Title: I chose the title of 'Undiscovered' for my magazine as the genre of music it is based on (indie rock/pop) often involves 'undiscovered' and bands or artists that are not mainstream. I also chose this name for my magazine as many artists featured are fairly well-known but many people will not know about them so you could say that they are undiscovered.
Mise-en-scene: The images used in my magazine challenge the normal conventions of most magazines as my images are all location shots. The image of the front cover challenges the conventions the most as the model isn't looking directly at the camera and there is a lot going on in the background. Most images for magazine covers have the model looking directly at the camera and are often taken with a plainly coloured or white background. I chose to go against this convention as having a location shot makes the audience more interested in what is going on in the photo. I also believe it will suit my audience as it makes it look more artistic. Also, the colour of the image is very different too. It is often unlikely to find a magazine cover with a dark, black and white image. However, I used this, as again, I thought it would appeal to the artistic side of my audience.
Costumes and props: The model in the photos is wearing clothes that I expect my target audience to wear. Her clothes are fairly smart and casual which would appeal to the older members of my target audience as they would appreciate her mature style. I used a book as a prop for some of my images as I felt it would appeal to my audience as I expect them to be intelligent but also reading to be one of their hobbies that they enjoy and something they could identify with. This again challenges conventions of music magazines as often, they are photographed with a musical instrument or some other music related prop.
People in photo: The person in my photo is of a similar age to my target audience. She is looking away from the camera and is reading a book with a slight smile on her face. This again doesn't follow any conventions as often many models on front covers are looking at the camera but also smiling. Her pose is sitting reading a book which gives a relaxed feel to the magazine. This is an unusual aspect of a music magazine as most involve either action shots of band members together or someone standing/ posing for the camera. Mine challenges this as she sitting, looking away.
Masthead and placement: My masthead follows the typical convention of many magazines. It is situated at the top of the front cover and stretches the whole width of the page. It is filled in a block colour which is also frequently used by many magazines. It too is the biggest font used throughout the whole of my magazine which is a typical convention. The colour I used is a shade of pink as I thought it would appeal to my female audience. This is an alternative colour for the title of a music magazine as most are black or red as then they appeal to all audiences, male and female but as mine is aimed for just females I felt it was a suitable colour to use.
Written content: The style of my writing is fairly formal but would still appeal to my audience. I didn't use slang or a very chatty style as I didn't think my audience would really appreciate it as I expect the majority of them to be well educated. However, the style I chose to use would still make my audience feel 'welcome' and they'd still enjoy reading my magazine. There is quite a lot of writing on my double page spread but I feel my audience will like this as they will be interested in the article and will want to know a lot of information about the artist. I did try to split the page up though so less writing was used by including questions that other people had asked the artist. This provides the audience with short snippets of information.
Music genre: The genre of my magazine is indie rock/pop. I tried to suggest this by including bands like 'The Script' and artists like 'James Morrison' so the audience immediately recognise the genre by the artists included. The clothes the model is wearing is what I expect my audience to wear. Also the book she is reading is 'New moon' from the 'Twilight' series which I expect my audience to have read.
Contents page: My contents page follows many of the conventions from other magazines. One convention I followed is splitting the page into features and regulars which can be found in magazines such as 'Q magazine'. It is in a clear layout with few images so the reader can clearly see what is in the magazine and it is easier for them to find what they are looking for. I chose to use just a few images so it isn't too confusing for the reader but also because I expect them to want to read what is in the magazine rather than view it by images. I also continued to use the same front for the contents title as I did on the title on the front of the magazine. This is because it follows on from the front cover and the audience can identify that it is from the same magazine. This is often used by normal magazines. Another convention I followed was to have a letter from the editor on the contents. This is found in nearly all magazines. I used this as it helped introduce the reader to my magazine and to make them feel included.
Double page spread: One convention I followed making my double page spread is using drop-cap lettering at the beginning of the article and smaller ones at the beginning of some new paragraphs. I used these to introduce the new paragraphs and to show the opening of the article. Drop-cap letters are constantly used in magazines and helps make mine look more professional. Another convention I followed was a kicker. I used this to give my audience an introduction to the article and to allow them to find out what the article was about before actually reading it. Another convention I used was pull-quotes. I used these to give the reader information and to draw them to the article. It also helped break up the body text. I also used a sidebar of questions to help get the reader involved in the article. This too helped to break up the body text. Other conventions include using white spaces and Gutters. I used both of these to make my magazine look more professional but to also bring a traditional magazine feel to my magazine. However, you could say that the images on my double page spread challenged usual conventions as the model wasn't looking at the camera and also I added cartoon images to my photographs to fit in with the topic of the article. The cartoon images are not often found in magazines however I thought the audience would appreciate the artistic twist and relevance of them to the text.
House style: All of the above does combine to create the overall house style and theme of my magazine. The theme is a new artistic, indie rock/pop style of magazine. The style is different to magazines which cover similar genres of music such as 'NME' as it focuses on just indie rock/pop whereas magazines like 'NME' and 'Q' also feature other bands from other genres. Another thing that may make my magazine individual is the fact it contains photography and fashion pages and not just music. Not many music magazines have features like that, giving my magazine less competition. My magazine is also individual as it is focused on targeting just females. I believe it would fill a huge gap in the market as most music magazines are either aimed at men or mostly read by them. I tried to create the female feel to my magazine by making the cover and contents titles pink.
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