The Four Fs

What are they?

The 'Four Fs' are the holy grail of designing a magazine. They are the rules to live by for any editor. Each one is vital to create the most aesthetical pleasing and interesting magazine.  

Frame

The frame is the standard for outer page margins and gutters. Some magazine chooses to use this for the house style, and keep it them consistent from issue to issue. The can however vary, using different sizing and width.

This is demonstrated below by the fact that all the test is aligned and equally spaced.

Format

This means the design choices that are seen every issue and make a magazine's overall look. This means that there is a certain house style for each magazine and the key areas include;  the logo, cover lines, size of the magazine and department headers.

This is perfectly shown below by the fact that the masthead is consistent in every issue of GQ, it does not move, similarly, neither does the cover line that is located beneath it. Furthermore, the colour scheme is clearly red/white/blue, this could connote that because the actor, Ryan Gosling, is American. It also highlights the clarity of his blues eyes. 

Function

This is what the magazine is trying to achieve - essentially the message that it is aiming to spread.

In GQ, this issue is the 'Back To Business Issue' - which therefore means that the entire magazine is focusing on business related topics. It also relates to the image on the front, here it is Ryan Gosling, meaning the magazine is aiming to spread the article on him.

Formula

This is what is inside the magazine, and is technically described as the magazines editorial content. This includes; its feature type and length, departments in the front and back of the magazine, photographic style, and illustrations.

Below, the formula is demonstrated by the fact that the magazine features Ryan Gosling, so therefore it also shows an image of him.