Essay on codes and conventions

My essay on codes and conventions was completed last month, taking two days to write and it helped to gain a greater understanding of codes and conventions.



Codes and conventions:

Here I will be talking about the codes and conventions of magazines, starting with the codes and conventions of a cover.

The masthead, for the cover is usually found at the top, which asserts its dominance against the rest of the market and fills the width of the cover and designed in a trademark, unique font to help it stand out. The word count is kept to one or two to keep it simple. The dateline displays the month and year of when it’s published, normally a month in advance so it doesn’t get dated, sometimes with the price below. Coverlines are lines of text, at average one or two words with sublines explaining them that are designed to grab the reader’s attention and make them want to look inside and the usual number of coverlines are 5 or 6. A main coverline is usually centred in the middle, for instance “The Byrds, McGuinn, Hillman and Crosby On The Classic Album That Tore Them Apart”, which is the largest text after the masthead and anchors the main image. The selling line is a line of text, which sells the value of the magazine and gives the reader an idea of what the magazine is about, a description of the marketing point or magazine philosophy.

A puff is when a free giveaway is shown, for instance a free CD, selling the value of the magazine more and enticing potential buyers away from other titles. Buzz words are featured on the cover, such as “Exclusive”, normally with the main article to entice the reader.There’s a strip across the top or bottom featuring a list of items, which are inside the magazine. It conveys the magazine is full of stories that will want to grab the reader’s attention. Barcode is positioned around the bottom right or up the right and along sometimes there’s the date/month of the edition, price, issue number and website. The main image is the dominant image, part of the main article and normally in medium close-up or mid-shot to show the model, which takes a chunk of the page and is behind all of the text, as is convention because this asserts dominance.

Mostly the models look ahead in direct address, which attracts the reader. The left third of a cover is taken up of the more appealing parts, including the kickers meaning a story designed to stand out and this is because audiences are more likely to see the left third first. The first of codes and conventions for a contents page is the layout. The layout is set in columns, normally three or four around the main image and there are one or two pages. The main image relates to a feature article and laid around are smaller images to anchor the page.

There are page numbers on the images anchoring them to the written contents and the masthead is at the top, along with issue date and the word “Contents” where the reader is easily able to spot them. Subscription and contact information normally is shown at the bottom of a page, keeping it visible but discrete and easy to find, along with the page number and title and issue date, in really small font and an editor’s letter is provided, sometimes on the top, left hand side of a page to give an introduction to the magazine. An image of the front cover’s shown as well, to remind readers of what’s inside and photography credit is shown for the front cover.

A simple colour scheme is kept, to not overwhelm the audience. Contents are divided into categories, two main examples “Features” and “Regulars” and headings are next where there’s a first line, then page number and one or two words potentially the artist’s name or unclear text which intrigues the reader in bold and often capital letters, on average size of 12-13 pt. Next there’s the subline, giving more specific detail about the detail of the article in a smaller font and the font is usually Times New Roman, at a no bigger size than 11 pt. The first part of codes and conventions for double-page spreads is the columns are split into three or four per page and the layout links the two pages together creating a sense of continuity. The article’s written informally as the personality of the journalist shines through the article. Often first person is used for the article as the type is either typically coverage or an interview, and a simple and consistent colour scheme.

There’s a main image, which is relevant to the main article and the image is in direct address, grabbing the reader’s attention and can take up a whole page, spreading across the two which links them together. A strapline is featured at the top that explains what the article is about, followed by a headline intended to divert the reader, sometimes using a stylized font and below is the standfirst that introduces the article, explaining it and the name of the artist or band will be in different colour or bold to help it stand out. Quotes or different pictures are inserted to make the article more attractive, rather than a continuous stream of text. A drop capital is used at the beginning of the article so the reader knows where to begin as well as other techniques, including capitals, bold text and slightly bigger typeface with the first few words.