I have brought three existing magazines which I will analysis which will improve my knowledge about the conventions and styles of country/western magazines.
Maverick
An issue of this country music magazine is released each month; I have the November 2009 issue. It has 97 pages, and is 29.5cm high 21cm wide. I brought it from WH Smiths for £3.50. It contains information about singers, and some tour dates, CD reviews, country music charts, letters from readers, articles on artists and much more. The target audience for this magazine who be 14+, people who are into country music, musicians and people who are interested in a certain article in the magazine
The magazine uses quite contrasting colours on the front page; half of the page looks black, and then the other half looks orange, these two colours amplify each other. The candles and the orange have a link, as the orange is directly above the candle it suggests that orange is the flame burning. White, and the same font is used, to keep the page simple, and red writing is used twice on the ‘M’ on the ‘plus.’ There is a bold, attractive masthead. The page is kept quite simple, with only one picture and not too much writing, this would attract the reader more and it’s easier to understand what the magazine is about quickly. All the writing also seems to either be at the top or bottom on the page, keeping the main part about the feature article. The feature article photo is a posed long-shot, as you can see the whole of her body. The singer has her head slightly turned to the right, which is a convention of a magazine to encourage the reader to open the magazine. The mode of address is friendly, as her face is soft, and the image looks calming. Although her face is a soft pose, it is also serious the connotation of this is that she wants her and her music to be taken seriously but also enjoyed. The puff line ‘the voice of country, folk, bluegrass and roots music.’ The word ‘voice’ could be ambiguous, relating to the singers, and actual music or be about the text of the magazine. This puff line is in quite small writing, so the reader isn’t drawn straight towards it. It relates to the magazine, and helps express what style of music the magazine is about. Like ‘Country music people’ there is also a shadow in this picture of the singer.
The contents page is in black and white, which could relate to western times and western music. The main fonts are the same as the front cover, but there is more variation in font styles on this page. The masthead ‘contents’ is bold, and the letters are spaced apart. The layout of the page is very simple, but effective. There are five square pictures down each side of the page, all one or two shot close ups. Not many of the faces in the pictures are actually looking directly at the picture, making them seem more natural and friendly. Some of the pictures have natural background. The writing is all in the middle of the ten pictures, the font is quite small, bold and italic is used. The page numbers and the rest of the writing are split up using a vertical line. At the bottom of the page very bold writing is used, ‘MAVERICK’ and above it small writing is used ‘ISSUE NUMBER EIGHTY EIGHT NOVEMBER 2009’ repeating some details about the magazine that was on the front cover.
Throughout the magazine there are lots of double page spreads. The one I have chosen to analyse is a double page spread about female country singer it’s about her life, her achievements and the history of her career. The first page is half picture and half writing. The top part is a mid-shot, of the singer. She has a serious but friendly face, the background is a gradually fading one, on the left it starts white then it get darker until on the right it’s nearly black. There is italic writing on the picture, telling the reader her name, and her main achievement ‘to say I have 33 albums in 33 year is amazing…’ The article is written in columns, which gives it a more formal feel. The font is either similar to the main font used on the contents page, or some of the important quotes are in italics. Chatty, colloquial friendly but informative language is used in the article. The first letter of the article ‘R’ is in bold, this is a convention used often in magazines.
The second page of the article is mainly text, and has one small picture of the singer which is a mid-shot but not as close as the picture on the first page. The picture looks like very similar to the picture on the first page, she is wearing the same colour, her hair is the same and she is wearing the same clothes it’s just the pose that is different. The picture is at the top left hand corner of the page, the picture being there separates the text, not making it look like there is so much to read. The font is exactly the same as the first page. The main quote is in italics and in a purple text box right in the middle of the page. This livens up the page, adding colour. The article ends with the name of the author is at the bottom on the article in bold.
The contents page is in black and white, which could relate to western times and western music. The main fonts are the same as the front cover, but there is more variation in font styles on this page. The masthead ‘contents’ is bold, and the letters are spaced apart. The layout of the page is very simple, but effective. There are five square pictures down each side of the page, all one or two shot close ups. Not many of the faces in the pictures are actually looking directly at the picture, making them seem more natural and friendly. Some of the pictures have natural background. The writing is all in the middle of the ten pictures, the font is quite small, bold and italic is used. The page numbers and the rest of the writing are split up using a vertical line. At the bottom of the page very bold writing is used, ‘MAVERICK’ and above it small writing is used ‘ISSUE NUMBER EIGHTY EIGHT NOVEMBER 2009’ repeating some details about the magazine that was on the front cover.
Throughout the magazine there are lots of double page spreads. The one I have chosen to analyse is a double page spread about female country singer it’s about her life, her achievements and the history of her career. The first page is half picture and half writing. The top part is a mid-shot, of the singer. She has a serious but friendly face, the background is a gradually fading one, on the left it starts white then it get darker until on the right it’s nearly black. There is italic writing on the picture, telling the reader her name, and her main achievement ‘to say I have 33 albums in 33 year is amazing…’ The article is written in columns, which gives it a more formal feel. The font is either similar to the main font used on the contents page, or some of the important quotes are in italics. Chatty, colloquial friendly but informative language is used in the article. The first letter of the article ‘R’ is in bold, this is a convention used often in magazines.
The second page of the article is mainly text, and has one small picture of the singer which is a mid-shot but not as close as the picture on the first page. The picture looks like very similar to the picture on the first page, she is wearing the same colour, her hair is the same and she is wearing the same clothes it’s just the pose that is different. The picture is at the top left hand corner of the page, the picture being there separates the text, not making it look like there is so much to read. The font is exactly the same as the first page. The main quote is in italics and in a purple text box right in the middle of the page. This livens up the page, adding colour. The article ends with the name of the author is at the bottom on the article in bold.
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