CODES AND CONVENTIONS

FRONT COVERS

Masthead – Side ways, generic billboard font. Stands out, doen’t obstruct image of artist. Eyecatching.

Background – plain, compliments colour theme but doesn’t distract reader from the main image.

Artist’s name in large letters to emphasise what the main article is about. Considerably bigger than the text underneath which shows the importance of the artist.

Quote taken from interview inside the magazine, deliberately picked this particular quote in order to interest the reader and make them want to buy the magazine to find out more.

The main image is a mid – shot. Artist’s body is facing away yet his face is looking directly at the camera. Direct eye contact draws the reader in and encourages them to buy it.

Colourful lighting is used to reflect off the artist’s body, it makes the image more interesting and the colours of the lights are similar to the colour of the text (red) and background (blue). Ties the image together.

Colour scheme – the use of the different variations of red, blue and white make the front cover look aesthetically pleasing and makes the front cover look sophisticated. Red font has been used to link it to the main image, as there is a use of red light reflecting off the artist.

Date is always placed underneath the masthead

Short paragraph about artist and whats included in the feature

Billboard common codes and conventions

• All billboard front covers have the artist as the main subject of the image, with minimal text around them. This emphasises the importance of the artist to this issue of magazine and lets the reader know which artist the feature will be about. It also catches the eye of the magazine’s target audience, who would be interested in the artist and will therefore buy the magazine.

• All mastheads are written in the same font, making the magazine more recognisable to people, and more memorable rather than having a different font each issue, which could confuse some customers. The font’s always in quite neutral colours which allows the target audience to cover both genders.

• Billboard’s masthead is printed sideways down the side of the front cover. This challenges common magazine codes and conventions as most magazines have their masthead at the top of their front cover.

• Although the front covers have minimal text, they still have information on other features in the issue, giving the reader a better idea of what else is inside the magazine.

Music / fashion / film at the top, letting everyone know what genre the magazine is.

Main artist’s name placed in a striking font to emphasise the importance of the artist to the issue, and to suggest who the main feature will be about.

Minimal text, makes the reader focus on the colourful image of the artist, the use of minimal text ensures that the reader is not overwhelmed by the front cover, but instead intrigued as to what else is in the issue.

List of other artists featured in the issue, placed on the image in a stylish way. Gives the reader more information as to who else is mentioned in the issue.

Colourful and interesting background used, to make the front cover look more ‘loud’. Although it doesn’t distract you away from the artist. The patterns used in the background reflect the fashion element of the magazine.

The main image is a mid – shot of the main artist featured in the issue. The artist is looking at the camera which makes the reader more interested in the magazine, and feels more connected.

White font is used for all the text on the front cover, making it stand out and look very sophisticated. White goes with almost every colour which enables the background to be so loud and vibrant.

Artist is wearing a choker and also has red lips. This was very fashionable at the time this issue was sold, which reflects the fashion element of clash magazine.

Clash common codes and conventions

• Clash features very minimal text on their front covers. This is consistent throughout all issues of their magazines and unusual as most music magazines have a lot of information on the front cover to inform the reader about the contents of the issue.

• Clash magazine has a simple yet bold, white capital lettered masthead which remains the same throughout every issue. This makes the magazine easily recognised by the audience.

• The artist featured in the issue is the subject of the front cover, this is a common convention in most magazines therefore I plan to do the same with my own.

• The text used on clash magazine front covers is always in a white font. This makes the text really stand out, yet it doesn’t draw too much attention away from the main artist.

• Some of the main images on Clash’s front cover are quite unconventional in the way that they explore different angles / shots rather than the artist making directt eyecontact with the camera all the time.

Number of issue is clearly stated

The font of ‘F’ is different to the font of the rest of the word. The ‘F’ could be used as the magazine’s logo, which would be easily recognised by the loyal customers.

Very minimal text. Intrigues the reader as to what else is inside. No clues as to what else is in it is given away – implies fader is a collectables magazine bought by loyal customers, they don’t care as much about whats in it but care about buying it.

Fader feature very big and popular artists, which easily sells the magazine without having to put text on it to draw the reader in.

Image covers part of the masthead, suggests that it’s a popular magazine and the full masthead doesn’t need to be shown for the target audience to know what magazine it is.

Artist featured in this issue is clearly stated, emphasises the importance of the artist in this issue and tells readers who the main feature will be about.

Mid – shot of artist, directly looking at the camera – entices and interests the customer.

Picture taken outside, therefore it’s likely that natural lighting is used. Brings a joyful and welcoming atmoshere.

Fader common codes and conventions

• Fader use the same font for their masthead, and in every issue it is white, with the occasional change of colour for the ‘F’. It is always at the top of the front cover.

• Out of all the magazines I’ve looked at, Fader use extremely minimal text on their front covers and instead focus on the main artist. They use very big artists on their front covers, which appeal a lot to their target audience, therefore they can be very minimalistic as the artist themselves is enough to sell the magazine as they have a wide fan base.

• On all of fader’s front covers, the photo of the artist is very large and is the main subject of the page. This is a very common convention used with music magazines and I definitely want to use this when creating my own music magazine.

• Issue number is always visible on Fader’s front covers.