Now that I have finished analysing 5 music magazines, I am able to recognise the common codes and conventions of them so I am prepared to start creating my own successful magazine.
I know that every magazine front cover has a masthead, which displays the name of the magazine and tends to be in an unique and recognisable typeface which has been designed with the magazine in mind to differentiate it from other brands. It also tends to be the largest sized font on the page. A magazine will also have a main image, which tends to be the largest and sometimes only image on the front cover. The main image takes up most space so will have a large amount of impact on the reader and is the key selling point. On a lot of magazines the main image will relate to the main cover line and be of an artist/band/celebrity/model that has a major feature inside. I found that magazines tend to have a main cover line which is very large and takes up about a quarter of the cover area. It is usually positioned in a place that's easily visible and is sometimes in a different font to the other, smaller cover lines on the magazine. On average I noticed magazines to have around 4-10 cover lines, many are then main features on the contents page. Other features I have noticed on all 5 music magazines I analysed include a dateline (usually a month in advance), issue number and barcode. These aspects of the magazine tend to be together in a corner of page where they are not the direct point of interest. I also found that some music magazines, but not all, have a selling line visible on their magazine which is a short, sharp description of the magazine's main marketing point. Some music magazines also had further, smaller images on their front cover relating to the main image or particular cover lines.
In terms of the typical codes and conventions of a contents page, I discovered that there can sometimes be a main image, or alternatively, many smaller images that all relate to particular articles (many featured on the front cover). These photos tend to be accompanied by a caption or page number so the contents page is clear and easy to use for the reader. Most of the contents pages I studied had the articles sorted into categories, such as a section for regular features that may be recognisable to frequent readers, and another including the one-off and major articles that appeared on the cover. I found that somewhere on the contents page, a title and magazine logo were visible, along with a date line and issue number. Some contents pages also had subscription info available and one or two had an editor's note.
The double page spreads all had images on the page. Some had a main image that covered most of the first page and smaller images breaking up the text, others had photos that took up the majority of the space, and there was one with not many images at all. Most of these photos were accompanied by a caption of some sort, including info on dates and locations. Quite a few of the double page spreads had boxing devices containing quotes from the featured band/artist, and many also had an introductory paragraph before the actual text began. A lot of the articles were interviews and so had bold text for the questions asked, which also helped with seperating sections and making the article visually more pleasing. I also found that visible on the majority of double page spreads was an article title, magazine logo and dateline.
I know that every magazine front cover has a masthead, which displays the name of the magazine and tends to be in an unique and recognisable typeface which has been designed with the magazine in mind to differentiate it from other brands. It also tends to be the largest sized font on the page. A magazine will also have a main image, which tends to be the largest and sometimes only image on the front cover. The main image takes up most space so will have a large amount of impact on the reader and is the key selling point. On a lot of magazines the main image will relate to the main cover line and be of an artist/band/celebrity/model that has a major feature inside. I found that magazines tend to have a main cover line which is very large and takes up about a quarter of the cover area. It is usually positioned in a place that's easily visible and is sometimes in a different font to the other, smaller cover lines on the magazine. On average I noticed magazines to have around 4-10 cover lines, many are then main features on the contents page. Other features I have noticed on all 5 music magazines I analysed include a dateline (usually a month in advance), issue number and barcode. These aspects of the magazine tend to be together in a corner of page where they are not the direct point of interest. I also found that some music magazines, but not all, have a selling line visible on their magazine which is a short, sharp description of the magazine's main marketing point. Some music magazines also had further, smaller images on their front cover relating to the main image or particular cover lines.
In terms of the typical codes and conventions of a contents page, I discovered that there can sometimes be a main image, or alternatively, many smaller images that all relate to particular articles (many featured on the front cover). These photos tend to be accompanied by a caption or page number so the contents page is clear and easy to use for the reader. Most of the contents pages I studied had the articles sorted into categories, such as a section for regular features that may be recognisable to frequent readers, and another including the one-off and major articles that appeared on the cover. I found that somewhere on the contents page, a title and magazine logo were visible, along with a date line and issue number. Some contents pages also had subscription info available and one or two had an editor's note.
The double page spreads all had images on the page. Some had a main image that covered most of the first page and smaller images breaking up the text, others had photos that took up the majority of the space, and there was one with not many images at all. Most of these photos were accompanied by a caption of some sort, including info on dates and locations. Quite a few of the double page spreads had boxing devices containing quotes from the featured band/artist, and many also had an introductory paragraph before the actual text began. A lot of the articles were interviews and so had bold text for the questions asked, which also helped with seperating sections and making the article visually more pleasing. I also found that visible on the majority of double page spreads was an article title, magazine logo and dateline.
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