Codes and conventions in magazines

 MAGAZINE CODE AND CONVENTIONS:

Mastheads are used in all magazines to create the sense of branding for a brand, without a masthead a magazine doesn't exist. many Mastheads hide behind the image of the celebrity. However for my magazine because it is my first issue I want to make sure my audience know my masthead and brand to make it recognisable.

The image is they key part of a magazine and brings in large audiences for the celebrity on the cover. The image is always eye catching and uses a variety of poses and creative shoot such as Kanye wests cover using a crown of thorns.

All of the magazine have off leads on their front cover to entice the audience to continue to read inside. A lot of these off leads will be out music, however there is also a mix of celebrity, culture and politics in lead offs as well, because of this I will make sure to show a range of lead offs on my front cover.

Most magazine will make the photo a direct mode of address to the viewer to create a more personal touch for an audience it also makes the viewer interested and track to the persons eyes on a page.

Most magazines will shoot photos from just below the shoulders up, sometime they do change the shots to be further away or in a different angle like Tate McRae and Taylor Swifts covers. However it is always clear that the magazine is making the celebrity the centre focus with their face being immediately visible and recognisable for audiences.

Each magazine I looked at made sure to stick to a theme that made each copy inkeep with brand identity: With Rolling Stone the masthead can change colour to match a special theme like the summer issue with Shakira, but when there is no prevalent colour on the page the classic red masthead is used. Whereas, Billboard tend to change the masthead colour with every issue keeping the font the same and changing colour and position to match the artist, also using the colour in off leads as well. Finally FADER tend to keep the Masthead white unless it is a special issue.

Other conventions I found:

Variation of font:

The fonts vary on magazines, specifically in examples like Bill board and rolling stone, to either fit the theme of the model on the cover or to create variation on the cover to entice audiences to read on, this is usually on two fonts for the key titles such as the artists name and then a second font for off leads and smaller writing.

MAGAZINE CONTENTS PAGE CONVENTIONS:

 Mojo is the best at creating striking contents pages in which the artist continues to be heavily displayed, I prefer this style of Contents page however some contents pages have several images relating to multiple subjects. The image is always prevalent though and blends the front cover into the rest of the magazine making each issue feel unique to an audience.

Contents tend to stick to one column or three columns. The layout of the contents page helps to make the page pop without making it look like there is too much writing, the columns help to space the articles and where to find them well. This can help an audience find things quickly within the magazine and create organisation.

Similarly to the columns these sections are used to make sure that the magazine is well laid out and is easy to navigate for an audience the sections are usually broken using a brand colour for example the red in MOJO issue with Florence to create attention and emphasis on page numbers and different sections of the magazine.

The Contents pages all have the same criteria. Displaying the word contents to show the page the audience is on as well as key information such as the issue number the date of release and the brands logo or name again. This can be because it helps put everything in one place for audiences as well as summing up the magazine issue for summer or autumn etc.

Other conventions I found:

consistent colour scheme 

Similar to the cover the contents page continues the colour scheme, this can keep the brand identity going and also help to make each issue unique if individual colours are used for each issue, the brand identity is important for audiences to make the magazine feel cohesive and not like a new issue when you open the magazine.

Website convergence

Many music magazines will have their website somewhere on the contents page for example with rolling stone they place it in the bottom left corner of the page next to the page number and magazine name. This is useful especially to a 16-25 age range promoting the online version of the magazine to audiences making the website and the brand as a whole have a larger readership.

Varied photos

The photos taken for contents pages vary and are very different issue to issue which is less of an issue as each photo can be article based and other who still use the cover model will take wider shots and more dynamic poses to make the contents page ore interesting to readers.

SPECIFIC ANALYSIS

FADER MAGAZINE:

I really like the covers of FADER because of their range of shots and colours appealing to both a male and female audience. I want to take ideas from FADER into my eventual outcomes, using their poses and consistent brand identity in my piece.

I like this cover for the further away shot and editorial pose I also like the sleek design of the covers with no barcodes or stand firsts. However I do want to incorporate these in my final shoot to not only follow brief but to also create a more enticing magazine that people will want to continue to read.

ROLLING STONE ANALYSIS:

rolling stone is an iconic music magazine the retro feel is timeless and the three colour theory is one I want to continue in my own outcome. Rolling stone is special in the fact that each issue uses different font for lead offs and titles the only consistent identity is the masthead. I want to think about this when creating my magazine to make the font fit the 'vibe' of an artist.

BILLBOARD ANALYSIS:

Billboard reaches my audience more (16-25) it has iconic covers of up and coming artists with similar conventions to the other three. The masthead in keeps with the theme and style of the photoshoot and font varies throughout each issue, Billboard went through large brand identity changes and have now become more appealing to a younger audience.

CONTENTS PAGES:

FADER have a very dynamic contents page which is heavily minimal and striking it keeps the space less cluttered whilst still giving the information required I like how this contents page is set up and the personality within the photo.

This contents page stick with brand identity using the same colours and following the font through I like the strip of images down th side to add visual interest whilst looking at the contents page, the section breaks are also consistent with brand and  informative. I want to use something like this layout in my final outcome