The Learning Process
To learn about the conventions of magazine covers, the class got a paper of a fake magazine cover with boxes that were blank. We had to fill out the different conventions of the fake magazine while also taking notes of the convention of magazine covers. We learned many of the conventions like mastheads and coverlines along with some parts of a magazine that might not always be there, like boxouts and direct addresses.
Genre Choice & How It's Conveyed
The genre I chose was the lifestyle genre, I chose that genre because I had taken pictures of my grandmothers garden and those pictures were the best images to use for this project. My magazine cover conveys the lifestyle genre through calm colors and a soft font. I tried not to make the magazine too overwhelming so it could have the "Down-to-Earth" feel that the lifestyle genre offers.
The Magazine Conventions and Their Effectiveness
I used the most common conventions like the cover image and dateline but I also had strips and puffs. The strips and puffs really accentuated the magazine feel, it made my magazine seem more interesting and had added more depth to it.
Challenges & Successes
A challenge I had was importing the picture and manipulating the text. The coverlines were constantly getting in the way of the feature article. I was constantly rearranging the text boxes and also changing their orientation.
A success I had was incorporating the puff. I searched on Google for transparent green circles and downloaded them. It was easy to see which circles were actually transparent which ones were not. I ended up downloading two different pictures with one actually being transparent. I then put text on the transparent green circle and it was not difficult at all and took me about 2 minutes.
What To Do Next & How It Will Help My Portfolio
With my newfound knowledge on InDesign, creating another magazine cover would not be as hard as it was this time. This would improve my portfolio project a lot if I changed my mind on the 2 minute movie opening and switched to the magazine cover.
