distorted grunge style, this could have connotations with the way that Lilly Allen is portrayed as a problem person and the fact the quote says ‘attention seeker’ further enhances this effect in my opinion. Certain parts of text are highlighted in red, the main house style colour. From viewing the double page spread you would not have to read the smaller paragraphs with the information to know what this magazine is about.

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LIIAR analysis of Mojo magazine

The masthead of this magazine covers the whole width of the top of the page, like NME it is partially covered by the subject in the image. This is to draw more attention to the musician features and what top stories the magazine will feature. The front cover is in a similar layout, with information spread around the image, although this image is in the centre in MCU so more attention is drawn to the face. Like NME there is a circle graphic in red contrasting with all of the other colours on the front cover, the text is in white clearly stating that there is a free CD with this magazine. Unlike NME there are a couple of thumbnail images placed in areas where text is related to the image rather than them having mastheads. The house style scheme tends to vary with Mojo magazine in other issues, but the masthead keeps to either a black or white house style logo. Like NME and most music magazines there are bands which feature in the magazine listed around the page, showing what else the magazine contains.

There is no persistent house style in Mojo magazine, they tend to vary every issue, but the layout is persistent. The contents page like NME shows the issue number and date which seems to apply to most music magazines. Like NME there is use of a quote from information within the magazine with page numbers directing to that story. The ‘features’ list all have titles summing up what to expect in that section of the magazine, the page numbers are listed beside the list. The text is to the left of the page allowing space for the image to fit in, like NME magazine where the text works around the image.

On the double page spread, there is a clever use of dividing the duo Alex Turner and Miles Kane on either page, this linking with the title ‘best of both worlds’ which spreads across both pages allowing a fade effect of orange text from the left fading into white on the right page. The fact the title spreads across is a clever way to use this effect but also keep both of the separate information together to not section the double page as much. It lists the photographer and ‘words’ editor unlike most magazines, it is a way of showing who created the page for credit to be given to them. This may link with advertisement, but only vaguely. In the part of text explaining what the article is about, the band ‘The Last Of The Shadow Puppets’, ‘Alex Turner’ and ‘Miles Kane’  are all highlighted to show further what the article is all about.

LIAAR analysis of Kerrang magazine

(not a fan of this magazine)

The front cover of the image shows a distorted typography in the masthead going along with Kerrang magazines normal association with heavy metal and other sub genres which are seen as hardcore and grit. Like the other magazines I have analysed the image of the band featured covers the masthead. The magazine is filled with images and the main image is not very large because of the lack of space. There is text scattered all over the page, with use of bright outstanding colours on all major points that need to be highlighted. The text seems to overwhelm the main image unlike NME and Mojo which only saw a few major pieces of text covering the image. The amount of clutter and information featured on the front cover would make a viewer be interested and take a closer look and dig out more information, the fact that a lot is listed may mean it’s worth the money! This may not apply to everybody’s preference as many people like the simplicity. The colour scheme is very busy, use of a lot of bright colours such as the electric pink and vibrant yellows highlighting key points such as the tag line, ’life is loud’ which is highlighted, whereas other information is in white text on top of a black background. Rather than subheading explain what the magazine will feature there are images listing up the left hand side of the page and the bottom right, there is information around working as captions.

There is a persistent house style throughout to the contents from the front cover. The same colour schemes and the page is fairly filled up. The main image of the contents has not been edited like NME and Mojo and seems more natural, this could be to do with the genre of music and the fact that ‘hardcore’ heavy bands are seen more rebellious and do not take part in the poesy pictures, but that is just my opinion. The main image has a page number with further information to the picture and the featured band, with information cluttered around the corners of the image. Like the other magazines I have analyses the information on issues and subscription are on the contents page in the same location to the bottom left.

The double page spread looks slightly different from the contents and the front cover, this is due to this article being about the band featured. The lead singer is clearly shown as he is in front of the other band members, his outfit contains a light purple and deep and vibrant reds. These colours are used in the title of the page ‘dirty little secrets’ which is a famous lyric of a well known song by this band and it also links with the fact this article is about asking questions to the band ‘dirty secrets’. There are humorous headings such as ‘might look and sound like a band your mum would approve of but don’t be fooled’ Like NME and Mojo a outstanding quote is shown, well… outstanding. There is a light purple graphic behind the quote linking with the title, this draws attention. Like the other magazines the double page spread sees text working around the image to not cause too much of a divide because it is a double page spread.

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