Magazine Conventions

1
Magazine Construction

• Student Copy

2
Conventions

• What you get on front covers

3
9.
Selling Line or Banner
1.
Masthead
2.
Tagline
10.
Secondary Lead
3.
Kicker
11.
Feature Article Photo
4.
Cover Line
Headline
12.
5.
Plug
13.
Flash
6.
Graphic Feature or Puff
Menu Strip
14.
7.
Anchorage
15.
Bar Code
Caption
8.
16.
Date Line
Web-links? Ears?
4
Noticing Conventions

• The masthead tells us the name of the magazine.
• The anchorage corresponds with the photograph
  through the use of violent imagery. Ive never
  punched anyone who didnt deserve it is a quote
  from their interview, whilst shes wiping her
  fist across her mouth, as if to remove blood if
  she were in a fight.
• The graphic features dont particularly convey
  anything specific about the magazine, however the
  slightly simplistic design and colour scheme work
  well together.
• The anchorage, the image and the use of black and
  white colours convey that this issue is for the
  alternative and edgy type of audience, matching
  the duo Crystal Castles.
• The fonts and colours stick to a strict scheme of
  red, white and black. This compliments the
  graphic image of the duo because they are wearing
  all black, minus yellow and blue details. This
  contrasts well with the colour scheme, and in
  relation to the message it sends, it again is
  probably targeted towards an edgier type of
  audience.
• Due to the head on mid shot, this conveys a rough
  feel to the band. Linked with the text beneath,
  it delivers attitude to the viewer. The position
  of Alice Glass in front and producer, Ethan Kath,
  behind puts most of the focus on her. Their body
  language is edge for Alice, and slightly laid
  back but almost stood like a body guard, willing
  to fight too. Complimented by this tough façade,
  the black costume suits the whole theme being set
  on this magazine cover. The direct mode of
  address on her Glass part emphasises her
  attitude, contrasting with Ethan Kaths
  mysterious and sombre glance away from the
  camera.
• The viewer can grasp the importance of Alice in
  comparison to Ethan due to her being central in
  the magazine, whilst he is upwards and to the
  side and has the majority of his body covered by
  her stood in front.
• The point of a kicker is to kick out, in such a
  way so that it grasps the viewers attention. This
  is then supported by a cover line, which briefly
  describes details of the kicker. Usually the
  kicker is normally the name of the artist,
  however in this they have used a quote from the
  page, complimented by a small amount of detail on
  it.
• There isnt a lack of general conventions,
  however there is a loss of use of props. Despite
  this, it doesnt have a negative effect on the
  image used, and would probably be over the top
  had props been included. Compensating for this
  loss of props, Crystal Castles had other pictures
  from this same shoot, where they used props
  cigarettes, to specify.

5
Design

• How front covers are conceived and laid out

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7
House Style Design PETE DOHETRY
This issue from NME magazine sticks to a strict
colour scheme of red and white. This is
consistent throughout all of their other issues.
On this cover, due to a lot of the black on Pete
Dohertys clothes, no black text has been used
which is a regular shade that NME use. The red
and white text is done in turn in order to show
the difference between sentences. Two or three
different fonts have been used, a bold arial
looking font and a handwriting style font which
adds a bit more fun to the cover, looking
slightly creative regarding its contents, rather
than a normal vogue magazine that would use only
Times New Roman. The cover image has an extreme
contribution to the necessity felt to read it,
along with drugs, deaths, Amy Winehouse and The
Libertines in the title and an image of Pete
Doherty for once not pictured with pupils like
pinholes and ill-looking skin. The mode of
address is inviting, looking directly towards the
viewer. There is a lot of information, but not so
much that it blocks out his face and this is
also consistent in NME magazine. The top right
point where faces typically are in magazines is
where his image has been placed, directly between
his eyes. This use of thirds makes it a focal
point for the audiences eyes. I believe this
cover has been designed the way it is to be
slightly simplistic, but the handwriting font
gives a sense of individuality, a lot like the
music within. Along with a very talented artist
and an insight to his personal life that has been
misconstrued by the media, simplicity works
perfectly because its a busy topic that
everybody wants an insight into. It follows
typical magazine styles, but challenges
conventions by covering so much of the image.
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9
House Style Design Alex Turner
This issue from NME is still following the strict
red, white, and black colour scheme which is
typical of NME, however they have added a light
blue shade, adding a bit more flare and
eccentricity to the cover. The colours are never
used next to each other, and are used to separate
sections of text from each other. This makes
things easier and less monotonic to read. Im
able to spot four different fonts that can be
used, however one of these fonts has been used
minimally for the flash convention. These
different fonts and a range of bold, italic, and
regular doesnt look busy at all, and in fact
compliments them. There is a mysterious
attitude achieved through this image. With a
picture of Alex Turner with his arms folded
holding a record we are unable to see the title
of, despite looking directly at the viewer, his
body language is mysterious. Linked with the
record that changed my life, we are all eager to
see the contents and this links with this
mysterious façade. The talented artists
eyeliner is just above the top centre line
distributing the third. This is a regular
position for it to be placed in, and the text is
always around him, not covering the important
parts his face, and the prop, which is relating
to the record that changed my life. There is
negative space, so it is not completely filled up
and cramped, and with the masthead top-left with
text across the bottom third, this follows
typical magazine layout designs. With Turner
also wearing black, and holding a black and red
vinyl, he fits in well to the colour scheme. Its
loud, but not too loud, and fun. It does
reinforce typical styles of magazines, but in a
positive way, and takes up more image than
usually is.
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11
House Style Design Noel Gallagher
This issue from NME is still following the strict
red, white, and black colour scheme which is
typical of NME, however the positioning of
everything has been done differently to the other
issues. His quote is all the way down the left
hand side rather than across the middle like the
previous two Ive annotated, and his name is in
big letters probably due to his fame. Three
different fonts have been used, and all the other
contents have been put in the right hand side,
when it is normally split over two. There is
still the regular banner, insight into contents,
barcode, masthead, etc. A lot of his image is
covered, however his face is not. With his quote
in his shadow, his dark hair and white shirt, he
has been co-ordinated to fit the magazine colour
scheme, just like the previous two. Noels eyes
are just below the line of the top third, and
goes down between his eyes in the left third,
making his face an instant point of focus, as
well as NOEL in large, bold letters (like the
title), emphasising that, yes, this is Noel
Gallagher on the front of this magazine. This
is an overall very simplistic design and hosts
all the general and typical conventions. Its
nothing out of the ordinary, but it is still a
great looking magazine cover. The same
handwriting which is consistent of NME has been
used once again, and makes a fun creative
addition to the cover rather than the same font
all over. Otherwise, its the typical masthead
top left, menu strip down the side, secondary
lead in the corner, and the other conventions are
all regular.