Subverting Conventions

To subvert a convention is to go against the normal conventions and rules. For example, if someone wants to produce a magazine that subverts conventions, then think will have to think carefully about the graphic design of their magazine, which includes the layout, font style and style of the pictures or photographs they use.

An example of a magazine which subverted conventions is 'Ray Gun', which was an American rock magazine which was first published in 1992 and abolished in 2000. David Carson graphically designed the magazine and created many different strange front covers which were totally unexpected in the magazine industry.

Advantages of subverting conventions

• People like the magazines because they look different and people wanted to be associated with being individual and different.
  
• The magazines draw the attention of people because they don't follow conventions and look so different to any other magazines on the shelf.
  

Disadvantages of subverting conventions

• Some of the magazine designs are so random that people don't even realise what the purpose of the magazine is or what the magazine is about.


• Magazines don't tend to sell that well because they are totally unexpected and completely different to the majority of magazines. (Magazines have clearly been made in a particular way because it increases sales, so why go against this?)

As I will be producing a pop magazine for the main part of my task, I have decided that I will be designing and writing to appeal to a conventional audience, due to the fact it would be very hard to create a controversial pop magazine because nothing about pop is very controversial. This means that my magazine will be appealing to a mass market/audience rather than a niche market/audience. At the moment there is actually a gap in the market for a pop magazine, but it would definately need to be one that does not subvert conventions if it wants to sell well, especially after the major decline in pop magazines that there has recently been.