CODES AND CONVENTIONS OF MAGAZINE COVER PAGES

Generic Codes and conventions for Country Music Magazines

Masthead- Title of the magazine normally bold and bright it helps catch the eye of the audience, entices them to buy that particular magazine over competition . Sometimes Mastheads become well known helping the magazine company gain a customer base and help the brand name come established 

Central image- It's the central image in the magazine. It will always relates of the genre of the magazine. In my case the image would relate to country music so maybe a country musician. 

Cover lines- Tells the audience what they can expect to read in the magazine. It will always relate to the main photo. And it helps draw the attention of the reader.

Puff and buzz- (Puff) it may in applies the reader can win a free gift. (buzz) are used to excite the reader this helps sell because readers don't want to potentially miss out. 

Positioning statement- also known as "slogan". This helps the company stand out from competition. 

Colour themes- Colour themes match the genre of the magazine. For example Country magazines would have to use colours which would entice their target audiences to buy the magazine. 

Barcodes- Has to be on the front cover because the back cover normally has an advert. 

Issue date- This has to be on the front cover so the audience know if they are buying the latest issue of the magazine.

Shot type - Close-up, The subject stands out giving a personal relationship with the reader – uses and grat

Direct mode of address - connecting the audience with the artist - uses and grat

Three colour House Style – Red, Black and White. Low key lighting keep in with this style. Can be seen as very gender neutral.

Masthead stands out from the background drawing attention to it especially with the red M. Contrast to the rest of the cover

Positioning – Rule of Thirds, the eyes are within the middle segment of the cover

Text is plain and bold contrasting the background

Key words (this case names) are larger making it stand out more

CODES AND CONVENTIONS OF MAVERICK MAGAZINE

• The Masthead is bold and stands out to the rest of the magazine. This is easily recognisable to regular consumers and it stay’s consistent throughout all issues. Mastheads are essential to magazines so that they are recognisable, therefore I intend to use a bold masthead in my magazine.

• The subtitles are placed in an organised fashion and looks aesthetically appealing.

• The colour scheme of this issue is Red, White and Black which suggests that the magazine is targeted at a male audience. However, other issue of this Magazine are much more colourful and brighter so we can see that Maverick targets audiences dependant on issue than a universal audience.

House Style – Black, white and yellow – gender neutral

Image placement – in front of text

Masthead is black - stands outColours in letters – unique & stands outDirect mode of

address – personal relationship (uses and grat)

Main cover line features artists name and it stands out enticing fans

Gender neutral background

Date of issue

Variation is subtitle colour intrigues audience and draws them to the text

Insight into magazine to draw viewers in

CODES AND CONVENTIONS OF BILLBOARD MAGAZINE

• Lower case text on masthead is unusual for all magazines however the recognisable company means that people know what it is

• The front cover image covers a large amount of the masthead. This means that the magazine is confident that it is well known enough for people to only need to see some of it to recognise the brand.

• Billboard use many eye catching colours to make it stand out to the viewers however they don’t have a consistent colour scheme in all issues so different issues will appeal to different audiences.

• Follows the similar conventions for all country music magazines where the front cover isn’t rammed full of subtitles and information. This is something I can incorporate into my magazine.

Magazine logo & image covering the title shows magazine confident that it will be recognised

Image placement – in front of text

Masthead in lower case – against the norm & stays in with generic house style of black/white & one different – in this case a light blue

Subtitles clear and contrasting against back ground

Main cover line features artists name and it stands out enticing fans

Direct mode of address

Date of issue

CODES AND CONVENTIONS OF COUNTRY WEEKLY

• Masthead isn’t in bold capitals unlike other country magazines such as Maverick but they rely of consumers knowing the brand from their logo and parts of their masthead

• The image of the artist is clearly the main attraction on the page as it takes up most of the space on the front cover, it is also very prominent as it laps over the masthead giving a 3Dish effect to entice consumers. Artists on the front cover tend to be the main subject and is a common convention for all genres not just country. Therefore it’s essential that I use this in my own magazine.

• Subtitles contrast the background and each topic of these are in bold to attract the reader to the text.

CODES AND CONVENTIONS OF MAGAZINE CONTENTS AND DOUBLE PAGE SPREADS

Main image taking up a huge amount of space on the spread, typical for Country Weekly – it’s the first thing the audience is drawn to.

Color scheme keeps in with issue house style – professional consistency

Lists of content easily follow able by contrasting colours

Text contrasting the background making it easy to read while bein able to keep in with professional house style

Image and stand alone text identifies the main context of the issue drawing the reader to this since it stands out from the rest of the contents spread

Key information bold – such as page numbers, artist names, features and departments

Magazine name and date of issue – recent info

CODES AND CONVENTIONS OF COUNTRY WEEKLY CONTENTS

• One large bold image in covering the entirety of the contents spread. This is the usual convention for Country Weekly to appeal to the reader. I will not incorporate this in my magazine as this is only typical to this particular company and doesn’t have the same effect as multiple smaller images to draw attention of a reader to different topics to engage them

• Consistent layout with other issues with half of the spread on the whole magazine and half on the main topic and focus

• Each issue tends to have a different colour scheme dependant on main focus and topics so colours usually gender neutral to entice all audiences.

Date of issue – recent information – informative (uses and grat)

Bold Masthead with a red NME to stand out and to keep in with their house style.

Bold lines with contrasting text to split up the contents list.

Colour scheme is black/white and red – keep to this with black text, white background and red page numbers – separates these to the reader

Only text that breaks the house style is a promotion to attract the reader into buying the magazine

The main image used for this contents page is placed towards the top of the page below the masthead. This is a conventional look for a magazine contents page. The image is quite large which brings the attention of detail to the image rather than the text. There’s no direct address which can be an opposite effect of grabbing the readers attention.The subtitle for the main article is much larger signaling the importance to the reader. The text is also much larger than the rest of the article to further show this

CODES AND CONVENTIONS OF NME CONTENTS

• NME have used a very mainstream colour scheme for their contents page. Black, white and red gives the reader an attractive feature for their page. The red on the page stands out against the black and white which is used to emphasis key parts off the contents page.

• The text that has been used for this contents page is standard giving the magazine a simplistic look. The masthead is in a large font placed at the top of the page which is conventional with this type of magazine. The cover line headers are place around the image to settle the main image. The text is in a standard font and colour to further give a simplistic look for the magazine. 

Magazine Logo showing brand awareness

Lines separating the page to make it easy for consumers and to keep in with professional ethos

Bold Heading

Large page numbers with artists names on the images to make it clear and easy for the reader to navigate

Direct mode of address – personal relationship with audience and artist (uses and grat)

Large image to draw attention as it’s appealing. Mid shot – black and white – acts almost as a backgroundDifferent section – clear to see – Information differs to rest with info such as websites etc.

Chart information, on all Billboard magazine contents – prominent on the page and different to almost all other magazines – unique to brand and recognizable to readers.

Subtitles bold and contrast the background to attract the reader. Follows magazine colour scheme of black/white and light blue

CODES AND CONVENTIONS OF BILLBOARD CONTENTS

• Page split up into many section divided by clear lines. Keeps the contents page organised and follows a square style layout due to it’s appealing look.

• Images vary in size dependent in importance which draw the audiences eye.

• Unique feature in the chart list to attract audiences every week to keep up to date

• House style keeps in accordance to the Billboard masthead (Black/Blue and bits of pink). It keeps the magazine recognisable while keeping a professional consistency.

Pull quote – draws the readers eye to entice them – much larger & in different font to do so

Image used as a background – common convention

Main image of the article stand alone and clear for the reader to see

Text contrasting the background – reader can see it clearer

Small image overlaps onto the second page – meant to stand out and draw the reader

Large, bold title in different font to stand out, Serif text to differ from the main article.

Backgrounds are White and black keeping in with Mavericks colour scheme and house style

Red maverick, small but is common with maverick – recognisable to common readers – keeps in with house syle

Article keeps in with a professional theme of Maverick, lots of text and few images to present a serious ethos

CODES AND CONVENTIONS OF MAVERICK DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

• The main image doesn’t use direct mode of address and y using this counter convention the reader is more focused on the content on the pages.

• The house style is continued to keep a professional consistency and it is in the typical Maverick style making it easily recognisable.

• The text and background differ on each side making the text stand out while also keeping in with the house colour scheme.

• Both images used are in action long shot which don’t give away the contents of the article straight away encouraging consumers to read more.

Direct mode of address – Uses and grat

Billboard Logo & colours present keeping to the colour scheme

Long shot of artist covering a whole page to draw attention to it and to show what the article’s about – typical with Billboard

Text is on a different background than the rest of the spread – clearly shows where the information is

Use of a drop cap to draw the reader to the start of the article and then it carries on with a typical smaller font.

Different font which is larger to give an overview of the article.

‘Primary Colours’ given an effect to make it seem 3D to stand out, the colours also fit in with the titles as all colours on the spread are primary colours – keeps in with house style

CODES AND CONVENTIONS OF BILLBOARD DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

• One large image of Taylor Swift covers half of the double page spread – this is typical for billboard as it both draws attention to the image as well as giving it an aesthetically pleasing and professional feature that go’s along with the rest of the spread.

• Gender neutral background is countered by a feminine theme to the spread with a variety of bright colours and an image of a female star

• Uses of many features such as direct mode of address and drop cap to entice reader into reading the article as well as usage of a clear divide between text and the background (white box)

Typical close up of artist to draw attention to it as well as notify the audience as to what the articles about

Background split between red and light blue to appeal to both genders. Also keeps in with Q’s colour scheme of red/white and black

Magazine logo and page number

Pull quote from the artist to attract the reader and break up the long text

Two Drop caps used to show which parts of the article are most important as well as breaking up the text

DPS Title small and keeping in with the colour scheme to draw attention to other parts of the article

Initial of artist ‘J’ – links the artist to the article – Signature house style colours – red, white, black - recognisable

CODES AND CONVENTIONS OF Q’S DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

• The first thing we notice on this spread is the big ‘J’ on the article. This is one of their unique selling points as it stands out from the text on the article; it also has that contemporary feeling of the genre hip hop as the background of the image of Jay Z looks like something you would see on a hip hop music video.

• The signature house style of the magazine is continued on the double page spread which creates a professional consistency and allows the page to be easily recognisable – this is something I will do in my magazine

• Image of artist uses half the double page spread, this emphasises that this is the subject of the article

• White background makes the text stand out while complying with the colour scheme.