1. Eye contact is used here to create power. This will mean the model is connecting to the audience and will result in the audience wanting to read this. The mass head here is drowned out by the rest of the text as they are all the same colour and size and so it is hard to differentiate between the information. The most important information is usually on the left because of the way we read. This is shown here and will therefore inform the reader as to what is the most important bit of information and what to read first. The blue eye shadow around the eyes, helps with the connection of which the reader will receive and helps to draw their attention to the models eyes. The blue colour of the eye shadow also links to the three colour rule. This means that another colour hasn’t had to be chosen and the page isn’t as busy. This makes it easy on the eyes to read. The logo for this particular magazine company doesn’t suit the colour’s on this magazine. This could mean that the brand should re-evaluate their logo colour as the bright colour of the logo is very overpowering and therefore will find it hard to get the logo to suit the colours on any magazine and so a more subtle colour should be used such as a deeper red or a more simple colour. An accurate amount of plugs are used on the front cover. Using the right amount of content on the front is crucial when linking to the contents page as well as what is in the actual magazine. Although, using to much information could lead to an overcrowded page. The word ‘gig’ written in the biggest font at the left of the page is called a cover line. As it is the biggest text on the page, it tells the reader that this is the most important bit of information, informing them about an upcoming gig. The main base for the text is the models hair, this can allow text to be written over it and will therefore mean, more information can be shown. The white text and the red hair contrast nicely to each other as, the dark red hair allows the text to be seen. Although, there is still colour coming through behind the text which adds colour and excitement. The shot type which is used here is a ‘close up’, this is the correct shot type for a magazine.

2. . I have used the generic conventions; a barcode, a date, the price and the logo of the magazine which are usually typical of a magazine. I have also challenged the features normally used in a (music) magazine as I did not follow the normal rule of having the main picture in the centre of the page and instead re placed it to have it by the side of the page so that I had more room for the plugs/important information needing to be on this page. Doing so meant that I therefore had more room so that I could display the plugs here and also meant that the page wasn’t over crowded. Lastly, I developed a few of the typical features usually used in a magazine. The features that I developed were the layering of the page. As I decided to include a lot of information and a variety of different tones, I therefore felt that the page should be layered so that it gave an overall professional finish to the magazine. As the front cover of the magazine is the first page to be seen when buying a magazine, I felt that I had to create a professional yet edgy look to the magazine so that the target audience could justify spending money on a good quality product as well as being intrigued by what it had to give.

3. This magazine follows the three colour rule as it uses; reds, blues and whites. This will mean that the page isn’t to overpowering. Everything on the contents page is categorized. This allows the reader to differentiate between the information. As the sub headings are in a different colour and size font to the information under it. This will mean that the information can be seen clearly apart from the heading. The three colour rule has not been followed here as they have started to use red, white and black. Although other colours seem to pop up here in the variety of pictures they use. Not using the three colour rule may result in the page being overcrowded and appear to busy for the audience to read it. A bold mass head has been used here. This is because they have used a simple black font for the mass head which is clearly separated from the rest of the text/page. As the mass head is a bigger sized text, this allows the reader to know that this is the mass head as it’s the biggest sized text on the page and so therefore is the most important text. Multiple pictures have been put on the left hand side of the page, this is good as the pictures represent the front page and are linked to the particular pages that each picture represents in the magazine. It also uses different sized pictures, this will tell the reader of each importance of each pictures (the bigger the image—the more important it is, whereas the smaller the image—the less important the image). Although there is a bad point about using multiple of pictures instead of one picture. Using multiple pictures could create a busy page and messy page, so using only one long image down the side of the page would create a clearer view and decrease the busy aspect to the page. Because this contents page uses multiple pictures, this means that they have used a variety of shot types. These shot types includes; A medium shot type, A number of close-ups, A very long shot type and A medium close-up. Using a more close up shot type could show the importance of the image. This particular magazine doesn’t use a logo which could potentially mean that the intended audience or any audience member could forget about the magazine quite easily as it doesn’t have its own personal branding to it. Using a logo will show the reader straight away as to the branding of the magazine and this may increase its popularity. This contents page uses a lot of bold fonts, these fonts are usually in bold/stand out colours. Using a bolder font with the correct colour choice will tell the reader of the importance of a bit of text.

4. My contents page is also typically conventional of a magazine as it uses many of the generic conventions of which other magazines also use. These similarities include; the typical layout of the contents page. I structured the page of my contents page in the same layout as any other magazine would. I structured the text on the right hand side of the page whilst the main photo was placed on the left hand side. Using this typical feature means that there is no room for overcrowding. Another feature I have used which is typical of a magazine is the three colour rule. I did this so that my magazine had its own personal touch and so could stand out on its own with its own unique colour scheme. Using the three colour rule also prevents the page from looking busy and becoming too overcrowded. Although, I challenged the conventions I used on the contents page as I only used one main photo and most magazines used a range of photos to grab the reader’s attention. The photos they use can also relate back to the different pages and articles in the magazine. Only using one photo on my contents page may lose the excitement of the magazine and will not allow people to get an idea of the magazine they are about to read.

5. Eye contact is displayed on the page of the model. Although the artist is in black and white, eye contact is used to create a bond between the reader and the model, this will mean that the reader is more likely drawn to the text. The branding logo of the magazine is shown at the bottom of the page. As the logo is of a red colour, this links to the letter ‘L’ displayed in the middle of the page of the text. Using the same colour twice means that the page wont become to overcrowded and taken over by bright colours. As the main base of the double page spread is black and white, this allows the magazine to use a bright colour of their choice and will be able to get away with it. The page numbers are important as not only do these indicate to the audience as to what page a certain topic is on but it is also used so that when the reader reads the contents page, they can then link back to the information in the magazine by looking at the page number next to the title shown on the contents page. The sub-heading of ‘lady gaga’ includes a big impact on this page. The font of the word ‘lady’ is written in italics. This is done as the word ‘lady’ is used to identify an elegant women and so using an elegant style of font represents this. The font of the word ‘gaga’ is in a completely different font as it is seen to be more robotic and so therefore the text is in a more sharper font and this is why capital letters are used here. The picture of Lady Gaga has been changed to a black and white effect, this is because a large ‘L’ letter has been placed over the text in a bright red colour. A bright red colour could be used to show its importance/significance. Because the main picture is black and white, this could mean that they would rather draw the reader to the text and so they do not want to out shine the text. And so adding colour will draw the reader to it. The contact details show that you can get more articles. At the bottom of this double page spread, an e-mail address is used as contact information. This could be used to track when the next issue of this magazine is coming out.

6. In my double page spread, the layout of the page was conventional of a magazine as it placed the text on the right and the picture on the left. This is conventional of a magazine as many magazines do this as it forms and easy and clear view for the audience to put their eyes on. Although, many magazines don’t just use one photo, they use a variety of photos yet I felt that using one photo will grab the audience’s attention and will allow them not to get too distracted by the photo and focus on the text. Although, my double page spread doesn’t use all of the typical features of a magazine as it doesn’t use a the enlarged contrasted letter usually placed behind the text of the double page spread, doing this gives it a contrasting affect and different tones to make it more interesting. This is usually a typical feature to a double page spread and so not using this could mean that it is not very conventional and doesn’t fit the criteria of a typical magazine.