KEY CONVENTIONS ANALYSIS OF XXL MAGAZINE

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.