The artists portrayed on the front of NME almost always wear dark colours/those which match the colour scheme of red, white, black and yellow. Whilst the magazine itself focuses on promoting new bands, it always uses a prominent indie/pop rock artist which the audience are able to recognise and become intrigued to read more about. A simplistic choice of colours throughout satisfies the reader as they are able to focus more on the text and images than the colours which are being used. Artists throughout the magazine follow the grungy look which indie performers are best known for, burgundy being a common choice alongside dark blacks, blues and greens. The colour in general mimics that of the colours which indie fans wear - tartan, leather and dark colours being common features. The images are often very posed - where as childrens pop magazines often chose artists with a 'clean' image and huge smile to be on the front of their covers, indie/rock magazines often opt to explore more vacant and serious expressions which makes the reader more likely to make some kind of contact with the reader through eye contact.
