Using, developing and challenging forms/conventions of a real music magazine

What ways do my music magazine "HOUSEPARTY" do this?

I firstly had to think about what a magazine looked like. By analysing numurous amounts of music magazines designed for different audiences, i had to pick out the typical conventions, so my magazine would stay dynamic, but still have a typical magazine edge people enjoy reading and looking at.

For example, I would look at the fonts, and decide why they were like that...why did they have a certain name? why were they are certain size/font/colour? could they be changed stylistically every issue? and did they leave a memorable imprint in my head, so next time i saw that particular magazine i would remember it?

Secondly i would focus on image- what is the picture portraying? is it suiting a multiple age audience? is it focusing on a particular gender? does it appeal to both men and women?

These questions were important in understanding the magazine's style.

I focused strongly on:
Main Image - The celebrity endorsed in the magazine " BARNEYS STARDUST"
Colour - Attractive for buyers, different per issue? extracted from main image?
Magazine genre - Identified by magazines content, typography, colour, style and celebrity
Secondary images - Small, and give the reader an idea of what's in the magazine
Strapline - Bold, and dominant on the page, relating to main image
Information - What is in the magazine
Lettering - Mainly subheadings and plugs to anchor the audience through different font style
Masthead review - Unique typography, relates to magazine genre, needs to be recognisable
Plug - "Do you want the best houseparty ever?" caption entices the reader to buy the magazine
Lead story - Usually something to do with the celebrity endorsed in the magazine cover

and then considered where to place:
Date - situated near barcode, and sometimes the masthead.
Price - situated near the barcode, and again...sometimes the masthead
Issue number - Indicates to reader how many issues there have been of the magazine
Language - The context, is it formal,informal, feminine,masculine?
Celebrity endorsement - The endorsed model used as the main image- blemish free/photoshop!
Advertising - Kept to a minimal on front page- usually found in contents; Addresses, slogans and webpages for the magazine.

All these helped me develop my forms and conventions of a real music magazine because i wanted my magazine to a reflect a "normal" music magazine i had researched like "Tillate.com" for example, however i challenged the forms because i was forever trying to make my magazine unique, by the Name, Font/Logo, Colour and Image.

I did mood boards to show my target audiences interests, and also a psychological profile of one of a typical reader of my magazine "HOUSEPARTY".

These helped me develop my magazine because i could always check to see what sort of style and look my target audience was interested in, and they challenged them because i wanted my magazine to look niche- but mass marketed!!