2. In order to dig deeper in to my research, I thought a front cover overview
would be a good idea. It will allow me to find out the symbiotic link between
front covers of a particular magazine, and also the codes and conventions they
use to address their audiences. I will be looking at 12 front covers from the
Billboard magazines, as it is similar to the magazine I intend on creating. It is
aimed at a female audience who have an interest in RnB/HipHop magazines.
The 12 front covers all feature general magazine front cover conventions. We
see expected and general layout conventions, such as a main image that
dominates the front cover, sell-lines that surround the main image and a
masthead in a conventional place and appropriate font.
Most of the magazines of Billboard feature a female artist, this clearly shows
who it is aimed at. Also, there is a constant appearance of solo artists. This
indicates that bands are rare in the industry of RnB and Hip Hop as most artists
sing solo. In terms of costumes of the artists, it is mainly a dress they wear. The
fact they all wear dresses allow them to look more beautiful and alluring too. It
also adds to femininity and continuity of the magazine. Despite the fact they all
wear dresses; one thing that is also apparent is that, each time, the dress
differs according to the individual star image of the artist in question.
Another feature that crops up again n again is the masthead. It is the same
font each week, however the colour varies. It is either white or black
depending on the colour scheme of the magazine. The circles on the letters ‘b’
‘o’ ‘a’ and ‘d’ are coloured in the same font each week; red, yellow, blue,
yellow. It is positioned in the same place as well. Most of the time the main
image covers the masthead, this makes it possible to only see a few of the
letters. As the magazine is well known, audiences are able to recognise the
magazine from the style and from part of the text displayed so it becomes
conventional for some of the letters to be hid and maintains brand identity.
The main sell-lines of Billboard are always the names of the artists. It is placed
at the bottom most of the time. They are in a place where eyes can be lead to
first, and after seeing the main image, audiences would like to know who the
artists is if they don’t already. This has also become the magazines convention
as it occurs in all of the 12 magazines above. The sell-lines of the magazine
focus on the success of the artists and other features related to music, rather
3. than gossip about them. This displays the target audience of the magazine as
an older audience would not really like to read about gossip. They would want
to read something inspiring.
All 12 magazine covers also have a plain background. This makes the audience
concentrate on the main image and easily be able to read the sell-lines on it
without struggling. This has also become the magazines brand identity. For
example, if Billboard where to have a main image with a city background, it
would not share a symbiotic link between the other issues of its magazines.
The pose of the artists are similar and match the personality of the artist. In all
12 front covers, the artists are directly looking at the camera. This makes them
look more confident and powerful. As well as the pose, the models are also the
similar age, roughly mid 20’s to mid 30’s. They also have similar levels of
success, most of them are in relationships, similar styles of music (hip
hop/soul/R&B) and most of all, and they are the sort of people that audiences
look up to as role models. The camera shots in most issues tend to be medium
close-up or medium long shots. These shots could be used the most to allow
the reader to see the hour glass figure of most of the artists, or simply see their
beauty.
In conclusion, it is common for a magazine to continue its brand identity and
follow their conventions in each issue.
