Codes and Conventions of a music magazine

Codes and conventions of a front cover

Codes and conventions of a contents page

Bold clear titlemaking the readerknow what pagethey're looking at.

Outline of a ‘V’ inthe background tokeep the look ofvibe throughout themagazine. But issubtle so it doesn’tdraw the readersattention awayfrom the main partof the page – thecontents list.

Main cover lines to separatedifferent articles intocategories.

Lots of different coverlines are used to showthat there are manystories inside. Also, thetext is varied slightly incolour and boldnessoccasionally to made themost importantinformation stand out –e.g. the name ‘Ciara’ is inbold, showing she is themain subject of thearticle and drawsattention to it.

Central image directlyaddresses the reader –making them feel involvedin the page and theywonder why she is themain image and focus. Sotherefore they want toread the article on her.

The close up on Lana Del Rays eye draws the readers attention to it. The look in her eye is a look of pain which then draws the attention to the ‘blood’ dripping down her face. This pain could connote the message of her album at the time as heart break is a common theme in her music. The digitalized mouse arrow links to

the word ‘download’ in the text. Shows that this magazine has an online platform, probably to appeal to a wider audience as most people go online rather than read magazines now.

The pictures dominate the page and only a small amount of text guides the readers to the pages they want according to which artist they want to read about. The colour scheme is white and red and it keeps it simple and the red links to the title of ‘Q’ magazine. The page isn’t overloaded with too many pictures or information.

Codes and conventions of a double page spread

The text in this article has been written between both pages of the double page

spread and has been broken up with images and bolder text in between. The

text has been written in a small sized font and has been written in a simple text

and colour. The colour of the text is almost a light black or very dark grey.

The article has been written has been written in four separate columns. At the

very start of the article there is a few sentences that have been written in a

larger text and a different colour to the text in the article in order to create a

summary for the article.

The image has been cut out and has been set in front of the rest of the double

page spread. Everything in the article has been set in monochrome or blue.

Whereas the artist is wearing a bright orange dress which breaks up the

colourless article and gives a bold statement when comparing it with the rest of

the double page spread. I believe the editor has chosen to use this image as it

breaks up the texts and when you first glance at the double page spread the

image is the first thing I look at.

The same artist has had a variety of images taken and the

editor has decided to place them images along the top half of

the double page spread. The images of the artist have been set

in black and white, the artist has posed in different positions in

order to create the timeline of images that border the top half

of the article.

There isn’t an obvious title for this

double page spread, however, I believe

this text that has been written and

highlighted in light grey and blue may

be the title of the article. All of the text

has been set below the monochrome

images and a broken line. The text

used in the article is simple yet easy to

read land looks easy on the eye when

looking at the rest of the double page

spread.

The editor has decided to add a

thick broken line between the

images and the text. The lines look

simple but effective and I like the

way the editor has made it look

like the artist is standing on the

line. The lines also separates the

images from the text which create

less of a distraction when reading

the article.

Along side the article is this paragraph of bold

black text. This is a piece of text has been written

along side the article as the content relates to the

artist. It has been written in black and bold font

style so it breaks up the rest of the article.

The ‘J’ that is set beneath the text is simple but affective as it creates a

contrast with the image that is set on the right hand side of the page.

The ‘J’ is a slime simple ‘J’ which tells me that they have used a

simple text throughout the double page spread. I like the way the ‘J’

has lined the top and the bottom of text within the columns. The colour

of the red is a very bold and bright red creating a clear statement when

set behind the text. The editor of the magazine may have adjusted the

opacity of the ‘J’ in order to make the text easier to read. The ‘J’ is

centred within the left hand side of the page with the middle of the ‘J’

running down the centre of the columns.

The article is only set on the left hand

side o the page with the photograph on

the right hand side of the page. This

makes the image a lot more bold and

the text stand out from the rest of the

stuff on the double page spread. The

text has been written in a very small

font with large capital letters at the

start of every other paragraph. The

paragraphs have been written to the

right hand side of the page as it lines

with the rest of the page. The size of

the columns have been kept the same

width to create an even effect

throughout the double page spread.

The text has been written in a simple

font and has been set in black as it is

easy to read when set against the red

‘J’ and the white background.

The title of the double page spread has been written in a small but simple

font. The font size however, is larger than the text size used for the

magazine article. The title of the article has been outlined with a thin

black border keeping the title separate from the text within the magazine

article. There are also two lines/dashes that have been placed alongside

the title of the magazine article in order to frame it.

Bright red text has been layered over the top of the image. I believe the

red text has been used as it makes a bold contrast when layered over

the top of the black from the photograph. The red also links in with the

red background behind the image and the red ‘J’ that is placed on the

left hand side of the article. There is a red line placed above the red text

which may have been used to separate the text from the image. The has

also been placed in the left hand corner of the page at it is keeping the

artists face clear.

The photograph used or this

article creates a very bold

statement yet the simplicity of the

photograph gives a greater effect

when placed next to the article.

The background of the image is

red fading into blue. The red

background has been reflected

onto the left side of his face with

the blue being reflected on the

other side. The artist is wearing

sunglasses whist staring straight

at the camera. The facial

expression of the artist looks very

stern and almost intimidating to

give the idea that the artist is

from a rap culture. The chain

round his neck also suggests this

which has been used as a

statement when worn against the

black top.