CLASH music magazine has a unique way of presenting their musicians. Unlike most music magazines, CLASH's colour scheme is extremely stripped down and just uses desaturated colours which connotes the artists as serious and also shows the magazine to be too. Similarly to many MOJO magazines, the musicians are seen to have a hard life and something seems to go wrong, CLASH also incorporate this into their front page, using words like 'living in darkness' which connotes this artists live life like many other famous musicians. This also connotes that they are extremely dedicated to their music and don't take their career as a joke, but rather seriously.
The main splashes often have their faces hidden by light, turning so they can't be seen or just aren't fully in shot, or the photo is fully blurred. The musicians rarely look directly at the camera (which would portray a bubbly, pop star) but rather face away, often looking up, into the distance or facing down. In the 1975 cover, the artist is portrayed as an angelic figure. He is looking up above him in a holy way suggesting his pureness, this connotes that he and his music is almost God like which fans would already agree with from his music. In another edition, the artist has got a gold tint of paint on his face which connotes his heroic music and how much pride he takes in it, by looking into the distance, once again connotes the reverent or God like feeling. However, other splashes are portrayed completely differently. For example, the Living In Darkness edition, his face is dropped low and we can't see his face at all, this is completely the opposite from many other magazines who would have the artist face directly to the camera to emphasise the connection with the target audience, which shows the uniqueness of CLASH once again.
The layout of CLASH is extremely simplistic with hardly any cover lines at all. The main header is in sans serif font and is large and bold writing, connoting the authenticity of the magazine. When cover lines are used, they often have the effect of falling off the page or aren't presented in a straight line which connotes CLASH's uniqueness and makes them stand out. It also shows that the musicians they include may not be the biggest pop stars trending, but unique artists aspiring to be different.
Mark 10 out of 10
ReplyDeleteYou make astute comments about the representations, which you support well with detailed examples. Many of your comments use sophisticated language well, including the term 'connotes', which will please the examiner.
You notice the pared-down style, the tumbling edition numbers, the font choices.
Well written, detailed work.