This document discusses conventions for magazine design based on genre research. It provides guidance on elements like the masthead, cover lines, contents page, focal image, and double page spread. Key points covered include using a memorable masthead in red, multiple cover lines to showcase content, and pulling important text to specific areas of spreads. Gender, age, race and institutional representations within the indie music genre are also examined.

1. Conventions
Based on Form and Genre Research

2. Masthead
• This is conventional for every magazine, and is always positioned in the top horizontal third of the front cover.
• It should be short and memorable – I am thinking of using the title ‘RIFT’ as it adheres to this convention.
• It should not change in colour of style too much in different editions of the same magazine.
• It should be geared towards its target audience and genre, as it can be presented in a variety of fonts, colours, styles
– I shall be using a rustic font in order to fit in with the Indie/Rock genre.
• The colour of the masthead should contrast it’s background colour, and it should be large in order to stand out and
catch the reader’s eye.
• As I have a sophisticated target audience, my masthead will be simplistic but bold, like the pictures shown.
• The majority of mastheads of other magazines of this genre are RED, as this colour connotes energy, passion and
action – all of which relate to this genre. I shall most likely be sticking to this convention.

3. Cover Lines
• The cover lines on the front cover refer to something inside of the magazine – in my case the main cover line (the
Splash) will refer to the double page spread, and will refer to the main image.
• Other images on the front cover should be part of a cover line, and should have information on who or what the
picture is referring to and what information will be given in reference to this inside of the magazine.
• The colour of the text on the cover lines should contrast that of the background to make them easy reading for the
audience, and also stand out against the background image.
• I shall be using quite a few cover lines, as music magazines typically would in order to show that they are packed
with information and worth the money.
• My cover lines will include information on bands featured in the magazine, reviews, interviews and the double page
spread will be shown in the splash.
• Some magazines also feature a skyline, however I shall probably not be including one into my production.
• Magazines have ‘house styles’ which refer to the colour scheme, and the cover lines follow this style.

4. Contents Page
• Contents pages generally feature the masthead with a short title such as ‘Contents’ or ‘Inside this
week’. I shall be adhering to this convention and shall most likely be using the title ‘Contents.’
• Many contents pages also feature a letter from the editor to add a personal touch, however I shall not
be using this convention.
• Contents pages usually feature more text than images, which I shall be sticking to as the main
purpose of the contents page is to inform.
• Many contents pages use small rectangle images which feature medium shots of the artists
concerned or pictures of live performances, which I shall be using, and one big image.
• As my magazine will be aimed at a sophisticated audience, I shall use a simplistic colour scheme and
a structured layout, and it should follow the house style of the magazine.
• I shall use subheading for different articles with a short description of what it will entail, and a list of
bands featured within the magazine, and the page shall be split into sections.

5. Focal Image
• On all music magazines there is a main focal image on the front cover. On pop
magazines this image tends to be a medium shot or medium close-up shot,
however there is much more variety in shot type in magazines of the Indie/Rock
genre such as NME and Q.
• I will probably either be using a medium shot if I am using a picture of one artist,
and a long shot of a band because this is more inclusive.
• The artists in the band typically have direct eye contact with the camera, however
sometimes magazines of the Indie Genre may attempt to create a more
controversial image in which the artists are not looking towards the camera.
• In my magazine, the artists will be looking into the camera because it provides
intimacy between the artist and the reader.

6. Double Page Spread
• Double page spreads can feature interviews with artists and bands, album reviews, tour reviews, commentaries on
artists and more.
• The double page spread should refer to the celebrity featured in the focal image on the front cover of the magazine.
• It should include pull quotes, which I shall do, in order to break up the text, especially for a target audience of Fox
Thinkers.
• Some parts of the text, such as the beginnings of paragraphs or sections may be more bold or in a different colour,
called standfirsts, which is something which I shall use because this also makes it easier for Fox Thinkers who are
more likely to scan through to draw important information.,
• The outer parts of the left and right pages should feature the most important pieces of text and images, and the right
side should hold the most important parts, as this is the page which the reader initially sees as they flick through –
therefore I will most likely put the article on this page, and an eye-catching image on the left side.
• Any footnotes should be on the inside part of the d0uble page spread, as this is the part which the reader’s attention
is least drawn to.

7. Representations
• The artists love what they do, which is making music for themselves and for the fans.
• Some artists give the genre a bad stereotype for example Peter Doherty, singer for the Libertines, who has a history of drug
abuse.
• The majority of artists of this genre play live instruments which create the raw sound. A typical band might be made up of a
combination of lead vocals, lead guitarist, rhythm guitarist, bassists, drummer, and sometimes pianist. Stereotypically the
guitars are vintage from the 1960s such as Gibson Es and the Fendon Telecastor.
• The male artists often dress independently and differently form the norm, usually mixing a smart style with casual, for
example a smart jacket with jeans, or a plain tshirt with a leather jacket and smart shoes. It is similar to clothing worn by rock
artists, but often softer colours and less black.
• For females it is similar, a typically indie female style might be an oversized tshirt with skinny jeans, with perhaps a denim
jacket.
• Festivals are a key motif in the representation of the indie genre. Many festivals feature line-ups of indie artists such as
Leeds and Reading, T in the Park, Lattitude and Glastonbury. These are places where the sophisticated audience of these
music genres can join together and celebrate their love of music, usually intoxicated which is another representation, and
can be seen in the Arctic Monkeys at every Brit Awards show.

8. Representations of Gender
• Although the indie genre is male dominated, most of the artists adhere to Judith
Butler’s Gender Performance which states that gender is based on performance
rather than a particular sex which we are born into.
• She writes: Such acts, gestures, enactments, generally construed, are performative
in the sense that the essence or identity that they otherwise purport to express are
fabrications manufactured and sustained through corporeal signs and other
discursive means. That the gendered body is performative suggests that it has no
ontological status apart from the various acts which constitute its reality.
• This concept of gender performativity challenges the assumption of a ‘primary or
stable identity’, and is shown through the stereotype of many male artists of this
genre having long hair, and piercings, which are things more commonly associated
with females.

9. Representations of Age and Race
• The indie music scene was created in opposition to mainstream culture and music, and therefore challenges the mainstream
expectations, and in doing this challenges hegemonic ideologies.
• The majority of indie artists are in their 20s, and the music is targeted at the same age. It is a sophisticated genre as those who
choose to produce/listen to this music are making an active choice to sway away from what is expected of them to listen to,
hence challenging hegemonic ideology, and embodying the representation of not adhering to society’s expectations of them.
Furthermore having an intelligent, intellectual young audience challenges hegemonic ideas of wisdom of age.
• Interestingly, despite the fact that indie music is about challenging stereotypes and hegemony, it is a white dominated genre. This
is because the genre was coined by the white race, although it seems it could be said that this race can have not only their
genres, but also culturally appropriate genres coined by other races, for example rap and hip hop. The hard work of artists of
colour disappears as the white race take over and appropriate genres at the same time as keeping their own genres. This is also
shown through dress; for example wearing non-Hindus wearing bindis, or white people having dreadlocks due to not washing
their hair, which spreads the idea that coloured people are dirty, and spreads racism among this supposedly socially aware
genre.
• While the target audience may seem to be socially aware on matters which benefit them, for example feminism which benefits
white females, there is still a lot of racism present in this genre, although it is unfair to say that this applies to the whole audience.

10. Institutional Conventions
• Indie magazines often try to adopt a scrapbook style, which
connotes independence, which contradicts its conglomerate
ownership.
• Traditionally, Indie artists and magazines would have been owned
by independent institutions, but now indie has become more
mainstream due to the extinction of underground music thanks to
the progression of the internet, and so more are conglomerate
owned.