conventions

MAGAZINE

MASTHEAD ... The title at the top of the page, usually on the left hand side which is the first place the purchaser looks. Always brightly coloured to attract it's intended audience, uses a suitable font, style and colour to make sure the right audience is attracted to the magazine simply through the mast head.

COVERLINES ... Titles and snippets of the stories inside the magazine. Gives the viewer clues as to what the magazine contains and is used on the cover to inform the audience about the aim of the music magazine. There is usually a main headline, that is presented in a bigger, more outstanding font in comparison to the others, to allow the reader to know what the main story in the magazine is.

MAIN IMAGE ... It attracts the audience. A famous music artist on the cover would mean that it is relevant to it's audience.

LOGO ... The logo is usually in the corner of the cover and on a lot of magazines it is at the bottom beside the barcode along with the details of the magazine maker and website. It is always small, resembles the magazine and becomes recognisable for the audience and makes it easy to identify.

DATE ... The date usually follows the title, informing the reader that the magazine is relevant. We, as an audience can see that the information is up to date and allows us to know the information is reliable.

DETAILS ... The details are placed either at the bottom or top of the magazine cover in a small font. We can then see how to contact the magazine institution and where to go to find out extra information that is not contained within the magazine itself.

COLOUR SCHEME ... The colour scheme allows the magazine to be original, it makes it different from any other. Many magazines are very uniformly coloured which gives it it's professional look.

Here is an image that exemplifies a typical magazine layout and shows the conventions as they are on the page...

MUSIC MAGAZINE

MASTHEAD ... The masthead is usually positioned at the top of the page, either in the left corner- the only section of the magazine revealed when placed on a shelf ready to be purchased, or spread across the top. Differently to a normal magazine, the masthead of a music magazine can also establish the sort of music magazine features. What makes this easy to identify is as follows:

Colour

Font

Style

Shades

These also contribute to attracting the audience, a female for example is going to find mastheads with an elegant font, maybe pinks or purples within the title, lighter colours rather than dark attractive, where as a male would more than likely going to be attracted to the total opposite.

COVERLINES ... Headlines are a main content of a music magazine. These are what make a music magazine different to any other. They always feature a band, or famous music artist. For example on an issue of 'Q', the main cover line features the famous popstar Kylie Minogue. This applies to every other music magazine. Also the other cover lines on the cover are about a famous band or music artist. On the same issue of 'Q' for example, one cover line states "Sex Pistol Whipped!" This allows us to identify that is a music magazine rather than just a normal one.

MAIN IMAGE ... The main image is very important on a music magazine. I would say it is the main feature that makes it a music magazine. It is always an artist that the main cover line features, and also attracts the audience. If it is someone that the target audience is attracted to, they are more likely to purchase the magazine. If the main image was an unknown person, someone who was not known for their music, it wouldn't make it a music magazine. It is always presented largely on the page, dominating the total layout. The reason for this is so us as an audience can immediatly see who the magazine is aiming at.

LOGO ...The logo is usually placed in a corner, small. It applies to both music and normal magazines. They are usually in form of something that actually represents music, obviously, associating it with a music magazine.

DATE ...The date, has the same purpose as it does on a normal magazine. This is to simply to inform the reader that the information inside is relevant, and from the time period they wish to read about.

DETAILS ... The details at either the bottom or top of the page are there so the purchaser can see how to contact the magazine maker or where to find out extra information. On some magazines, it allows the user to use these details for downloading the music that the magazine features.

COLOUR SCHEME ... The colour scheme establishes the audience. It also establishes the genre of the magazine, what music it features, what artists it covers, and what sort of audience they are targeting at.