FRONT COVER OVERVIEWFor the front cover overview, I will using a variety of different front covers which are shown to the left. The magazines are from the two famous pop magazines, Top of the Pops and We Love Pop. There are a variety of typical front cover conventions used throughout all the pop magazine front covers shown below. The pop magazines are designed to attract fans who like the music genre, pop.

One of these features are the use of bright colours. Bright colours are used to represent pop genre as a whole, so people are able to recognise the magazines are for teenagers who like listening to pop. For each magazine, there will be a colour scheme throughout the magazine to be effective and show its representation. These colours also represent emotions like happiness, excitement, fun ect which links to the personality of young girls who read these pop magazines. The colours include bright pink, yellow, orange, blue and white. These colours will be used to stand out and catch the audiences eye, convincing them to pick up the magazine and read through it.

Another feature that is common through each of the magazines is a simple blank white background. This is used to emphasise the main image, and make it more dominant. The white background also makes the reader think of innocence and purity, which links to the personality of young, teenage girls and the very innocence personality of pop. It allows the bright text seen on pop magazines to grab attention even more. In addition to this, the simplicity of the background reflects the light hearted and straight forward style of pop music. As a pop magazine uses a lot of features on the front cover, it would be more comprehensible to use a plain white background instead of using a bright colour. If a pop magazine uses a bright colour as the background, this would be even more busy and les attractive.

In each of the magazines, they have the convention of having a dominant main image. This is to capture the readers eye, and persuade them to read the magazine. They also have sell lines surrounded by the main image, featured article photos and mastheads that are effective and appropriate to pop.

The majority of the pop magazines have the name of the artist featuring in the main sell-line. This is to remind the target audience who the artist is and what the article is about. They use a famous artist/band as their front cover to attract fans and lure them in. Each of the artists on the front cover have a happy facial expression. They are smiling and laughing which indicates they are loving life, fun and living life to the full. This links to the personality of young girls as they are always happy and stress free. The use of happy expressions shows they are happy and having fun as well as enjoy singing, which makes the target audience feel inspired and want to read more about these famous artists/bands.

There are other similarities in each of the magazines through mise-en-scene elements. In results of costume, the artists are wearing stylish and trending clothes which is what young teenagers would be wearing. The clothes are bright which represents them as pop singers, as well as fun and bubbly young individuals. The use of clothes in pop also bring a exciting and happy mood towards the reader, allowing them to have a positive self-esteem.

In each of the six front covers, they all feature article photographs. These are all generally in a smaller form, to make the main image more dominant and appealing. These images are also attracting and appealing to the reader as young girls find images more engaging, which then convinces them to read about the article.

The majority of the magazines includes posters which is a typical feature in pop magazines. This is effective as young teenage girls love to decorate their room, especially of their famous crushes and role models. This is another way of persuading girls to make a repeat purchase, due to the attractive posters.

CONTENTS PAGE OVERVIEWJust like the front cover overview, I will be using a variety of different contents page which are shown on the left. They are from Top of the Pops and We Love Pop. As you can see, there are a variety of typical contents page conventions used throughout.

Each of the pop contents page that are presented on last on the last slide, all share common features which makes individuals acknowledge they are from pop magazines.

Each of the contents page carry out bright colours on their contents page. This is because pop is known to use bright colours as this indicates innocence and happiness, just like the target audience’s personality. These colours are also used to stand out and catch the readers eye, convincing them to pick up the magazine, and find out what information is in that will make them want to buy it. In each of the contents page, they all use the colour bright yellow which indicates the sun; this allows us to think of summer, happiness and joy. They use this colour to highlight information as it stands out and becomes more appealing to the reader. This shows the most important information to look at within the magazine.

The reader is able to recognise what contents page is from what magazine, due to the links from the front cover. For example, each of the Top of the Pops magazines has an image of the front cover on their contents page. This is used to remind the reader what magazine they are reading. In contrast, We Love Pop do not use their front cover on their contents page, but instead have their slogan and “We LOVE THIS” in bold, which attracts the audience and also makes them remind themselves what magazine they are looking at. These features are effective as they stand out and are appealing to the reader.

Another common feature in each of the contents pages are the use of images. Each of contents page contain a number of different images that relate to what articles are included inside the magazine. This is to break up the amount of text that is being used, and making the contents page more fun appealing. It is also attracting the reader through images, as they stand out and convince the reader to find out more information about the images presented.

As you will be able to notice on each of the contents pages, they all use page numbers. This is a common feature for a contents pages, though pop magazines use page numbers on the images presents to make it easier for the reader to find out about that particular article. This is making it easier to navigate and access, which is allowing the reader to make a repeat purchase due to the layout of the magazine.

DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD OVERVIEWJust like the front cover and contents page overview, I have used double page spreads from Top of the Pops and We Love Pop. They all have many common features that I will be exploring in the next slide.

One of the features that are frequent in each of the double page spreads shown on the previous slide is the use of bright and innocent colours that are used. In each one, the colour white is used which makes us think of purity, innocence and calmness. This links to the personality of pop as a whole. It also makes the double page spread stand out and catch the readers eye. There are many bright colours used like yellow, red, pink ect and this is another way individuals are able to recognise these double page spreads are from a pop magazine.

Each of their facial expressions are humorous, positive and happy. This is a common feature as the reader is aware they are bubbly, having fun and enjoying life to the full. This is attracting the target audience as they have a similar personality, making them have a bond with the artist/band. As the magazine itself has escapism, this links to them feeling happy and having a positive self-esteem due to the facial expressions and self-concept of the image on the double page spread. This is a common representation in the genre pop, which makes people aware these artists are a part of pop.

On each of the double page spreads presented, they all have a dominant image, making it the first thing the reader spots. This is to attract the reader and convince them to read the article. The images are of popular, favourite artists/bands; is appealing to the reader. This is also done to show their beauty, and make the reader aware of who the article is about.

Another common feature that is represented on the majority of the double page spreads are the use of small images. The small images break up the amount of text on the article. It makes the article more fun, enjoyable and less boring.

They all also have a bold and bright title which is also dominant and capturing the readers eye. Magazines do this to grab the audiences eye and lure them in. It is making the reader stop at that specific page, and take a glance to debate whether they are interested in reading it or not. The images also stand out, and persuades the target audience to want to read. For example, the reader is more likely to be put off with no images and lots of text.

Each of their body language are presented in a fun, bubbly way. This is also another way to bring out their personality, and to create a relationship with the reader. The girls body language is shown in a feminine and classy way. For instance, Cheryl Cole has both of her hands on her hip which brings out at sophisticated and feminine look.

On the majority of the double page spreads, the text is in columns or boxes, making the information sectioned to makes it easier for the reader and so they do not get bored. The reader will not be put off the magazine or article as the page is presents in an effective way. Though, if the writing was not in columns or boxes then the reader would be likely to flick through the page and ignore it.