To begin obviously the same model has been featured on the cover but how she
is presented is almost entirely different. Both Q and NME have chosen to dress
her in a white dress. The connotations of white are purity and innocence – If
you’ve heard any of Lana Del Rey’s music I’m sure you’ll be thinking ‘innocent’
isn’t quite the word you’d use to describe her. Ignoring the face of both
magazines the first impression is that it is an innocent ‘teen pop’ star.
However interestingly both have chosen to add some kind of edge to the look; Q
have dressed her in typical innocent princess attire. The tiara has
specifically been used, as she’s a princess, a queen has power and is an
established woman, a princess is seen as a spoilt perfect girl how gets what
she wants. However they subvert this stereotype by her having blood down her
face. This intrigues the reader as they see it and wonder, “What’s happened
here?” This image of her is very much in key with her music – slightly grim and
depressing. Fans of her could see this side and potential fans would be
interested by the image and want to read on.
NME has chosen to instead of have her
looking still innocent they have presented her in a strong dominating pose and
pulling a face to the camera like she really doesn’t give two – she is also
stood in front of the American flag. This is an iconic image normally connected
with presidents (the most influential people in America), this is fitting to
the headline “The true face of a modern American icon.”
For my magazine I may use symbolism like
this to show insight into the artists tastes. I like the idea of subverting the
stereotypical image and connotations associated with a princess.
Both Articles refer to sanity in some way
through the headline
NME “I’m a psycho!”
Q “Everybody’s mad for Lana Del Rey”
This refers to her twisted music, the sound
of her music is very soft and gentle but like most songs if you listen to the
lyrics properly you’ll find it has a completely different meaning. The titles
reflect this well, it is a connotation for music magazines to play on the
artists lyrics or personas, puns are normally found here – more so in tabloid
papers than music magazines.
For my magazine I may use some kind of
lyrically reference in my headline but only if I think it will apply well. I
will NOT use of if it is cheesy or made to fit. If it is too long to fit on the
cover it could be put to better use on the double page spread.
The colour schemes are although entirely
different though: Feminine vs. masculine. Q have stayed true to the princess
concept and played with the stereotypical pinnacle of femininity – pink. Soft
pastel colours have also been used with the conventional three colour scheme.
NME have however chosen to use a soft pastel blue as their main colour. This
challenges the conventions of what is deemed as feminine.
For My magazine this will be useful as it
shows any colour can be conventions can be successfully challenged. However in
both of these style models pastel colours are predominantly used, not sharp
colours like electric blue.
Finally the last point of comparison is the
placing of things. On NME the model is behind every piece of text, she is
almost completely covered in text. Whilst Q seem to have a more thought out
layout as she weave through and over the text.
For my magazine I prefer the Q approach, as
it overall looks classier, although the NME looks more edgy and exciting I think
perhaps its slightly too cluttered.
