The document provides an overview of the contents pages from "XXL" and "Vibe" magazines. It identifies typical features like the main artist filling the frame on the cover, articles categorized on the side of the page, and the magazine name in a large font at the top. Both magazines use conventions of the hip-hop/rap genre to portray artists, including casual or designer clothing, accessories, and intimidating facial expressions. Formatting elements like fonts, colors, and camera angles are also consistent within and across the magazines to create a recognizable brand for readers of the genre.

1. Overview of Contents Pages
The front covers presented are from ‘XXL’ magazine and ‘Vibe’ magazine and both use general Hip-
Hop/Rap conventions and layout conventions to attract the fans of the genre. Through comparison
we can identify the typical features presented in these contents pages.
All contents pages feature typical conventions of contents pages. These include the main artist who
featured on the front cover filling the frame to attract the reader, different articles featured in the
magazine broken up into categories and positioned next to the main artist on the left or the right
side of the page and the name of the page at the top of the page in a large bold font the is or similar
to the font used on the front cover. The name of the magazine is placed either the top or bottom
left or right.
The conventional look of the artists is portrayed within this page with the typical mise-en-scene
elements. All artists have an angry and snarly facial expression while standing in a way to make
them look relaxed. The relaxed look is especially used in B.O.B’s contents page, who is kneeling
down while giving direct address, which is what all artists in the genre do. The costumes used are
also typical of the Hip-Hop/Rap genre with artists wearing the two types of clothing regularly
featured within the genre. The artists in ‘XXL’ wear casual looking clothes with hoodies, tracksuit
bottoms and trainers while the artists in ‘Vibe’ wear designer brands to make themselves look rich

2. and successful. The three main pieces of clothing that is regularly used in the Hip-Hop/Rap genre are
the Snapback, sunglasses and expensive jewellery. All three appear in the contents pages and this is
to attract the fans of Hip-Hop/Rap.
The main artists are all male. Males dominate the Hip-Hop/Rap genre and they are portrayed as
powerful, strong and successful. Females are under represented in the genre and are normally
portrayed as sex objects. This gender stereotype is one main reason why male artists usually
feature. The artists do not smile which makes them seem aloof, intimidating and cool but they make
direst address as a statement of confidence. The gender representation suits and reflects the male
readership.
The fonts used in the contents pages are used throughout the rest of the magazine including the
front cover and double page spreads. The name of the page “Contents” or “the A-side” is the same
font as used in the front cover. This is to create brand identity for the magazine so readers can
easily identify what magazine they are reading. It is also in a large bold font to make it very eye-
catching and because it is placed at the top of the page the name of the page will be the first thing
that the reader will look at when turning to this page.
The colours used are typically used in the genre with the use of black, red and white. There are
some exceptions where both Usher and B.O.B are wearing blue items of clothing. There is usually a
white background with black text, but this can change as seen by Usher’s ‘Vibe’ contents page. The
colour red is used to give some variety of colour to the page and to make things in the colour or
nearby the colour stand out on the page to attract the reader’s attention.
The camera angles used are typical of Hip-Hop/Rap magazine contents pages. These angles include
medium/close up shots, medium shots and even long shots as shown by B.O.B’s contents page in
‘Vibe’ magazine. These shots are used to make sure that the artist fills the frame and to attract the
reader to the page.
Having carried out this overview, it is very clear that both ‘XXL’ and ‘Vibe’ have their own brand
identity through the use of costume, font and colours to create a certain look that is easily
recognisable to readers and fans of the genre. This is maintained through the use of repeated
general and layout conventions and this helps the magazines sell and grow as a company.