Analysis of 2 Magazine Articles

Amie Page

Conventions of a Magazine Article

Images Columns Lines Headlines Pull Quote Drop Cap Index Tab The Gutter Page Number Footer By line Main Body Text Graphics Fonts &Font Styles Lead in Name of Artist

1st Article- NME Jake Bugg Feature Interview

Head Line

Pull Quote

Main Body Text

Drop Cap Lines

Image

Graphics

Different Types of Text

Lead in

Columns

The Gutter

Page Number and Footer

By Line

Featured Artist- Jake Bugg

Image (1 cover image that takes up half of the page)- This Photo features Jake Bugg and is focused on only his face, the background is a very blurred image of the city, with blurred lights from cars and surrounding shops etc- this not only highlights Jake Bugg’s face but links to his ‘all nighter’ in the city.

Columns- The three columns are the main body text of the article.

Lines – 2- 1 thick yellow line at the bottom of the page, 1 thin black line at the top, neither of these overlap the image.

Headline- Large, black but quite narrow text which is a pull quote from the artist that explains how he is quite moody but will not change his mood in the face of fame etc.

Jake Bugg- Found in the by line and in yellow to make it stand out, they do the same in the article also in the pull quote between the 2 last columns.

Pull quote in the article- ‘I’m singing about the same things with a different heart’ –this breaks up the article and makes the column text indent around it, so it really stands out on the page. Another factor that draws the readers eye as the text is on a black background and the text is coloured white.

Drop cap- Huge ‘A’ at the start and then a huge ‘I’ half way down the third column at the break in the text. Both coloured yellow to stand out and to link with the yellow colour scheme.

Graphics- Box entitled Album no 2- why the rush? Coloured black with white writing, but yellow coloured writing for words: Jake-‘It felt like’ then carries on with the article. Captures readers attention and draws their eyes as it’s different from the rest of the article and it goes over the graphic line at the bottom, which makes it feel even less part of the article.

Fonts- There are 6 different font types- the headline, the pull quote, the graphic box, the lines of writing on the side of the page, the article itself and the lead. They give the article a more professional look and enhance it as it makes the article more interesting and quirky for the reader to look at, also it links to the reputation of the artist, as I think the company has used the yellow text to highlight the quite negative attitude of Jake Bugg.

Main body text- indented extremely slightly when a new paragraph starts 8-10 size font, black on a white background- quite formal looking text informs the reader about Jake’s wild time in Manhattan and about how he got his second album out and why he got it out so quickly, also he comments on how this will affect him.

Lead in- This is 4 lines long with Jake Bugg and the journalists name in yellow, to enhance them and make them stand out. Gives a slight introduction and background information that links to the article to explain why the artist is acting in a certain way, so for example Jake Bugg here has had a ‘mad’ Manhattan all-nighter, which could explain why he might give slightly grumpy answers.

The gutter- the fold in this magazine is conventional and is very easy to identify as there the photograph on one side and the article on the other.

Page number- black bold font, about 12-14 text as part of the footer.

Footer- the page number with the date of issue next to it, but in a much thinner font, so it doesn’t stand out as much.

By line- Matthew Salacuse (The photographer) written in yellow to make it stand out the word photograph written in black- placed underneath the lead in. The article is written by Leonie Cooper and this is placed in the lead in, mentioned before but is also highlighted in yellow to make it stand out.

2nd Magazine Article- NME Alt-JFeature

Featured Artist

Headline

Lead In

Fonts and font types

By Line

Drop Cap Lines The Gutter Page Number

and footer

Images- 1 main image and a collage of images

Pull Quote

Columns

Main Body Text

Images- 1 main image- unconventional as it covers ¾ of the double page spread and then a collage of 5 images that show the bands life and personality as individual members. Each with captions as to what they show, each with white writing and a red box surrounding the text to link to the NME colour scheme.

Columns- 3, two on the article page and one on the main photograph this is used to break up the writing and make the article look much more interesting.

Headline – Again shown on the main photograph its reads ‘The geeks who inherited the earth’ and its on three line to make it slightly unconventional and different and to ensure it doesn't cover anything important in the main image.

The name of who they are featuring (Alt- J) is written in red, to make it stand out, but its not the classic NME red it is slightly darker. This is to make it stand out and give a slight change to the NME image to suit the band, as maybe they are slightly different compared to other bands.

Pull quote- ‘We’re doing better than Radiohead, that’s your quote’. This is written in a size 2-14 size font, but slightly bolder than the main body text, to make it stand out and break up the article slightly, it also gives the impression that the band is laid back, unconventional and not prepared to give an inspirational quote that may not be true to draw readers in, they wanted to show their inability to reform to the usual ideologies of fame.

Drop Cap- there is one drop cap and that is a capital T at the start of the article and main body text.

Graphics/Lines –There is one quite thick, red line underneath the name of the person who said the quote (Gus-Unger Hamilton) this is used not only to link to the colour scheme of the page but to also highlight the name and make the readers read this quote and thus want to read the article.

Font and font styles- There are 5 main font styles- the headline, the lead in, the main body text, the pull quote and the captions on the photos these are used to differentiate between the different areas of the page. Also it can change the tones of the writing as if the writing is quite formal then the readers may read it in a more formal tone and if the font is curved then it may seem less formal.

Lead In- Unconventional as it sits just below the headline and not just above the article, which suggest the band are unconventional and just explains who the band is and gives brief information to the audience about the band for example ‘they are the mercury prize favourites’.

Main body text- size 8-10 font, black font on a white background, written in two columns. This lack of writing is due to the majority of the double page spread being taken up with the photographs, however I think this works quite well here as it is very likely that the article carries onto the next page, where there will be various other pictures and more writing but I feel that this gives the readers a page to get to know the personalities of the band members, before they read the article about the bands career and rise to fame.

The gutter- the fold is very obvious to see in this article, and although it is in the middle of the photograph, the magazine editor has made sure that the fold goes through nothing vital in the photograph, so overall I feel it works quite well.

Page numbers- written in bold black font with a white background, included as part of the footer.

Footer- the page number, the date that the issue was released.

By line- written underneath lead in- the word photos written in bold black writing and the name of the photographer (Matt Salacuse) in bold red writing. Also the journalists name (Dan Martin) is coloured red to make it stand out.