The conventions, producer & target audience of my text

As previously mentioned, deconstructing front covers, contents pages and double page spreads of existing magazines has allowed me to gain knowledge and understanding of recurring features and conventions within typical magazines. Due to the fact that I want to make my magazine appear professional and realistic, as if it would be seen on a shelf in a shop, I will include and adapt many of these conventions into my main task. To begin, I am going to design my front cover with a main image of one female ‘artist’ dressed in high-fashion items of clothing. I have made this decision as my target audience is teenagers to young adults, many of whom are very fashion conscious and gain inspiration from celebrities. Furthermore, although I am going to take many photos of my model I believe I will use an image where by she has forward facing eyes, as if she is looking directly at the audience. I came to this conclusion as I believe it would draw people in and consequently would increase sales if it were a real magazine.  To continue, I am going to use Photoshop to make the masthead fall behind the image of the ‘artist’ as when analysing the magazine front covers I found that the artist appearing on the front cover appears to be more of a selling point than the brand of the magazine itself. As a result, I will also ensure that the main coverline (the name of the ‘artist’) is marginally larger than the masthead as I found this was a recurring feature when I deconstructed magazine front covers. I believe this is a further element to support the fact that the artist is more of a selling point than the name of the magazine.

In addition, from the deconstruction of NME, Q and Billboard contents pages I concluded that I will organise my list of contents into categories instead of one long list. This was a convention utilised in all three of the previously named contents pages and therefore would be an element necessary to ensure professionalism in the creation of my main task. Not only this, but having the contents list organised into categories makes it easier for the reader to find articles they would be interested in. I will definitely include a heading such as ‘Regulars’ or ‘In Every Issue’ as this would be helpful for regular readers or subscribers. To continue, I will ensure that stories which were introduced through coverlines on the front cover are clearly indicated on the contents page through the use of arrows, stars or a change in colour/font of the text. I have chosen to include this feature within my main task as many people buy magazines due to a story they see on the front cover which they are eager to read. As a result, I believe it is important to ensure these stories are easy to find. I will also include a small number of images on the contents page which are relevant to articles within and would therefore have the appropriate page numbers printed on top. This would make the contents page appear less boring and more suitable for my target audience.

Furthermore, I have also gathered multiple ideas on the aesthetics of my double page spread through the deconstruction of current DPS. Firstly, the main body of my article will be structured into columns as this is evidently a very important convention of magazines and would therefore assist me in ensuring my magazine conveys a professional look. I am also going to include a pull quote, or possibly more than one, as when quotations are taken out of context they can dramatically intrigue the reader and consequently prompt them to read on. Therefore I am going to consider using a pull quote as my heading, similar to that of the Top of The Pops DPS I deconstructed. On top of this, within my main task I am going to include, where possible, a drop capital. This is a further element which would ensure my DPS appeared realistic and professional. A final convention which I am going to include within my DPS is that of making the article appear as though it is a regular feature within the magazine. This would be done by writing a small heading such as ‘This Week Lucy Meets...’ and naming the artist. As a result, my DPS would be under the ‘Regulars’ or ‘In Every Issue’ heading on the contents page. Additionally, I believe I am going to set my interview out in question and answer format as the TOTP DPS was. I decided upon this as the information appears less daunting to read for the younger of my target audience and would also allow me to include non-fluency features which would make the audience feel closer to the artist as they would learn exactly how they interact.

Overall, I am going to maintain a very simple colour scheme, preferably with 3 colours. I have decided upon this as I don’t want my main task to appear over-crowded or childish as this would not be suitable for my target audience of teenagers to young adults. A further way in which I will attempt to maintain this simplistic feel is through the use of a small number of fonts. I do not want my fonts to vary dramatically as I believe this would make my main task appear unprofessional due to the fact that I did not come across this in any of the deconstructions I carried out.

If my magazine were to be produced for sale or distribution to the ‘real world’ I believe it would be produced by Hearst Magazines UK. I came to this conclusion as this is the institution which produces ‘Reveal’, a magazine which is suitable for my target audience. Not only this, but Reveal includes elements which I have previously mentioned I may adapt into my own magazine such as ‘Worst Dressed Celebrities of The Week’ and therefore appears as a suitable institution. Furthermore, as stated within my institutional research this company ensures that their websites are suitable for function on smartphones and have also launched an App. My target audience use their mobile phones to an extreme extent and therefore I believe it would be necessary for my magazines website to function well on their mobiles and also have an App which they could download.

As stated previously, my target audience is teenagers to young adults (14-29) of both genders. I believe they would be more city and town orientated as opposed to those who prefer the countryside and the outdoors due to the fact that this is a music magazine focused on Urban, R&B and Pop music. On top of this, my target audience is those who are interested in fashion and the latest trends presented by celebrities. I believe these are characteristics of the majority of people within my selected age range due to the fact that I, my friends, boyfriend and sister all fit into this category and possess the above characteristics. To continue, not only would my target audience be interested in the music artists and bands produce, but in the artists themselves and the ‘gossip’ behind their life. I have concluded this as although within my interview on my DPS I am going to include vital information about the artists single/album/tour, I would also like to include more personal questions, such as how the Justin Bieber DPS focused on his relationship with Selena Gomez.

In conclusion, I believe my magazine would be on sale in newsagents and corner shops as well as supermarkets such as Asda and Morrisons. This is because the younger of my target audience would be more likely to pick it up at their corner shop where as the older may purchase it during their weekly shop. The reason I have deemed the above places as suitable is because they all sell a wide variety of magazines, separated into categories. As a result, my magazine would be appropriate for those who would usually buy a music magazine and a ‘gossip’ magazine, such as Now, as it would be a bit like the two combined despite the fact that it would only include gossip about those within the music industry as opposed to actors/actresses and socialites which are included in other magazines.