At the beginning of my music magazine project I started off by researching some music magazines both online and in store, to get a better insight of what the main features of a music magazine are. In some aspects I did stick to the classic conventions of a music magazine. For example having a large masthead of my front cover, having a selling line and an issue number all featured on the front cover. I also put a barcode on the front page to make it look more official. However, unlike most music magazines I kept the layout of mine fairly simple by having all of my cover lines on the right hand side of the page so the page doesn't seem as messy as a normal music magazine front cover, such as Q or Beat magazine. I decided not to have my cover lines all over the front cover as when I buy a music magazine I'm attracted more to the image/model on the front cover rather than the cover lines which I find are too 'in your face' and slightly intimidating. Instead I used similar techniques to culture magazines such as i-D and Indie magazine. They usually have one main cover line that is related to the model on the front cover or the topic of the issue. Having said that, I stuck to the rules of a perfect music masthead by having a boldly coloured and big masthead written in Engravers ET. The font of a masthead is important because that is what attracts the reader to the magazine and makes it stand out on the shelf. Most magazines tend to use simple classical fonts such as Arial, Sans Serif or Impact.
My music magazine selling line is one convention I made sure to keep. Selling lines I've found make it easier for the reader to associate with the magazine as it tells them what the main focal points of the magazine are. My selling line reads 'New music. Interviews. Reviews.' This attracts my audience because it tells you what the contents of the magazine are without giving you too much detail.
Like most magazine the models used in the front cover the image is taken in a medium close up shot. By having a medium close up it allows the reader to feel like they can relate to the artist/model on the image, as they can see their outfits and are attracted to what they wear. Especially if the artist dresses similarly to the targeted audience. I tried to keep my models clothes simple yet still relatable to the indie/pop culture. The way she is pose as well welcomes the reader as she is exposing her chest which shows that she is confident and allowing people to approach her. As you can see my main influence for this magazine came from culture magazines rather than a standard well known music magazine which has a similar target audience to mine.
There is also an issue number on my front cover which is another convention I kept whilst producing my magazine. This helps the audience keep track of how many issues there are currently if ever they want to collect multiple issues of the magazine. Issue numbers also make it easier to track copies of that issue are still circulating that have been distributed.
My barcode was placed on the top left hand side of my front cover under my selling line. This is one convention that all magazines even culture an art magazines have, however not all magazines place their barcode at the top of the page some put theirs at the bottom of the page. I placed mine on the top left so it balances out the content present on the front cover of my magazine seeing as I put all of my cover lines on the right hand side.
To further attract my target audience I have included some cover lines. Cover lines give the reader an idea of what the main articles in the magazine are. In order to attract the readers' eye the cover lines have to be bold and bright, I used red because people are always drawn to looking at something that is red because it usually means that something is hazarders. Making the opening lines of a cover line red it tells the reader what the topic subject is, that is why I have made the sub stories under the cover lines black so it doesn't distract the reader too much or lose their interest. A cover line that attracts my reader even more is one that advertises free downloads as a regular special. With download prices being quite high people are always attracted to a free legal deal and this would make my readers more open to listening to new artists that they might not have heard of before.
Like most magazine the models used in the front cover the image is taken in a medium close up shot. By having a medium close up it allows the reader to feel like they can relate to the artist/model on the image, as they can see their outfits and are attracted to what they wear. Especially if the artist dresses similarly to the targeted audience. I tried to keep my models clothes simple yet still relatable to the indie/pop culture. The way she is pose as well welcomes the reader as she is exposing her chest which shows that she is confident and allowing people to approach her. As you can see my main influence for this magazine came from culture magazines rather than a standard well known music magazine which has a similar target audience to mine.
For my contents page I developed and used some of the same conventions that you would find in a real magazine such as Kerrang. I have used another image which gives the reader a sense of what other issues are discussed in the magazine apart from music. However I didn't section off the feature titles and have them in boxes, instead I decided to go with my clean layout and have them all written out like the rest of the contents titles. I have however set the feature titles apart by using a different colour and a font size larger. I have also put in a short summary of what the magazine team got up to which is similar to the editors note that you usually get in a real magazine where the editors note isn't present.
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