Reflection Point : What Have I Learned About Independent Music Magazine Front Covers?

 Independent music magazine covers strive to showcase new content and subjects through a varied use of colours, formats and appearances. Most independent companies stick to a centralised house-style which remains both identifiable and sometimes reaching an iconic status, where consumers are more likely to purchase said magazine for its style and presentation of certain topics. Although some independent publication companies such as TheWire use starkly contrasting styles of cover presentation with each new issue, thereby bringing a potentially wider audience who purchase the magazine based on its ever-evolving ways of presenting the current trends in music that appeal to targeted audiences. 

I have also learnt that certain independent magazine publishers use differing styles of front cover based on their target genre and general connections to conventionalism. Some independent magazine companies such as RnR maintain a more conventional form of front-cover design, utilising imagery and text in professional and 'traditional' ways that provide the public with an aesthetically clean look to the magazine. Some publishers such as TheWire strive to push these boundaries however, as their differing front-cover designs reflect their representations of newly forming and unconventional music genres, making designs with each issue that follow visually interesting and uncommon aesthetics.