2. It is not hard to see an improvement in my work when
comparing my induction task school magazine cover
to my rock magazine cover.
When doing my induction task I had done no
research into the conventions of a magazine cover. I
didn’t properly consider the colours I used, the image
and shot type I used, the fonts I chose or even the
layout of my magazine.
On the other hand for my rock music magazine I did
a lot of research into the different conventions of not
only music magazines but the rock genre, and I did
this in a lot of detail. And I have used these
conventions on my magazine cover to make a very
effective cover.
On my music cover I considered the use of colours very carefully. I did a lot of internet research and also
questionnaires to find out what colours are conventional for the rock genre. I found out that black, white, red and
yellow where all very conventional. I also took a lot more consideration into the layout and content on my
magazine cover. My school magazine follows the route of the eye but apart from that it really isn't conventional.
My rock magazine follows the route of the eye also, with the masthead in the top left and the main image in the
middle with the cover lines around the outside. Also along the bottom I have put a list of featuring bands which is
very conventional for the rock genre. The fonts I used for my school magazine are basic, unconventional publisher
fonts but on my magazine cover I have put a lot more thought into my fonts. They are very conventional for the
rock genre and I know this through my research into the genre. The main image on my magazine may be slightly
conventional but it is not as planned or thought out as my rock magazine cover. Rather than just a picture of a girl
in school uniform standing against a wall I have taken consideration into my images and taken them purposely to
be able to take out the background as easily as possible. Overall my progress is clear to see in terms of the
conventions of my magazine covers.

3. My progress is also obvious when you compare my
draft layout of my contents page with my the
contents page I have made for my rock magazine.
The layout of my draft does feature some
conventional things including the heading at the top
and the images with the main contents text. But
overall my rock magazine contents page is much
better in terms of layout. It features a main image
and then smaller images. The text is at the bottom of
the split page. This is very conventional for the rock
genre. Also I have put in a small part about posters in
the magazine and also a subscription
advertisement, and finally an editor’s message, these
are all very conventional for rock magazine contents
pages.

4. For my school magazine cover I didn’t take much
consideration into the photography of my image. But
for the images in my rock magazine I took much
more consideration and planed them out much
more. For my school magazine I just took a picture of
a friend in school uniform, but for my rock magazine I
tried to take pictures of conventional looking people
for the rock genre. I used mostly dark uniform with
some white. This is conventional for the genre also.
And in terms of props I tried to be as conventional as I
possibly could using things like guitars, microphones
and drum sticks. I also used a lot of conventional mid
shots that enabled me to not only show the emotion
of the ‘artists’ but also their body language. I tried to
make my images connote violence and aggression
and I feel that they do this effectively.

5. For my school magazine colour I didn’t do any
editing for my image. This has changed for my rock
magazine as I found it to be very conventional to
have the images without any form of
background, this appeared a lot in Kerrang
magazine and I believe it looks affective for the
genre. To remove the backgrounds I used
Photoshop, and before this project I had no
Photoshop experience but now I feel I have
progressed enough to use it comfortably.

6. The layout of my school magazine does fit the rout of
the eye, and includes the masthead in the top
left, and cover stories at the bottom, it doesn’t have
a professional layout. After research into the layouts
of existing rock magazines I made my mine to
resemble a similar layout to those. This includes the
masthead in the top left, the main image in the
centre, the main cover story in the middle with the
main image and the smaller cover stories around the
outside. I also added the poster advertisement on the
side and a list of the featuring artists/bands at the
bottom, I found this to be very conventional for the
rock genre. The main progression I have made is
knowing the types of things that appear on a
magazine cover and knowing where they will go.
As for my contents pages, I think there is a big
progression there also. When making the layout for
my school contents page I wasn’t aware of some of
the things that would appear on a normal content
page. This includes the page divide that is very
common.

7. The fonts I used for my school magazine were very
poorly thought out. They are basic publisher fonts and
they really aren’t very good. On the other hand for
my rock magazine, I have thought into my fonts
much more using a variety of fonts from the internet
that are very conventional and look good. This shows
my progression as I now understand the conventions
of magazine fonts.

8. For my school magazine I didn’t take much
consideration into the colours that I have used. This
change when it came to my rock magazine as I
chose my colours after a lot of research into the rock
genre. The colours I have used for my rock magazine
are very similar to the ones I used for my school
magazine. This is only because the conventional
colours for the rock genre happen to be colours that I
like and chose for my induction school magazine.

9. Before studying media at AS Level, I did not know
what mode of address was, now I know that it is the
way the magazine puts itself across to the
audience, and how it talks to the audience. My
school magazine has no real mode of address. But
now I know about mode of address and have made
my rock magazine very conventional.