main image research

All of the magazines I've seen, or most of them at least, have a lot of things in common.
For example:

• close ups, focused on their faces.
• a lot have flat on views of the person, with direct mode of address, some have a slight low angle shot of them looking slightly down but not enough to be really noticeable.
• the have quite plain backgrounds, some have gradient colours, while others have simple backgrounds that don't have much going on in them, probably to focus attention on them. 
• the lighting of the photos are usually high key. although a few have natural bright lighting.
• while most are posed looking straight on to the camera, I've seen quite a few with their bodies facing away or with their hands by their face.
• their costumes seem pretty normal, or cultural in some cases, or maybe slightly strange or out of the ordinary but in the way that some one was stuck in the past.
• from the ones i found today a lot of them focused on singular artists, but previously an indie magazine i found focused on groups.
• quite saturated colours or natural colours.
• 
  

TreatmentPlan Magazine

Hand drawn layouts

Although they do not have colour, I think I would try to make the background the lightest colour if the person is darker and make the title the darkest colour, and viscersa if the person is lighter. 

Audience research

From my audience research I can gather that most people prefer the masthead "droplet empire" but there is an even split between font preference

And the prefered colony scheme was 

And that the masthead should be in the top middle

Front cover, Contents page and double page spread layout ideas.

names and palletes

Downward automatic harmonic reversal.

Double flux freewill.           Controversial downfall.
Futureless brush drone.        Brick houseguest.
Fierce charade.                     Mindless world.
Droplet empire.                    Diamond bug rot.
Hometown elevation.           Needle edge.
Loyal assault.                       Black chisel.
Clinic artist.                         Identical ivy arrow.

(chosen from a word generator)

(generated with paletton.com randomly)

(ideas for masthead fonts?)

House style

House style is the theme of the magazine or the branding. The thing that makes it recognizable, like for example how the magazine "The fly" tends to have a small yellow label, that looks like it has been stuck on that says "free" or the fact the masthead is always at the top, in the same font, the colour and size changes but the house style is of the font and its position it's the thing that makes it recognizable. this could also mean the same as the magazines own conventions, like how the artists names always seem to be lower down on the magazine, the faces of the artists are never covered. the artists are almost always looking at the camera, when the background is a light colour the masthead is black, if the background is dark the masthead will be white.