1. The front page of my magazine is very conventional. The shot type used was a medium close-up which is very typical of magazines. The coverlines frame the face/torso of the model. The masthead is positioned at the top of the page and is the largest font size on the page. Also all the text is positioned on top of the image instead of having the image covering the text. The main cover line is bigger and more prominent then the rest, drawing the readers attention to the main article in the magazine. However the front page does challenge some conventions. Generally magazines tend to use sans-serif fonts for the main cover line, however we chose to use a serif font as we wanted this to be even more prominent then all the other fonts. This method of using serif fonts for the main cover line can be seen in other magazines such as some issues of the XXL magazine. The contents page is conventional and is similar to the contents page of the RWD contents page. We chose to only have images of the most prominent articles on the contents page. One way the contents page is unconventional is that we used a serif-font for the column headings. We did this to make the column headings stand out against the rest of the text. The featured article is very conventional. The beginning of the article sets the scene for where T.I is when the interview is taking place. A particular quote has been picked out of the magazine and made bigger and placed strategically in the middle. The colour scheme throughout the magazine is very cohesive. The same colour scheme was used on the front page, contents and featured article pages. 2. We chose to use T.I for the front cover of the magazine because he is a very well known and prominent artist for the genre of music we chose to work with. He has the type of background that most people from our target readership will be able to relate to. He is also as a very recent artist in the industry, ensuring that our target audience will know he is and also already have at least some knowledge about him. Since generally T.I is a non-violent person and we didn’t wish for this aspect of his life to be portrayed on the front cover, we chose not to use props, especially guns since we aim to discourage ‘violent hip-hop culture’ stereotype. He has a very relaxed figure expression. He was posed in a body warmer and jogging bottoms as this is the attire associated with his alter ego T.I.P, which was a topic we were covering in the featured article. This is also something you see many boys from our target readership wearing. The featured article contained some colloquialisms, the presumption being that our target readers will be familiar with this and be able to understand this. We chose to include some information about the fact that T.I was involved with guns to show the readers that he knew it was wring to have gotten involved with them, the consequences he faced and the lessons he learnt from the experience. 3. I would like to have my magazine on display in retail shops such as foot locker and JD Sports, which are shops that my target audience are likely to shop in on a regular basis 4. My media product is aimed at young people aged between 15-24. Generally they would be students, working part time and be very interested in the latest fashions, technology and hip-hop celebrities. 5. The front cover is used to attract my audience because the cover lines are directly about fashion, technology and the main strap-line, about the background of T.I, attracted my target audience because he’s is a very prominent artist in the hip hop music industry. 6. I used photo manipulation software to crop, re-colour and re-size my images. I used this because the original photo’s I had taken were too big and needed to be re-sized and I wanted to change the colour of the model’s body wamer which could only be done using a photo manipulation program, such as photoshop. For the actual construction of the magazine I used desktop publishing software, because this is useful for setting up the layouts, borders and organizing the pictures and text on the pages. One technology I used a lot was the World Wide Web. I used this when doing the research for my magazine. For ideas for my front cover and to research information on T.I for the featured article. I used my blog as a way of keeping track of my progress. I also used this to gain feedback for the final construction of the magazine. 7. • That I need to manage my time better to ensure that everything is completed on time • I think I work better alone then within a group, because I didn’t like the idea of having to wait on the contributions of other people before I could continue • I should do as much research as possible at the beginning to make sure I have enough materials to help me with the main construction.
Contents page write up
I wanted to create cohesion within my magazine so I decided to use the same colour scheme on my contents page.
Both the contents page and the featured have three columns. All the designs we had for the contents page looked very similar, so it wasn’t had setting up the original layout
To crop the image of t.i on the front page I used the magic wand tool in photoshop. To remove the background in the gaps between his arms I used the magic wand tool and the rubber to clean up the edges
We decided to keep the contents page rather simple and uncluttered, so only had two pictures and the two areas of text separate
Anthony designed the basic layout for the contents page. His inspiration for the contents page was partly from the RWD contents page (picture in ‘RWD CONTENTS PAGE’ POST)
The main headings on the page are in the font ‘stencil’ which is a sans-serif font. This doesn’t follow the typical conventions for a magazine, but we chose to use it so it stand out as being a bigger and bolder font compared to the rest.
All of the text on this page is in capitals, which is a common convention for magazine of this type.
Inspiration – The Source
This magazine uses serif-fonts for the column headings, as ours does.
Inspiration – XXL Magazine
This magazine uses a serif font for the main coverline, like ours does and it is for the same genre of music as ours is.
Front Cover
This is the image i used for the front page of my magazine. However once I started working on the magazine i realized that what the model was wearing would clash with the colours i was using for the colour scheme on the front cover. At first I thought I would have to take more photo’s, then I came across a tool in photoshop which meant that I wouldn’t need to re-take the photograph and just alter the shade of green he was wearing to match my colour scheme.
To do this i opened the image in photoshop and then under layers went to adjust hue/saturation
Then i selected yellows from the drop down box, and set the saturation level to -100 to turn the yellow/green body warmer and the logo on the had grey to match my colour scheme
As intended to use the same colour scheme throughout the magazine, i 
decided to change all the pictures in this way.
When I first started on the coverlines for the front page of the magazine I found that having a natural background made it hard for the text to be read. To get around this I added an outline around dthe edges of the text to make it easier to read.
To do this I typed the word, selected the layer and went to blending options and gave the text an outer glow of dark grey, the same shade of grey that I had changed his body warmer to. I used the same method when using the changing the text that was grey, except I gave it a white outer glow. I used this method for all the coverlines on my page. I did the same thing for the strapline at the top
For the main coverline on the page I followed a common convention of magazines and used this to frame the models upper body. We chose to use a serif font to make it stand out against the rest, this was also the largest font used on the page
media pack screen shot
This is the information from the RWD media pack about their readers and who they are
RWD FRONT COVER
This is the front cover from the magazine I decided to study for my research
Analysis:
The front cover of the November 2008 issue of RWD follows many of the conventions for music magazines of this genre. The target reader of this magazine are males, aged 15-24, and this is clear throughout the magazine. The overall layout is very conventional. The masthead is positioned at the top the page in the largest font, so the reader can immediately identify the name of the magazine. However the masthead of this magazine is slightly unconventional. The word ‘rewind’ has been shortened to RWD for the magazine’s title. To make this abbreviation clear beside the letter R are two sideway triangles, the connotation of this meaning the rewind sign on media devices.
The main strap line on the front cover is in the biggest font size compared to all the other strap-lines. It is further distinguished by the gradient effect, from blue to white, used. Directly underneath in a smaller font says ‘street racing’s new star’, which doesn’t just connect to the strap line but also helps to anchor the image of the racing car on the front cover. This gives the reader some information about what they can expect to see in the article. The other strap lines on this front cover are smaller in font size. The strap-lines in white are the music artists which are featured in the issue. They have strategically chosen artists that their core readership would be familiar with to act as a lure to attract the reader. The strap lines In dark blue are the different types of fashion featured.
The image used on the front cover is slightly conventional for that of a music magazine because instead of featuring a music artist features a sports car. This is due to the fact that this particular issue is a limited edition to promote the new racing game ‘Midnight Club, Los Angeles’, however as their core readership is 15-24 year old males, racing games would appeal to them. This Is used as a lure to draw game fanatics to this issue.
The colour scheme is very simple and only blue and white have been used and all the fonts are sans serif. The use of blue for the text is connected to the colour of the car which helps to anchor the image further. The simple colour scheme helps to identify the house-style of the magazine and creates uniformity.
In the bottom right rand corner of the magazine is a black circle, advertising that if you text a number you ca receive the magazine straight to your front door. This is a common marketing tool used by magazines to increase readership.
The front cover of RWD follows many of the typical conventions of music magazines for this genre.
RWD CONTENTS
This is the contents page from the magazine I decided to study for my research
Analysis:
The contents page for the November 2008 issue of RWD doesn’t share the features of the front cover. The main colours used are black and white. The font style is again sans-serif which is conventional for magazines. The text is easy to read and the page listings are divided into sub-headings to ease navigation for the reader. This is a common convention for magazines to sub-divide page listings on the contents page. The contents are divided into two sections ‘Regulars’ which are things that the reader can expect to see in every issue, and ‘Features’ which are just one off articles in this particular issue. Features are usually in depth pieces of journalism such as interviews or investigations. Under each of the sub-headings are the list of pages and simply a heading for the page. Unlike more conventional magazines, RWD has chosen not to include quotes from the article underneath the page heading. The assumption can be made that the heading of the page is enough to entice the reader. For some of the articles images have been used to represent what the article is about and the page number is used in large blocky font.
All the page headings and listings are aligned to the right, so the focus is on images of the featured article. The image representing the new game ‘Midnight Club, Los Angeles’ is the largest out of all the images used. No caption is given underneath so again we can make the assumption that their target readership will be familiar with what the image is representing.
Around the edge of the page there is a simple white border to help keep the page looking simplistic and neat.
RWD FEATURED ARTICLE
This is the featured article from the magazine that I decided to focus on for my research
Analysis:
Key Features Of Layout
· Spread across two pages
· Each column is aligned to the left
· The colour scheme is cohesive with the colour scheme used on all featured artist articles – black and white.
· The main picture used for the article is very simple, Giggs is looking out of a window. This can be depicted as him looking out on the world, as a normal person
· The questions being asked are in a bold font
· The title for the magazine is written in a serif font, the same style is used on the coverline for this article on the front page
The opening text for the article is written in a serif font
The main body of the article is written in a sans-serif font
The names of the people asking the questions is in a serif font
Key Features OF Language/Style Within Article
· The whole article is written in a question and answer format.
· The questions being asked have been submitted to by the public, his fans supposedly
· The magazine has allowed those who may not be his fans to ask him questions ‘ Giggs is sh*t. His tracks are boring! I don’t get the hype. I would rather listen to Barbara Streisand taking a sh*t. This is a very controversial statement, but I think the magazine allowed it to show that they let everyone voice their opinions.
· Parts of the article refer to the suggested criminal activities portrayed in his music, this shows the reader that the magazine are willing to ‘tell it like it is’ and are not disproving of the way things are in the real world
· Colloquial/chatty language is used throughout the magazine
· The beginning of the article sets the scene for the rest of the interview
· Slang is used, the assumption being that the magazines target audience will understand it
· The questions asked in the article are mainly focused around his music career. We can assume that this is what the readers are most interested in
