1. KEY CONVENTIONS ANALYSIS OF
XXL MAGAZINE

2. 
One of the most generic conventions of XXL, and most music
magazines, is that its masthead has the same font and colour
(large, easy to read font, the XXL is in a bold white upon a deep red
rectangle background. The masthead is situated in the same position
on every magazine and doesn't necessarily have to be completely
visible on it as loyal customers no where it is and what it’s called.

The central figure or in a different copy of the XXL magazine there
could be multiple figures that sit in the centre in this case there is a
big picture of 50 cent this keeps to the stereotype of the magazine
and usually used to tell the customer that this magazines main
article is about the central figure. The central figure is always current
and fits the music genre of XXL. The figures are often male and can
vary in age ranging from 20 to 45.

Customer loyalty is maintained throughout XXL’s various issues by
keeping the layout and style throughout the issues the same for
example there will always be a double page spread of a current artist
and their story. In XXL magazine every issue includes an interview
with a trending artist, it also tells there audience of up and coming
gig dates and festivals as well as the top 20 new rap tunes. XXL is
particularly aimed at teenagers from the age of 14 and above as they
are the most likely to listen to this genre of music.

3. 
Sometimes XXL magazine introduces a female artist
onto their front cover, we can see here that this time
they have used Nicki minaj and drake. Using a woman
on the magazine would help target a more diverse
audience especially a female one which is hard to
target, by using this image it will enable XXL to gain
more loyal customers. As well as this on the other front
cover it shows a picture of Trina, woman are often
posed nude or half nude, showing of their assets, this is
an approach that would inevitably intrigue males to buy
and also correspond well with XXL’s eye candy page
showing of the latest woman. The use of gold
costuming complements her skin and makes her stand
out on the magazine cover.

4. 

Here is a contents page for XXL; it features 50 cent
and soulja boy. The contents page is very
simplistic, and throughout issues there is never
much writing it’s very minimalistic.
There is usually a white or grey background with a
bold heading such as the A-side. The contents page
usually has a picture of an artist or two and the
writing either on the left or the right hand side.
The colour scheme is very fluent and allows for an
easy read with a font that is easy to understand. The
strips of black under the masthead and under the
image are maintained throughout every issue
customers become very familiar with XXL layout.
The masthead often changes but maintains the XXL
hip hop roots with Doing Lines or the A- side. XXl
magazine follows the same conventions for the
contents on almost all of there magazines and
usually has either one or two artists featuring. The
magazine also has a general theme that runs
through all of there magazine and that is the
black, red and white colour scheme, the other colour
comes from the images itself the rest is very
minimalist.

5. Here are two typical XXL double page spread; the usual
layout they go for is a picture on one side of the page and the
story line on the other. The picture here is relates to the
theme of the magazine and shows a man in a vest top with
jewelry hanging down from his neck the image can be seen
as intimidating. The masthead on the right hand side is
clearly big and bold and dominating that side of the page
which will draw the reader’s attention, also throughout XXL
double page spread the first letter they use to start of the
interview/bio of the artist starts in a big capital letter making
a statement. The double page spreads are often very
minimalistic but sometimes the length of the writing may
differ being longer or shorter. Usually on the double page
spread there is only one figure which is often the central
figure the reader will see on the front cover as that is there
main artist that the customer will be reading about.
The general conventions of the front cover, contents page and
double pages are important things for me to follow and use for
guidance as they will give me a lot of information on how to
layout pages and the sort of things I need to write about.
However to be original it is necessary for me to develop these
general conventions and use them to my advantage. The
other double page spread showing the artist Nas follows the
same conventions as the photograph above and has the
image on the left hand side and the feature on the right. As
you can see the artist is wearing jewelry and also sporting a
white vest which fits the stereotype of a rapper showing off his
tattoos. The background image is of a boxing gym which
relates to fighting which connotes what a lot of artists used to
do before they achieved success. The writing on the right
hand side of the page is different and is very script looking
which could connote him being an original lyricist which is
seen well in the hip hop industry.

6. Advice

The general conventions of the front
cover, contents page and double page
spreads are important things for me to
follow and use for guidance as they will
give me a lot of information on how to
layout pages and the sort of things I
need to write about. However to be
original it is necessary for me to
develop these general conventions and
use them to my advantage. The pieces
I have looked at are extremely
professional and if I follow the
conventions correctly then this should
allow for my piece of work to look very
original and not amateurish.