I am now at a stage where I am ready to make my own magazine cover. To make my magazine a success I will have to use all of the knowledge that I have gained over the past weeks and consider many aspects that I have listed below.

Blumler and Katz: Blumler and Katz’s uses and gratifications theory will be highly useful when I make my own magazine cover as I will try to fit into as many uses as possible in order to appeal to the largest audience possible and get the largest amount of sales that I can. The main purpose of a magazine is to inform the reader however I also want my audience to be entertained and enjoy reading the magazine while also feel like their sense of identity is being strengthened.

Camera Use: I will use specific camera angles and distances when photographing my cover star in order to convey my intended narrative. For a magazine cover I would most likely use a mid-shot or a close up in order to see the cover star’s emotion so that the audience feels connected to the star. The angle that the camera is at is also important as a low angle shot suggests that the star is superior and has a lot of power, which would potentially be used in a rap magazine, however a high angle is used to portray vulnerability and fear.

Mise en scene: I will need to consider every aspect of mise en scene when creating my magazine in order to portray my intended narrative.

• Costume – The costume that my cover star is wearing is highly important when trying to convey a specific music genre for example a RnB star will typically wear chains but a female folk artist will most likely be wearing a long flowy dress to convey that she is free spirited.
• Lighting – High level lighting would be most useful when photographing my cover star so that you can clearly see the cover star’s emotion however lower level lighting could be used to convey a certain idea for example mystery.
• Acting – The facial expression of the cover star is very important in conveying a certain genre for example a punk artist would typically have an angry or aggressive facial expression.
• Make up and hair – For some genres of music hair and make up helps massively to convey the chosen genre for example a female folk or indie folk artist would typically have long, wavy hair and minimal makeup to portray that they are care-free.
• Props – Some genres of music have specific prop associations which would be useful to have on the cover for example in a country and western magazine the cover star would most likely be holding an acoustic guitar as that is a convention of the genre.
• Setting – If the cover star is going to be photographed in a specific location, the setting has to be appropriate for the genre of music for example a folk artist would most likely be photographed in nature to convey that they’re free spirited.

Layout: When I create my magazine cover I will need to include all the conventions of a magazine cover like a masthead, plugs and cover lines.

Typography: Different fonts help to portray different narratives so it is important to choose them correctly including what family of typeface to use e.g sans serif.

Colour Palate: Different music genres have different typical colour palates for example indie folk generally has a pastel colour palate.

AIDA: AIDA stands for attention, interest, desire and action. All these need to be thought about when I am creating my magazine as in order to get good sales my magazine needs to create all of these aspects for the audience.

Target Audience: Audience psychographics and demographics need to be thought about when I am creating my music magazine so that I am targeting my magazine to the right audience. If I attract the intended target audience my music magazine should be a success.