Analysing the codes and convention of a magazine

Analysing the codes and convention of a magazine

Codes and conventions - Systems of signs, which create meaning. Codes are visual/audio, conventions group together to make a genre

i.e eerie music builds tension and creates suspense which link to a specific genre

Magazine front cover

-Masthead - Name of the magazine (Where is it situated? Font? Colour?)

-Fonts - Use about 3 - 4 fonts otherwise it gets too busy (Do they relate to the genre?)

-Colour scheme - Make sure you have a good, aesthetic colour scheme (How many colours are there? Do they relate?)

-Slogan - Magazines need a memorable slogan (Is it memorable? Is it a pun Where is it situated?)

-Cover lines, bylines & Feature article - Make sure they’re relevant to what’s inside (Do they relate to the genre? Do they use language techniques? Size of text? Effects on text?)

-Main Image - Always links to the feature article. Eye contact with reader (What type of shot is it - does it relate to the genre?, Who is being represented?)

-Z pattern - They lay out every single magazine will follow. It's the direction we read in (Does the  magazine use this? Why?)

-Puff - Exclusive content announcement in a coloured shape. e.g “Free ___ Inside”

-Barcode    

-Issue date

-Publisher     Always in the same little space

-Date

-Website

-Skyline/Strap line - Coloured strip that runs across the top which displays what’s featured

Magazine Double Page Spread

-Title - The biggest font sized compared to everything on the page.

-Layout/Positioning - The composition the text is on the page. Does it follow the shape of the artists head? Is it in boxes?

-Size - Shows what the most important thing is

-Lead - Beginning of a story, generally contains who, what, when, where and why

-Use of columns/alignment - No fat chunks of texts, align the columns differently

-Images used - Make sure clothing/makeup/hair/facial expressions/pose all like to the genre your basing your magazine on

-Pulls quote/messages - Pull quotes from the columns and expand them?

-Colour scheme - Make sure it matches the genre and audience you’re going for. What does it represent?

-Text - make sure the font and size of the text have meaning

-Contact information

-Magazine logo

-Date/Page number

-Body copy     

           

MastHead - “RollingStone”, Red and silver, Situated in the top centre. Iconic ‘Rolling stone’ font.

Fonts - They’ve used maximum 3 fonts (they have added an outline to one font for the big titles but nevertheless its still the same font)

Colour scheme - Red, black and white. Very simple and matches the colour of the artists photo as well as the title and genre.

Slogan - “All the news that fits”

Cover lines - Very relevant to the artist. Shows a little bit of the time line of Queen (1981 - 2008 - whenever that magazine was released). Big font for the name of the feature artist (Queen is even bigger as Freddie Mercury was on the cover). Titles have a red outline to draw readers attention to them. Very punctual and straight to the point.

Main image - Links to the main artist “Queen” as it has Freddie Mercury the main singer on the centre. The shot looks like it's been taken from a concert from a bit low down, the solid black background makes him pop out.

Z pattern - It does follow the Z pattern as you would read the left side first then move onto the right. 

Puff - It includes a puff (Although I can’t read what it says)

Barcode    

Issue date    All in the bottom right

Publisher     hand corner with the    

Date            bar code.

Website

No skyline/ Strap Line