As part of the advertising and marketing module Im going to create two A4 size front covers for a new magazine and one contents page to accompany the front covers. I will also be producing two A4 size adverts for a new range of hair products.

My research began by comparing female lifestyle magazines such as Vogue, Cosmopolitan Glamour, Asian Woman and Cosmopolitan to discover that they follow similar conventions. They all direct their audience to only one particular culture. I didn't come across a magazine that catered for a variety of different cultural/ethnic backgrounds in one single magazine. These magazines follow a format where an image of the model is placed in the middle and writing around the edges of the cover with the biggest text being the title right at the top of the page along with the bar code and price placed discretely somewhere on the edge of the front cover. All the front covers that I looked at had models that were white apart from Asian Woman magazine that claimed their models are Asian but in fact looked white!

I particularly focused on the layout, colour schemes, and basic values of these magazines. A mixture of images and other text are used to portray an image of an independent and sexy female usually done through the front cover model. They will want any female reading or looking at the magazine to think she can be as beautiful, sexy and independent as the model on the cover but only if she reads or purchases the magazine. Cosmopolitan in particular adopts a bright and out that sexy and independent female can also have a bright and wild side with Cosmopolitan. This magazine values feedback from its consumers as letters are shown and discussed in detail in a section of the magazine. It makes the reader feel important and feel that they've been catered for individually as quotes such as -'It's all about you', are used.

As I researched the lifestyle magazines, the majority of adverts that I came across were for hair and beauty products. I focused on adverts by BaByliss who are a leading manufacturer of hair styling products especially hair straighteners and curling tongs. The adverts follow a format of simplicity and nothing is ambiguous. The reader has to just look at the pictures and know what is being advertised that's why not much writing is used. This is an effective technique as it's effective in delivering its message to the audience as it'll be unlikely that the reader will spend a lot of time reading long paragraphs about an advert. BaByliss values time as this is portrayed through its adverts

as we don't have to spend too long reading and trying to understand what is being advertised therefore I've decided to invent 'Half Time' to portray BaByilss' value of time efficiency through products that save time.

The contents pages of lifestyle magazines are teasers to entice the reader to read the whole magazine whilst not giving away too much information as the reader may not feel the need to read further if the contents page is giving away detailed information and story lines. The contents pages often follow the same colour scheme as the front cover of the magazine and sometimes change typeface. The contents page often has a pale background with lots a few pictures of some of the content of the magazine and page numbers beside the pictures. The layout is neat and formatted in columns and panels to make it easy for the reader to read the information.

I will use a similar distinct format for both of the Half Time adverts as this will show a relationship between the adverts and will easily be recognized by the audience as an advert by BaByliss.

The advert for the straightener will consist of a model with her back turned showing off her straight hair. The background will be pale to emphasize the model with a darker panel on the side which will have the straightener on it. It will also contain a brief description of the product. I want to portray an image of minimalism and modernism therefore I'm not going to use too much text.

The advert for the curling tongs will have half the face of a model once again this will be done to show that these tongs take half the time as normal curling tongs. The other half of the page will contain a picture of the curling tongs. The tongs will be on a background of a similar colour to that of the straightener's advert to show the relationship. The model's hair will have to be curly as I'll be advertising curling tongs.

The two front covers will follow similar format and conventions of the current lifestyle magazines in the market as they seem to work. The colour schemes will be more subtle using more warm and pastel colours for the backgrounds but still involving bright colours in the writing. A caption or statements such as "The only multicultural lifestyle magazine", "We value your difference", will be included telling the reader the difference between the current lifestyle magazines. These quotes will make the reader feel appreciated and more hospitable towards the magazine.

Front cover no.1 will have a model from a Mediterranean background to show a sense of multi- culture of the magazine. She will be wearing a sexy dress to reflect sexiness of the magazine. She will have a pose where she will be looking directly at the reader as this is a way of inviting the reader to be as sexy and independent as her but only if you buy UNIVERSAL. I will use a blue background as this connotes calmness and may help the reader to focus more on the magazine as they may be in a calm state of mind. The fonts will be minimal and a few bright colours like yellow, red or pink will be used for the text but I'll mainly be white. The text will use words like- Spain, Indian and arranged marriages to show a sense of multicultural topics and contents of UNIVERSAL.

Front cover no.2 will contain a model of an Asian background to once again portray an image of a multi cultural magazine. She will portray a sexy and independent female through her facial expression which will be minimal and she will gaze into the reader's eyes, this connotes mysteriousness as well as sexiness. The background will be of a green colour as it connotes peace and will portray the peace between the cultures that UNIVERSAL will deliver to its readers.

The contents page will be for front cover no.2 and will have a white background displaying pictures of some of the features of UNIVERSAL. The colour scheme will contain mainly green to show relation with the front cover. I will use interesting and eye catching topics to make the reader want to read on. I will use Impact type face for headings and sub heading and Times new Roman will be used for the majority of the text. The text will be arranged in columns as this will follow conventions of lifestyle magazines that are successful. I am going to make the contents page as easy to read as possible for the reader as they don't want to spend a long just reading the contents page and trying to find a feature or a topic that they want read. The contents and features on this page will emphasize that UNIVERSAL values multi cultures and this will be done through pictures and topics. It will show the reader that it's part of UNIVERSAL whilst still having its own distinct identity.