CONVENTIONS OF F.C. & C.P. & D.S.P.

CONVENTIONS OF F.C. & C.P. & D.S.P.

Here is a summary of key words that are conventionally featured on a FC, CP & DPS of a music  magazine. Please present in a creative manner.

                                    FRONT COVER

   

• Language - The masthead which is the name of the magazine "Q", as usual has been placed on the top left hand side and printed on a red background which is a passionate colour, above it there is the "Q" logo colorized in white which represents the purity. We can also see that the main image (representing Madonna) covers the logo, and it could suggest us that the magazine is so known and popular that even if covered people will recognise it. The main story is the one about Madonna obviously, we can say it because "Madonnna" has been written bigger than all the other features titles and in additional to this it has been written in red, it is more attractive to the reader eyes. All the other secondary features make us believe that "Q" is a music magazine even without starting leafing it. The bar code has been placed on the right hand side, and in my opinion that position is not the best, it distracts the audience attention from the main image and story. 
• Institution - Q is a popular music magazine published monthly and based in the United Kingdom. Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology. Its first issue was on the far October 1986, setting itself apart from much of the other music press with monthly production and higher standards of photography and printing. In the early years, the magazine was subtitled "The modern guide to music and more". Originally it was to be called Cue (as in the sense of cueing a record, ready to play), but the name was changed so that it wouldn't be mistaken for a snooker magazine. Another reason, cited in Q's 200th edition, is that a single-letter title would be more prominent on newsstands. "Q" magazine had a lot of different edition (such as "Q The Album Volume 1", "Q" The Blues" and "Q The Essential Music Quiz").
• Ideology - In this example of an article from the magazine Q it is clear to see that the article is about the artist Madonna. This straight away gives the reader an idea of one of the magazines ideologies. Q is a popular music magazine that intends on providing its readers with news on the latest artists, tracks and interviews with the hottest artists out there. So by having a large image of Madonna, a very popular and well known artist, taking up a whole page the magazine is showing the readers that it is including the best artists and the ones that they know their readers want to know about. So Q magazine’s ideology is that they want to showcase the hottest artists and in this article they have done just that. 
• Audience - The target audience for "Q" magazine is 30-40 year-old males and women who are interested in classic and alternative music and, sometime, interested in purchasing CD's/album. 
• Representation - The genre of the magazine has been represented clearly on the front cover with the feature stories, the main image and the masthead as well. Madonna is a very famous artist in the music and show world/industry, and having her on the front cover as main image encourages people to buy the magazine, especially her fans.

CONTENTS PAGE

• Language - I checked a lot of "contents page" before choosing this one, and doing that I noticed that the style of this kind of page has always been the same, or nearly. The contents title is printed in black, all in capital and with a white background which has been used to make the title more eye-catching and attractive. On its left side there is the "Q" logo. Under it there is the issue number (305). All the page number are printed in white with a squared red background which makes them easy to see. All the images are related to all different artists and we can link them to the right features story thanks to the number printed on them (each number is linked to each story). 
• Representation - The contents show that the magazine includes a range of different bands/artists which will appeal to the audience if they have different music tastes. The manner the page is organised in different parts and this make it not too difficult to follow or identify if there is a mean feature the reader wants to read.

DOUBLE SPREAD PAGE

• Language - The article talks about Lana Del Rey, it is in columns as many other magazines, this makes it it organised and easy to read and follow. There are two different Drop Cap: the ‘S’ in the background and the 'A' almost at end of the text, they are bigger than the rest of the letters so it draws you directly in to the beginning of the text/phrase to let you read. "Lana Del Rey" is the heading and the image of her takes up one side of the page, as usual. 
• Representation - Lana Del Rey is presented as the main feature in this edition of the magazine. The colours that are used are both warm (Red) and cold (Blue): the first one connotates the passion, instead the second one represents the purification, this may be very significant to understand her feelings and thoughts, with the help of her facial expression and the dark make up.