As I have recently annotated, analysed and deconstructed 3 Front Covers, 3 Contents Pages and 3 Double Page Spreads, I have gained various ares of knowledge surrounding the layouts, conventions, images and text of these particular pages in magazines. This has really helped me within this course and gives me a good base of knowledge surrounding what to include in each page and how to go about setting out my product. This will help me to create a professional outcome and gives me aspects of inspiration in order to prepare me to make my practical product.
In terms of a front cover, I have learned various conventions that are typically used, for example, a masthead is very important in order to inform your audience on the name of your magazine as well as what they are currently reading. I will definitely use a masthead in my final product. An image generally covers the whole of the front page, with it's focus (e.g. artist) covering at least two thirds of the page. I feel that this is an extremely important part of my front cover. Cover lines, I found, were also very common on front covers in order to inform the audience of what is in the particular issue in order to persuade them to guide it. It is apparent that not all magazine covers have as many cover lines, with some having none. I believe these types of magazines would be those that does necessarily have to make the magazine look worth buying, due to the name selling itself, for example, Nylon. From this, I am not sure whether I will use cover lines. For the purpose of the place in which the magazine is sold, most magazines have a barcode and price on the front cover (unless the magazine is free), which I see as a highly important convention of the front cover, so will most definitely be using. Another convention used frequently, I found, was a sell line, a one statement/sentence summing the magazine up and putting it forward in a positive light. I believe that a lot of these were very punchy and self-proud, and would certainly convince me to buy the magazine if I spotted it in a shop, therefore I will be using a sell line. Issue number and date were also found on most front covers, both being extremely informative and organised, reminding the audience of which issue this is and when it has been published, in order for them to ensure they are purchasing/looking at/reading the correct issue. I will be using both of these conventions. Finally, on the front cover, some magazines placed their website address on the front cover. This was used so that the audience can be reached on the most frequently used platform by the magazine; the internet. The magazine will reach a far wider audience by using the internet and various aspects of social media. However, the website URL was printed several times on almost every page on the magazines I looked at. I believe that using a website URL would be a positive aspect of my magazine, so I will include it, although I don't believe I will be using it on the front cover (rather on contents, articles etc).
The contents page was one of the other pages that included a website link. I believe this would be a more suitable place to have a website URL, so I will be including one in my contents page. One of the main aspects of the contents page is the page title, informing the audience of what page they are on. I will be using a page title in my own product. Alongside this, there is the date and issue of the magazine to inform the audience of the time and issue they are reading. Predominantly, the contents of the magazine are placed on the either side of the page, with the page number and a brief summary of what article is on the page. I will be using this in my product as it is the sole reasoning behind a contents page. Other than this, there is a pull quote taken from the main article, giving a hint as to what will be in the article, and causing the reader to want to read on. I believe this is a good convention, I am not sure whether I will use it, though.
In relation to the double page spread, there is an article title, usually something creative, which I will certainly be using, as well as the artist in question's name at the top of the page in order to inform the audience of who they are reading about. I believe that this is also a key convention and will be using it in my own product. In the bottom of each page, there are page numbers, a vital convention, as well as the name of the magazine to reiterate to the audience, what they are reading. Alongside this, there is sometimes some social media links to reach a wider audience on a different platform, and a subscription link, in case the reader is enjoying the magazine and wants to be automatically sent each issue, whilst paying in bulk. I will certainly consider using the social media links, however I will not be using the subscription link as I feel that if I do use it, I would rather feature the information on a more suitable page, for example, the contents page. The double page spread is another page that features the issue number/name, often also featured at the bottom of the page and will be a feature I will be using in my product. Moreover, the text is in a column (traditional) layout. I believe using this layout will make my product look realistic and professional. It is evident that at the beginning of certain paragraphs (especially the first) a drop letter is used, which is considerable larger than the rest of the text, and is usually printed in a decorative font. I believe that this encourages the readers eye to the text and therefore causes them to want to read on, so I will be using this convention. Finally in the double page spread, text and image credits are often used in order to identify those who put effort into bringing the article to the magazine and its readers, so I will most likely use this feature within my magazine.
Overall, the deconstructions enhanced my knowledge surrounding various aspects and conventions found in the pages of magazines that I will be creating. From here, I feel that I will be able to create a more realistic and professional product, and this research has allowed me to explore ideas that will guide me when deciding what I will/will not include in my final product.
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