Signs and Signifiers

Georgia Fielding

R’n’B

The genre I have chosen for my music magazine is RnB, I

have chosen this because I like to listen to this style of

music and I regularly read R’n’B magazines. You can

identify this genre because of the style of the artist which

is featured in the main image of the magazine.The genre

conventions of RnB would be a stereotypical rapper with

heavy jewellry and tattoos.

Billboard Magazine - Front Cover

MastheadThe masthead used on the ‘Billboard’ magazine is an

indexical sign. This is because it is very bold and simple.

The use of plain white colouring and a simple

text font makes look like a fun magazine

and that it’s easy to read so the reader can instantly

recognise that the magazine is a ‘Billboard’ magazine.

...The additional colours that are used (blue,red,yellow) are also primary

colours that have purposely been chosen to make sure the masthead will be

indicated as ‘Billboard’ Magazine, this means the preferred reading that

billboard magazine want would be a fun, casual magazine. Part of the

masthead has been covered up by the main image by the designer of the

front cover. I believe this is because the magazine is well known and common

readers will be able to recognise the masthead without seeing it as a

complete word. This concludes that the masthead is an indexical sign because

only frequent readers will be able to recognise the name of the magazine.

The font used in the masthead is san serif, this gives the preferred reading to

be informal and more casual.

Q Magazine - Front Cover

Masthead

The masthead used on Q Magazine is

an iconic symbol, it uses one letter which

makes it simple and bold just like the

Billboard magazine. The Masthead is a

house style and is used throughout every

issue of the magazine which makes it recognisable to

continuous readers.

...

The colour of the masthead is mainly red which is quite a

neutral colour to use for a magazine logo. The font for the

masthead is also serif meaning that the magazines

preferred reading would be formal and mature.

Billboard Magazine - Front Cover

Skyline

The skyline on billboard magazine says

‘womens music’ so its an iconic sign. This is because the

font is white and bold with san serif text further implying

that it is a casual magazine and not too formal. The text is

also a large font meaning that it an important statement

that catches peoples attention. This being an iconic sign is

a clear indication of the preferred target market that the

magazine is aiming for.

Q Magazine - Front Cover

Skyline

The skyline on Q magazine is “25th anniversary

collectors edition”. It is an iconic sign and is written in an

extremely informal font because it is san serif and looks as

if it has been handwritten in a careless way. It has also

been coloured in black, this has most likely been done to

attract less attention to the skyline than the masthead or

main image.

Billboard Magazine - Front cover

Main Image

The main image on Billboard magazine is of Beyonce.

This is an indexical sign because only people

interested in that genre of music will be

familiar of who she is and what she does.

The main image of beyonce is a medium close

up shot only showing her from 3/4s of the

body upwards.

...

She is wearing a plain white dress, this shows how the

preferred reading from the audience would be that

Beyonce is classy and doesn’t want to showcase her

personality through her clothing, just her music. The way

she is standing is with her hands on her hips, this shows

she is proud and a dominant female. She also has her hair

scraped back which shows her face more, furthermore

showing pride because she doesn’t want to hide behind her

hair.

Q Magazine - Front Cover Main Image

The main image on Q Magazine is a close up

shot of Tinie Tempah. This is also an indexical

sign because you have to be into that genre of

music to know who he is. Tinie is also wearing

black sunglasses,this shows he is trying to hide some of his

face and simulates trying to keep part of him private

because the eyes are often seen as the most important

feature on a humans face.

...

He is also posing buttoning up his collar. This may signify

that he is trying to look classy and smart, this is a

controversial look compared to the music he performs and

the stereotypical image for black male rappers. This

concludes that the preferred reading would be that tinie is

trying to reverse his stereotypical image of a rapper to be

smart and sensible. The oppositional reading would be that

tinie isn’t being a normal rapper and may lose his street

cred with the audience who read the magazine.

Both Magazines - Front Covers

Main Cover Line

The main cover line on both of the

magazines is the name of the artist

featured in the main image. This is

an iconic sign because everyone

can read and even if you don’t know who the person in the

image is then the main cover line will tell you.

In addition...

Both main cover lines are in a big font and easy to read.

The one on billboard magazine is in block letters and is

clear and sensible writing coloured in blue to suite the

house style of the rest of the magazine. The preferred

reading for this would be that it is classy and simplistic just

like the rest of the magazine.

...

In comparison, the font used for the main cover line on Q

Magazine is written in a handwriting font to compliment the

skyline, it is very informal and coloured white to stand out

over the main image. The preferred reading would be that it

looks like a diary or notebook, giving it a casual theme.

Vibe Magazine - Contents

Masthead

The masthead of Vibe magazine is very

bold and easy to read this is an iconic sign.

It is coloured in Black which makes it quite

dark and dull. This shows how the magazine is aimed for

an older target audience because the colours aren’t bright

and vibrant which tends to attract the younger generations.

Billboard Magazine - Contents

Masthead

On the billboard magazine contents page I

think the sign represented is also an indexical

sign because the title simply says ‘contents’ in

a bold black font.

Vibe Magazine - Contents

Layout

The layout of Vibe magazine contents

page is very simplistic and easily readable.

The colour scheme is light grey which also

indicates that it is for the more mature target audience.

The text is all laid out on the right hand side to the image.

The font is all black, yet again indicating that the magazine

preferred reading is for the older target audience.

Billboard Magazine - Contents

Layout

In comparison, the layout of billboard

magazine is a lot more complex. They

have a section on the left hand side

dedicated to the billboard music charts. This is an indexical

sign because only people who are interested in music will

understand how the charts work and who is featured in

them.

...

Billboard contents also features many pictures. These

pictures are also an indexical sign because only people

interested in that genre of music will recognise them. There

is also a lot of text used by the editor. This shows how

there is a lot of information in the magazine, this isn’t

something that a young teenager would be interested in

reading. In comparison to vibe contents page where there

is minimalistic text.

Vibe Magazine - ContentsMain ImageThe main image featured on the contents page

for vibe is Kanye West. This represents the

theme of R’n’B for vibe magazine and is an

indexical sign because many people may not know who he is.

The preferred reading of this image would be that he is an

inspiration for hopeful R’n’B musicians or that he represents

good morals. The oppositional reading would be that he is a

bad influence because of his strong opinionated views that he

signifies in his song lyrics.

...In the picture Kanye is wearing a simple coloured outfit

which makes him look smart and sophisticated to the

preferred audience. He has a monotone expression on his

face which may look like his is careless towards everything

but focused on success. Also featured in the main image is

a womans hand grabbing him from behind and holding a

red heart by his chest. This is a symbolic sign because it

symbolises love and emotion. The colour red also stands

out over all the other grey colours on the page. The

prefered reading of this would be that kanye has a soft side

to him and is showing emotion through the image and not

his facial expressions.

...

This is also an indexical sign because the image has a

relation to his album ‘808s & Heartbreak’ people with no

knowledge towards Kanye West or R’n’B wouldn’t know

this.

Billboard Magazine - ContentsOn the other hand the billboard magazine

main image is of Benny Blanco. This is also

an indexical sign because it is relevant to the

genre of magazine and whether you are educated in that

field or not. Benny Blanco is a music producer from New

York, this means the prefered reading would be that he is

an inspiration to future music producers who wish to

succeed like him. The oppositional reading would be that

the audience don’t know who he is and that he isn’t as

important as the music artists.

...

Benny Blanco is also known to be a typical music producer,

living the casual lifestyle. Instead he has been pictured in a

tidy suit and tie which gives an oppositional view towards

his personality.

Q Magazine - Double-page spread

Headlines

The masthead of the double page spread from Q magazine

is an indexical sign because it is quite small and in black

and red, to fit in with the house style. The font is also serif,

this means that the preferred reading would be that the

magazine is less formal.

Vibe Magazine - Double-page spreadHeadline

On the other hand the headline on vibe

magazine says “life of a shooting star”.

This is a symbolic sign because there could be a deeper

meaning to why it is saying shooting star. For example the

article could be referring to soulja-boy being a star artist in

the industry and that he shot up to success. The writing is

also written in a casual script font so that it looks like soulja

boy has written it himself.

Q Magazine - Double-page SpreadLayout

The layout of Q magazine is very bold and

simplistic. The use of the big ‘J’ in the

background is an iconic sign. The drop capital means it is a

formal kind of text maybe for the higher class readers.

Furthermore, the magazine double page spread is half text

and half image. The use of a lot of text further relates to

how the magazine is attracted to more higher class people;

this subverts the view that R’n’B magazines are usually

targeted at lower class people.

Vibe Magazine - Double-page spread

Layout

The layout of Vibe magazine is similarly

in a simple format. The magazine is also

split with an image on one page and

writing on half of the other. This shows how the target

audience of the magazine is aimed more at a lower class

or younger generation because they don’t want to read as

much.

Q Magazine - Double-page spreadMain Image

The main image on Q Magazine is

a close-up of Jay-Z. I think they have

used a close-up shot so it looks more

personal. In the image Jay-Z is wearing

sunglasses. The preferred reading for this would be that he

has ‘swag’ and is hard like a stereotypical rapper. The

oppositional reading would be that he is being secretive

and trying to hide himself behind the glasses.

...

The symbolic sign behind this is that he is above everyone

else in status and that he is representing the symbolic sign

of a stereotypical rapper. The colouring used on the main

image also a symbolic sign because the colours blue and

red represent hot and cold which may relate back to the

kind of personality Jay-Z wants to promote of himself in this

interview.

Vibe Magazine - Double-page spread

Main Image

The main image on Vibe magazine is side

head shot of Soulja Boy. He is covered in

black marker pen writing and his neck is

covered in tattoos. This is symbolic because

the marker pen writing saying ‘swag’ may be him sending

out a message to the readers also the tattoos symbolizes

him showing the readers another part of him that he has

been covering up. This makes the image more personal.