Codes and Conventions of Magazines

Masthead: The font used is characteristic to the magazine which makes it instantly recognisable and noticeable to the readers along with the stand-out red colour and bold letters. The use of sans serif font makes it simplified and easy to read but also makes a bold statement. This is tied in with the target audience and is specifically designed to attract them.

Tagline: The purpose of the tagline is to show what the magazine is about or who it might be aimed at. Here, the tagline is used to give an insight to the magazine and using vocabulary like ‘higher level’ builds up a theme of superiority as it suggests its contents and features are above that of rival magazines

Tagline: The tagline in this case is one word which is easily picked up and read by the reader. The word used, ‘untouchable’ gives a sense of superiority and exclusiveness that only XXL magazine has. This will entice the audience to buy and read the magazine as they feel this exclusiveness is being shared with them

Coverlines: These ones are used to give the reader an idea of what is in the magazine. In this instance it is just the names of well-known rappers in the industry that will be easily recognised and catch the eye of readers

Central Image: In this case we have a close up shot of an iconic artist that is globally known. The point of the central image is to attract readers even before they have time to read any text on the cover. Here direct mode of address is used to do this by having the model looking into the camera. This creates a feeling that the reader is being looked at and draws them into the magazine.

Cover model: Usually cover models are celebrities and this is true in XXL’s case by using Jay-Z. Being a hip-hop magazine, Jay-Z is an obvious example of a celebrity with strong connections to the magazine’s genre and so enables the reader to instantly determine the genre purely through the model.

Colour Scheme: XXL magazine is mainly targeting 25 – 29 year old male audiences. The bold sans serif font along with the plain bold colours of red, black and grey make it a very masculine magazine and is perfectly suited to its targeted demographic.

Barcode: The barcode is in a visible place but isn’t obscuring the view of the magazine’s images or text. It is located in the same position consistently throughout these magazines

Masthead: The font used is characteristic to the magazine which makes it instantly recognisable and noticeable to the readers along with the stand-out red colour and bold letters. The use of sans serif font makes it simplified and easy to read but also makes a bold statement

Tagline: The purpose of the tagline is to show what the magazine is about or who it might be aimed at. Here, the tagline is used to give an insight to the magazine and set the tone. ‘A hater’s worst nightmare’ along with the cover image is used to build up an intimidating cover especially by using the word ‘nightmare’

Coverlines: These ones are used to give the reader an idea of what is in the magazine. In this instance it is just the names of well-known rappers in the industry that will be easily recognised and catch the eye of readers

Central Image: The use of a body shot enables the magazine to further establish it’s ‘intimidating’ theme as well as represent its genre. The fact the cover models are wearing excessive jewellery portrays wealth and money which will grab the reader’s eye. The white on the clothing is used to continue the magazine’s theme and connect everything.

Cover models: The white of 50’s clothing and Soulja Boy’s underwear is heavily connected to the magazine’s colour theme which is used to make the image appear exclusive to the magazine and is purposefully done to let readers know the image belongs to that magazine. This builds up an idea of exclusiveness and will make the reader want to buy the magazine as they’ll feel they are getting something exclusive out of it.

Colour Scheme: XXL magazine is mainly targeting 25 – 29 year old male audiences. The bold sans serif font along with the plain bold colours of red, black and grey make it a very masculine magazine and is perfectly suited to its targeted demographic.

Barcode: The barcode is in a visible place but isn’t obscuring the view of the magazine’s images or text. It is located in the same position consistently throughout these magazines

Masthead: The masthead is in a bold sans serif font which makes it easy to read and easily noticeable on the magazine to draw attention. It has been set behind the central image of the cover to show that it is a popular and well-known magazine that doesn’t need to show the full word for people to know what it is. Furthermore this creates a 3D effect.

Tagline: The tagline is short, simple and catchy, easy for the reader to pick out and it gives an insight as to what is in the magazine by featuring the name of the cover model as well.

Header: This add extra information to the magazine about what its contents hold. This further attracts the audience and lets them know what to expect from the magazine. It features hip-hop artists which is in correlation to the genre and popular amongst the target audience of almost 50% male and female aged 30.

Edition: The edition is placed in a noticeable area and to not obscure the view of the rest of the magazine as it isn’t as important. It just lets the reader know as and when the magazine has been published and this is commonly in monthly editions.

Cover model: The cover model, Chris Brown, is a very well-known successful artist, popular amongst men and women which ties in well with th demographic of the magazine. The plain grey and black featured on his clothing and tattoos, keeps the theme of the magazine consistent and the use of front lighting helps to give the shadow effect which further constructs the 3 dimensional build of the magazine

Colour scheme: The colour scheme is neutral which helps coincide with the almost equal gender interest in the magazine. It is consistent throughout including the model used which enables the magazine to show that their image is being used and makes it feel exclusive to them and that they will have exclusive information about that artist and other features in the magazine.

The font used to display the masthead is signature to the magazine and therefore keeps the same theme consistent throughout the magazine. The bold sans serif font makes it stand out and easily read without much attention being paid to it.

The colour scheme of the contents page will be the same to that of the magazine front cover to create consistency throughout the magazine. The scheme is again continued through the model as well which has been edited to fit this.

The large ‘V’ behind the model is used to indicate the name of the magazine and is also fitting to the colour scheme.

The headings are in signature font and bold to make it distinguishable and easily noticed to draw attention

The model used, Kanye, is in correlation to the magazine’s genre and gives further insight as to what the magazine holds for the reader. Kanye is edited to fit the colour scheme to again, further create a consistent theme throughout.

Subheadings are in characteristic font and short and simple which makes easy reading and provides information as to what is in the magazine.

The heading is in signature font of the magazine and in a bold sans serif font to clearly title what it is for, in this case, to show the features of the magazine

The subheadings are also in the same signature font to continue the theme and are of a smaller font size to make them noticeable that they are subheadings. They title what is under that section of the magazine to give an insight

The colour scheme is predominantly black and white and is consistent throughout the page and continued through the model as well

The model is iconic and recognisable and gives an insight as to what the magazine has inside. He is also used to further carry the colour scheme and takes up most of the page which will catch the attention of readers

The letter ‘V’ is obvious again and matches the colour scheme. It is used to again indicate the name of the magazine and it is well-known enough to not require the whole magazine name to be recognised.

The masthead is in signature font to he magazine and keeps the theme consistent throughout. It is titled ‘the A-side’ but the letter ‘A’ is covered by the model however the magazine is known enough that the audience will already know the title without seeing it all. Also the way the model’s hood is on and the way his head is angled, it does come out slightly as the letter ‘A’.

The header and footer are corresponding and the header holds the magazine title ‘XXL’ to reinstate the magazine’s name. The date is also displayed on the header which suggests the magazine is issued in editions and there is a loyal audience. The footer also says how the shots were done exclusively which again builds up the exclusive image of the magazine to attract readers

Sell quotes from Chris Brown, who is the model on this page, attract readers and give an insight as to what is in th magazine. It is in a bold font, larger than the other features which makes it stand out and draws the reader’s eye to it.

Subheadings are in a bolder font and are short and catchy. The language used as well is relevant to magazine’s genre which creates a consistent theme throughout.

The colour scheme is typical to the magazine featuring predominantly red, white, grey and black colours which are relative to the target audience which is mostly male. The scheme is further continued through the model and again consistency is created.

The model used is the most noticeable feature on the page. It draws the reader’s eye before they even have to read any text and is of an iconic artist to fit the magazine’s genre. By also featuring quotes from the artist on the same page it will make the reader feel like the magazine has something exclusive to do with the model.

A large heading is used to draw the reader’s attention and it is n a bold font to make it stand out. It is a quote from one of the models, 50 Cent, on the opposite page and gives an insight to the magazine and as to what the relationship the models have with the magazine. Also the language used is characteristic of 50 Cent and also the magazine genre so will appeal to the readers

One side of this double page spread is devoted entirely to an image of two artists. The image heavily links to the gene of the magazine and hip-hop culture particularly through mise-en-scene. This is noticeable through the attire of the two artists such as the sagging jeans if Soulja Boy and the hate 50 wears as well as the neckwear of them both. The stance they both have, Soulja with his arms out and 50 leaning back, as well as the use of direct mode of address helps build up an intimidating image as well as connecting the reader to the magazine by establishing eye contact with the models.

The colour scheme is again consistent throughout, including the models. Consistency is once again maintained and it is a very simple scheme that makes reading easy and is a tone that fits the genre well; quite plain and dark with a rough kind of look.

The font used is characteristic to the magazine, it is also small and aligned to the left. The text is broken up into two separate columns and isn’t designed to attract any reader attention as the heading and image used does that job. There is however one interview question that is in bold and the start of a new paragraph. This acts a subheading in which attention will be drawn to.

The title is in a bold serif font which attracts reader’s attention as well as having coloured circles around it. The models name is also integrated into the title and makes it very obvious for the reader to recognise what the article is about.

Again we see that a whole page is devoted to the model. In this case we can see that T.I.’s clothing colour correlates to the coloured circles on the opposite page and builds a connection between the two pages. Furthermore the use of direct mode of address again makes a connection between the reader and magazine as the reader gets drawn into it.

The colour scheme is consistent throughout the spread and is connected to the title ‘SUMMER T.I.ME’ as all the colours are light and bright which builds a ‘summery’ feel to it.

The article is comprised of a beginning paragraph and then two columns underneath. The font again is small but in a sans serif font which makes it easier for the reader when reading across a line quickly.

The heading is in a bold, sans serif font which makes it very noticeable and draws the reader’s attention. Underneath is strap-line which says ‘Rick Ross has had one hell of a year’ which gives an insight and explanation to the double page spread.

There is again a whole page just for an image of the model which the article is about. The use of a long shot allows us to see that Rick Ross is in a suit holding a bottle and glass of champagne. Also the background has balloons in and all this ties into the article about him and how he ‘[Rick Ross] has had one hell of a year’. The champagne, balloons and tuxedo all connote celebration and parties which would be corresponding to Rick Ross celebrating his success

The article is just one column and is started off with a large ‘T’ to draw the reader in and the carried on in a typical small font. The black colour on a white background makes the text easy for the reader to read and isn’t obscured or disrupted by anything

The colour scheme is basically just black and white. This is consistent throughout and keeps the theme the same the whole way. It is more likely that in this case the magazine has made themselves correspond to the image they have used of Rick Ross celebrating and kept the same simple scheme.