While doing my research for my magzine i have found out a lot of things concerning the cover of a magazine, the contents page and the feature page (double page spread) here i will analyse the conventions and techniques used in music magazines for this day and age.
Front Cover- While doing my research i analysed three front covers, in all three covers i noticed that an eye catching image was always used, these images all had a unique presence about them in their different ways, for example in the 'XXI' magazine the shot type made the artist stand out and catch the eye of the audience, and in 'vibe' the pose of the artist was paticularly interesting which also caught the eye of the audience, and in third magazine 'hip hop' the facial expressions were unique, so all in all the image can have a huge effect on the front cover and different attributes of the image can have the same effect on the target audience, also the target audience much prefer images on their magazine covers rather than text, i gatherd this from my questionnaire results as the vast majority stated they prefer images. Another convention i noticed was the use of different colours used to catch the eye of the target audience, on a magazine cover bright colours are tend to be used to catch the eye and makes the cover look more attractive, bright colours used on a magazine cover is a commonly used technique and is the most obvious way to catch the eye of the audience. There are also other common features on a front cover like a skyline, which gives extra information, and there are also anchors used which are there to give a hint of what is going to be in the magazine and get the target audience interested and intrigued of what is to come. There is also obviously the masthead of the magazine which is normally bold to help advertise the magazine name and help stand out. On all the covers there were also the barcode of the magazine and the price of the magazine, which must appear on the cover.
Contents Page- For the contents page of a magzine i also noticed common conventions and techniques, the idea of the contents page is to give the target audience a guide of what is to come in the magazine. In the three magazines i analysed that they all had one image which stood out from the rest of the inserts on the page, the images used on the pages were eye catching but also relaxed compared to the front covers of magazines, this is to give the audience a sense of comfort while reading the magazine. For the contents page i also noticed a common convention used with the colour scheme, the use of black and white was used a lot, theses colours are used because they contrast well together and help compliment the image on the page well, it also makes the text on the page more clear and easier for the target audience to read. On a few of the contents pages the use of insert images were used, these were used to show what else is coming up in the magazine, the images are normally a close up to show the image more clearly, as the pictures are quite small already, the use of inserts are good because it makes the page more visual rather than the audience reading becuase as stated before the audience prefer images rather than text.
Double Page Spread- On the double page spread of a magazine there is normally a interview or a top ten article with something to represent in the music industry at this current time, in the research i have done i have a noticed a common convention which is that there is normally one main image and a few inserts with majority of the page of text around it, this goes well because the image can support the text or vice versa. Another common convention i noticed was the use of black and white again, all be it on a few occasions other colours were shown but for majority of the page the use of black and white was imminent, they used black and white because of the contrast and because it provides a good background for the text which is then easier for the audience to read. Another technique which was used while i was doing my research on double page spreads were the clear and consistent layouts, the text on the pages were layout very clearly and made the text very accessible, this is important because it makes it easier for the audience to read and makes them feel comfortable while reading.
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