Conventions

Convention	Genre Convention	How will this inform your own planning?
Masthead	The magazines I am looking at are Trap Magazine, BIG UP and RWD. All three of these magazines are of the same grime/rap/urban genre and all have a similar masthead. It is usually centre of the top of the magazine front cover and can sometimes be covered up by the model in the main image to show familiarity.	I will also keep my masthead simple and familiar as I want it to be remembered. I would like it to be centre of the page however that might change due to the main image.
Colours	All three magazines share a similar pattern when it comes to colours. Usually the keep background of dark colours (greys and cloudy whites) and then have a brighter colour for the masthead and sell lines (purples, pinks and reds).	I like this contrast idea as it adds effect to the magazine and gives it a sense of sophistication and class which I would like my magazine to have.
Fonts	The mastheads are usually simple however memorable. Simplicity is key as the magazines have a classy house style.	From this research I have decided I will also use simple and plain font to keep the focus on the main image. A few examples of fonts I will use is: TIMES NEW ROMAN and LUCIDA FAX
Images- ·         Shot type? ·         Mise en scene? (What is in the shot) ·         Lighting	Both magazines Trap and RWD have a model looking straight into the camera to show dominance and power whereas my last magazine BIG UP has a drawn photo on the cover. The first two magazines are similar in the sense the artist is dressed trendy and the whole focus of the front cover is onto the main image.	I like the idea Trap and RWD used and I will have my models looking straight into the camera well dressed. I will do this to keep all attention on them.
Sell lines	All magazines have either barely any sell lines or none at all. This again adds to the simplicity and classy house style. The magazines have the sell lines either in the bottom centre, or left third however one thing I noticed is the sell lines are always together and never scattered or split up.	This will suit the theme I am going for, for my magazine. I will have minimum sell lines because again, I want to keep my main image my focus. This will keep my house style effective and not scattered like a gossip magazine.
Model	For Trap and RWD they only use one model and normally only have half the models body in the picture.	I will break conventions and have three models on my front cover.