Magazine Conventions.(front cover, contents pages and articals)

All magazines follow the same conventions/rules:

Front Cover

1. Style and content of the magazine must fit the target audience and both style and content must link.

2. The header (name) of the magazine must link in too.

3. The 'house style' must appeal to the audience including a colour scheme and a font. Although a 'house style' is not essencial many magazines use it becuase it becomes familiar to the reader.(this refers to article and contents page too.)

4. The main picture must be striking and interest your target audience. In music magazines the main picture is a big star looking strieght into the camera (direct mde of adderess), this catches the buyers eye. (This mode of address can also be used in articals and other writing in the magazine-usually in a friendly informal way, making the reader feel involoved and catered for. Indirect address can and has been used but is not as effective. The only way I would use indircet address would be if it wasn't a big star (in my case a girl with headphones on dancing) or on my contents page and have the star doing something.

5. STARS SELL. the main thing that sells the magazine is a big star or famous musician.

6.The front cover is the main advertisment, it must be:

-Bright

-Eye catching

-Interesting

-Reflect the magazine (such as colours and fonts to establish the style).

It must have:

-Title/Header (The name of the magazine usually situated at the top of the page, in this case 'Rolling Stones')
-Slogan (Usually witty and placed under the header)
-One main star/model photographed (close up or medium shot usually, this should be the most dominat thing on the magazine)

-The Leading Caption (this should 'anchor' your main article, in this case 'The new KISS' face Paul McCartney')
-Subheadings(a taster of the smaller articles in the mag, such as 'Ozzy Yesterday, today and tomorrow') -Straplines(placed at the top and bottom o

f the mag usually advertising the artiles that are in every week, I've found they usually advertise things such as horoscopes and posters)
-Date and barcode and a web address is becoming increasngly popular ( situated at the left had bottom of the page).

Contents Page

-On a contents page you must have more image than words, maybe another image of the person on a front cover. You also have smaller picture relating to different stories usually near the writing saying what page the story is on(or even have the number on the picture) allowing 'grazing'. (eg. Q review)

-The contents page should be bright and colourfull, for example this has red headings.

-You must stick to your 'housestyle'. for example this magazine is black red and gold which connotes it is a rock magazine.

-The list of pages must be in a legable size font and logical order to make it easier to consume.

-The title of the magazine should (even if small)be on every page.

-There should be a list of contents, usually under sections sush as features and every month, as seen here with 'features' and 'every month'.

Artical

-Aricals have many small pictures around to illutrate what they are talking about and one main picture.

-There must be a headline and subheading (GEISHA, Geisha 1985).

-The artists are usually selling something or prmoting themselves.

-The writing should be legable and easy to follow and directed to the reader. In this magazine thay have put certain things under sub-subheadings.

-To give people tasters of what is in the artical they text grab interesting quotes...they are usually controversial, funny or rude (i.e. The only time Peter was interested in ant experimentation...).