After creating my mood board and discovering that my magazine needs to be quite 'sexy; and 'slick' I took to the Internet to find some example R&B type magazines to give me an idea of the codes of convention that I need to be aware of in the production of my magazine.
With my findings I created this collage:

A code I noticed on the R&B magazine front covers I they are using the gaze theory as they have a direct mode of address (excluding the 'Vibe magazine' with Keisha Cole on the front) as the artists on the front cover are looking directly into the reader's eyes/camera lens; this is done to stimulate interaction between the reader and the magazine. I think that the reason why Keisha Cole is looking away on the cover of 'Vibe Magazine' is because it gives her some control and makes her look like she is thinking or looking at something, this may make the readers want to know what she is looking at. The problem with using indirect mode of address such as the one used on the Vibe Magazine with Cole is that it can create a sense of absence between the model and the reader. I also noticed that the camera tends to be looking up at the artists, I believe this is to once again make them look powerful and make the reader look up to them either as their idol or just because there is a lot of dominance when it comes to R&B.