2. Recurring theme of mimicry. Metal Hammer logo usually mimics the theme of the cover or
mimics the band logo. (with slayer and the bleeding logo, dimmu borgir and the red logo.
The cover photo seems to follow a theatrical mise-on-scene rather than focusing on the music.
e.g. Slayers band members rotting.
Dimmu Borgir looking aggressive with storm looming behind them.
Again, the same with Airborne focus is on the band with a theatrical backdrop.
Wide variety of camera shots. A close up and the long shots.
Further research supports this across other rock/metal magazines too.
3. Conventions of the cover page.
• As mentioned before it seems the
most recurring convention of this
subgenre is to have a theatrical or
special edition cover focusing on a
single band with little or no pull
quotes obscuring the main image. The
use of props is also something that
repeats itself. For example the Amon
Amarth cover and the sword and
longboat, these both represent the
band’s ideology as they play Viking
Metal and base their song on Norse
mythology. In most of the images
there also seems to be a constant
direct mode of address in which the
focus of the picture keeps eye contact
with the reader.
4. Cover Colour Schemes.
• The covers don't seem to follow a specific
colour scheme as such, this could be because
they are for the most part dominated by just
an image. I think the only colours that seem to
repeat or stand out appear to be black and/or
red. Two colours that would probably be
associated with this genre because of its
“dark” style.
5. Examples of existing contents pages from my subgenre.
• All of metal hammers
contents pages have the
exact same or similar
layouts. Following strict
conventions of their own.
The same can e said for
Kerrang, although theirs
has a more messy layout it
does seem to stick to the
same blueprint for almost
every issue.
6. Examples of existing double page spreads from my subgenre.
• A convention of the double page spread seems to
involve the photo, in both examples here and in
many others I've researched the photo seems to
overlap onto both pages. Only a select few have
chosen to keep the image and the writing separate
from one another. These tend to be special edition
issues however. Another convention is to do with the
mode of address or language, they both seem to
choose informal language on the double page yet in
the contents prefer more formal language. This does
however depend on the topic of the writing as it
would be inappropriate to talk about a persons
struggle through something difficult in a casual or
relaxed manner.
• The use of props is also a repeating convention
within this subgenre, the props however, are never
really associated with the writing and are usually just
used for fun.
• In most of the example magazines i have studied, the
writing/pull quotes never seems to intrude on the
image allowing the focus to be on that but also
allows the reader to learn more about it if they wish.
7. How I conformed to these conventions.
• I mostly only conformed to the colour
scheme on my cover page. By
following the traditional red and black
and relatively ‘gothic’ fonts it allows
an almost instant recognition as a
magazine from a metal-esque genre. I
also followed the convention of the
“FREE” item, this seems to be a
popular choice with magazines like
“Metal Hammer” mainly, I assume,
because it would give your magazine a
hard to beat USP that few other
magazines could compete with. I also
decided to put a barcode, pricing and
issue number on the cover as it is one
of the most obvious conventions held
by not only my subgenre but all
magazines.
8. How I conformed to these conventions.
• Its quite obvious which contents
page I drew the most inspiration
from, this meant that I stuck
quite closely to the conventions
that they use for it. For example
the separation of page listings
and writing on both sides of the
page. I also decided to put a
picture of the “editor” at the
bottom as this was also a
convention used by “Metal
Hammer” the only magazine
within my actual subgenre.
9. How I conformed to these conventions.
• I conformed to conventions on my cover page through the use of pull
quotes on my image, a
convention used frequently in
most magazines. I also placed a
“website” in the lower left
hand corner, a convention also
used frequently. The props
used also represent the
stereotyped reader of this
magazine genre i.e. The large
leather jacket, the shirt and
the ring around the neck.
These are all items of clothing
popular within my demographic. The photo itself as well also conforms to
convention as like many other double page spreads is a medium long shot.
10. How i broke conventions.
• I broke quite a few conventions on
my cover. For example unlike
other magazines my image is not
the focus of the page and it is
neither theatrical nor prop based.
Rather than doing this I decided a
more is less approach looked
better as I lacked the skills both
photographically and through
editing to successfully pull of a
cover of the same calibre, so
rather than have a poor looking
dramatic cover I decided to go for
a better looking, less dramatic
one.
11. How i broke conventions.
• I didn’t break many
conventions with my
contents page as
they don’t seem to
follow as strict a
guideline as the
cover or double page
spread.
12. How i broke conventions.
• With my double
page spread I
decided to keep
the pages
separate. I did
this because of
the amount of
text used on the right hand side of the spread. I felt if I
used a picture that covered both sides of the
magazine it would look intrusive and not as good as a
picture kept separate.
