Since its first published copy XXL magazine's house style has consisted of the masthead being on the upper left corner of the page, sometimes being slightly obstructed by the main image. Sell-lines present on the page usually surround the main image rather than cover it, reminding the audience the importance of the celebrity. The typical colour scheme of this magazine consists of white, black and red. Other bright contrasting colours are also used on the page. This creates a sharp and bold look on the page, perhaps reflecting hip-hop's rough edge. The colour red has connotations of danger love and passion, whereas white is almost the complete opposite connoting themes of purity, honesty and hope. This juxtaposition created by the colour scheme cleverly brings together themes of hip-hop and what the music genre itself represents.
Although this is a very successful magazine , it fails (in my opinion) to portray women and men as equals to this day. The magazine rarely has a female artist present on the cover and even when it does she is often pictured while half dressed. As this is a hip-hop magazine these over-sexualised images of women are typically linked to the genre it presents. However, nowadays hip-hop is a tool that some female artists use to empower women all around the world, not just a genre of music. We are made to believe half naked women dancing on a stage or in the back of a rap video shows power and independence, and sure this could be argued for in some cases. Yet, we as a society rarely (if ever) pay attention to the ladies who refuse to take their clothes off for fame but instead use their lyrics to create power where this gender is presented in the media as having none. This is the first thing that struck me while looking through the covers. I will be using hip-hop as my genre however I will not portray women in this way on my magazine and instead use a counter-type image if I choose to use a female model.
The main image is usually a close up when a male artist is on the cover. However, for females a medium shot is a more popular choice- this could again be linked to the over-sexualisation of women within the genre as it shows more of their body to readers. Costumes on the cover are mainly casual wear that is associated with an urban lifestyle: hats, bandanas, baggy trousers and denim. Some celebrities that have been presented on this magazine more than once include: Jay Z, Snoop Dogg, Tupac, and Eminem. Other typical celebrities that could be on this magazine might be any successful rapper or R&B artist. Direct mode of address is nearly always present on XXL's covers as it allows readers to connect with the main image. On the other hand, strong eye contact could also be described as confrontational, again highlighting the dangerous lifestyle that is presented within rap music.
Fonts - much like the colour scheme and main image - are bold. The typography on the page consists of different sizes, perhaps signifying the importance of each article. Alternatively, the different sizings could be a device used by the editors to make sell-lines that they think will engage the target audience a bigger size than others. The varying sizes, colours, and fonts add movement to the cover. The types of articles used varies from music to lifestyle.
Overall, XXL magazine uses layouts and images to reflect conventions of hip-hop music. I will use some of their tools as inspiration for my own magazine.
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