Layout Conventions

In this task I will be evaluating and comparing how certain layout conventions are used in magazine layouts. 

• Widow-  A widow is a very short line at the end of a paragraph or column. A widow is considered poor typography because it leaves too much white space between paragraphs or at the bottom of a page.
• Orphan- An orphan is a single word at the end of a paragraph or column. Like a widow an orphan is considered poor typography as it leaves too much white space on the page. 
• Golden Selection- The Golden Section is an aesthetically pleasing division of space that is often used by artists as the basis for measurements within their composition.
• Colours- In typography, colour is the overall density of the ink on the page, determined mainly by the typeface, but also by the word spacing, leading and depth of the margins.
• Titles- First and most important textual element on a page is headline. The headline is as important as the layout. After the reader opens the page first thing that catches his attention is the layout, or some dominant image.
• Sub-Headings- Subheads are used to break up the body copy and to give some clever insight into what the reader can expect in the next few paragraphs. The reader may be putt off if he sees long blocks of text and subheads should be placed to break those blocks and to denote a new section or chapter.
• Columns- A column is one or more vertical blocks of content positioned on a page, separated by gutters (vertical whitespace) or rules (thin lines, in this case vertical). 
• Hyphenation- Hy­phen­ation is the au­to­mated process of break­ing words be­tween lines to cre­ate more con­sis­tency across a text block.
• DPS- This is an anagram for Double Paged Spread.
• Barn Door- The split front cover (barn door) is a two-page spread advertisement that opens directly from the front cover.

• Gutters- The inside margins or blank space between two facing pages is the gutter. The gutter space is that extra space allowance used to accommodate the binding in books and magazines. 

• Folios- Folio can consist of several elements. Page number is mandatory but others are optional. Others can be publication logo, date, month, section title, web page, but again do not over do it.
• Information Hierarchies- Typographic hierarchy is a system for organizing type that establishes an order of importance within the data, allowing the reader to easily find what they are looking for and navigate the content.
• Text Flow- Except for special cases, text flow is applied to the object, image, text, or geometric shape, which is overlying the text – on some level above the text.
• Formatting- The formatting of a document is how it is laid out. 
• Margins- In typography, a margin is the area between the main content of a page and the page edges.
• Header- A header is similar to a folio however the text is found at the top of the page, above the header. 
• Footer- In typography, a page footer (or simply footer) is text that is separated from the main body of text and appears at the bottom of a printed page.
• Left and Right- The four modes of alignment (centered, justified, flush left, and flush right) form the basic grammar of typographic composition. Each one has traditional uses that make intuitive sense to readers.

My Magazine Cover

I have designed my own magazine cover based on the terms and conventions I have learnt. I have used a range of conventions in order to make my magazine cover appealing to the public. The main picture on the magazine is going over the title of the magazine, this means that my magazine has brand confidence as I can cover the title of the magazine with the image. I have also used large numbers on the magazine such as 999 and 84 to draw peoples attention and make them feel as if they are getting more for their money. I have used red in my title to promote the excitement of my magazine and I have also put the price of my magazine in a yellow circle in order to make it stand out and this gives the magazine worth. Finally, I have put words like EXCLUSIVE in a bold and bright font to make magazine different to any competition. 

Writing Copy

Writing compelling copy is crucial to any advertising or marketing campaign, compelling copy can be used to sell a range of different products and this is why expert copy-writers are well sought after by big name companies. I have included an example of effective copy writing below, this copy is used to advertise Rubber Band Guns and I find it particularly effective because it is not taking itself to seriously, its almost as if this advert is a big joke although once you have read the entire thing you will want to learn more about rubber band guns. 

After I conducted some thorough research into copy writing in advertising I have realised how important this can be to a company because for a product to sell an advert needs to appeal to a target market, an advert will only be appealing to a customer if it features the correct words. Finally, I already understood the importance of advertising to a company and now I understand the importance of copy writing to advertising.