Magazine Cover Conventions Blog Reflection

 Hey everyone and welcome back to my blog! Today I will be talking about the recent magazine cover I created in class.

To start my process of learning about magazine covers, I had to start with getting a good understanding of all the conventions. At first I never knew how detailed and concise the process of making a magazine cover was, but after learning I realized how specific it was. Such things as in barcodes, datelines and coverlines are all things that work together to make the magazine eye catching. Before creating the magazine I had to evaluate what I was going to make it about. After learning about all the different conventions and genres of magazines I realized that I would like to do my magazine on travel. The visual of a beautiful setting, draws the attention of the audience and conveys an exciting and curious feeling. I was able to engage with the audience by having creative cover lines and sneak peeks of the information that is within the magazine. By using elements like puffs and banners, it increased the importance and urgency to view the magazine. Overall, having these conventions working together help the audience engage, and influence them into reading what is inside the magazine.

My cover uses conventions like a main image, being the Eiffel tower, that conveys the main idea of what the magazine is about. This captivating picture captures the attention of the audience and communicates with them. The coverline including "flights" and "hidden gems" entices the reader and makes the content appear as if they're exploring the country themself. I also used elements like puffs, banners and barcodes to make it more professional and appealing.

While creating my magazine I think my biggest success was the layout of it. I think all my elements together made the magazine appealing to the eye and were structured efficiently. Additionally, I also think my title for the magazine was also creative and a good name. However I did struggle a bit to create the puffs, and make them look almost natural. For example, the rectangular puff was a challenge to place on the magazine I encountered. Overall, I believe my result of the magazine was successful because of its appearance, however, it was a difficult thing to produce.

After doing this project I realized how important it is to include all elements and how much it contributes to the layout of the project. In the next project I want to be more efficient with how much time I spend on each element. The more I practice using InDesign, the better I will get at it. Since I was able to practice InDesign more, this will benefit me when creating my portfolio. All the skills I learned will ultimately benefit me with future projects and develop a good understanding on how to do projects like this.