The document discusses the design choices made for a mock magazine titled "Retro Rocker". The font and positioning of the title are standard for magazines and clearly indicate the rock music focus. Minor features like ads and a website address add authenticity. Images follow rock conventions like black and white photography and masculine poses. Dark colors and clothing depict the stereotypical rock audience. While some conventions are followed, others are challenged, like using a more subdued style than mainstream rock magazines.

2. The font for my title, which is also used on other pages, is a similar to kinds used in
other rock magazines. The title for my magazine “Retro Rocker” is rather simple.
When naming my magazine I wanted a title which wasn’t really ambiguous as to who
magazine is being aimed at. “Rocker” clearly addresses that the magazine will
include rock music. The positioning of the title is standard in and takes up space the
upper-middle section. Again, this is standard of most magazines and it’s so the
people can easily see it. I have included some miscellaneous information on the front
cover such as a website for the magazine on the base and an advertisement for free
tickets. These minor features creates a great deal of authenticity and alludes to a
consumer audience. Other features like putting the title of the magazine in the top
right-hand corner are extremely common in magazine front covers, so helps with
making my magazine appear genuine.
I have used the generic
“Contents” title for the
contents page as I felt
that this feature did not
need to be challenged. I
have also used the same
font as the title for
consistency.

3. The article of my double page spread is clearly laid out. This features in
magazines such as “Classic rock”. The language is also appropriate for my
magazine as it is formal and uses a rather developed vocabulary. Consistency is
also demonstrated as a similar style is used from the previous pages. Pull quotes
are also common features of magazines which I have included.

4. In terms of mise en scene my images very much conforms to the conventions of
rock. The do models not strike youthful poses. They instead take on a very
subdued pose. The black and white imagery has been used extensively
throughout the history of rock and is still used today. The masculinity versus
femininity aspect of rock as I had to choose between following the normal
convention of rock magazines by mainly featuring male musicians or subverting
it and photographing a female model.
The common design choice in most magazines centred around the rock genre is
a relatively dark colour palette. This helps with ascertaining the target audience
as the common stereotype of men preferring darker colours and women
preferring lighter colours comes into fruition. Here I have developed this
particular convention by featuring dark clothing throughout the magazine.

5. The images of the models posing as a musicians also follows the traditional use
of a masculine figure in rock magazines. Men have been the main figurehead of
the rock genre with not as many female rock musicians in comparison. The
clothing the models wear is dark which is a stereotypically masculine colour. The
use of black and white photography alludes to this idea of a magazine
presenting late both twentieth century music and bands which still adopt their
style.
My own magazine does challenge some conventions of popular rock magazines.
One such convention I have subverted is used in the magazine “Kerrang”. This
magazine has a much more varied style in terms of colour usage and the
positioning of some features compared to my own. I opted for a much more
subdued style as I wasn’t attracting a majority youth audience. The black and
white imagery is not used extensively in mainstream rock magazines but it
features throughout my own, challenging the common conventions used in
colour scheme. The colour red also helps as a contrasting colour and to catch a
person’s attention. The overall style connotes a relatively sophisticated
magazine with the style taking place over content. The orderly fashion may
slightly subvert the unpredictability of the rock genre with its image of non-
conformity, my keeping a rather neatly structured style.