SUMMARY OF RESEARCH – TASK SIX

Karen Maryan

Conventions of FormThrough my research, I have found that every magazine has a masthead, and the masthead and cover-story have the largest fonts and the masthead always has a font of it’s own, while the coverlines have smaller fonts and the font styles are normally the same or similar.

Through my research I also found out that the barcode is always in the terminal area.

Usually you have one main image, which the cover story is related to, and then you have other smaller images around the edge of the main image, which uses the rule of thirds. They normally use a mid shot to close up for one artist, and for bands they use a medium wide shot so the whole band is included.

Front page conventions:• Masthead• Coverstory• Coverline• Main image• Smaller images• Use of route of the eye• Use of rule of thirds

Conventions of Form Through my research, I have found that every magazine has columns that list the contents of the page.

Every magazine has a header saying contents page, and also has a main image relating to the main story on the page

It has an ordered layout and it’s broken down into different sections using contents columns and numbers of pages which show you which things are on what pages.

Contents page conventions:• Contents column• Main image relating to

main story• Page numbers • Editors letter • Subscription offer

In every magazine, you always have an editors letter and some sort of advertisement in the terminal area.

Conventions of FormThrough my research I have found out that every double page spread has a pull quote, kicker, main image, main article, byline and a caption. The kicker is normally much larger than the rest of the article, and is sometimes in a different colour and font style.

The pull-quote is normally very big and bold and is placed across the page to give us a taster and a little bit of an insight about what the article is about, and whether or not the article is worth reading.

The image is normally very big and takes up at least one page worth of the double page spread. It always relates to the article on the opposite page and is always an image of the band/artist that is featured in the article.

Double page spread conventions:• Kicker• Main image and article• Byline• Caption• Pull-quote

The caption is normally small, so it doesn’t take up much space and isn’t any kind of distraction.

Conventions of GenreThrough my research with the rock genre I have learnt that the masthead is always the largest font and always the boldest. I have also learnt that it’s always at the top and is always sans serif to make it more masculine and aim more at a male audience.

The rock genre always uses dark colours such as black, red, blue, etc. It almost always uses a dingy yellow colour because this helps the genre appear more unsettling and dangerous.

It always uses one main image on the front page of the band or artist, and it’s always related to the cover story. They also always use language which makes the genre seem dangerous, violent, dark and rebellious. For example it says above the cover story “This time it’s personal!” making the band in the main image appear as violent and dangerous.

They also always use a sans serif font across most of the page. This helps the magazine to relate to their target audience and to make the magazine appear more masculine and not feminine.

Also with the layout, the genre is always consistent with using the rule of thirds and the route of the eye.It also always uses the left third when placing their coverlines and always makes good use of their primary and terminal areas.

Conventions of GenreThrough my research with the rock genre I have found that on the contents page they always have one main image of the band with a little article or coverstory on top of the image relating to the band/artist in the image.

It always has the word “Contents” at the top of the page to signify that it is the contents page, and it’s also always one of the largest font sizes, and is always the same font style as the masthead on the first page, which creates a house style throughout the magazine. It then has the sub-headings of what things you’ll find inside the magazine and then a more detailed description underneath of what you’ll find and what page to find it on.It also has the issue number and cover date next to the contents area.

It always makes good use of the primary optical area and terminal area. It usually places the editors letter and a subscription advert in the terminal area, and places the main “Contents” and the issue number and cover date in the primary optical area.

The colours they use are normally quite bold and contrast well against each other, so reds, blacks, yellows, whites, etc. They also use ones that will help represent the genre well, so again blacks and reds.

They use quite normal language and don’t say anything too absurd. They often also place some kind of competition relating to the band/artist in the main image, and so would use a language like “Win!” to catch your attention.

Conventions of GenreThrough my research with the rock genre I have found that with a double page spread they always have a main image taking up a big part of the double page spread, sometimes one whole page, of the main artist/band that is being talked about in the article. They always use a kicker with the article and they always state who the artist/band is by placing their name somewhere near the top.

They always use a pull-quote, which is always quite an important feature of the article, so that we become interested and want to read more in-depth and learn why they said or did what they did. The kicker is always a larger font compared to the article, which is normally a different colour and font style.They almost always use dark colours on the page, with other colours that go well or contrast well with the page.

They also always have a caption underneath the main image talking about who the artist/band in the image is and other information.They also normally have the name of the person who conducted the interview and they normally place this in either the primary optical area or the terminal area.

Mode of AddressOverall, I have learned that the rock genre want to come across to their audience as dark, violent, mysterious, aggressive, etc.I have learned this through their use of images and shot types, font styles, colours, layout, language and mise-en-scene.

The rock genres main target audience are mainly males but can be females too, the age range is about 16-25 year olds, so teenagers and young adults, they’re normally quite a mysterious and aggressive social group, and their ethnic group is normally white because of the artists ethnic group. Since the audience for rock are quite young, they haven’t matured yet and so can still be rude and reckless, so the rock genre uses quite informal language and uses slang phrases so the audience can relate to the genre. It also uses mainly a sans serif font style, so it’s aimed more at the masculine audience, but occasionally uses serif to have a more feminine feel and so it’s not leaving out it’s female audience.