One of my main focuses on research and inspiration is Complex Magazine, as their design is often very unique and seperate from competitors. In this example of a Complex front cover they use a drawn graffiti-esque style which is relevant to hip-hop culture while also being very appealing to view.

The masthead is bright and bold against the rest of the cover, the masthead follows the theme of the cover in this case also being done in a graffiti style

Cover line juxtaposed onto the main image, combining both together. This cover line is a contrasting colour to the masthead and background, but is equally as vibrant and near neon in shade. It also follows the graffiti style scheme.

The background for the cover follows the design scheme by being somewhat graffiti esque however it remains simple and all shades of blue. It contrasts with the neon green and pinks used for the masthead and “Kid Cudi” completing a very vibrant colourscheme. Taking this into my own cover, I would also like to use a simple patterned background to keep the cover interesting to look at but not to detract from the main image.

In terms of following conventions, this Complex cover is very unique in that it has broken many of the common conventions. The cover lines are used very sparsely, only one relating to the main image takes up almost the whole of the cover whereas the rest are at the top of the page rather than where they are usually seen, the bottom of the page. The main image follows the convention of overlapping the title slightly but then builds on that by having information that would usually be contained in the left third overlapped for effect on the main image.

The character on the cover is Kid Cudi, a well known hip hop artist.

The character’s pose, with the open jacket to show the cover line and hand gesturing towards it, point the readers attention towards the cover line. The character has eye contact with the reader.

Additional cover lines above the masthead. This could be to increase focus on the main image.

One noticeable thing missing from this front cover would be the barcode, which is assumedly on the back of the magazine instead. This may be a choice to not have anything interfering with the main image.

Complex contents pageFour main images are utilised along the top and bottom of the contents all relevant to a different feature in the magazine, with the corresponding page number also included with the image. Varying shots are used in each image. The subjects of each image both fit the hip-hop genre, their fashion being easily identifiable with hip-hop culture. The contents page is overall very image dominated, as they take up the large majority of the space on the page.

An X symbol is used recurring throughout the contents page, which is a house theme commonly used by Complex in their layouts.

All the articles are listed through the middle of the page, between the images. The articles are split into 3 seperate columns each relating to a different category of feature in the magazine. The colours used alternate corresponding to each column from a blue/pink/yellow palette. Each article is summed up in a short one or two sentences, often including a quote or rhetorical question.

The background is all white, allowing all the text to be easily readable, which is especially necessary given all the different colours used within the text. The “table of contents” header is black on yellow to stand out on the white background and also fit the Complex house theme colour theme.

The date and volume is listed in the page header.

The article is layed out in an interview format. The questions are highlighted red to break seperate them from the answers and the text is split into three columns.

Series of smaller images heading the page above the article. These smaller images make the page appear a lot less tedious than it would if the page was just full of text.

The left hand page includes a small introductory paragraph to the article and featured character as opposed to the left hand page being completely image dominated.

The house theme for the spread is a red white and blue american colour scheme. The main character is displayed in this colour scheme, in this case in a way that parodies Barack Obama’s election posters. This relates to some of the political subject matter included in the interview.

A border in the house theme style is used to break aprt the pages. The stars here relate to the american ‘stars and stripes’.

A select quote is taken from the interview and blown up seperate from the article. It’s colour is blue, being the only blue item on that page it immediately stands out and grabs the reader who will then have to read on to find the quote in context.

COMPLEX Double page spread

Vibe is my second example of a hip-hop magazine to use for research, the magazines style being more conventional than that of Complex.

The character on the cover is Kendrick Lamar, another well known rapper and hip-hop artist.

The main image is a close-up shot of the character, who is maintaining eye contact with the reader and the primary focus of the cover. In these aspects, the Vibe cover is following conventions.

The body language of the character and the cover line “The New God MC” relate in that the character’s hands are held together in a prayer gesture.

The bar code is shown on the front of the magazine in this case, as opposed to the Complex magazine cover.

The house style of the cover follows a red/white/black colour scheme. The red is used to make select parts of the text stand out more and also for the colour of the masthead. The background is kept plain white, which allows the main image and all over components of the front cover to be unobstructed by the background and gives the magazine a very uniform look.

The left third is utilised for cover lines relating directly to the main image/main feature of the issue in a larger font than the other text on the page. The right third of the page is utilised for a list of the non-main features of the magazine.

The cover masthead is in the normal Vibe style, bold red against the white background with a slight gradient to give the text a more interesting look. The main image overlaps the masthead, however where it overlaps the image has a lower opacity to allow the masthead to still be seen underneath. This is quite unconventional as often magazines will instead just have the image completely overlap the masthead.

Cover line referring to two other hip hop artists not relating to the main image. This poses a rhetorical question to the viewer, possibly as a way to entice them to want to read further in.

The vibe contents page features one main image as opposed to several smaller images, the main image follows on with the theme of the cover which in this case featured Kanye West. The image is placed to roughly take up the right side of the page with contents on the left side.

The house theme for this issue was largely black and white which is shown in the contents page colour scheme. The background for the image has a large ‘V’ which follows the general VIbe theme and is their logo.

The ‘Contents’ header is unconventional as rather than all being on one line the word is broken up on-to 3 separate lines. This appears to be a purely stylistic choice.

Features are listed on the right third of the page alongside the main image. The cover overall is very image dominated.

Photography credits are included at the bottom of the page.

A small article line relating to the main feature is included separate from the Features list.

VIBE contents page

Web address and Vibe logo in the top corner of the page.

The first page is used entirely for a main image. In this case the image is of hip hop artist Wiz Khalifa, of which the article on the next page concerns. The colours in the image, black and yellow, match the colour scheme used in the next page. This also directly relates to Wiz Khalifa as one his most known songs is itself called ‘Black and Yellow’

Photo credits are included in the bottom corner of the page.

The artist’s logo takes up half of the second page, it is coloured in the black and yellow theme.

A small paragraph summing up the premise of the article and posing a question to the reader, to encourage them to read on to find the answer. This section is yellow which breaks it up from the other text on the page.

The article itself is split into two columns, with the beginning few words of paragraphs highlighted in yellow to match the colour scheme.

The character in the image is maintaining direct eye contact with the reader, which is a way of making the page more engaging as a whole.

Each page has a distinctly contrasting background colour, black and white. This helps break up both pages and make the layout a lot more appealing to the eye, having the main image stand out that much more.

VIBE Double page spread