Research into similar products

Here is the NME magazine featuring Ian Curtis from the band Joy Division and I have chosen to look at this magazine because the house style, text and colour helps to covey that this issue in particular is a special. Ian Kevin Curtis was an English musician and singer-songwriter. He is best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the post-punk band Joy Division and he died 18 May 1980 and this is significant because in this issue they are celebrating 30 years of joy division. The use of the black and white colour scheme is effective because it gives a sense of timelessness, as if the artists relevance and memory of them will live on and it also takes away the distraction of colour which causes the reader to focus on the main image of the cover artist. The fact that all the relevant information about the band is in bold black text highlights the emphasis on the message of this issue which is the artist. Furthermore even though this issue is a special addition the house style of the magazine is still similar, like the masthead is the same and in the same position. However this still fits the theme of this issue and helps to tell the reader that they are looking at an NME magazine due to the masthead being red and standing out. From analysing this magazine front cover I now know the importance of the use of house style, text and colour as these can make a big impact on the magazines message. So when I come to create my own music magazine I will think about what in particular I want to tell the reader in my issue.