What I've Learnt

Through the process of creating a school magazine and mocking up an actual magazine cover, I have begun to understand the effort and work needed to create a front cover, contents page and an article for my upcoming music magazine.

Whilst in the production process, I learnt what attributes to give the three main sections of the magazine, otherwise known as the key codes and conventions. These include eye-catching or stand-out images, informal/humorous/attention seeking language and vocabulary, and interesting articles that appeal to the target audience. These all depend on each other to function and draw the reader in to purchase and read the magazine.

The layout is another aspect of magazine production. Depending on where text, images, and coverlines are placed can determine how appealing and successful the magazine is. My chosen mock up for example, had a simple but unseen image of music legend, John Lennon, in the centre. The coverlines were placed in the top right side of the page, so they are still visible but not focused on compared to the main coverline. The text accompanying the image, "the unseen pictures, the last interview, the whole story." simply draws any fan of Lennon, The Beatles or the magazine in.

Finally the design is a key development technique that also decides the success of a magazine. Each brand will have their own design format that will make them stand-out among others, but not necessarily making them more successful. At a first glance, the brand will be identifiable to the common reader. GQ for example have their masthead in the top left corner with the two big bold letters, printed different colours depending on the main image. Q has the iconic "Q" in a red box at the top left which remains in every publication, no matter what the focus is on the cover. Time has the iconic four printed letters at the top-centre, followed by an image of a well-known figure in the world. The key word there, iconic, is another key code magazines must follow. It determines how much of an impact the magazine has on the industry and the general public.

Overall I have learnt a lot about magazines and their production process, which is useful now as the next stage of the project will be using everything I have learned in the past few weeks to produce my own independent outcome.