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.
