Codes and Conventions

Total Guitar Front Cover

The title ‘Total Guitar’ is written in a serif font in bold, white writing. The word ‘guitar' is a lot bigger than the word ‘total’ showing the reader that this magazine is all about guitars. The band on the front cover is half covering the title but because the band are holding guitars the reader still knows what the magazine is going to be about.

There is a 3 colour scheme used with the colours blue, white and black. The masculine colours used help target its audience of young male adults. The picture of the band has been taken on a black background with a spot light just on them allowing them stand out grabbing the reader’s attention. The larger headings are written in white where as the smaller headings are written in blue. By using only 3 colours it gives the magazine a more sophisticated look rather than having a lot of different colours making it look amateur.

Only one picture has been used on the front cover therefore giving the reader’s attention to only that band. It has been taken with the band looking straight at the camera with the main person stood at the front pointing his finger towards the camera as if he is telling the magazines target audience to read the magazine; the target audience being young male adults. The other two band mates are stood behind him showing that they aren’t as important as they are hidden. Behind the band there is a bright light with lightening coming from it making the band look powerful. At their feet there is smoke making it look like the band is at a concert giving the magazine a more creative effect.

The magazine has used a mixture of different fonts from large, bold, serif fonts to smaller sans-serif fonts. The main title has a sub-heading in a smaller font right above it letting the reader know that it is ‘Europe’s best selling guitar magazine’. By having this right next to the title means the reader is more likely to read it, therefore they are more likely to read the rest of the magazine as they will see that it is a best seller therefore must be good. Smaller headings have been used along the sides of the page which are written in a blue, serif font. They each have a small caption underneath them giving the reader more of an idea of what the magazine is like. Some words are highlighted such as ‘plus’ in a different colour to the rest of the sentence, grabbing the reader’s attention, showing its importance, allowing the reader to see that it is worth reading.

Near the bottom right hand side of the page, there is an image of a guitar on its side where the head of it goes underneath a blue box that has ‘Rocked & Rated’ written inside of it. This again is showing the reader that this magazine is based on guitars; it also helps the magazine look more interesting as only one other picture has been used. Near the top of the magazine there is a yellow circle with red and black writing inside of it that looks like a label that is peeling off but really is part of the cover. It is as if the magazine is breaking its rules like ‘rock and roll’ by using colours that contrast with the rest of the magazine. From here the reader might get the impression that the magazine is more interesting than it looks and that it might have more in it then just guitars.

I will take into consideration when doing my own magazine the way 'Total Guitar' has placed its stories along the sides of the page with a heading for each with text underneath describing more about what it is. I also like the way the guitar is facing towards the camera making a strong image grabbing the reader’s attention.