Textual Analysis 1

L - The first thing that I notice about this magazine cover are the colours. Light blue, black and white and the only colours used on this cover. The most prominent colour of them all is the blue. Although it is a bright colour, to me, it gives off very negative connotations. Normally the colour blue has connotations of calmness and serenity but this blue reminds me of coldness and ice. The icey blue colouring on this magazine straight awayn gives off the impression that it is not going to be a happy and fun article. The NME logo has become such a recognisable institution that even though the logo is being covered by the artists head, you know what it is. You know that it's NME. This could also be the reason why the logo is the same blue colour as most of the other text. It blends in with the rest of the cover and doesn't make any attempts to stand out and be a standalone feature of the cover just because it is so recognisable that it doesn't need to be loud and bold, people will already know what it is.

The picture of the artist that has been used on the front cover has been edited so that it has the same cold blue tint to it as the text. The blue in the picture here lies in the shadows indicating some kind of darkness about that article. Then you see that the main article title is 'The Haunted and Mysterious death of Elliott Smith'. This is where the whole theme ties together. The cover looks dark and mysterious even though the colours aren't that dark at all. The artist isn't looking towards the camera which adds more mystery to the story and because he is caught in a mid shot, it makes you feel like you are close to him and that you want to know what happened. The models hair is wet, or has a wet look which also gives off the feeling that he has been drenched in icey water or something. The fact that there are only three colours used here (and the way that they have been used) make you feel like the artist is isolated in the cold. All because of colour.

The article teasers have been designed in the way that there are different colours for different parts. So for example blue for the title and italic black for the description. This has been done so that everything that needs to, stands out.

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