Codes and Conventions - Pictures, Writing & Organisation

Pictures – How many there are, Technical e.g. - Camera / Framing/ Lighting

On the Contents page for Tops of the Pops there is a print screen of the magazine front cover on the right hand side which has been annotated telling the audience what page each cover story is on, they have also used a mid-shot image from Fearne Cotton in the lower central part of the page, the image gives a big glow from the page linking in with the colour themes of the magazine, pink, yellow and white. Similarly Mojo have linked there picture in with their colour theme too. Mojo have chosen to use a close up shot of a man on a guitar looking straight at the camera, the picture is black and white linking in to the colour theme of the ‘Black and White’ contents page. I really like the idea of having one main image to the side and the contents besides it.

Mix Mag have used three main pictures which all stand out and relate to the genre of music magazine (Partying/ DJ), all three pictures are brightly set creating a night club atmosphere with the black background. Similarly NME have used seven pictures all linking to the theme of big music artists, they have made all the pictures pretty much the same size however there is one larger one in the middle of the page indicating that the man is the main cover story.

Writing – Number of articles listed, details about the articles

As Top of the Pops used a print screen of their magazine with annotations this allowed for a more space to be used, Top of the Pops then created five subheadings making the number of pages to 66. I quite like this idea because it is easier to read to quicker to find out however I feel it take the idea out of a proper contents page. Top of the Pops have also used subheadings to allow the reader to look for what they want to read quicker, Similarly Mix Mag have also used five subheadings for example ‘ Don’t stay in’ this subheading confuses the audience because it doesn’t tell you what the titles are actually about. I really like the idea of subheadings however I would make sure they are clear to the audience.

Both NME and MOJO have decided to go for a minimalistic contents giving the brief title for each page and the page number, both magazines come to around 66/68 pages. I dislike the lack of description used in both magazines because i want my reader to be able to find what they are exactly looking for instead of guessing from one word.

Organisation

Top of the Pops and NME have used a very busy contents page using lots of pictures and making the page all crammed in, I do like the busy atmosphere to the page however I prefer Mix Mag and Mojos slick, sophisticated edge with the contents to the side and a main focal pictures , setting the tone throughout the magazine.