FOLLOWING AND CHALLENGING CONVENTIONS: INSPIRATION FROM EXISTING PRODUCTS

CONTENTS PAGES

LOGOS AND SUBHEADINGSA convention of double page spreads is a small subheading in one corner that tells the reader what kind of feature the article is – an interview, a review etc. It is also often paired with the logo of the magazine. These images are examples of magazines Q, Billboard, NME and Vibe following this convention. Some of them use both a subheading and a logo, and some use just one or the other. I chose to use both myself, positioning the logo and the title ‘Strings Exclusive’ in the top left corner of my double page spread in order to follow conventions.

MAIN IMAGESMain images on double page spreads conventionally take up at least one whole page, often overlapping onto two. The examples here from NME, Vibe, Billboard and Q demonstrate how the image framing can range from mid-shot to close up, depending on the amount of people in the picture. I chose to do a mid- to long-shot in order to depict both of my artists clearly. I also used an image that took up only one page as I didn’t want any of it to become less visible within the page fold.

DROP CAPSDrop caps are a convention that magazines use to introduce the double page spread article or even sometimes to introduce each new paragraph. These are some examples of drop cap use from Q, Vibe and NME. I followed this convention in my own article, using one at the very beginning of the text. I decided not to keep using them all the way through as I didn’t think it was necessary due to the article not being too long. Conventionally the drop caps are often in a different font or colour to the rest of the text but I decided to challenge this convention and just keep pain simple and clear to read. I wanted to follow my colour scheme but not make the page look to loud or over the top.

PULL QUOTESPull quotes are another convention of double page spreads and are often placed so that they interrupt the columned text, which is demonstrated here in an example from NME. I followed this convention in my own product. The quotes are also usually printed in a different font or colour to make them stand out which again I have adhered to with my magazine. Some magazines only include pull quotes as the title of the article, but I decided against following that convention due to reasons I will explain in the next section.

TITLES

Conventional titles of double page spreads are usually pull quotes or the artist name. These are examples from NME, Billboard, Q and Vibe. Some magazines challenge conventions by having a title that is neither of these things and I chose to do this myself in my product. I used a pull quote to advertise the article on my front cover and another elsewhere on the two pages so I wanted a more original title. Titles are usually in a large bold font and use colour to make them stand out, which is a convention that I have followed with my own title.

PAGE NUMBERS

Page numbers are a convention and a necessity of double page spreads, so that readers can quickly and easily find articles using the contents page. Most magazines print them very small in the bottom corner so that they are almost unnoticeable. This is shown in these examples from Q, NME and Billboard. They also avoid printing page numbers on pages that are just an image so as not to distract from the picture. I challenged this convention, printing my page numbers fairly big and on top of my image. I felt they added to the aesthetic of the page and my overall style as well as being useful for readers so I kept them quite large and in a font and colour that matched my scheme,

COLUMNSThese examples from Q, Vibe, NME and Billboard show that columned text is a convention that all magazines use when producing double page spreads. Therefore I used this convention in my own magazine. It makes the article clearer and easier to read as well as making the page look more interesting. I chose to use three columns rather than two as most magazines opt for, because I wanted to fit as much text as possible on one page without overcrowding it.

STAND FIRSTSStand firsts are a small paragraph usually below the title of the page that give a brief summary of what the article will be about and often who wrote it too. Here we can see examples of them in Billboard, Vibe and NME. I broke conventions with my product by not including a conventional stand first. Instead I made a small text box that advertised my artists latest music and the magazine’s website. I felt that this was more useful and appealing to the reader as well as helping to promote the artists further. I placed this text at the end of the article so that the main text seemed more important as it is the focal selling point of the two pages