As q1
- 1. FOR MY A LEVEL COURSEWORK I WAS TASKED TO CREATE A REGIONAL MAGAZINE WHICH INCLUDED ITS FRONT COVER, CONTENTS PAGE AND DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD THEN FROM THIS CREATE A BILLBOARD AND WEBSITE FOR THIS MAGAZINE. TO ENSURE THAT ALL MY PRODUCTS LOOKED PROFESSIONAL AND PROVOKED REALISM I RESEARCHED INTO THE NUMEROUS CONVENTIONS OF NATIONAL AND REGIONAL MAGAZINES. FROM RESEARCHING THIS I WAS ABLE TO FIND COMMON CONVENTIONS FOUND ON THE MAJORITY OF MAGAZINES AND THE CONVENTIONS WHICH WERE MORE REGULARLY USED ON REGIONAL PRODUCTS.
- 2. • Within the front cover of the magazine I have tried to use as many as the main conventions a magazine could uphold as possible, this is due to no matter of genre or price most magazines do stick to the main front cover conventions. Here is an example of a magazine with its front covers labelled: • All of these conventions play a specific role in selling the magazine and they additionally aim to make it more appealing to its audience. The masthead is typically the largest piece of text on the front cover as this is the magazines identity, they do this so there is no doubts about who's magazine this is, the style of the masthead can also give away the theme and genre of a magazine and this is a way that I have attempted to utilize the masthead on my magazine. Through the simplistic white, blue and red fonts I have attempted to create a British theme to the magazine, by doing this people know that they will be picking up a more alternative magazine aimed towards the British music industry furthermore, the black and white image typically relates to something being "indie" this is also something I was looking to imply on my front cover and something which I believe is successfully done through the use of the masthead. The use of the white on black to create an indie theme has also been replicated through the cover line, this again tries to imply the magazines main themes on the front cover, the text again remains a simple one but this time is in a different font to create a difference between that and the masthead and to make the cover line personal to the artist. The main image of my magazine I believe supports these talked of aims and it also grows them, the image of a male staring into the lense highlights the dark, alternative, indie theme that I chose for my magazine, the glum facial expressions does this, I chose that facial expression over more sexual ones to make the magazine be more about him and his talents rather than just making it about the way he looks or dresses. The use of the distorted background helps create a theme to the cover as not only does it make the page look a bit odd backing up the alternative theme but it dictates the dark lighting in the room and pushes it away from the model helping the image to be easily edited into a black and white filter without losing any of the models face.
- 3. • In the same way that any professional magazine would I have used indistinguishable conventions in my final product. One example of this on the contents page is the use of the masthead at the top of this page too, this creates a synergy between the two pages meaning if you showed someone each page without the other they would instantly know that it belongs to the same magazine. Having this synergy between pages is important for every magazine as it it important that they reinforce their name into the consumers head at every chance so they can be easily recognised whenever that person walks past the magazine in the future. Additionally it means that is the person is reading the magazine in public passersby may also be able to see the name of the magazine, this could potentially create new buyers. • The imagery used on the magazines contents page does break away from the front cover slightly as there are multiple images, this is to give the contents page its own unique identity and so there is a slight contrast between pages. However the images used are all still in black and white.
- 4. • I have created a synergy and connection between the magazines front cover and double page spread this has been done through the choice of imagery that I have used on each creation. The two both feature the same model and story. This is something that magazines do a lot as they know important stories what are worthy of the front cover deserve a lot of space in the magazine, thus dedicating two pages or in some cases more to that one story. By interlinking the two I have been able to create excitement for a story on the cover of the magazine then deliver what my target audience would have wanted within the magazine. • Another way in which I have attempted to link the various pages of the magazine is through the font of the stories title. The font used matches on both the Front Cover and double page spread, as the story is about a music artist this helps to create a sense of realism about the artist, giving my magazine that professional edge. I additionally have used the same colour scheme throughout to ensure that the audience understands the links throughout the entire magazine.
- 5. • In conclusion I believe that my products challenge and display the conventions used by regional magazines to large extent. Subsequently, throughout this process I have gained a greater understanding of what important factors are needed when creating a magazine in order for it to stand out from what already exists and what is needed to encourage people to purchase them. Furthermore I have discovered which magazines would be my greatest competitors on the market and how I would have to explore various magazine conventions to attract a wider audience to my magazine. Finally I have also learned how to intertwine multiple media products and establish connections between them, this has lead to me being able to create advertising campaigns and digital versions of my product making it look like a professional and well established company.