The document discusses the conventions used in magazine design that the author's music magazine follows, such as including a model on the cover looking at the reader, using text layers for depth, and promoting offers; it also explains some conventions the magazine breaks like having the model working instead of looking at the reader. The author believes following most conventions helps the magazine be recognizable while small breaks in convention add uniqueness.

2. Just how does my music magazine compare to the
conventions of other such magazines?
 The model is on a fairly blank background
 The eyes of the model look at the reader
 The model wears clothes suitable for their image
 Text layering is used to give the magazine depth
 Text never placed in front of the model
 Words extra and exclusive used to lure reader
 Multiple text colours but no more than 5
 Different font styles used to add variation
 Pictures in medium close-up
 Issue number, price and barcode are small You whilst they were working, instead they would look at
 Cover lines show what's in the magazine what they’re doing, I framed the picture as a mid shot and
 Exclamation marks used to add emphasis also framed the picture so that the model would be on the
 Mast heads give brand Identity left hand side of the page, so that text could be placed
 Competitions or offers promoted easily on the left of the page, but also so that the model
appears to be looking at the cover lines drawing your
As you can see from the list above, my magazines front attention to them and consequently what's inside the
cover conforms to most of the typical music magazines magazine hopefully enticing someone to pick the magazine
conventions, however I think that my magazine breaks one up and buy it. Another convention I have mildly broken is
of the most common conventions of a typical magazine in by having the issue number in a large font, I thought this
that the model is not looking at the reader, I believe in this was a good idea as this is the magazines first issue, and
case this breaking of convention is justified, my magazine is the prominent issue number advertises this well, I also like
all about how music is made for film and TV, so my model is the look of the issue number as it is anchored to the side
working at a sound mixing desk, if someone were to be angle of the mixing desk.
busily working they wouldn’t stop to look at

3. I do however think that it is good that my magazine follows many of the
conventions of a traditional music magazine, as if it were too far and
unconventional potential readers mightn’t realise that it was a music
magazine without closer inspection, presumably leading to a lot less sales.
I have decided to have a consistent colour scheme throughout the
magazine, with blue yellow black and white, this is shown on the front cover
in the gradient fill background, (plain as per convention) blue and off blue of
the cover line text and the stripes of blue and yellow in both the upper right
and lower left corners of the magazine.
The magazines cover lines are written in two alternating fonts in alternating
colours to add variety and words such as exclusive used to entice the reader
into read the magazine, like a conventional magazine.
I think that my magazines masthead helps compliments the magazines
identity, the title of my magazine is soundtrack, the font is made up of three
different lines (or tracks) curving to form the shape of each letter, and the
tag line below the mast head of “Film and TV Sound Magazine” simply and
effectively tells a potential reader what the magazine is about without
sounding vauge or pretentious. Its just straight to the point.

4. I think that my contents page both conforms to and
breaks some conventions of a usual music magazine.
oA message from the editor is included
oThe message is written in an informal fashion
oPictures, page numbers and contents are in groups
oThe pictures and pages are anchored
oThe colour scheme from the front page is repeated
oImportant stories are bigger
oThe logo and title are repeated
oThere is no empty space
As you can see from the list above it meets many of the
conventions of a magazine contents page that we noted in
class, however I think the main thing my work does to
challenge a convention we didn’t list is that it is made of
two pages as opposed to one page as per convention. I
decided to do this as the contents page is usually on the The contents page has a table of pictures with related page
third page (right hand side) and not much on the left, so I numbers inset, so the reader can see which pictures most
decided to add a large picture of some speakers, grey interest them, look up a brief description in the contents and find
scaled, posterized, then re coloured to go with my colour the page, I think that this gives the contents page a clean and
scheme, overlaying this with a quote, I think this adds to organised look, the letter from the editor is written in an informal
the magazines aesthetics and further reinforces the style in the top right, with an advertisement for subscriptions in
magazines brand identity. the bottom left, to help promote future sales, as this is the first
issue and fill in space so the contents page doesn’t look empty.
The rest of the contents page though is relatively on
convention.

5. The masthead of my magazine is on a clear white background, this is so the
title is clean, clear and easy to read. Helping give the magazine a stronger
brand identity, this helps distinguish the magazine from similar ones. The
font chosen for my masthead is big and bold in an interesting font which
should help grab the readers attention.
I took this image of Mike in the music room at Priestley College, the lighting
was not ideal and this caused mikes skin and hair to look washed out,
because of this I used Photoshop to edit the colour levels of the photo
increasing contrast, and creating an overlay layer over his hair to remove too
much shine from the bright un natural lights, I cut him and the desk from the
background using the background eraser tool and used the spot healing
brush to get rid of the shine in his glasses, I then gave him a drop shadow to
give him some depth
The word exclusive is used to entice the reader, suggesting the magazine is
special among other similar magazines
The font style and colour alternate between two different styles and colours
to add variation to them making tem more interesting, the cover lines also
have a slight drop shadow which helps give the page some depth. The fonts
are also made so that they stand out from the pages background making
them easier for a potential customer to read
The font style and colour alternate between two different styles and colours
to add variation to them making tem more interesting, the cover lines also
have a slight drop shadow which helps give the page some depth.
Here is a special offer to help entice the reader
The issue number is placed here large to draw attention to the fact that this
is the first issue of a new magazine, it is also placed at an angle so that it
appears to line up with the angle of the mixing desk
The price, frequency, barcode and web address are printed in small here,
this is so the customer knows information about the magazine and where to
look online for more information about it, a common feature of magazines in
general

6. I have used the title of my magazine in the contents page, helping
implement brand identity
The art page adds to the overall aesthetic of the contents page and
appeals to our arty target audience, its colours are also the same as the
colour scheme again helping to implement brand identity
These images are specially made to look both interesting and slightly
mysterious grabbing the readers attention compelling them to look at the
chart below to find out more from a small description. They can then look
up the page number and turn to it
The editors message is written in an informal and friendly style, designed to
sound as if the writer is writing directly to the reader, this should naturally
appeal to them and give them a sense of connection and involvement with
the magazine, this could inspire some form of brand loyalty from the reader
causing them to continue to buy the magazine the letter is even signed at
the end, but using a shortened down more informal version of the editors
name
This is an advert for future subscriptions to the magazine, the advert offers
a special offer giving the first 3 issues for £2 each, this is advertised in the
bubble, and using exclamation marks for added emphasis, helping entice
the reader, into future sales promoting that a subscription is a good saving
for them, this is also good for the magazine as it guarantees a definite
monthly income

7. The caption of the photo helps anchor what is
happening in the image to what is being written
about in the text, linking the two
Here is a key quote from the article, it can help
the reader tell at a glance the sort of article
they’re looking at, it also helps them get a
feeling about if they’d like the article or not
In this image the model looks away from the
camera in an over the shoulder shot, I did this
so that he looks like a busy professional, but
also being able to see what he’s working on can
help include the audience in the action, they can
see what he does making them feel more
included in the story, and have a stronger
positive feeling towards the magazine, as if
they’ve connected with it in some way
The article is written in a quite informal style,
just like the transcript of a chat, this helps the
reader follow the flow of the interview and helps
them imagine the peoples voices inside their
heads, again making them feel more involved
The logo is again repeated to reinforce brand
identity and awareness

8.  I think that the media organization most likely to distribute my magazine is IPC media, this is
 as the group seems to publish the most niche magazines such as volksworld, superyacht and
 niche magazines which may also interest the people my magazine is aimed at such as amateur
 photographer, I think meaning that my magazine fits in well with their current output.
 I think that the best sort of stockist for my magazine are specialist record or music shops, recording
 equipment shops, instrument stockists, college or university libraries, this is because my magazine
 is aimed at quite a niche audience and so probably wouldn’t have a huge circulation, and probably
 wouldn’t be suitable to a more general stockist such as WHSmith or smaller newsagents, which
 is why the magazine would be stocked in places that sell related equipment or in education
 establishments where film and media students could buy the magazine to help with their learning.

9. How my magazine represents people
On the front of my magazine is my model, Mike. Mike is a music teacher at Priestley College, I
think he is a good representation of someone who works professionally in the music industry,
and his funky glasses and cool hair are representative of the sort of independent film makers the
magazine is aimed at, mikes pose also represents something about the type of people who work in
the creative industries, he’s looking at what he’s doing working hard. This idea is also evident in the
other images of people in my magazine, no one’s just standing around they’re all at work, I think
this helps set them up as positive role models to the readers, and can be a sort of inspiration that
they too can do this sort of thing if they put the effort in and learn.
Out of the four people shown in my magazine 3 are male, one female, and it might be a good
idea to add another female to the magazine however this is indicative of the industry which does
seem more male dominated. Another thing I might want to look at should future issues be made
would be to include people from other ethnicities or disabled people, as all 4 people shown in the
magazine are white, however I think it’s important not to necessarily actively think about this. As
really it shouldn’t make much different, it’s just nice for all types of people to be represented in my
magazine.

10. Click to play the photo story.

11. Click to start the short film

12. Here is some work I have
made in Photoshop, the
first is my magazine, the
other is a poster for the
colleges storytelling
evening that I made after
making my magazine, I
think it is a good example
of how I have learned to
use the program and have
put that learning into
practice. before making the
magazine, I had only a
basic understanding of the
program and it confused
me but now I have learnt
how to use it properly and I feel quite confident in using Quark, after learning how to use it to
also learned many new easily sort text into columns and to use the wrap around feature so that
techniques, letting me the words fit perfectly around my images, however I also feel that there
make the images I want. I is some room for improvement, as I find it hard to keep the layer
have also learnt how to use ordering simple and I don’t really like how the program limits the size of
Quark Xpress, after no your images as this can sometimes lead to photos being the right size
previous experience but not show enough of the image.