1st Magazine cover analysis

i have chosen to look at this cover of NME magazine as it is different to its usual layout.  the colours used are plain black and white with a little bit of red  in there which could symbolize death as it is the 30th anniversary of John Lennons death.  as he is from the 1960's the use of the black and white image shows that he is from an older generation and wanting to show you him in his prime by having one of his younger photos on the front cover.  they have also used a grey colour for the masthead of the magazine which is usually red and this fits in with the black and white photo to make it seem older than what it actually is.  the three phrases underneath his name on the cover in red writing state clearly what is inside the magazine about him in which his genius is all of his music and life, his demons are all of his bad times and possibly enemies and obviously his final hours are his last few days and how he died.  there are also a range of other articles inside as it states on the front the names of other artists and 'NME awards voting opening' and this is located towards the bottom right and so this boots its exclusivity as it is not all just about John Lennon. at the top of the page it says 'the day music dies' which makes John Lennon out to have been a musical legend, which he was, by saying that his death was the day music died and obviously he was one of the greatest artists alive, also his name along with the masthead dominates the whole page and lets you know what the main attraction of the magazine is.  i think that they have chosen a picture of him with a cigarette in his hand because in the days he was in music alot of people were doing drugs and smoking and so it maybe shows that he could have been a drug user and obviously that he smoked.  the barcode is at the bottom right hand side which, as well as the bottom left hand side, is the usual place to put the barcode.