In my original research, I found out that the conventions were pretty similar to what I want my magazine to look like. I analysed three different music magazines but found out that they all had similar conventions, and many of these were very vital conventions.
Conventions - front cover;
- Large masthead covering the top over the page, the start of the route of the eye.
- The main image, title and important news/gossip in the route of the eye.
- Relevant cover lines.
- Image of the main story line in the centre.
- An ordered layout with minimal amounts of cover lines.
- A strong colour scheme is kept to, usually two main colours with 1-2 more to add effect.
In my magazine I used the majority of the important conventions.
I I decided to use these conventions in my own design because I wanted to produce a realistic design of a music magazine. When designing my front cover I made sure that there weren’t any gaps whilst still keeping and ordered layout. When researching I found that music magazines don’t really contain too many cover lines, they focus on one main on really well, with the bold text and then the picture and don’t really use many other strong images or story lines.
My masthead is situated across the top of the cover; this is because all the magazines I looked at had the masthead along the top. I felt sticking to this convention would mean that my magazine would look more professional and therefore appeal to my target market. My main image is of ‘Emma Shepherd’ who is the artist featured in my main cover line. I chose to dress Emma in a simple black dress to fit in with the colour scheme but to also make it look like she had good style which is what my target market are interested in. I took the picture against a plain cream wall to try and capture a natural fade rather, which is also simplistic. I did this because I didn’t want a plain white background but wanted a soft finish.
Around my main article are some other simple story lines, I kept these simple as I wanted to use my main article to draw in the attention but whilst doing this I highlighted key words from each to make them stand out subconsciously, without the consumer realising. I did this by sticking to a colour scheme of black and white and then highlighting these words in turquoise.
I feel that I did stick to most of the conventions of a music magazine however; I only used one image on my main cover because I wanted the words and a single image to be powerful enough to attract attention. This means I had to work harder at getting the right look for my magazine that was also professional.
Contents page;
- Columns for the articles
- Images relating to the articles (minimal amounts)
- Simple white background
- Subheadings
- Same colour scheme as front cover
Whilst designing my contents page I stuck to all the conventions that I found when I did my own research.
I decided to split my list of articles into two columns; I did this because I feel that it makes the layout look more ‘tidy’ and therefore more marketable. I am pleased I decided to do this as I think the finished contents page has an expert look. On my contents page I decided to use two images relating to my articles. I did this to ensure there weren't any empty gaps that could make the whole page look bad and to also give the reader an insight of what they can expect throughout the entire magazine. I also stuck to the convention of a plain white background, I feel that this gives the page a clean and fresh look that people will not be put off people when they open the front cover. To make my contents page even more organised decided to include another convention of subheadings. I did this because it made the contents page clearer and people would be able to fine what they were looking for more easily for example, if someone was looking for an article that featured on the front cover then it would be under the subheading of ‘on the cover’. Doing this gives the contents and overall more structured look. Finally I made sure that I continued the colour scheme and font from the front page onto the contents page, this makes the magazine flow more easily. It gives the magazine a more sophisticated and mature look that my target market will expect.
Double Page Spread;
- Simple, white background
- A main image of the artist
- Personal article
- Bold or different coloured text for the questions of an interview
- Quote from the text
On my double page spread I have used the main conventions of music magazines, I have done this so that my magazine appeals to my target market and pulls in the attention of potential consumers. I used a simple white background as this makes the image and text stand out move vibrantly and also provides a cleaner finish. In the route of the eye all of my main information is included, firstly it runs through the quote and then through the main body of text, and on the second page route of the eye runs through my whole image.
My main image on this double page spread is an image of ‘Emma Shepherd’ who is the artist of whom the article is about. I did this because she is well known and therefore my audience would be interested in reading my article. The article is very personal and asks questions about Emma’s life and career as a whole, my audience would be interested in this because people have an idealistic view of celebrities lifestyles and this would either back that theory or make people realise that they do not all have a perfect life and that not everything is as easy as it seems.
In my interview I have used a different colour and font for the questions. This is another convention of magazines and I decided to do this because it makes it very easy to distinguish between the questions and the answers and makes the article looks easier to read at a glance from the eye and less off-putting than a solid block of text. I have also split the text into three columns as I feel this provides a more high quality and professional look. Finally I have picked a quote from the answers Emma gave VIVACE to again pull in the attention of the reader, I used a large font and two colours in this to make it stand out, it also acts as a title to the feature.
Overall I feel that I have used the conventions of music magazines well to help make my magazine look more realistic and therefore help to provide a mature and sophisticated magazine that will appeal to my audience. From my annotated pictures you can see the similarities and difference my magazine show to a real and existing product.
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