3. My final products create a house style throughout the use of
continuity. I have used the same base font, Calibri, throughout
my magazine which makes it apparent that the three products
are from the same issue of the same magazine. I also used the
same 3 colours throughout the magazine which is conventional
and reinforces the illusion of my final products being from the
same magazine which is what I aim for. The colours I used were
red, black and white. I chose these colours as I noticed from
looking at already existing alternative music magazine’s the most
frequently used colours were those three. As my genre is
alternative I felt that it would be relevant and appropriate to use
these three colours. The colours also match the outfits of the
band featured throughout the magazine as they are wearing
black and white. I carefully chose the page numbers to ensure
that they make sense and apply to the right pages whilst looking
realistic. I also featured the same artist on my front cover,
contents page and double page spread as the band in the image
are the main feature of the magazine.

4. My masthead is in one of my 3 conventional
colours and is placed across the top of the
front cover which is conventional. I have also
chosen an individual font to make the
masthead recognisable so that the audience
will recognise it and see it as a logo.
My sell line is conventional as it is
featured underneath the masthead which
is conventional and makes it stand out
without being overpowering as it is
separate to the other features.
The plug I created is in a different colour
to my 3 conventional colours as a lot of
alternative magazines used this strategy,
which made my magazine appear more
realistic and stay true to its genre. I also
used two images, one of which was an
original image taken by me. The use of
drop shadows added in photoshop make
the plug stand out and look raised above
everything else on the page which is what
I wanted as it makes the plug appear
brighter, stand out and become more
eye-catching which is the role of a plug.
There are teasing features which I used to
inform the reader about what else will be
featured in the magazine. They follow the
same colour scheme which creates
continuity and are also written in the same
base font as everything else. ‘INSIDE’ is
written in bold, capital letters in order to
draw the readers attention to that area and
look at the features. The artist’s written are
of the alternative genre, except for ‘wulf’
and ‘limbs’ as I created those two band
names as I felt they were a way of expressing
my knowledge of the genre since they are
stereotypical alternative band names.
My main image is stereotypical of alternative
music magazines that feature bands on the
front. I have used a central medium close up
framing which is conventional and I have also
made the two girls stand on a side as that is
conventionally a more flattering angle. Their
outfits are of a monochrome tone which
matches the colour scheme. On alternative
music magazine’s the artists featured often
were either plain black or white clothing
which is why I chose these outfits for my band
as it creates realism and suits my genre.
I have included two feature stories which are written in the same base font
and in the conventional chosen colours. I added a white background behind
the black text and made it transparent so that it would stand out above the
black while still showing the image underneath. I created the stories
themselves to create realism as the artists mentioned are of the alternative
genre and the topic is something that I feel my audience would be
interested in.
The main feature story revolves around
the band who are featured throughout the
magazine. I wrote their name- ‘The Atomic
Nukes’ in an individual font that is
different to the other fonts as I felt that it
stood out and suited the genre as
alternative music is known for it’s
distorted and imperfect sound, where this
handwriting font looks very imperfect and
scribbled. The brush strokes underneath
the main feature helps the writing stand
out more but also suits the alternative
film. This isn’t entirely conventional,
however I have seen it featured on a few
alternative music magazines which is why I
felt it was relevant to use this technique.
The description also reveals why they are
featured in the magazine and seen as a
huge part of the issue. This is conventional
and is featured on all magazines. I
highlighted ‘new’ by putting it in red and
underlining it as I felt like it needed to
stand out as it is an important and
interesting part of the feature.
I included the barcode, price, date and issue
in the same area at the bottom of the page
as this follows conventions. The text didn’t
need to be large as every music magazine
has these pieces of information in a smaller
text. I made the font black so that it
matched the barcode and didn’t overpower
anything else on the front cover. The price is
very reasonable which I discovered by doing
my focus group.

5. The font used in the already existing NME
magazine (which is of the same genre as mine)
is similar to the font used in my magazine.

6. The plug I featured in my magazine is similar to the plug used
on the already existing ‘MOJO’ magazine which is a similar
genre to mine.

7. My masthead is also featured on the contents
page as it creates a logo and is conventional.
The placement of the masthead is also
conventional. I have stuck with the same colour
scheme to create continuity. I have also
included the headline ‘contents’ which is one
of the main features of a contents page. The
date is also beside the masthead and headline
as this is featured on many alternative music
magazines.
Page numbers and subheadings are used to
reveal what content will be on what page. I
used a realistic sum of numbers to create
realism. I achieved this by looking at already
existing music magazines to understand how
many pages of content they had for the price. I
also looked at their headlines to see what
content they included. All page features are
conventional and relate to the interests of the
fans of my chosen genre. I even mentioned the
‘underground awards’, which idea stemmed
from the already existing ‘NME awards’. I also
featured my main artist on the contents page
as the largest feature as they are the most
important story on the page seeing as they are
on the front cover. I wrote a brief detailed
piece of information to pull in and attract the
reader without revealing too much in order to
interest them and make them want to go to
the page. I also included information about ‘T
In The Park’ which is a popular festival that
many upcoming alternative acts will go to.
I used images of two alternative bands which I
took at T In The Park last year. The pictures
really show the informal gig atmosphere which
will appeal to my target audience. The other
original image I used was to show ‘the atomic
nukes’ on the set of their photoshoot. I chose
to use the most informal looking image as it is
often conventional of contents pages to do this
and it showed the bands personality. I also
included two original images to show who the
contributors are. This creates realism as it puts
a face to who helped put the magazine
together. The pictures are taken on the same
angle from the same distance as I wanted them
to look like professional headshots.
I featured the contributors to create realism
and the illusion that someone was meeting The
Atomic Nukes. It is conventional for music
magazines to include their contributors on
their contents page. I made it smaller than
everything else on the page which is also
conventional as it is not as big an interest to
the audience as the information on the bands
is.
I used a subscription plug which is often
featured on contents pages and is
conventional. This includes an offer and
information on how much you will save if you
subscribe which helps create more returning
and loyal customers. I included this in the same
colour scheme that has been used throughout.
This plug is featured in a few existing alternative magazine’s and I
thought it was bold and eye catching. It includes information on
what is inside the magazine while sticking to the colour scheme.
The large page numbers are used to
highlight the most important pages.
This is conventional and used in many
existing music magazines. The font of
the numbers is different to the rest as I
wanted them to appear thicker and
bolder so that they are separated from
everything else which highlights their
importance.
I included a page number as this is
conventional and featured on every page so
that the reader knows where they are. I
included this in the same colour scheme.

8. Here is my plug featured in the already exisiting ‘nme’
magazine which is the same genre as mine.

9. These features that are all featured on my contents page can be
seen similarly on the already existing ‘NME’ magazine.

10. I have included
page numbers in
the same style
as they have
been included
on the contents
page as this
creates a house
style and
continuity.
My image of the same band featured on the
previous two pages takes up one whole side of
a4 which is conventional of double page
spreads. I used an amp box in the image as the
mise-en-scene created realism and it was
relevant to the genre. I also created levels by
getting the two band members to sit/stand at
different heights which created a more
flattering frame. The image is a medium close
up which is also conventional framing for
bands.
I included information as to where the band’s
outfits are from as this is conventional and can
be seen on many magazines. I wrote it in a
plain black font which is the same font as the
rest of the magazine. This way it isn’t in anyway
overpowering.
I have featured a by line which is very important as it gives
credit to who has taken the photograph and who was written
the article. I made a fake name for the photographer as it
created realism. I used the same false name on the contents.
I wrote my article in three
columns, using a drop caps for
the first letter which is featured
on almost every music magazine,
therefore it is conventional.
Columns are also conventional as
they are used on every magazine
article. I stuck to the same colour
scheme.
I used pull quotes throughout the
article as this is conventional and
featured in a lot of main articles in
popular alternative music magazines. I
put them in red as this is a part of my
colour scheme. The quotes
themselves are also relevant to the
article.
I included a stand first which is
conventional and informs the
reader about the article without
giving anything away. It teases
the reader and entices them to
continue reading.
My headline was written using a different font which makes it stand out by separating it from the rest which is what I
aimed for. I stuck to the same colour scheme and made the text stand out even further by adding a red background. The
headline is the largest thing on the page which is conventional. I also used a pull quote as the headline which is also
conventional and used on many alternative music magazines.

11. The pull
quote
headline and
stand first
used in my
magazine are
similarly
featured in
the already
existing ‘NME
magazine’.