Clash is a music
magazine that contains music from a wide variety of genres including indie and
popular music. It has grown to become the leading independent UK media brand
representing music, fashion and film.
FRONT COVER
The colour scheme of the front cover is minimal and simplistic; despite the main images it’s quite retro and colourful, however the black and white colours for the text contrast along with the images, and it’s used to add a sense of sophistication to the magazine; whilst the images itself is really artistic and retro so the fonts colour needed to compliment well with the images. Clash magazine readers are typically aged between 20-31 years old, so these colours schemes help to connate a calm and mature feelings to the readers. Although, usually a magazines would use bright colours to stand out and attract the audience’s attention, whereas this magazine does the opposite in order to stand out against other stereotypical music magazines. The first thing that stands out to the audience is the medium close-up image of the singer, Lana Del Rey, because the main images are usually the first selling point of a magazine. The mise-en-scene of the image is quite unique and angelic, because she has feathers surrounding her to show a sign of protection, as she is trying to block the sunlight away. She is also wearing minimal make-up which shows her ‘natural beauty’, and this connate the pureness and exquisiteness of Lana Del Rey. A direct mode of address was not used, like other conventional uses of direct mode of address on magazine covers to make the reader be attracted by the model’s stare as if they are looking directly at them. There is a lot of lighting surrounding her face, and she is using her hand to block the light to bring more attention to her face, therefore it’s creating a so-called shield against all evil while she is using indirect mode of address. This connate how Lana Del Rey looks very pure and innocent, and when the readers is looking at her it allows the readers to feel like they want to protect her. Most of the attention is drawn to the picture of Lana Del Rey as other sub images were not used; other small images weren’t used on the magazine, which makes it look simple and un-cluttered, as other images would draw attention away from Lana Del Rey and distract people.
The masthead 'Clash' is written in very large sans-serif
font and the title is very bold and clear, making it immediately obvious what
magazine is called and perhaps giving it a more sophisticated and classy feel. The
anchorage text is ‘Lana Del Rey’
which relates to the main images to tell the reader what the main picture is
about, and another anchorage text is ‘The
American Dream Issue’. This is anchoring the ‘Lana Del Rey’ text and the images of her, because Lana Del Rey is
nowadays known to be the ‘American Modern Icons’. The cover line is ‘Ready to Bloom Again’ which in reference
to the anchorage ‘Lana Del Rey’,
because the issue is Lana Del Rey’s ‘Ultraviolence’ album cover and this lets
the readers know that she is ‘ready’
for her new album. The sell lines include very well-known artists such as
Ariana Grande and Sage the Gemini; it
also includes other music artists from other genres like Hip-Hop, EDM and
R&B. These well-known artists from other genres will be likely to draw in more
readers because it has fusion of different genres. The sell lines only mention
well-known artists name in a list, and they did not give a lot away to the reader
about what it will be feature inside the magazine. In some sense this could be
quite effective because it is persuading and intriguing to the readers which
would make them want to buy the magazine, as it would anxious the readers
wanting know what the artist will be talking about in the article. The front
cover fonts is very clear and easy to read from a distance, and the minimal use
of text could also be a way to tempt a reader to buy the magazine, as it is not
too overwhelming and it gives an elegant feel. Lastly the barcode, dates and
pricing is placed lower-third left below the sell lines.
CONTENT PAGE
The contents page again like the front
cover colour scheme it has been kept to a minimal black and white theme, in
order to fit in the with the general house style and layout. Using two basic
contrasting colours allow the text to be read easily by anyone. The use of
black and white connotes a modern, retro feel to the magazine, which fits in
with the sophistication and the quirkiness of the genre of music. The contents
page actually has no images apart from two alternative front cover designs to
inform the readers of the issue they are reading. The other issue cover is
limited edition and this notice and excites Lana Del Rey fans who are reading
the magazine, by persuading them into getting that cover since it is ‘limited
edition’.
The use of no other images actually makes the magazine looks more
organised and professional, also the layout of the text is very well structured
and is appropriately organised according to the type of article to make
locating page numbers much easier for the reader without getting any confusion.
The uses of line across the page to the section text also help effectively to
give the magazine identity, as it is something that’s repeated on a lot of
pages throughout the magazine. These lines also help to fill blank spaces and
create an interesting design for the page; additionally, a lot of fonts have
also been made bold in order for numbers and the titles to stand out better
against the regular text.
DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD
The double page spread also follow the
same house style; the double-page spread with Lana Del Rey continues to use
simplistic theme along with black and white fonts that was seen on the contents
page. However, they changed the ‘Lana Del
Rey’ anchorage colours to match and contrast along well with the images
next page. In general, the images of Lana Del Rey present on the front cover
and the double pages spread uses a rule of thirds as a lot of the images take
up the whole page. The rule of thirds needs to be present in the images so it allows
the reader to engage with Lana Del Rey, for example: in the double page spread
the shot type of Lana Del Rey is medium-close up, and her arm is reaching out
from the page; it looks like she is holding a camera trying to take a picture
of herself. She used direct mode of address, as if the article on Lana Del Rey
will be personal to them, as she is looking directly at them almost feels like
she is talking to the readers.
The general layout of
text is used effectively in order to frame the different images, such as the
double page spread, where the text is altered and varied to fill the empty
space. The unusual combination of different fonts throughout all pages of Clash
magazine actually looks quite effective and fashionable, which suit well with
the indie style of the magazine. The magazine uses simple sans serif fonts so
it gives more modern and mature feels toward it. The language style is friendly
formal despite the design of the magazine is quite fashionable retro and
quirky. Clash magazine uses a wide range of advanced vocabulary – the text
talks to the readers and treats them like adults. For example, “In Hollywood
nobody drinks Anchor, because they prefer Fresh Peach Bellinis” if a younger
audience read this they would not understand, since they are not legal enough
to drinks so the magazine is perfect for adult readers. The language is also
fairly genre-specific, like “her new album is what you call: California Driven”
in order to engage with the readers.
Overall, Clash magazine gives off a grown up feel
which is well suited for its target audience, and it has a professional and
stylist look to it. The writing style is kept very natural and realistic which
works well with the design as it kept very stylish and sophisticated, so it
help to bring out the indie vibe.
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