FORM RESEARCH & CONVENTIONS

Lloyd Hanchard

ANALYSIS OF FRONT COVER

Language: “DIPSET WANTS YOUR BEATS!” may represent that the magazine is attempting to reach out to the audience giving them the chance to prove they have what it takes to make it to the same level as the artists featured by asking for the audience to send in their own developed instrumental beats. This gives a link from the magazine to the audience, which is very important when attempting to make a magazine favorable. Also “SIMPLY THE BEST” gives the representation that these two artists featured on the front cover are simply the best, which intrigues the audience leading them to the article.

Images: (Design) The Masthead is placed at the top of the magazine cover in a large yellow brick style font. This bright coloring contrasts well with the remainder of the magazine cover, making the title stand out. The images of Lil Wayne and DJ Khaled take most of the space of the front cover, with the cover lines on the sides; this gives the connotation that they are the main features of the magazine however the cover lines are representing second party articles. As the image of Lil Wayne overlaps the masthead this represents that he must be an important and major icon within the music genre, which will also draw the audience nearer to purchasing the magazine.

Overall Impression: I think the front cover is attractive, simple; however it is laid out in a way that gives it a stylish look. The cover gives a good indication of what is inside, what articles are featured and why. For example, the words “simply the best” are placed there to indicate that the articles are written about the featured artists (Lil Wayne and DJ Khaled) as they are known to be “simply the best”, dominating their genre. Also I believe that the color scheme used blends well with the artists’ look, and gives a decent identification of their persona, which is needed as it simply allows the audience to connect even more with its favored artists.

ANALYSIS OF FRONT COVER

CONVENTIONS

To create and introduce a successful music magazine, I must be precise with the decisions that I make relating to the overall layout and design of the magazine itself, and however attempt to create a design relevant to the three magazines I have purchased and examined (Rolling Stone, Billboard, and BRM). I have been paying close attention to what they have in common in the areas such as form, which led me to examining a couple of other music magazine such as XXL (Scratch). I did this to make sure I had a wide approach to make sure my magazine will be designed the way I want it to. After a close look at the front covers I found some in-detail conventions to make my music magazine form look stylish and have a professional approach.

CONVENTIONS LISTED:

1) All front covers seem to represent their featured artists in large images, which almost cover the entire page. This is done to provide a good preview of what will be inside the magazine when the audience will be looking at it. Also this is to give the artist featured a good amount of placement. Thus, since the artists featured are usually well-liked by the chosen genre, this proves that the large images of the artists are placed to attract people to purchase the magazine. This is a convention I will most likely follow, as my artists that I may feature are popular within the genre. 2) Also I have noticed that the writing on all magazine covers varying from the mastheads to the cover lines, the writing is clearly visible and in specific fonts (colour) that give the magazine an edge, as the designs on each magazine fit in well with the images featured; (whether the colour tone is dark or light). This convention is one that I will definitely attempt to manipulate, as it is very important in designing a successful music magazine. 3) However, with the contents pages and double page spreads on each of the music magazines I have examined there was a definite convention with the design and layout of the contents pages; for example, the lettering seems quite small, however the pictures relatively remain quite large, giving a more bold look to each page. Also I have noticed the colouring within the contents pages seem quite limited; which I will take into account when designing my own.

CONVENTIONS LISTED:

4) As I took a look at more and more different brands of music magazine under the hip-hop/R&B genre I noticed that the style and layout varied with artists featured. Some artists that are featured that week may have a medium sized image whilst having multiple cover lines surrounding the image, however on a different edition featuring a different artist, there is simply one large image, surrounded by one or two cover lines. I believe this varies with the popularity of the artist as if they are not very popular, the magazine will have to feature more artists within to sell the magazine. 5) I also noticed that on each front cover that the design and layout, depending on what artist is featured, the font and colours would be set to be appropriate for supporting the artists persona. For example, with Mac Miller, the magazine featured him on the front cover, surrounding him with childish, playful font and colours, as he is one of the youngest artists within the genre. 6) Finally, with the double page spreads I compared, it seemed to me that all magazine seemed to prefer to use large images covering an entire page, possibly using small supporting cover lines and quotes along side them. On the other page, they would reserve for all the text they wished to include, usually using a specific font and style that went well with the colours/design of the image.