2. Conventions in any magazine not just music magazines
are technical and symbolic codes that represent the
magazine in a particular way. These codes tend to be
repeated throughout a particular genre and then become
conventions. These conventions familiarise the audience
and therefore create gratification and form a connection
between the brand and the target audience member.
However, some magazines do not conform to conventions,
this is to make them unique and stand out and can also
gratify an audience for being different. This is also called
challenging genre conventions.
In my magazine I have used a range of conventions to
appeal to the target audience and create gratification
according to the uses and gratification theory. However, I
have also challenged some genre conventions to create a
unique and different represented ideology to my magazine
brand.
3. Masthead of the magazine is
called Vermin
The mise en scene is the
final product that all the
technical and symbolic
codes make up, in this case
the magazine front cover
Cover lines are located
down the left hand side of
the page with featured
artists in bold white text with
a fill background.
The ‘Bike Life’ text is a
buzzword due to it being
blue and featured and the
‘changed him’ is a puff
incentive that attracts target
audience.
Kickers are located
underneath the cover lines
Main cover line is located at the top of
the cover lines and uses a larger font.
Barcode is a conventional aspect that
a magazine will stereotypically have
The ‘house style’ or colour
scheme is very
distinguishable and
consistent throughout the
magazine. It uses blue,
white and black to create
contrast and conform to its
house style. Most
magazines have a house
style so this is a common
convention for any magazine
to have
Clothing and indirect mode
of address from model
connotes the feeling of a
more approachable
magazine, making it less
intimidating and therefore
more appealing to a wider
target audience compared to
most rap magazines.
Unique selling lines /
ideology of the magazine is
at the top of the page
4. Vermin brand / logo is
on the feature article,
conventional to most
music magazines
Use of white space is
to represent a more
mature article. This is
also reflected in the
journalist style of
written content.
Column structure has
been formatted for the
‘Q&A’ style questions
and the long answers.
The unconventional
logo for ‘SCOTTEE’ is
used to enrich the
white space around it
The start of my written content
has a drop cap to give the
audience some decoration that
corresponds with the house
style and also for navigation
It is unconventional for music
magazines to have a single
page dedicated to written
content and then a single
image on the other page
The colours used
in the image
unintentionally
match the house
style. This appeals
to the target
audience because
of continunity.
Rule of thirds
typically makes
the audience’s
eye wander to the
upper right hand
side of the image.
However, I have
been
unconventional
and put my main
image in the
opposite corner
and used an
image with an
indirect mode of
address
The cover line / kicker explaining in
short what the feature article is about
Blue line creates continuity, contributes
to the House style of the mise en scene
and lets the audience know that the
image on the second page is related to
the written content on the first
5. Both magazines have a
bold white masthead
Vibe has a three colour house style
in this particular issue, similar to that
of Vermin
Cover lines
Main cover line is
larger than the
other cover lines
Both magazines
represent rap and
hip hop, but Vibe
does it in a more
stereotypical way,
where as vermin
challenges these
conventions
Barcode
Both magazines have information that their
magazine represents above the masthead
Both magazines
use convergence
in their products.
Website links
next to the
barcode.
Both magazines use an artist with a
pose that represents no emotion, in
itself representing patience and depth
Vermin has a different layout for
cover lines compared to vibe
Both magazines use
different ethnicities to
appeal to different target
audiences
6. Logo / brand in the top
left corner of the
contents page.
Both magazines have a
similar layout with a
bolder text and style for
the features and then
smaller text underneath
giving detail of the
article.
Both magazines have
an iconic house style,
Vermin is much more
colourful and Vibe
looks much more
serious and grimy in
this example
Vermin extends its
convergence to its
website onto the
contents page,
however vibe does not
do this.
Vermin has more than just the
single image on the contents page
Both vibe and vermin have an artist
in a pose on the right hand side of
the rule of thirds in the background
of the contents page.
Both Vibe and Vermin use artists
with fashionable clothing to appeal
to a younger target audience
Vermin has labelled the artist in
the background on the contents
page where as vibe has not
Vermin has taken up much
more ‘white space’
compared to vibe
7. Vermin has its cover
lines featured down the
left hand side of the
magazine with the
artists on the right.
NME however has
what appears to be one
cover line in the top
right, along with artists
and then one main
cover line in a
superimposition over
the background main
front cover image.
Both Vibe and vermin have bold white mastheads.
However, NME’s is in the top left quadrant of the rule
of thirds and is not centrally set
NME has a very simplistic layout with a varied
house style. Vermin is much more packed with
information and has an iconic house style
Barcodes
Main cover line
Website links for
convergence
NME uses a main front cover image which
is stereotypical and conforms to music
magazines due to the direct mode of
address
NME has more than
one image on its front
cover
Vermin has a larger and easier to
read issue date and price of purchase
8. NME uses 4 different colours in its contents
page where as vermin has stuck to three
colours as its house style throughout
NME has a house style
similar to the
representation of a
newspaper where as
vermin is more
intertextual to vibe with
its simplicity, house
style and layout.
Vermin has a more in
depth summary of each
feature. However, NME
has a more detailed
description for its main
feature article, where
as Vermin has used a
different style to
highlight which its
feature article is.
Both contain
subscription
advertisements for the
magazine brand
Vermin does not have a band index as it
is a different genre of music magazine
and focuses on rap and hip hop, of which
the artists were featured on the main front
cover
Vermin has a much more subtle
subscription advert and links it to
convergence with the website, where as
NME can be done directly.
Both vermin and NME have used more
than just one image on their contents
pages
NME is more ‘words
than images’
9. During the planning of my rap magazine I wanted it to appeal to my target audience
but I also wanted it to be unique and have a particular ideology that would create a
unique selling point. I feel I have been able to do this through it’s representation of a
more upper class / exclusive product and through other attractive features like its
modern layout, appealing House Style and journalistic written content. However, I did
use intertextuality to create my finished product.
Intertextuality is when a brand or company ‘copies’ another brand but makes it
different. This can be subtle or blatant depending on how they want the audience to
perceive and react to it. In my case, I have used the vibe contents page as inspiration
for my own and therefore my magazine is intertextual to vibe. This is because I liked
the modern, sleek and simplicity of the Vibe contents page, this inspired me to make
my contents page have a single image of one of the featured artists in the background
and then the features in the foreground to the left of the image. However, I have made
mine very different through my continuous House Style which is much more noticeable
than that of vibe’s. I have also included a much larger logo than vibe’s subtle logo in
the top left of their contents page. In my magazine I have also added an overlay image
of my feature article with a blue connection to the text. This is to attract the audience’s
eyes to the feature article which was also the main cover line on the front cover page.
At the bottom of my contents page I also added a website link and a competition
online. This is to create convergence within my magazine, we live in modern times and
technology is as much of everyday life as using paper. Therefore I decided to include
as much convergence as possible throughout my magazine, due to me trying to
appeal to a younger generation of target audience that would also be heavily
influenced by technology. Overall I feel that my product will do well to gratify the target
audience despite being intertextual to vibe because it will create familiarity within the
audience and if they enjoyed Vibe’s simple yet modern layout then they are equally as
likely to enjoy my design. This is why I have been intertextual, to gratify my potential
target audience.
