SPIN

Spin (SPIN) was a music magazine first published in 1985, the company converted to online media and published their last issue in September 2012 but still run articles, webcasts, reviews and features on their website www.spin.com which is updated on a daily basis. The magazine produced issues geared towards all sorts of different music tastes which enabled them to amass a large following in their 27 years of print and opened up the public to genres of music they would not of had the exposure to otherwise. I chose to study SPIN as it is related to the genres of music I am intending on producing my magazine for.

This cover features a single photo of a subject in close up, a seemingly common feature for this particular magazine. The colour scheme makes use of reds, blacks, browns and white. The subject is looking off to the right and not in direct address with the audience and a shadow covers most of her face. There is little text on the cover and the name of the magazine is written in tall bold white font  on a rectangular red background and is placed at the top centre of the magazine. Either side of the magazine's name written in a smaller white font are details of the contents of the magazine and on the left the text is written in capital letters. In the centre at the bottom of the cover written in the same white tall bold font as the name of the magazine are the words "Retro Active" which describes the theme of the particular issue.
 



This cover features a photo of artist Azealia Banks, again it is the only photo to feature on the cover. The colour scheme is quite bright and the photo makes use of a pastel pink background and bright colours are evident in her hair and outfit. The artist herself is shot in medium close up and is leaning forward with her arm out to the side and an ecstatic expression on her face. Similarly to the other covers there is little text present on the cover and it seems to follow the same format in terms of placement of text. The name of the magazine is written again in the tall bold white font used previously and is put on the same red rectangular background and this appears to be the signature format for the title of the magazine, as previously it is put at the top centre of the cover and on either side written in small black  font are the details of the contents and on the left it is written in capitals . At the bottom are the words "Here comes Azaelia Banks" alluding to the interview with her inside.

This double page spread features group The Black Keys. One side of the spread is dedicated to an image of the pair in a double shot. It has been put in black and white to fit with the colour scheme of the spread which seems to carry across all other spreads by the magazine. The text is on the right side of the page and is titled "The Black Keys" in a bold tall black font with a short passage underneath in a smaller black font. The rest of the text is in the bottom right hand of the spread and is written in the same small black font with the first letter put in white on a black circle background.

This double page spread features Florence from Florence and the Machine. Almost two thirds of the spread is taken up by an close up image of her in black and white to the right hand side of the page. Similarly to the previous spread the colour scheme is black and white and the format is almost identical, just on the opposite sides of the page. The fonts used are the same, the title written in tall bold black font and the rest in a smaller black font. The first letter is also written in white on a black circle background.




Codes and Conventions of SPIN Magazine

Covers:
- Typically a single image on the cover
- Little text organsied in a similar format
- Same fonts used across covers
- Name of magazine written in the same font and presented in the same way every time

Double Page Spreads:
- Black and white colour scheme
- Same format for images and text used across all spreads
- Same fonts and text size used
- Image takes up at least half a page