The Codes and Conventions of a Regional Magazine - Feature Pages

A feature page is where the "most important" article of the issue is housed, particular focus tends to be on the layouts and appearance of these pages and here I have studied several of them:


Canary Wharf Magazine

• Title is written in a large serif font (sophistication) drawing immediate attention to it, the title "fashion" is quite ambiguous and would encourage audiences to read on to find out what it's about. 
• Short pull phrase "A Spring Fling" is written in a bigger and bolder font to emphasise it's importance, intrigues the reader as it doesn't actually detail what the article is about (Barthes - Enigma)
• Drop cap letter to signal the beginning of the article
• Text is written in one column - going against the convention of using multiple columns, font is serif and sophisticated to appeal to audience, it is also minimal, perhaps to appeal to younger audiences
• Multiple images used, this provides more visual interaction for the audience, mid shots of models establish a connection with readers as they can see the expressions on their faces (uses & grats)
• The use of multiple images also works to appeal to a younger audience who stereotypically are not interested in mass amounts of text
• Images well lit and the mise-en-scene evokes ideas of wealth and class eg. vintage cars (Barthes - connotations)

Kensington and Chelsea Magazine

• Page is split into four sections - this makes it easy for readers to find the section they are interested in (cognitive needs)
• Each section has it's own background colour to make them easily identifiable to audiences. The title to each section is written in a larger font to draw attention to them and in the case of the right hand section the font for the word "treatment" is a different one to the rest of the title, the font is in italics and this evokes ideas of luxury, similarly to the connotations the word treatment has. 
• The fonts used in all the text is a serif, sophisticated font that reflects the audience (Barthes - connotations)
• Multiple images used, providing more visual interaction for the audience, the images also help to advertise the products in them (possibly benefiting the magazine's advertisement deals)  another benefit to having multiple images is the appeal to younger audiences, who stereotypically aren't interested in masses of text
• The images are nicely lit and carry through a theme of sophistication with gold and pearly colours to them, perhaps reflective of the target audience (Barthes - connotations)

Cheshire Magazine

• White plain background - does not detract attention from the image or text
• Title of page is written in a bigger font than the rest of the text and so attention is immediately drawn to it. The title itself is ambiguous and would intrigue readers as to what the article is actually about (Barthes - enigma) 
• Serif font - brings about ideas of sophistication and class, helps to give the feature a tied together, well thought out look.
• The opening paragraph is placed separate to the rest of the text, this will intrigue audiences as to why and what  it says, the short extract will also allow audiences to easily determine whether they are interested in the article
• Drop cap begins the major body of text - stands out and catches audiences attention
• The use of two images provides multiple visual interactions for the audience and perhaps appeals to a younger audience who typically are not interested in reading masses of texts
• The mid shot used for the larger image helps to establish a connection with the reader as whilst the model is not in direct address with them, her expressions are obviously apparent. 

Kent Life Magazine

• White plain background - does not detract attention from image or text
• Title is not written at the top of the page (unconventional)
• Title written in a serif font - ideas of sophistication (perhaps appeals to the audience - connotations) and helps the page to look more classy
• The title is in a bigger font than the rest of the text and so stands out to audiences attention - the phrase "so hot it's cool" is fairly ambiguous and would intrigue the reader as to the contents of the article (Barthes - enigma)
• Opening paragraph placed underneath the title to the left of the main body of text - the short extract allows audiences to quickly and easily determine whether they are interested in the article
• The split of the page between image and article is quite uneven and the image takes up more room than the text, this could be part of the magazines attempt to appeal to younger audiences who stereotypically are not interested in reading large amounts of text
• Long shot image used - makes the viewer feel a part of the image and personalizing it. The image is of local scenery which is what audiences of a regional magazine would expect.

Codes and Conventions for the feature page of a Regional magazine:

• Number of images used differs depending on the target audience of the magazine, when they are geared towards younger audiences there are either more images or the image used is bigger, these images provide visual interaction points for the audience
• Titles are mostly placed at the top of the page but some magazines have them in other places for a different effect, they are all written in bigger bolder fonts to draw audiences attention
• Text is written in columns, of the magazines I have studied here one column seems most common however I know that typically this can extend to two or three columns.
• Sophisticated look to the pages which entices audiences to read them - especially the sort of audience these magazines look to appeal to
• The style of image varies depending on the focus of the articles, long shots, mid shots and close ups have been used in these examples
• Text is always aligned neatly with the trend leaning slightly more to the left