XXL Cover

This is Rick Ross on the cover of XXL he is smoking marijuana which indicated that the magazine isn't going to be just about his music but his lifestyle and influences. There were two covers for this issue one of them being Rick Ross alone the other of him with a group. The colour scheme is black and yellow it is consistent and there isn't more than four colours which makes it look attractive.

*This magazine looks aimed at older people due to the fact he is smoking marijuana and the group have aggressive expressions which look intimidating it would not be appropriate for a young person.

*The imagery behind XXL is to show the size of their market and what they are capable of within their organisation  

Contents Page (VIBE)

Contents page of Vibe

*This is a contents page from an issue of Vibe, Vibe contains all the latest music and news the reader of Vibe is updated on what is going on within R&B it also includes exclusive interviews and photos. The image is of two women that are dressed to emphasise their femininity and sexual assets it is a long shot and by women dressing in this way it can be interpreted that R&B music is different compared to other music genres and old R&B. The page itself isn't bright and colourful it is a pale colour therefore making the image the centre of attention it stands out not only is it big and bold but the text is written around it. This contents page is unique because "Contents" isn't written in a whole word it is written as "Co nten ts,," considering the fact that Vibe is one of the most successful their contents pages are very effective in influencing the reader.





XXL contents page

• Instead of labelling the page ‘contents’ they chose to put ‘the A-Side’ in very dark bold writing.
• The contents are very simple and easy to read, they have a lot of detail compared to other magazines like VIBE.
• Different fonts: Bold and normal.
• You can tell from the main image that this is an R&B magazine straight away.
• The XXL logo is also on the contents page and it stands out because of it is bold and red.
• The website is also at the bottom of the page.
• The contents page has professional mid shot image of 50Cent and Souljaboy.

Conventions of a front cover

The conventions of a front cover:
Short memorable magazine title
Large dominant icon
Subject's face can be clearly seen and eye contact
Pull quotes
Language techniques used to anchor articles
Price
Teasing contents

Demi Lovato-Double page spread example

This is part of a double page spread in a magazine:




From looking at other examples of double page spreads I can see that most of them have an picture of the artist and it covers most of a page at least a third! Looking at Demi's picture we can tell this is an article telling us about her lifestyle and her music.
Conventions of a double page spread are drop capitals to show the reader where the article begins, quotes are taken out from the article and enlarged somewhere on the page and usually in a different colour so that it catches the readers eye, the photo is usually a studio photo, laid out in columns and there is usually a sentence that introduces what the article is about.

Looking at a music magazine

The main features of a music magazine are:
Price
Articles
Regular features
Colour schemes
Placement/layout
Distribution
Website




So when doing research for my music magazine these are the features I must include to my magazine because they are the conventions of a successful music magazine. These main features are familiar to the target population and it might attract the reader.

Coursework Research

For my magazine coursework which should be a front cover, contents page and a double page spread. all images and text must be original and produced by candidates.  I plan to do a RnB magazine because that is the music genre I personally prefer above others however I enjoy some artists and songs within the pop genre.

This is a RnB/Hip hop magazine on the cover is Trey Songz he is seen as a male icon from a teenage perspective.
*The colour scheme consists of red, black and white it matches the colour scheme of the issue within the front cover.

*Trey Songz isn't wearing a shirt and from this picture which may be attractive to young girls and guys as well due to his 6 packs.
*The front covers colour scheme is a typical VIBE because the issue with TI on the cover has the same black, white and red scheme but used in a different way.




This a Pop magazine that is focusing on teen stars like Demi Lovato, Joe Jonas, Dylan and Cole Sprouse. They are seen as teen idols and role models for other teenagers from the ages of about 12-19 they star in Disney shows.



*This magazine front cover is full of bright colours and packed out with little bubbles of information, lots of pictures all different shapes and sizes.



*The colour scheme is consistent and is pink,green,yellow and blue is is only 4 colours besides the pictures of the stars.



*There is a section for all the stars e.g. Twilight have their own bubble in the top and Miley Cyrus has her own section in the middle.



* It seems aimed at young people in their teenage years because it is colourful and bright which attracts children and young teens.

Media Lesson

Today in my media lesson I found how to deconstruct (pull apart) a magazine front cover I saw a picture of a issue of rave with Fergie on it.
The masthead is blue and bright compared to the other text on the cover it is also a different font from the pull quotes and other headings.

*The front covers colour scheme consists of four colours which makes it consistent within and it also has drop shadows to make the text stand out.

*The text below Fergie is massive compared to the text of the pull quotes.

*Fergie matches the mastheads she is wearing a blue outfit the same colour of the masthead which shows the consistency of the colour scheme within the front cover.

*The target population may be people who like to go to parties because of the text above the masthead.