I feel that in comparison to other existing magazines and
conventions, my cover has a variety of conventions. The conventions that I
identified back when I was researching that I feel are clearly on my cover are:
Ø Mast
head
Ø Main
image
Ø Headline
Ø Cover
lines
Ø Barcode
Ø Secondary
image
Ø House-style
Ø Punctuation
I am happy with the overall outcome of my magazine, as I
feel it is easily recognised as a magazine cover because I have used the
correct conventions and have considered the Gutenberg diagram theory when
editing and have tried to make conscious decisions in the positioning of
objects on the page.
I think if I were to do the cover again then I would have
taken the main image picture at a different angle, as there isn’t a real focus
on the front cover, unlike other covers that I analysed (Vogue). The problem I
faced was that the masthead covered too much of the main image than I intended
and ended up covering the models head and I didn’t feel that layering the
model on top of the masthead would be a good decision due to the magazine not
being well-known enough yet. I did attempt to edit it on Adobe Photoshop, but I
couldn’t work the software completely without some part of the cover deleting.
That is another thing I would change if I were to do it again; I would get some
knowledge of Adobe InDesign, as I started to use it but couldn’t get to grips
with it due to never having used the software before. In the end I ended up
using Microsoft Publisher to put my magazine cover together as I know the program
well and it was also the only software that I could easily access both at
school and at home, where I spent the majority of my editing time.
I feel like I made the right decisions with my cover
lines, as they’re relatively vague when looking at other existing magazine
covers, but that’s due to the target audience and the purpose of my magazine,
as it is completely different to others.
I spent the majority of my time planning and looking at
existing magazine covers to understand the conventions made up on a cover. The
most useful piece of research that I did was the ‘Readership Profile’ as I
could see why other magazines are popular and who their primary target audience
is and how they adapt their covers for them. Also, speaking to my target
audience was extremely beneficial as it gave me building blocks to think of the
headline and cover lines that feature on my cover. It also helped that I am a
part of the target audience age range as it meant I could also use my logic in
the editing. An example of this, was when deciding what the main image should
be, as it had to appeal to both genders.
I took a variety of
pictures for the main image, but reflecting back on the project I could have
asked the target audience for their feedback and seen which one they would have
rather seen as the front cover, but due to the time scale of the project, I
wouldn’t have had enough time to then edit the cover. I do feel that I had
enough time to edit my magazine cover, as I already had an idea of what I
wanted it to look like due to my mock-up of the cover; due to me having spent
less time on taking photos than I probably should have, meant I had time to try
out the cover in a number of different ways to see what worked best in my eyes.
Again, if I had more time then I would have liked to have the target audiences
feedback to then edit it from critic feedback.
One problem I came across during the whole process was the photography for the main image and secondary image. I recently got a new camera and I haven't had the chance to have a play on it and get to grips with how it works. So the project enabled me to do this and start building a photography portfolio. I quickly overcame this problem after taking many pictures that weren't what I intended to take and weren't of the standard that I wanted for the front cover.
One problem I came across during the whole process was the photography for the main image and secondary image. I recently got a new camera and I haven't had the chance to have a play on it and get to grips with how it works. So the project enabled me to do this and start building a photography portfolio. I quickly overcame this problem after taking many pictures that weren't what I intended to take and weren't of the standard that I wanted for the front cover.
Reflecting back on the whole process I think I have
produced a worthy magazine cover. I think it is clear who the target audience
are and have ensured that they will be interested in reading the magazine. I
feel that I understand all of the conventions that make up a magazine cover and
why they are recognisable. Other than the previous things I have mentioned, I wouldn’t
have changed any other elements in this project, but in the future I definitely
would consult the target audience before any decision making to make sure I
have made the right decisions.