I believe that the cover of my music magazine was the section that attracted the audience the most. I believe this because it follows the minimalistic style of my magazine perfectly as it does not consist of many layers or section text; this prevents the cover from looking busy and unattractive. This minimalistic style also helps to show off the photograph of my featured artist; this is good because I am especially happy with this photograph, as I believe that the lighting and positioning of the models are perfect. If the audience follows the cover page in s ‘Z’ shape with their eyes, they will see the masthead of the page, then the faces of the two models in the band, then the bodies of the band and finally the name of the band in large bold text; this Z-Layout ensures that the magazine name and the featured artist are emphasised to the audience. This makes the cover of my magazine a key section to ensure that it is popular and appealing to the audience.

5. How did you attract/address your audience?Introduction

- Point of interest

- Audience eye movements

Front CoverMastheadDue to the previously mentioned Z-Layout of my magazine cover, the first point of interest will most likely be the masthead as it is positioned at the top right of the page (the top band of the cover), another benefit is that it will be easily visible on shop shelves, making it more noticeable and more likely to be purchased. My masthead uses the font, Adam.CG Pro, a fully capitalized bold font, and I formatted it into a square shape; this follows common conventions used in existing magazines as most mastheads use bold fonts as it makes the title stand out to the audience. The square shape makes the masthead look more attractive and interesting to the audience, making them more likely to notice and purchase the magazine. The design of my masthead was inspired by the mastheads of existing magazines, such as NME, ID and some issues of Fader.

Front CoverArtist PhotographThe models on the photograph of my front page are styled in clothing that would be appealing to the target audience of my music magazine as it follows common conventions of styles within the genre of individual/alternative. The model on the left is wearing a black jumper branded with the Hoodbats logo; this is a popular indie/alt clothes brand, meaning that it makes the magazine more appealing to the target audience. The model on the right is wearing a red checked shirt beneath a dark grey jumper and a black coat, which is lined with a matching red checkered pattern; these colours and patterns match the styling of the model on the left, making the cover look professional and attractive. I styled both of the models in this photograph with nose rings as accessories; these are commonly worn by artists of indie/alt music and those who appreciate it, meaning that the audience will be able to connect with the magazine and become more likely to purchase it. The hairstyles of the two models vary greatly and are both relatable to the audience as they are similar to hairstyles worn by indie/alt artists and by those who favour the genre. The two models are looking directly into the lens of the camera; this is commonly seen as an attractive feature of a magazine cover photograph, it also makes the audience feel as though their favourite artist is looking at them, meaning that they connect with the magazine more and are likely to purchase it.

These two members of the band The 1975 have been styled in a similar way to how I styled the members of my band, Mara Rise. I used this cover photo from NME magazine as an influence for my photographs during the research and planning stage of my coursework.

Front CoverCover LinesOn my music magazine cover, I have only used one cover line – the name of the featured artist (Mara Rise). Have done this to make the simple and minimalistic style of the whole magazine apparent to the audience as soon as they see it; this will be appealing to the target audience as they will appreciate this style, meaning that they will want to continue reading it. This artist name uses the font, Adam.CG Pro, which is fully capitalised and styled in a bold way; this helps to attract the audience’s attention to this line, meaning that they will see that my magazine features popular artists within the genre indie/alt, which is what they want to see and read about. The cover below is from issue 77 of The Fader magazine, it is a perfect example of an existing minimalistic style cover that almost has only the artist name as a cover line, just like my magazine cover. The cover line on this issue of The Fader also uses a bold font in a white colour, making it stand out, and it is positioned centrally at the bottom of the cover. This provides evidence that supports my use this kind of formatting and styling as it makes it clear that it is commonly used on the covers of popular existing magazines, proving that it would make my magazine look appealing to the audience.

Contents PageOn the contents page of my music magazine, I included artist names and interesting topics that are fitting with the individual/alternative genre and the style of the magazine alongside the main featured band that is shown on the front cover. I used a layout on my contents page that splits the page into three sections that are divided by thin black rectangles; this ensures that the page follows a set layout, preventing it from looking messy and unattractive. My contents page also contains two photographs of the band that are featured on the cover page and one photograph of another artist who is featured on the contents page. I got inspiration to use this layout for the features and photographs on my contents page from Esquire magazines, as they also split the contents pages into three, use similar formatting of text and position photographs in a similar way. This proves that using this layout is effective and that it helps to ensure that the audience purchases my magazine.

Double Page SpreadOn the right page of my double page spread, I used a masthead that is the introductory line ‘Genre Is No Restraint’, which is in reference to the style of music that my featured artist, Mara Rise, composes; this would appeal to the target audience as this is the style of music that they appreciate, as I learnt from the audience profiles that I created during in research and planning section of my coursework. The article on the left page of my double page spread uses the same three section layout as the contents page; this helps to keep the consistency of the magazine’s structure and layout, preventing it from looking messy and unattractive. I have covered the entire left page of my double page spread with a photograph of the featured band styled in the same way as they are on the front cover, I have also included a photograph of the band at the bottom of the right page in which are styled similarly; these photographs appeal to the audience as this is the kind of artist that they would like to see in an indie/alt magazine and because the models are styled in a suitably appealing way. Finally, I included the name of the band above the two models on the left page in the bold Adam.CG Pro. I formatted this text in a way that makes it slightly transparent; this ensured that the text is eye catching to the audience but still seamless on the page, meaning that it is appealing to the audience as well as attractive.