• Be eye catching, to interest the buyer. 
• Have a simple and clear masthead
• A well thought out house style which help to create a brand identity 
• Barcode, date, price (not main focus but big enough to read)
• Coverlines to showcase the main features of the magazine
• The main protagonist - to attract attention

I found that a good normal poster should:

• Have a 'coming soon' or the release date 
• A main focal image related to the film
• Large title 
• Age certification
• Tagline
• Any awards 
• Quotes from critics 
• Directors name/ productions company name 

I found that a billboard poster should:

• A main image
• A title
• Directors, producers, actors/actress'
• Quotes, recommendations and ratings
• Awards
• Date, rating, extra info 
• A tagline 

The masthead was one of the most important conventions of my magazine as it is clearly seen by the reader and gives the magazine itself a clear brand identity, as it is the largest text amongst them all. I created a pleasing visual syntax by taking this into account, I designed my masthead using fireworks and chose a bold clear font and the title 'CINEMAG' which is an example of compounding and blending between the two words 'cinema' and 'magazine' which is effectively exactly what the magazine is. I also chose to keep it fairly short as this was something I also picked up on whilst browsing existing media products.

A well thought out house style was something that I incorporated into my own designs, I tested different primary colours such as yellow, blue, green and red in order to see which looked most visually pleasing and created a bold but clear style for my magazine. I included the yellow colour as a highlighter, using it to pick out the most important part of the texts and create a division between the other pieces of text that appear on my front cover and to aid in the creation of a brand identity. The colour yellow itself is very bright and bold which indicates what sort of a magazine it is and brings connotations of creativity and is not gender specific like pink or blue traditionally is.

The photo of Ihsaan himself is something that remains the focus of the reader. I wanted to contrast the bright colours of the text with a black and white photo in order to create mystery. The gun is also a main focus of the image which shows it is a crime, which means that I would attract the right audience that are interested in these kind of films. The photo itself is of the main protagonist in the film which is typical of film magazines, it is clear and focuses directly on the face of Ihsaan.

The date and barcode is an essential part of a magazine to ensure that it is able to sell and look professional whilst sitting on a magazine shelf.

I then worked around the photos I had took and conducted my own research into the conventions of a poster and found that studied real-life examples helped me greatly when it came to drawing up layout ideas and also helped influence some of my own decisions and choices when it came to things such as colour and positioning.

I wanted to keep the poster simple, which is why I chose to just include a photo of Ihsaan on his own - not the rest of the cast. He is the main cast member and I found that including just the main protagonist was typical of crime thriller in particular. I wanted the main focus to remain on the title 'Infraction' which is why I decided to position it just below Ihsaan's face as I thought it would create a visually pleasing syntax for my reader and audience. I also chose to position the text 'IN CINEMAS 25TH NOVEMBER' above this, as this too is a key piece of information.

The other piece of text positioned at the bottom of the poster includes all of the information and credits which is why I chose to put it at the bottom, which is another vital part of any advertisement for any product that needs to be sold and distrubuted.

The real life products I studied gave me an insight into what existing professional films include in their print products and I used these to inform my own decisions when creating my poster. However, I also tried to challenge some of these conventions by including a darker background than usual, just to add a sense of the dark reality of the film and didn't want to give too much away. The film itself is very focused on suspense and mystery as well as crime which is why I wanted to reflect this in the simplicity of my poster and print products throughout.

Other conventions that I adhered to are the legal requirements such as the age rating, which relates to the film itself and the nature of what is inside of it. The typical DVD cover also includes a majority of text, where as I included photos directly from the film which I thought made better use of space and looked more visually pleasing. My choice of layout was influenced by other successful crime thrillers, in particular the films The Dark Knight & Heat that also feature dark backgrounds to add to the mystery and eery theme of the film.

Unlike the films I researched into, my film focussed heavily on youth culture rather than older people. The main character in my film was a young boy, from a city in England. Which is why I wanted to include an image of a skyline of the city of Birmingham, which shows it isn't as action as a typical crime thriller and has other themes running throughout.

The image itself is again, of the main character Jerome. I chose to include this as the main image as it links with my other print products and also gave a good insight into what the film is about.

Whilst designing other versions of this particular print product I chose not to include the quotes from critics but as I worked with it further I found that the use of a transparent boxed worked well and added to the crime theme of my film. The use of critics opinions would also mean that my film would be much more appealing to my audience as VICE Magazine in particular focuses on these edgy types of films set in Britain. This would encourage people of my target audeicne and also of their readership to watch the film.

Other key parts of information such as In cinemas 25th February are vital as it tells the audience when it is avaliable to watch. This is why I chose to place this above the title of the film as this is what the audiences eye will generally lead towards and focus on.