Evaluation: Conventions

From my research I found out basic conventions that music magazines have. I found out that most front covers have a single model positioned in the centre of the page or to the right. They are sometimes positioned to the right so if they are layered on top of each other on shop shelves the coverlines and information are on the left so can still be seen. I incorporated this convention into my product by positioning the model directly in the middle of this page. This makes it very noticeable on the page and stands out creating an immediate connection with the audience.

In my research I found that the coverlines on the cover always tease the contents on the magazine, as they are the first thing people see- it will mostly decide whether they are going to purchase the magazine or not. They are short and snappy and catch people's eyes as they involve highly known pop stars that the target audience want to read about. In my magazine I used short coverlines so I could take up as less room per coverline and put as many as possible on the page, to make it busy. I used high profile names such as what ‘Lily-Emma’ would be is she was real and also Bruno Mars, Ellie Goulding and the fictional ‘Isaac’. I accompanied the ‘Lily-Emma’ name with a quote from the article similar to the X-factor magazines –Katie “I’m not ready to give in yet”. A short quote from the main article makes people want to read it and draws in the audience to the article as they want to see the whole story.

From the research from typical teen magazines such as ‘Smash Hits’ and ‘X-factor magazine’ I found that they tend to have a bright colour scheme to make it appeal to the specific target market. Teen magazines involve colours such as bright yellows, pinks and blues as they appeal specifically to the age range. For my magazine I used a clear colour scheme which I continued to the contents page, this created a brand identity for my magazine and a house style. By using the combination of the blue, purple and pink it appeals to the young teen target market. I know this as it had be particularly identified from the focus group and the existing magazines.

For customer convenience all music magazine feature the constant price, bar code and issue number. I continued the use of these on my magazine to make it look more professional and included all the smaller features such as these that magazine would have conventionally.
Contents pages specifically with regards to the X-factor magazine involve not just quotes and text but pictures to accompany the text and break up the contents page. I used a second picture from the set of pictures taken for the double-page spread, to show the original pictures, it is clearly from the same set of pictures as the model is wearing the same outfit and it is more or less in the same location but in a different area in a different pose to continue to the double-page spread article.

With the three magazines I looked at they all include external advertisements on the contents page, mostly for subscriptions as such a small advertisement wouldn’t really fit in on any other page. To use this convention I included a subscription advert but made it look not too out of place and included it with the house style.

On the contents pages I looked at there was a small piece of text in the corner of one of the pages of the double page spread which shows the artists name. This is generally used for the one off reader to negotiate their way through the magazine. I used this convention within my magazine with the text ‘Lily-Emma’ in the top right hand corner. This is useful for one off readers who are not familiar with the format of the magazine to find the article they are looking for.
I was also aware of the use of fonts in my magazine. For the cover and contents page I continued the use of the same fonts to create the house style and the brand identity which would be used every issue. On the double page spread I used different fonts that went well with the colour scheme of red and I was still careful to make them readable. By using different fonts is made a difference to the magazine and identified it as an individual article. I researched a large number of fonts before adapting my final choice. By looking at all the fonts I looked for something that was clear and easy to read. I also wanted something that would be eye catching but simple to appeal to my target market.

< Final combination of colours and font I chose. Making sure it was readable and appealing colours for the target market. It looks bright and fresh which I would be able to continue through my magazine.

 I chose not to use the same colour scheme on the double page spread as I used with the cover and contents page. This makes the page stand out compared to the rest of the articles. Although it does not have the same colour scheme the same house style is continued with the sticker like circle in the top corner and the page numbering. This keeps the magazine familiar but also distinguishes it from the rest of the magazine. As with the other double page spreads I analysed I found that the introductory paragraphs to the articles are put in a larger font or bolder compared to the rest of the article. This breaks up the article and shows a clear introduction to the article.