Conventions and comparisons

Pop magazines

Conventions of a pop magazine- cover

-The masthead should always stand out and be the first thing on the cover page that catches peoples eyes.

For example this masthead on a top of the pops magazine stands out because it is on a white background, I is bigger than any other text and its glittery.

-There should be a cover line on the front cover that has a link to the main image on the cover. This cover line should be the biggest cover line on the cover to show that it is the most important.

For example this cover line is about Jessie J who features on as the main image on the cover, this will attract the audience as fans of Jessie J will be drawn to the magazine. This cover line should also be in fonts that are bright and eye-catching.

-There should be a main image of a band or artist that will appeal to the target audience, a conventional pop star will be between 17-25 years old, feminine and should wear typically fashionable clothing.

This magazine has a main image of pop star Jessie J, this will attract the target audience as she is a huge pop star therefore this will be appealing to them. It is conventional for this image to take up most of the cover as it is the main image.

-The colour scheme of a magazine should be clear purely by the front cover. Conventional colours for a pop magazine would be feminine colours such as pinks, purples, blues and yellows.

When making the front cover it the target audience should be thought about, this is show it clearly shows who the target audience is from the cover. This top of the pops magazine is clearly aimed mainly at teenage girls as they have used a pink and purple colour scheme which are the typical colours a girl of this age would like.

-One convention of the contents page in a pop magazine is that they usually copy and image of the cover page on to the contents, this is so there can be arrows pointed to the cove lines clearly displaying what pages these cover line articles will be found on.

This is conventional because it is cluttered and they layout of a pop magazine should be cluttered.

-Another convention is page numbers, this is because the whole intention of a contents page is to inform people which page each article is on.

These number will normally follow the colour scheme and the aim of this is to make it easy for the readers to find articles and certain pages they are looking for which means these number will have to be clearly but conventionally displayed.

Conventions of a pop magazine-contents page

- A content page should contain sub headings next the numbers.

This is to make it easier for the reader to navigate through the magazine and to give a clear idea at the article or story on each page.

-The colour scheme of the magazine is usually clear, but this is not vital so may not always be this way.

The colour scheme of a pop magazine will be pinks, purples, blues or yellows. The colour scheme of this magazine is clearly shown through the contents page and it shows the colour scheme is mainly purples.

-There will be certain conventional langue used in a pop magazine.

These are shortened words for example ‘favourite’ will be shortened to ‘fave’ as this is appealing to the target audience.

-Important text on the contents page should be bold so it is eye-catching.

This makes it clear to the readers what is important and helps them navigate through the magazine easier. For example it is clearly shown here that the artist and band names are in a bold font as they are the most important part of the magazine as the particular articles are about them

Conventions of a pop magazine- double page spread

- A double page spread should include a main image of a well-known artist or band.

This artist or band will be the main focus of the text on the double page spread. This is conventional because it appeals to the target audience as this artist or band will be idolised by the target audience.

- A double page spread should conventionally have a title that is bold and stands out, this is to make it appealing and eye-catching to the readers.

This title should make it extremely clear to the reader what and who the article is about so they know what they are going to read about.

- A conventional double page spread in a pop magazine would be and interview type conversation, so should be set out in the text as question and answer.

It should clearly show the difference between question and answer, this will be shown through a different colour between questions and answers. The text may also have a different font for the questions and answers or using italics for the questions or using bold for the questions. This magazine have used a different colour for the questions than they have the answers and they have also labelled who is answering the question as they are interviewing a band.

-Another convention of a double page spread in a pop magazine is a pull quote.

A pull quote will have to be eye-catching it will be a quote that the pop star they are interviewing has said. This pull quote is supposed to be intriguing therefore the quote must be interesting to appeal to the readers, a good way to make this interesting is by quoting something that will shock the readers so they want to read more about it. A pull quote will need to be eye-catching therefore it will have to be bold and colourful and will have to follow the colour scheme used on the double page spread.

Conventions of my magazine- cover

-A masthead is conventional on the cover and should be appealing to the target audience.

My masthead is conventional because it is pink which will attract the target audience. Another way it is conventional is because it is bold, the mast head needs to be bold as it must be eye-catching. The masthead must stand out and I have achieved this through the font, colour and size.

-A cover line which informs the readers about the article on the pop-star used as the main image on the cover is conventional.

This cover line must be the biggest cover line to make it clear that it is linked to the main image used. I have made this cover line conventional by making it bigger than the other cover lines and using a font and colour that will appeal to the target audience. Another way this will appeal to the target audience is because it stands out, it stands out because the background colour enhances the text colour.

-There must be a main image on the front cover and this image needs to be appealing to the target audience, so needs to be an image or a artist or band which they will idolise.

This image I have used is conventional as pop-stars will usually be young between the ages of 17-25 and they will be feminine and wearing typically fashionable clothing. The main image should be an image of someone who inspires the target audience and this is someone they would look up to.

-The colour scheme should be clear to the readers by the front cover of the magazine, this is because it indicates who the magazine is aimed at.

The colour scheme of a pop magazine must appeal to female between 10-15, this means it is conventional to use colours such as pinks, purples, yellows and blues as these are all stereo-typically associated with young females and these colours all signify happiness.My front cover colour scheme is easy to tell, I have used pinks and purples which makes it clear that my magazine is aimed at young females as these colours appeal mainly to them.

Conventions of my magazine- contents

-Using an image of the cover page on the contents page is conventional as makes the contents page more visual which is appealing to the target audience.

The point of this is so it can be clearly labelled and easy to follow where to find each cover line in the magazine.This is conventional as it has a cluttered effect.

-Number are needed on a contents page to inform people which page to find each article on.

The numbers I have used are conventional as they are bold, therefore eye-catching and they are pink which is conventional for a pop magazine. This pink is also conventional as it is conventional for the colour of the numbers to follow the colour scheme, as my colour scheme is pink and purple these numbers do follow the colour scheme.

-The colour scheme of the magazine will usually be obvious on the contents.

The main colour used on my contents page is purple, and pink is included. On my cover the main colour used is also purple, and it includes pink. This shows how my contents follows the colour scheme of the magazine, this is conventional as all these colours are conventional for a pop magazine.

-Sub headings next to the numbers are conventional.

I have made them conventional in my magazine by using the colours pink and black and by using different fonts and sizes, this is to show the most important parts of text. For example making artist and bands names a different colour, font and size will be more eye-catching than the other text, this is purposefully done as the target audience will be more intrigued to read the article if they see an artist or bands name.

-Using shortened words in pop magazines is conventional as the target audience can relate to it.

This type of language appeals to the target audience as it is the langue they use in their everyday lives. Also using shortened words shows them the magazine is fun and having fun is something the target audience enjoy.

Conventions of my magazine- double page spread

-One convention of my double page spread is the main image.

My image is conventional as the image is taking up a third of the page to clearly show the article is about this particular pop-star. This image is eye-catching due to the size, this is conventional as it will appeal to the readers as they will idolise this pop-star.

-The title of the double page spread is conventional and it must be attractive and appealing to the target audience.

One way this is convention is because of the colour, I have used purple which is a feminine colour so will appeal to the target audience. It is also conventional as the name of the artist is in a different, bigger and bolder font. This shows the more important part of the title and is also eye-catching. -A convention of a pop magazine

double page spread is for it to be set out in a question and answer format, this is how I have set out the text in my double page spread. The text font for the questions should be completely different to the text font for the answers. I have followed this convention as the questions are purple and italic and the answers are black and not italic. The purple text is conventional as it will appeal to the target audience and the black text is conventional as it shows the importance of the answers as the are more important than the questions as the pop-star is answering and this is who the readers are interested in.

-Another convention of my double page spread is the pull quote.

This pull quote is conventional as the background and text are purple, this follows the colour scheme and is also appealing to the target audience. Another way this pull quote is conventional is

because it stands out, it stands out because the font is bold and because the text stands out because of the colour of the text and the background.

Comparison- cover page

It is conventional to have a masthead which is appealing to the audience and also eye-catching as it has to stand out the most on the cover.Both of these mastheads are conventional, they are both bold and appealing to the target audience.They are both pink which is a typical colour of what the target audience like therefore making the colour conventional. Both of these mastheads follow the route of the eye as they are both places at the top of the cover page which is also conventional.

It is conventional to have a main cover line. This main cover line should be the biggest cover line on the cover, this is to make it eye-catching and appealing. This is also to make it clear which cover line is about the artist or band used on the cover for the main image.Both of these cover lines are conventional as they are both eye-catching in there own way, the top of the pops is appealing because of the range of colours used and pop it cover line is appealing because the background is bright and the text stands out on this colour. A difference is where this cover line is place, the top of the pops cover line is place over the centre of the main image and the pop it magazine is places on the left hand side with all of the other cover lines but on a larger scale.

Comparison- cover page

There should always be a main image on the front cover, this image should be conventional. These images are similar as they both take up the majority of the page as the main image should always be the one of the main attractions to the cover. Another way the image is similar is because the images are both of young females who are very feminine, therefore typical pop-stars.A difference is that the top of the pops image is darker than my image, but the top of the pops have used a light background and I’ve used a dark background so both of the images still stand out just as much.

The colour scheme should be clearly shown by the cover of a pop magazine. A similarity of these two colour schemes is that they are both pinks and purples, these colours have been used as it is extremely likely that the target audience will be attracted to these colours as they are the colours the target audience stereo-typically like. It is very common for these colours to be used as they will be eye-catching to the target audience and will then intrigue them to the magazine. A slight difference is that I have used lighter pinks and purples and top of the pops have used darker pinks and purples, this is due to the background colours. My background colour is dark so lighter colours will stand out more, however on top of the pops magazine cover they have used a light background therefore the darker pinks and purples will stand out more.

Comparison- contents page

Using an image of the cover page on the contents page is good as it is visual and helps as it is easier to navigate through the magazine. These images are similar because of the numbers, all of the numbers are places in circles and point clearly to the cover line showing clearly which page to find each article on. However a difference between these is the colour of the circles, top of the pops have used black coloured circles as it show the importance of the numbers and I have used purple circles as purple follows the colour scheme.

Numbers are needed on a contents page as the whole idea of a contents page is to tell the readers which page each article is on.These numbers are similar as they both follow the colour scheme of the magazines as the colour schemes were both pinks and purples. Another similarity is they are both bold, this makes them eye-catching which is important as it will show the main importance of the contents page. A difference is the top of the tops magazine have done their numbers to give off more of a cluttered effect which is conventional for a pop magazine. Where as mine are neat which is less appealing to the target audience.

It’s conventional for the contents page to follow the colour scheme shown on the front cover but however it is not always done. These two magazines have both shown the colour scheme on the contents page.A similarity is that both colour schemes are pinks and purples and another similarity is that the colours are generally used fort the same things of the contents page.A difference is on the top of the pops magazine a range of different shades of purples are used to give effect whereas on my magazine the same purple has been used throughout.

Comparison- contents page

Sub headings should be included next to the page numbers to show which articles are where.A similarity of these two contents sub headings is that on both all artist and band names have been made different to the rest of your text by being made more eye-catching. A difference is however I have used a different colour for my sub-headings which is pink as it follows the colour scheme, but top of the pops have just made their black text bolder to show the importance of the text made bolder.

It is conventional for pop magazines to use shortened words. A similarity of this is that they have both used abbreviations of words, this is done as it appeals to the target audience as they use these types of words in their everyday lives.

Comparison- double page spread

Double page spreads will have to have a main image of the pop-star or band the article is about.These two images are similar as the are both placed on the right hand side of the text that is about them. On both images the males are standing in casual positions as this is appealing to the target audience. Both males and typically fashionable and young as this is what the target audience find attractive and look up to as role models. A difference between these two images is the top of the pops image is just of half of a body where as my image is of the whole body.

Every double page spread in a pop magazine should have a title that stands out and is bold. A similarity between these two titles is that both magazines have made the name of the pop star that the article is about in a different font or colour. This is because they want to make the name of the pop star more eye-catching so it is appealing an intriguing. A difference between these two titles is the background colour, but this just depends on the background colour of the whole double page spread, the colour which stands out more for the particular pages have been used on both magazines.

Comparison- double page spread

The text on double page spreads is usually in formed in a question then answer format. A similarity between these two is that the question have been put in a different coloured text, this helps to clearly show the difference between questions and answers.Another similarity is that the answers are in a black coloured text, this is done purposefully as the readers are more interested in what the answers are as these will be their idols answering. Therefore making the text black shows its importance.

Pull quotes are conventional in a double page spread as they are eye-catching. A similarity between these pull quotes is that they both stand out which is intentionally done as these quotes are supposed to draw readers in and make them want to read more information around the quote.Another similarity of these pull quotes is that they both follow the colour scheme of their magazines. A difference is my pull quote is placed in the middle of the text and the top of the pops pull quote is placed on top of the image on the left hand side. Both of these places to put a pull quote are conventional.