Magazine Cover Conventions Reflection

My learning of magazine conventions:

    To learn about the conventions of a magazine, I took notes in class. I learned about the most important conventions such as the masthead, cover image, feature article, coverlines, puffs, plugs, boxouts, strips, banners. Taking the notes helped me understand what each convention was and what they are used for. It was also very helpful to look at examples of each convention because the visual made me knowledgeable in what each convention is supposed to look like on a magazine.  

My genre choice for the magazine and how my magazine cover conveys my genre: 

    I decided to choose a travel genre for my magazine. This was mostly due to the fact that I love going on vacation and love to visit new places. However, my summer trip to Hawaii came to mind which further pushed me to choose a travel genre. Since, I was picturing my trip, I decided to look back on the pictures that I took when I was in Hawaii. I came across a picture of me on a platform, looking out at the ocean and mountains surrounding me. I loved this picture of me because it showed how freeing I felt in the moment so I knew that this would be the perfect magazine cover. 

The magazine conventions I used and how it contributes to the effectiveness of my cover: 

    To start, I used "Summer Travels" as my masthead because I know a lot of families go on vacation in summer because kids and teenagers are off of school. The cover image of the magazine was also during summer in Hawaii so I thought that correlated with my masthead. For the feature article coverline, I decided to put "Ocean Breeze, Island Ease: Your Ultimate Hawaiian Summer" because it paints a picture of a tropical and relaxing vacation while also encouraging extensive information. In terms of the coverlines, saying "On top of the World", "Aloha from the other side", and "The magic of Hawaii: Unforgettable hike experiences", captures the attention of the viewers by using vivid phrases that captivate adventure and the distinctive, magical feeling of Hawaii. Using a puff and a strip allows me to put information that the viewers can find in later pages, it is used to give a sneak peak on interesting information that they might want to know about before visiting this location. 

My challenges and successes: 

    I had both challenges and successes when creating my magazine cover. My biggest challenge was learning how to use Adobe InDesign, not because it is a difficult platform to work on but because I was unfamiliar with it and it was my first time ever using this platform. For example, figuring out where the circle icon was so that I can do my plugs was difficult but after I asked my teacher, I was able to learn how to get and where to find the icon. On the other hand, my biggest success was effectively creating specific coverlines that correlate with my genre and that capture the viewers audience, making them want to spend a summer in Hawaii. 

Important takeaways/How it will help me with my portfolio project: 

    I will now be able to create and design a magazine cover due to all of the things that I learned, this can help me with future projects or assignments I might do that require InDesign to be used. I am not planning on doing a magazine for my portfolio project so this will not be helpful to me.