Before even planning I decided to look into the magazine world and it's conventions. This was essential before designing my front cover, contents and DPS as I needed to make sure that I was creating a music magazine similiar to competitors. Additionally, it is essential that the conventions captivate my target audience otherwise the magazine would simply not sell.
Front cover: Strapline- I have noticed that many music magazines use the strapline as an insight to the bands that will be mentioned in their magazine. This captivates the target audience as they are stating bands that capture their interest and genre of music- Additionally it can intice new members of an audience giving them an insight into the magazine without even picking it up. I have shown grab shots of the different magazines that use this convention- Firstly NME have used it on one of their magazines using bullet points to seperate the different bands. Next KERRANG! have used it indicating the bands featured- However more bands are added compared to NME. A grab shot of my magazine strapline is below the others, I have used artists and bands with the Indie Pop genre and have used bullet points to seperate them- Similiarly to NME, also in bold white text capatilised- Which both magazines have also used.
Masthead- When deciding which font I should use for my masthead I researched other magazines. I noticed that most mastheads on music magazines are not too fancy or over the top with multiple effects. Conversely, In my preliminary task I used a very fancy font with a bubble effect round it- However I believe this applied well for my target audience. Though, with my music magazine it was simply not appropriate and did not link in well with my target audience. I much liked NME's capitalised letters and thought this would work well with my magazine. Additionally a convection of a front cover is for the masthead to be distributed and centered to the middle of the magazine- therefore I did this. I noticed also that the masthead normally covers part of the models head therefore made sure mine did this also.
Image- The convenction of a music magazine is the Image- I have noticed that the models gaze is directed to the audience to almost catch their attention acting as a mode of address. I made sure that I photographed my model and her gaze was directed to the reader. I also noticed that most cover pictures are a medium long shot therefore assured when I took the picture it was set as portrait and a medium long shot. In addition, the convenction of a music magazine is also for the artist to be pictured against a white wall; to present it as a photoshoot. Luckily I managed to take the photograph of her against a white wall therefore did not need to use the Lasso tool to quick select her out and place her onto an artifical background.
Circle symbol- I realised that many music magazines such as Vibe, KERRANG!, Q and NME use a circle symbol in the right hand corner of their magazines which either tells the audience about a competiton or poster information. I also realised that these symbols were either yellow or black with an effect around them- overall enhancing it. I created a circle symbol in photoshop and placed a white bubbled effect around it. Also I recognised that NME placed a certain typeface within it claiming WIN which is portrayed as the mode of address. Therefore, I decided to use a competiton to win tickets to Download festival- This will captivate my target audience as this is the sort of events they would attend. 
Plus symbol- After looking at different music magazines with different genres and target audiences it came to my attention that a large majority of them use the "+" symbol to convey an offer such as free posters or new bands inside. However to add my own twist into it I decided I should use the pattern tool on photoshop to add graphics around my + sign- This gives my magazine its house style and mode of address.
Below is a grab shot of my plus sign, As you can see I have used a symbol yet bold + but then I used the pattern tool to create graphics coming out of it. This gives it a USP and also creates the house style. I shall use graphics throughout my magazine also- which is another convenction of a music magazine.
DPS
When planning the process of my double page spread I had to research in depth in order to identify the conventions of a magazine double page. It came to my attention the use of colloquial language, it is used within magazine to almost relate to the audience and comes to terms with the sort of language they use. Therefore on my double page spread I made sure I used words which my target audience may use in everyday life. Additionally, many double page spreads use pull out quotes- 5/5 magazines did. These small snappy quotes attract the reader and persuade them to read into the article. After writing the interview I studied the text and found a suitable quote which would attract my reader and make them want to find out about what is happening.
I noticed also in every magazine I looked in, the use of Drop caps at the start of the article. This is a main convention of a magazine as they all do it (music or not). Therefore using In design I achieved this using a tool which enables to do so.
I noticed also in every magazine I looked in, the use of Drop caps at the start of the article. This is a main convention of a magazine as they all do it (music or not). Therefore using In design I achieved this using a tool which enables to do so.
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