Conventions Used

The title of the magazineIt took me long time to find an appropriate name for my music magazine. Finally I came down to BASS. I have chosen this name as everyone knows that bass is a guitar used by musicians while they are creating their music. People are also familiar with a word bass itself. It is something catchy and they will be able to quickly remember it. Bass also links back to genre of my magazine-ROCK. It may suggest the audience what kind of genre the magazine is if it is difficult for them to recognize the genre by pictures or the text included on the front cover and contents page. The title is big and bold. I have used black Tahoma, 100pt., strong font.

It is conventional because a lot of music magazines look for a name that would represent music for example NME –New Musical Express.

The Key Image

First of all I have decided that the background of my image will be just blank. I have made this decision to make the image look more outstanding. Any different background of the image would make impression that there are too many things on the page therefore they will not concentrate on the main, most important thing- band on the picture. However, it does not help people find out what is the genre of the magazine. It is conventional because a lot of different magazines also make the background of the picture white.

While preparing to take the pictures I was concerned about the clothes that my models will use. I have asked them to dress up very fashionable but not too formal so that they will signify rock. I did that because it is very conventional. Every time when we look at front cover of a magazine the clothes of models- stars represent their music. For example Lady Gaga will always be dressed up in innovative sometimes crazy clothes that signify her as best as it is possible. I have also asked one of the boys to have headphones hanging down from his jacket. I wanted them to be visible so it will appeal more of the audience and link back to the contents of the magazine-music.

While making the make-up for my model I thought about making it very light. It is because Hayley Williams used to make her lips more outstanding by using a red lipstick. I have also used a bit of mascara to make the eyelashes more visible. As I have mentioned before my magazine is mostly about ‘Paramore’ that means that I had to find people that could present the band as best as they were able to. I have chosen them because in my opinion they were the most similar to the band members. Their characteristics such as hairstyle or their posture decided whether I should choose them to place on the cover of my magazine. The main problem that I have met was that the front woman of Paramore has red hair. In my college and local area I could not find any girl that would have similar hair colour. I have decided to choose this girl because her face brings bare similarities to Hayley’s face. But I was still left with the hair colour problem. Finally I decided that I will change her hair colour in Photoshop so it looks more similar.

On the picture both of the boys look straight to the camera what is conventional because we can see it in almost every magazine. On the other hand the girl is looking on one of the boys, like she was passionate about him. That shows how I have challenged the conventions. Because on the front cover of the magazine I would not expect anyone with his face turned to a side. I did that because I wanted to show something different that is not usual for magazines.

Contents page

In my primary research I have found out that people are more likely to see a lot of pictures on the contents page rather than just text. That means that they will be more attracted if I use a lot of pictures. Based on those results I have decided to place 5 pictures on the contents page. People on the pictures are also wearing clothes that signify rock. As I have mentioned before particular style of clothes will signify particular style of music, therefore it is conventional. It also links back to the contents of the magazine. They also help people to identify the genre. Through the Front Cover and Contents Page I have used the same colour shame to keep the house style of the magazine.

On the front cover I did something not conventional. I have divided the page into 2 sections. On the first section we can see the key image, the title of the magazine, main cover line and the selling lines. Under the key image we can see a picture of a bass. I have done it because it links back to the genre of my magazine and to the title. We cannot observe it many magazines. I also have not showed the whole guitar because it did not look interesting and professional.

Written contentIn the article I have included a lot of interesting information about Paramore. The interview is very informative and everyone is able to understand it. I made sure that the article will also represent the genre of the magazine. The font of the article is 11 Calibri (Body).On the Double Page Spread I have also expose some quotes from the questionnaire. It is very conventional and we can see it in many magazines. I have done that because it makes the pages look more professional and interesting.

My magazine:

EXAMPLES FROM OTHER MAGAZINES:

NME MAGAZINE Q MAGAZINE

The colour shame

The colour shame does not really represent my genre-rock. I have chosen green as I though it will appeal to wider range of audience-male and female. If I have chosen blue or pink it would make the magazine be addressed to one gender particularly therefore I decided to choose something in between that- green. Throughout the entire magazine I have used the same colour shame to keep the balance and the house style of the magazine clear. All the writing is whether in black or green so it does not mess up the house style of the magazine. It is conventional and we observe it in all magazines.