The document discusses conventions for magazine covers and contents pages based on an analysis of existing music magazines. For a magazine cover, conventions include using a central image of a recognizable artist, placing contact information prominently, and incorporating the magazine's branding colors. Contents pages typically feature a masthead, subheadings to categorize articles, brief descriptions and page numbers for each item, and relevant images. The author applies these conventions in the design of their own magazine cover and contents pages for a young female audience, with adaptations like additional text or layered visual elements.

3. I looked at a top selling music
magazine ‘Q’ for the
conventions of a front cover of a
magazine. I found they used a
central image of a well-known
artist, in theirs they’ve used
Adele, and this is to attract
readers as she is a popular,
recognisable artist in the music
industry and someone who most
people will take an interest in.
The fact the artists is using
direct address, posing in in
quite a seductive way make
draws the reader further in and
makes it more personal for the
reader.

4. I tried to keep to the traditional
conventions of a front cover for
instance similar to the Q magazine
my main artist is largely placed in
the centre of the page and this
means people will notice her more
because she is right in the middle.
Also the mise-en-scene of my
artist will draw the attention of my
target audience more, such as the
use of direct mode of address.
This makes readers feel more
involved in the magazine, also the
fact she is smiling reflect her as a
person and maybe even the
magazine. Her smile suggests she
is fun, bubbly and happy which
can also represent the magazine.

5. I have further used mise-
en-scene by choosing an
image where the artists
is using headphones as a
prop because it shows
the audience her
commitment and love for
music, which the readers
will like because they will
think she not just in it
for the fame and she is a
genuine person, also
they link to the pop
theme.

6. The main cover line usually links to artists being featured is very large and
bold to attract people’s attention. Q has used a quote from the interview
with the artists as their cover line which most magazine do and it’s been
carefully selected so that it intrigues people to read the interview. They
have also made the name Adele much larger than the rest of the cover line
this is because it’s one of the first things the reader will notice and
therefore they will be drawn to the rest of the cover line which further
attracts people to reader. Q has done this because Adele is a major artist
so her name is larger just to represent what a major deal she is.

7. My main cover line conventionally links to my artists featured
on the cover like Q magazine does so people know who the
large image is of.
I have also added an interesting quote from the artists interview
this makes readers want to read the rest of the article.
I have further added a box just coming off the cover line which
states exclusive interview. This also makes readers want to read
the interview because its never been seen before and magazine
readers/buyers often like to know about the artists being
featured in the magazines. This means if its exclusive it is new
information that no one has heard before, which will further
make people want to read the interview.

8. They have added a recognisable
traditional masthead at the top of
the page in red and white which
makes it stand out. This means
people known straight away
which magazine it is.

9. My masthead is very thick and bold, and it is located
largely across the top of the page where it is
predominately meant to be. It really stands out,
particularly as its black and white against a light pink
background, this is because it is going against the
colour scheme.

10. The colour scheme follows this house
style which the logo has and this is the
red, white and black theme. These
colours really bring the magazine out
and so when’s it’s on the shop shelf it
entices people as it’s simplistic yet
stylish. Also the colours imply that it is
a mixed gender magazine because the
colours aren’t stereotypically bias to
one gender.

11. My magazine follows the conventions of
having three colours. These colours are
pink, purple and white which gives it a
house style making the it look more fun
and vibrant which will entice the readers
more to buy the magazine particularly
as I am aiming to a young audience, so
colours will really catch their attention.
Also pink and purple are stereotypically
girl and feminine colours so I have used
these as they are my target audience so
it is more likely to appeal to them.

12. Q have used the third hand rule
They have also colour coded their contents to
fit in with the house style theme of red, white
and black, they have also used different sized
fonts this is to differentiate the contents. The
use of the red is very effective and draws the
attention of the reader this is why they have
only coloured the most interesting things such
as well known peoples name, to entice people
to read more of the magazine.

13. I haven’t used the third rule, instead my
magazine has the advertisement of the
content all around the page. I think this
makes the page look more full which
implies the magazine is full and bursting
with interesting content.
I have also link the colour of my advertised
content in with my house style theme,
which makes the page look more fun and
exciting particularly for my target audience
as they are fairly young, it will really attract
them to read the content on the front
cover.

15. For the conventions of a
contents page I looked at the
music magazine ‘Mojo.’ Similar
to the front page the contents
page has a masthead at the top
which is very bold and large.
This create brand familiarity,
not that Mojo need it but for
new readers it helps create and
increase their brand awareness.

16. My magazine contains some
conventions similar to the magazine I
researched. For example I have
included a masthead of my magazines
name, in order to create the familiarity
and link to the front cover and whole
magazine. Also as I am a new
magazine it is good to create the
branding so new readers come to
recognise the logo/masthead. Unlike
Mojo I have added a larger heading
underneath the logo/masthead. I have
done this because it really does create
the layout and structure for the rest of
the contents page; it also simply tells
the readers this is the contents page.

17. Subheadings help breakdown the
magazine so it’s made simple for the
reader to find the articles and features
they want to read. These are a slightly
smaller than the masthead but they are
both the same font.
Also they are red which means they
stand out even more on the white
background and also it means it has
kept in with the house style colours
scheme so it ties in well with the rest
of the magazine. All this gives the
contents page more familiarity for the
reader.

18. Underneath the subheadings comes
text and information about what each
page contains, this helps the readers if
they want to find a certain page and
also attracts them as they can be
intrigued by the brief insight into
what’s inside the magazine. With this
comes page numbers next to the text,
which is there for practicality to help
the reader find the articles and
features of the magazine. These are a
gold colour which links into the colour
theme that the readers will recognise.

19. Also I have used subheadings which are very
thick and bold, so they are very noticeable on the
page in order for readers to find the things
easily. As well I have put the subheadings in
black against a white layered background to keep
in theme with the style of the logo also because
there’s lots of pink on the page it’s just
differentiated from everything else. I have also
put some information about the articles
underneath the subheadings however unlike in
the Mojo magazine I have only put a catchy one
line whereas they put a few sentences about the
artists.
This doesn’t go against the conventions of a
contents page as not all magazines have done
this but I believe the catchy one liners used are
more likely to interest my audience as they are
young teens who would probably not want to
read lots of text. Also the fact they are catchy,
and rhetorical question makes it more fun for the
reader.

20. Although I have put the page numbers
next to the information as that is one
of the most important conventions of a
contents page, as it’s how people find
the articles and features. The page
numbers are coloured purple which fits
in with my house style as I have used
the pinks and purples on my front
cover. To make them stand out more I
made them a bigger size then the
subtitle font size so they are more
obvious and noticeable to the reader.

21. Something I have done slightly
different to the Mojo magazine is that I
have layered the masthead and the
information which really makes the
noticeable and eye catching. Because
they are pink boarders around the text
and pink it mostly a girly colour so it
instantly attracts the target audience. I
think this type of layering really fills up
the page and makes it look exciting for
the reader to engage in.

22. Another convention of a contents
page is using images. They have put
an image of the main featured artist
as the biggest and every image has a
caption alongside it so the readers
know exactly where to find that
article or interview.

23. Another convention is that I have used
images of things that will be included
in the magazine similar to what Mojo
have done. For instance I have used an
image of my main artists feature which
is the biggest out of all the other
images; this is so the reader’s
attention is attracted to that image
first. I have also used images of
upcoming artists and tickets along
with these images I have added their
specific page numbers next to them so
that the readers know where to turn to
find the article.

24. However unlike the Mojo magazine I
have used an image of my front cover
and labelled it with page numbers as
to where all my features will be.
Although Mojo hasn’t done this it can
still be considered a convention as
other magazine use it such as Top of
the Pops in which I actually took
inspiration from for the idea.
Sometimes readers struggle to find the
articles or features they saw on the
front cover in the contents pages with
all the writing so this is just a more fun
and easy way for the to do so.

26. For the conventions of a double page
spread I looked at Q’s interview with
Lady Gaga. The first convention I found
was the large image of Lady Gaga the
takes up a whole page. The purpose of
the image is to initially attract the
reader, because the image is so big.
Also it represent the artists and their
personality, this is shown through
thing like the mise-en-scene, the
costume and the pose. For instance
Lady Gaga has messy hair, no clothes
on other than a necklace and she is
holding her breasts. This suggests to
people she is wild, outrageous and
confident and so this implies the
article will be the same so it makes
people want to read the interview to
find out more about her. Also the fact
the image has been edited in black and
white implies, she is quite a dark
person

27. I haven’t used a whole page for an
image of my artist like the Q magazine
did with Lady Gaga. Instead I have
filled about 3 quarters of a page with a
picture of my artist which I have used
so the readers can clearly see who the
articles about. I then added like
another column with polaroid type
pictures which are very hip and
modern because polaroid cameras are
very in fashion right now particular
with teens which are part of my target
audience therefore it fits in very well. I
decided to use the three extra little
images to show the readers more
about my artist personality.

28. In these images you can see she is
laughing, smiling ad looks as though
she is having lots of fun, and because
the readers often look at images
before reading the article it will make
them want to it more as they will see
she is fun loving and so be curious as
to why and how. I didn’t stick to the
conventional one picture on one side
of the page because I wanted my
magazines double page spread to be
more unique and different, something
that would engage my readers. Also
wanted to use more images to appeal
to my young teenage audience because
often a younger audience is drawn it
with images and visual things rather
than the text itself therefore I used
more images, to entice the audience to
read the article.

29. The columns make the article more
organised and straight forward for the
audience to read. Q has put her name
largely at the top of the page in larger
font the text because it will be one the
first things the reader see when they
turn to the article.

30. Also I have used the very conventional
3 columns for my text, I think this just
orders your text more neatly making it
easier for the reader to follow, as well
it just fills the page up nicely without
the text looking too spaced out or too
squashed together.

31. Q has put her name largely at the top
of the page in larger font the text
because it will be one the first things
the reader see when they turn to the
article. Also in case no-body has heard
of Lady Gaga before then it’s just
introducing the artist to the reader.
They have also included a large, red L
layered behind the text, which
obviously stands for Lady Gaga. This
really stands out in the article, and the
red symbolises the house style colour
scheme which is familiarity for the
reader.

32. Unlike the Q article I have pulled a
quote out from my interview, one that
is quite interesting and used it as a
sort of headline. I feel this is more
intriguing for the audience because the
quote is interesting so people will want
to read the rest of the interview to find
out things like tour or album dates. My
double page spread has sort of drifted
away from the 3 colour scheme that
was used on the front cover and in the
contents page. I have kept the hot pink
colour but not used the purple and I
haven’t used the peachy pink for my
background, instead I have used a light
grey. I feel the grey and pink gives a
more modern and stylish feel which
reflect the artists.

33. They have used the very conventional
page numbers which most magazines
have in order for the reader to know
what page they are on. Also the page
numbers link to the contents page
where it list what’s in the magazine
and the pages to find everything.

34. As well I have included page numbers which
almost every magazine will have because
partially the readers need to know what page
it is as they would have looked at the
contents page for the article or feature they
would like to read about. Page numbers are
the only way they can find what they want.

35. Similar to the Q magazine I have
included a small version
logo/masthead of the magazine in the
right hand corner just to familiarise
and remind people with it. I have done
this because my magazine is new
therefore I need to expose the readers
to my magazine’s brand, so I have
done this by using the logo/masthead
on a lots of the magazines pages.