MAGAZINE CONVENTIONS DARCIE NAYLOR

MASTHEAD

• Conventional and vital for every magazine, as it tells the audience what magazine brand they are reading.

• Conventionally positioned within the top third of the cover page.

• The design and size of the masthead should not change too regularly, as it is vital that your audience can recognise your brand so they buy it again.

• Must be noticeable-cannot blend in with the background, if your masthead is a similar colour to your background you may run the risk of having an magazine that looks unprofessional and messy.

• Use a colour that is complementary to the background so that is ecstatically pleasing for the audience to look at.

Positioned within the top third.

Catching the readers eye almost instantly- bold- colour contrast with background making it noticeable.

COVER LINE • Tells the audience what the main feature within the magazine will be.• Informs the reader on what to expect from the magazine • Can be much smaller than the masthead, though this does not always

have to be applied however the Cover Line must always be smaller in size compared to the Masthead.

• Piques the audiences interest.• Should be a different colour to the Masthead.• Can use multiple cover lines in order to demonstrate to the audience

how much is in the magazine that might interest them.

FOCAL IMAGE

• On all magazines, there is one main focal image. This image will more often than not be the element that attracts the audience the most. Making it a very important element when wanting to sell a larger quantity of your product.

• Media institutions create products that feature celebrity stars to generate the audiences interest. For example if there is a particular musician that is doing well or is becoming increasing well-known, they will take advantage of that and put them on the cover of their magazine in order to boost sales.

• This theory is exemplified through the magazine cover to the right. An image of Rihanna has taken up a large percentage of the page, even covering parts of the Masthead, this is called superimposition ,therefore demonstrating the impact Rihanna alone has on the audience , as Rollingstone believe that her presence alone will sell their magazine. Assumes that the audience will also recognize the masthead anyway.

• Richard dyers star theory suggests that “ Stars are manufactured by the music industry to serve a purpose; to make money out of audience, who respond to various elements of a star’s personality by buying records and becoming fans. “

Puffs: Gives information on what is in the magazine – often in a bubble of striking shape.

Price/date/bar code : can change within every addition of the product.

Sell lines: Writing that tells the reader about other articles within the magazine- often found down the sides of the cover page.

Anchorage text: Links directly to the main focal image – informing the audience on what the image/article will be about

CONTENTS PAGE

• Will often have the same model on the contents page as on the Cover page.

• Can also consist of smaller images of other people which may come up within the magazine- this informing that audience on what is to come.

• Pages will always be numbered, therefore on the coverpage it will tell the abidance which number coincides with which article - short sentences telling the audience what will be on each individual page

• Large writing, acting as a masthead will be present, often saying something along the lines of “contents”.

• Article is set out into columns- this makes it easier for the audience to follow and understand. It also makes the magazine look more professional and neat.

• The font colour must be of a readable size and colour. If the audience is unable to read what is on the page they will not be inclined to buy the magazine again.

• The company logo is also often found on the page towards one of the corners.

•Drop capitals are also used within double page spreads. They are seen to symbolise an important paragraph or sentence.

• The focal image on the page will always be the main feature within the article.

• Should include Pull quotes in order to break up the text- this devise is good for a younger target audience.

• The articles are often based on an interview , an album or tour review.

REPRESENTATION OF GENDER

• When is comes to Media products such a magazines and House music, it is known that the Variety is limited. Institutions often stick towards the genres of pop, rock and R&B as they have been extremely popular genres of music for decades therefore they are seen as genres that will bring in the most sales. However when we do see media products related to house music, the “stars” are often dominantly male based or the females are considered to act in a masculine way. I want my magazine to present an image of empowered woman, In order to demonstrate that woman can equally be successful within a stereotypically male style.