In what ways does your media product use,

develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

MastheadMy mastheads follow conventions by being in a large bold font that is easily readable

for the audience. It also helps it dominate over the rest of the text by being the biggest text on the page that is easily noticeable for the reader. The main masthead uses red and black font which are colours often used within other music magazines as they make it stand out to the audience and draws their attention. The masthead text is in an informal font to represent the genre of the magazine and to follow the stereotypes set by other magazines. It is located within the top left hand corner of

the page which is a conventional place for it to be located as it is easy for the audience to see and is the first thing they look at as it is located in the primary

optical area. When naming my magazine I thought of various ideas relating to the type of magazine. I choose beat as it symbolised the sound within the music and

indicated that the music often had a strong beat within the songs. It was also short and snappy which attracted the reader’s attention to the magazine.

Colour SchemeThe main colour scheme off my magazine also follows a similar colour scheme to

the font, by being red, black and white. This helps my magazine to have a consistent style throughout which looks professional and follows conventions of other magazines. The use of contrasting colours within the colour scheme also makes the pages stand out and, text easy to read. I choose red as it is a bright vibrant colour which would attract the audience’s attention and help it to be

noticed within other magazines in a shop. Black and red are often seen as more masculine colours therefore this would appeal to my audience. The house style I used remains consistent throughout the pages with the same fonts and colour scheme used throughout. This is used to create a recognisable image for the

magazine for the future so regular readers can recognise the magazine easily from the house style.

Layout -–Front CoverMy magazine follows a typical layout set by other music magazines, however it is hard to directly follow conventions within

this area as all magazines use various layout designs throughout their pages

and can differ each issue.  

On the front cover the masthead is located in the primary optical area so it is the first thing people notice on the

front cover, while the barcode is located within a weak fallow area as it isn’t

important to be noticed by the audience. The main image is located within the

terminal area so it is also noticed by the audience so they can tell what the

magazine is about from the main artist featured, encouraging them to buy the magazine. I put the cover lines on the

left hand side of the page to follow conventions set by other magazines while the main cover line stretched

across the page making it clear what the main story was to the audience.

Layout - Contents Page The contents page is laid out in a Kerrang style as I felt this was an effective way of displaying the contents of my magazine to the reader as it was easy to follow and looked appealing. I

used images to fill the top section of the page to draw in the audience’s attention and to

illustrate the main articles while my contents table was displayed below. I put the contents

masthead in the primary optical area so straight away it was obvious what the page was about. I put the main text into 4 equally sized columns so it was easy to follow and followed a conventional layout. I included a

banner and page number along the bottom of the page to allow the magazine to be easily

recognised and, I continued this as part of my house style on the double page so, it was easy for the reader to find the page they wanted. I included a subscription box within the right hand side of the page as I found this was a

common feature included within most music magazines to get the reader to buy the

magazine each week by giving the reader’s offers if they subscribed, to get every issue of

the magazine.

Layout -–Double Page SpreadFor my double page I located the main masthead within the primary optical area so it

was clear what the article is about. Below that I laid the text out into 3 columns so it was easy to follow. I kept the main body of text within one side of the page so it was

easy to read and created an even balance across the double page. I used a large image on the right hand side to illustrate the article and create a balance between

text and images. The image slightly overlapped onto the left page which is often used in double page articles to make the image stand out to the reader. It was hard to

follow any clear conventions within the double page spread area as every magazine has various layout plans which can differ each week so there are no clear conventions

within this area, regarding layout.

Font & ContentThe font I used for the text within my magazine follows conventions by being bold and easy to read however I did challenge conventions by using an urban edgy font for the mastheads and

titles which I thought would give my magazine an edge over others and attract a young audience to the magazine. The main article on the double page spread has an informal

conversational tone which will appeal to a younger target audience who my magazine is aimed at. I wrote my article in a question and answer type format which is often used in music magazines as it allows the reader to find out what the artist is like, and the artist’s direct

response to the questions asked. The tone of the article is relaxed and, found out everything the reader would be interested in about the artist in a conversational way. It provided the reader with entertainment while also giving them serious information about the artist. I used slang

language within the article to appeal to the young readers while also representing the artist as most likely they would use slang themselves as a pop star. I used a kicker to start of the article giving a brief insight into what the article would discuss while providing information about the artist. I used a pull quote next to the main image to draw the reader in so they want to find out more about him, and is often used within music magazines for this reason. Another convention I used was a sidebar which informed the reader about his album encouraging them to buy it and highlights what the article is about. The article text I used is in an easy to read font, so it’s easy for the reader to follow the article text without any difficulty. I set the font size to 9 as this is the typical font size for article text within magazines with the headings in a larger font to stand out.

This allowed the audience to easy read the page while also making use of the space as a lot more text could fit into the space. I used black as the main text colour to follow conventions as

this colour text is easy to read and follow while standing out from the background, however I did challenge conventions by having the questions within the article in a red font as I thought this

helped divide the page and made it clear who was speaking in each part.

Images - Front CoverThe images I used featured images of the artist stood in

different poses which are conventionally the main images used within music magazines. After choosing my

final images I manipulated these images to create an effect suitable for my magazine. I adjusted the

brightness and contrast of the images to make them stand out and make my magazine look more

professional. I removed the background from some of my images so it would create a plain background similar to other music magazines. I also adjusted the vibrancy, hue and saturation of my images so they were in the

right level of light and to create a high quality finish on the images.

The image I used on the front cover uses direct address to make it look as if he is looking at the reader and

allows them to clearly see who the feature artist is. Mark is shown wearing a hoodie as this is stereotypical of

what urban pop singers wear so matches with the image he is trying to create as an artist. The pictures I used

had the background cropped out to create a plain backdrop which is often used within magazines so the image stands out, however I took some of the images

near a wall with graffiti on to match the urban image of the artist. I used quite a basic image for my cover photo to create a simplistic design which would stand out and

appeal to the reader.

Images - Contents PageFor the contents page image the artist also use direct address by looking

towards the camera. I choose to use masks as a prop to match the wacky image of the band while also making it look bright and colourful to match the bright colour scheme of the page. The image uses rule of thirds with their heads meeting on two intersecting points, making the image look more professional. I used high key lighting within the images to make them stand out so the audience could easily see who the artists were.

Images - Double Page Spread

For the double page image, I choose an image with him

looking away from the audience to represent how he

is still getting used to becoming a pop star and

helps highlight parts of the article. I also choose this

image as he has quite an edgy look within it suggesting the

image he is trying to create as a pop star, while also showing he is new to the business and

isn’t used to being in the spotlight yet. For this image I choose a model that was in

the appropriate age range to be a pop star as

conventionally they are quite young, while also choosing someone who looked as if they were new to the pop

scene so it matched with my articles content.

OverallOverall, I believe my magazine works well by following a large number of conventions set by other music magazines while also challenging some

conventions to make my magazine a bit different to others. I choose to follow some conventions so it was easy to recognise as a music magazine by the

audience while also creating a professional look for my magazine. However I also challenged some conventions to attract the audience’s attention and give

my magazine a unique feel showing it is different to its competitors, encouraging the target audience to buy it as it is different to other magazines

of this type.