Forms and Conventions

How have I used, developed and challenged forms and conventions in my music magazine?

Cover

Eye-contact-the audience is more likely to feel a connection with the artist

Artist is in the centre of the page and covers the whole page, this makes the cover of the magazine look more balanced with having the headline also in the centre

The cover photo links to the headline, the image is of the artist (Lucy T) so that the audience can visually see and be able to recognize the artist at a first glance, without having to read anything

Nothing covers the artist’s face, I have arranged the masthead to be placed behind the head of Lucy T so that she is the main focus of the page

The background is one colour so that the focus is on the artist

Conventions of my music magazine – ‘Electro’COVER PHOTO

MASTHEAD

I have located it across the top of the page so that if it typically were to be sold on shelves, if the masthead was put anywhere else, it would not be as visible

It is a different font to the other text on the page, this is so that I can establish a recognizable font that is only associated with my magazine, it almost acts as a logo

Fills ¼ of the page – it has to be the largest text on the page so that the audience can clearly see the name of the magazine

On the side of the page, aligned left or right, so that no text is covering the artist’s face which is generally in the centre

There are margins on either side of the page so that the text doesn’t look like it is falling off the page

The artist’s names are clear for the reader to see

COVER LINES

The convention of the headline is that it is:

The name of the artist in the cover photo – in this case Lucy T

It is the second biggest text on the page – which I have done to make sure that because Lucy T is a new, upcoming artist, people may not know who she is at a first glance so with having the text big and bold (and in capitals) it ensures that her name is not ignored

It also generally has a sentence underneath explaining either who the artist is or why they are in the magazine (like the Rolling Stone’s magazine above – I have chosen to use ‘The next big thing’ and it links to her article about her becoming an upcoming artist

HEADLINE

The selling line is typically next to the masthead.

I have put it above the masthead and highlighted it in bright yellow (same colour as the electronic stripe).This is to make it visible and to stick to the house colours but because it is in a much smaller font, it does not draw away attention from the masthead.

SELLING LINE

Contents

FEATURES – WHAT’S INSIDE

This is the features column from mixmag magazine. I used this as inspiration for my own features column, I thought it worked well as the page numbers are clear and the titles stand out from the information underneath

The features column from my magazine – the font I have used is the same as the text for the selling line, keeping in with the house style. The font for the page numbers is bigger as they need to be clearly and easily seen

COLUMNS

I used only two columns for my contents page.This was to ensure that it did not look too crowded, but at the same time I still wanted it to look energetic – like electronic music.I think that if I had inserted any more columns, it may cause confusion with genres such as it may portray rock.

I also used inspiration about columns for electronic music magazine contents pages, from mixmag.

PHOTOS

On the contents page, I have included one image of the cover artist. The convention for images on the contents page is that not all of them will be of the cover artist which is why I have included an image of ‘Calvin Harris’, Reading festival and an image I took in New York to show that this city is the best destination right now to see electronic music.

With including lots of images, it makes the page look fuller and more energetic which is what electronic music portrays

PAGE TITLE – ‘CONTENTS’

• The page title, I used inspiration from the title of mixmag magazine. I took how it was in the right-hand corner on top of the features column, the colours of black and yellow tie in with the house colours of my magazine.

• The name of the magazine ‘Electro’ is also a convention of a contents page. I have used the same font so that the audience do not necessarily have to read it, they will just recognize the font from where they had seen it on the cover.

• The date of the magazine/issue number – it is smaller than the title and the name of the magazine so that it does not draw attention away from what the page is about. The reason I put the date of the issue on the contents page is so that the reader can see what issue this was without having to turn back to the cover.

Article

The main image is usually of the artist, in this case mine is of Lucy T. She is covering all of the background, however her face is the only thing that stands out. I have increased the opacity in photoshop to achieve this.

I wanted the image to be of Lucy T because the article is all about her. Especially because she is an upcoming artist, it is important for her to be recognized by not only her music but what she looks like as well.

MAIN IMAGE

A QUOTE FROM THE ARTICLE

Positioned to the left of Lucy T’s face, in between her and the article.

Web address – to find out more information/subscribe

Topic of discussion – this could be a page where every week, a new upcoming artist is interviewed. It is at the top right so that the reader can flick the pages and see, without opening the magazine fully

THE ARTICLE

‘Blurb’ - a little bit of information to get a feel for the article. This will generally be the decider on whether a person continues to read the article or not

The blurb is in an orange box to make the text look more interesting and to stand out from the article itself

Article is split into two columns – like the contents page, easy to read

Colours are matching the house style of the magazine – yellow/orange, black and white

I have used a rhetorical question, this makes the reader wonder who she is and want to find out more about her. If she is the next big thing then whoever reads this article will have found out about her first.

TITLE OF THE ARTICLE

Forms

The colour scheme of my magazine is black, white and yellow/orange. Black and white are typically quite sophisticated colours where yellow/orange adds the brightness and energy that electronic music has.

I have used images – all taken by me, magazines have to be printed so I have not used video clips or animation as these would not be suitable

I have considered different fonts and have chosen ones that are bold and clear to read, keeping my genre in mind when choosing.

Developing ideas

COVERFor the cover image, I developed ideas from Rolling Stone’s magazine and mixmag.

I liked how the artist’s name was very bold and big, with a smaller text underneath explaining in a few words a bit about who she is. I used this idea but changed the font as Rolling Stone is not for electronic musicI loved this picture as I think it portrays electronic music as a bit edgy. I used the electronic stripe but kept the image in colour as for a cover photo, I think it worked better to have it more eye-catching. In black and white, it’s not as striking at first glance.

Challenging conventionsThe only convention I have not followed is that I haven’t included a reduced version of the cover. I didn’t do this as because my genre is electronic, it is not mainstream like for example – pop, so it does not typically have to follow all conventions.

Also the other electronic magazines, such as mixmag, do not include reduced versions of the cover. This may be because the artist on the cover is not always featured on the contents pages. For electronic magazines, I have found that generally the contents pages are about partying or festivals and the music there, rather than one artist in particular.