When I was doing my research and planning I analysed 3 music magazines, at this point I was unsure of what genre of magazine I wanted to do so I analysed a Pop magazine (top of the pops) An indie magazine (NME) and a Heavy Metal magazine (metal hammer) Although all the magazine genres were different they still followed the same conventions for the front cover, contents page and double page spread.
Conventions – Front cover:
• an ordered layout, with not many coverlines.
• A list of some sort with featured bands and artists.
• A main image of a band or artist, with hot spots usually focused on this.
• Use of relevant cover lines relating to articles and artists/bands of the genre
• All important info in the route of eye
• Large masthead at top of page
• Relevant colour schemes (e.g. Metal hammer – dark colours, NME – red, black, Top Of The Pops – bright colours)
In my front cover I made sure that I used all the important conventions of Music magazines, paying most attention to the conventions of Top of The Pops magazine because it is roughly the same genre as my magazine. By doing this I will appeal to my target audience and make it look realistic, like a real music magazine. I placed the masthead at the top of the page which is conventional of all magazines; I also made it the biggest font so it stood out as being the masthead and not another coverline. I made sure I stuck to an ordered layout by not using many coverlines, this way the main focus is on my main image and main article, It also adds to the maturity of the magazine because it doesn’t look too cluttered as when something is too cluttered it can look childish which is what i didn’t want, My target audience would find an ordered layout most appealing. I wrote a list of band and artists at the bottom which is another convention of music magazines, I chose artists such as “Neyo” and “Jessie J” as they fit the r’n’b/pop mainstream music genre. The route of the eye comes across my masthead straight through my main image and finishes on the barcode. The hotspots are focused on my main image and a coverline, this is because they are the most important parts. My main picture was shot against a plain white background to keep the background plain so my model would stand out, I dressed her in plain semi revealing clothes, this is because artists in the same genre wear similar things, Dressing her in plain items would keep focus on her rather than what she is wearing. Other than my main picture, I chose to use two other pictures relating to my coverlines: one of them is of a crowd of people; this is because my coverline was an article about gigs and a crowd of people is what you would usually associate with gigs. Another picture I have is of a girl band called “girls next door” this is because I felt my magazine needed another image. My magazine target audience is girls aged 15-19, for my magazine to appeal to them i used bright, girly colours, such as bright pink and electric blue, as my main image is shot on a plain background I can make the coverlines stand out. A section of my front cover has a bright pink band across it; this is to make the things in it stand out because it is separate from my main image.
Conventions: Contents page;
• An ordered layout (columns for articles)
• Same colour scheme as the front cover
• Very little photos
• A simple background (usually white)
• Main headings to group together articles
My contents page also used all the main conventions of a Pop/R’n’b magazine. These would be a title at the top of the page of contents and rows of article names. A music magazine convention that I followed was to use an ordered layout, i have created that by using 2 columns: one for my articles and another for an editor’s note. i also have three important headings to group certain types of articles together making it easy to read. I used the three heading of regulars and reviews that are used in almost all pop/R’n’b magazines, it’s the easiest way to separate clearly all the articles and is appealing to the audience because of that. It helps show the genre as most magazine do this too. As my magazine is aimed at girls, it uses the same girly colours that i used on my front cover and articles that could be more interesting to girls than boys. I chose to use pictures using the same models as the front to make it familiar to the reader; I also chose to use a picture of the front cover on the contents page bar to remind the readers of it.
Conventions: Double page spread:
• Simple background
• A main image of the artist and a few others
• A stand first then an ordered article
• Questions in bold or a different colour
• An in-depth personal article
• Pull quotes
In my double page spread I have also used all the main conventions to appeal to my audience and interest them. I used an ordered layout and placed my article in columns to make it clear to read while making the questions in bold and the answers in italics, I also used blue for the questions and white for the answers. This separates out the text and makes it easier to read. I placed all the important information in the route of eye, the title and the stand first, the image, the text, and the pull quote I also made sure to keep the background simple like other magazines do to keep the focus on the artist and the text. I used a plain background on my images because it allowed my model to stand out, I followed a consistent colour and font scheme which was similar to my front cover but not the same. I also followed the convention of only using a few fonts and the one in the article being serif yet easy to read. This makes it look more professional yet basic and clear. For the title I used the same font as on the front cover because that way it relates to the artist and the reader would associate that font with the artist, which is also very conventional of music magazines. I used the pull quote and second image as a way to break up the text which makes it look more interesting and less intimidating, also a common convention of music magazines. I also made sure that the pull quote size of text was large and an interesting quote from the article to draw the audience in and appeal to them. My article is in-depth interview with is what most magazine articles should be. I also made sure that I used the kind of language that would be used in a pop/R’n’b magazine and by young people to appeal to my audience and make it realistic
