Task 2: Research and Planning : Case study 1 – CLASH magazine

Front cover:

The front cover of Clash magazine is kept very simple and classic. To start with, there is one large image that covers the whole page. The shot of the singer is close up. Clash magazine uses house style in the most of the issues where almost all the shots are close up or medium close up (MCU). Mise en scene is used with a very limited amount of material for the audience to look at. Lighting is used as the image is bright and we can see the cover star looking towards a light. Due to the shot type, costumes and props are not present in the image, but we get an insight of what the cover star is wearing. This connotes the genre of Indie as we can see a ‘hippy’ look from the artist. Everything is in frame. The denotation of the image is that the singer is looking up. However, this may connote the aims and success the lead singer of the band is heading for, as he is looking up.

The masthead is used at the top of the page which overlaps the image of the cover star. This may come across as unconventional as usually in most magazines the image of the cover star overlaps the masthead because the audience is expected to recognise the magazine, and the importance of the cover star is reinforced in this way.  The masthead is the largest text on the front cover and is bold with a simple, clear font style. All of the cover lines are aligned to the right also with a simple font style. The main cover line is ‘The 1975’ which links to the image as the lead singer of the band ‘The 1975’ is featured. It is written in a large font with a vintage style for it to stand out so the audience recognises that the cover star belongs to that band. Skylines are featured at the top of the masthead where the different sections of the magazine are named. The denotation of the front cover is that the lead singer of ‘The 1975’ is featured. However, this connotes the Indie genre as he is a recognisable iconic star. In addition to that, a caption: ‘Working on a dream’ is featured just above the main cover line, which gives the audience an insight of what the magazine includes about the band. Again, the house style is kept on the front cover as there is a limited amount of text on the magazine which reinforces the classical view of the magazine. The colour scheme of black, white and grey are used also for the house style purposes. The barcode is used at the bottom right corner along with the price, issue number and issue date.

Contents page:



The contents page follows the colour scheme of black and white from the front cover. On the left hand side the sections of the magazine are divided into headers. ‘The 1975’ has it’s own section under the header ‘Cover’ with a small description and page number. That is followed by sections such as ‘Music’ with page numbers to other artists featured. Then there are headers for the extra information the magazine covers. ‘Contents’ is written in a slightly unique font style and is large in size. Above that, is the issue date of the magazine. There is one main image featured which is on the next page right next to the contents page, covering it. It is not relevant to the contents page, but it is very artistic, reinforcing the classical and simple look of the magazine. The denotation “The future is leaving” does not connote a musical quote, but is used for the artistic look. The page numbers and sections are conventional to the magazine, as just like every other magazine the page numbers and sections is what guides the reader. It is also a part of every issue Clash magazine produces.

Double page spread (DPS):

Above is a double page spread from the Clash magazine. It is the cover story of the band ‘The 1975’. On the left page, the text keeps its simple nature/house style, and the colour scheme of black and white is continued from the front cover. At the top of the left page, the photographer and the stylist’s names are featured with a small sized font. Below that in a larger font size is a quote “Bound to win, bound to be true” by Abraham Lincoln that is the header for the interview which is the denotation. It connotes success and an insight of the interview with the band and what it may be about. The page numbers are in the centre of the magazine which is an unconventional feature. Then there is the main header ‘The 1975’ indicating that the interview is with that specific band. A drop cap is used at the beginning of the text, which is followed by the Courier font style which is similar to a typewriter font. The text is written in columns and are structured orderly. These are conventional features the Clash magazine holds.  The text is also conventional to the magazine and the image of the lead singer on the right page. The text is also aligned to the right, which gives it uniqueness. The mode of address is teenagers and young adults, as the language used is both formal and informal at times e.g. “crazed fans”. However, a lot of facts and figures are given which gives the text a formal tone and structure. For example, on the first column it says “Four acclaimed EPs, a top 20 single” followed by “As Clash calls frontman Matthew Healy he’s 5,864.49 miles away”.

The shot type of the image is medium close up (MCU), again a conventional feature for Clash magazine. Mise en scene is used, and the singer is in a vintage costume reflecting the Indie genre his band performs in. His body language reflects the ‘star’ image he has, as he is looking away from the camera’s point of view. The singer is also representing the black, white and grey colour scheme, which matches the colour scheme of the front cover and the contents page and is all conventional to the magazine.

Clash magazine press pack/media kit and analysis

Clash Music Ltd.

Clash magazine is published by Clash Music Ltd. Clash Music Ltd is a media company, based in the UK that publishes products through the Print and Online platforms. These not only include music, but it also includes other entertainment products such as Films and Fashion. The company publishes Clash magazine worldwide, twelve times a year. It is related to a lot of institutions such as:

·        Nike

·        Ben Sherman

·        Topman

·        Levis

·        Paul Smith

Clash Live also belongs to Clash Music Ltd., where there are gigs and tours launched for artists.
Clash magazine itself represents mainly music, but it also covers other entertainment tools. These are: Clash Music, Clash Film, Clash Fashion and etc. Other types of entertainment tools Clash Music Group provides are clashmusic.com where Clash magazine is read by audience actively, and Clash Creative Projects where new projects are formed through different media platforms for the benefit of Clash Music Ltd.