In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Throughout the process of creating my music magazine, I always kept in mind my music genre, pop, and my target audience, teenagers/young adults aged 16-22. By picking pop as my genre this influenced how my magazine looked and its content. Initially, I planned to challenge the conventions of the typical pop magazine, as I believed that they are not taken seriously and can be seen as a ‘joke’, I was influenced by ‘Billboard’ magazine. I did this by not picking extremely bright colours such a fuchsia pink or yellow, instead I chose a cadmium red, which is a mix between a dark pink and red, black and white. I chose cadmium red as it isn’t too dark to be seen as too serious and it isn’t too light to not be taken seriously and be aimed at young audience. Also black and white are conventional colours for music

magazines as it allows the magazine to look professional. These colours also went well with what my model was wearing- a black dress. My model can be seen on all of my products, this shows that the magazine focuses on her and reinforces her importance. This is shows continuity within my magazine, if she was shown on the front cover but not on the contents or double page spread this would leave the reader feeling confused and would make the magazine appear inconsistent. In terms of the fonts I have used, I used two main fonts ‘Milford’ and ‘Dubriel’, both of which

come with many different variations of them, this allows me to show variety of fonts within my magazine without it look messy and unprofessional. Also, all my key features have been given a bold font, this reinforces their

importance. In terms of features, I have had to make sure they are all relevant to the ideology of my magazine ‘Women in Music’. This key theme has been shows by the use of only having female related features and all pictures

are of females, this is reinforced by having cadmium red as my main colour throughout my magazine.

giving it away. I have placed my anchorage across my model so that audience can clearly see it’s about her as I have made sure the other features are around her body. The font is also the same as my mast head and in capital letters to reinforce the magazine her dominance, by having the same font.

My mast head has been placed at the top and across the top of my magazine, this reinforces the importance of the company. I have also placed it behind the main image, this tells the reader that she is important and the main focus of the magazine. The colour is cadmium red, the most prominent colour of my colour scheme. This makes it more noticeable for the reader and makes it stand out in contrast to the other features of my front cover. The font is ‘Milford’ which is one of my main fonts in my magazine. The font is a lot bolder and bigger than the other text on my front cover, this also reinforces the importance.

‘Women In Music’ has been placed above the masthead, so that it emphasizes the ideology of this edition of the magazine but so that it is also noticeable to the reader. By making the ‘IN’ and having a dot in the middle of the ‘O’ in ‘Women’ in cadmium red makes my colour scheme more prominent and looks more appealing to the reader.

In regard to features, I didn’t want to overload it with features as I thought it might look distracting. So I placed two features on the left hand side. By making their first name bold, it draws attention in from the reader. This layout of having a feature is different from most however It is still very conventional and makes it look professional. By having the ‘>’ in cadmium red it shows continuity with the colour scheme throughout my front cover. I have also made sure to not have too much cadmium red on my front cover because I think it’d look too much and be to distracting for the reader.

In terms of anchorage, I have made sure that it stands out from the others by having the text inside of the artist name. I think that this makes it look unique and professional. By having ‘introducing…’ before the ‘Natasha queen of pop’ as it doesn’t give too much away about the content of the article, however, it gives you a general idea without

This feature is clear indication and representation of the ideology behind my magazine. By having a mix of the two fonts I used, ‘Milford’ and ‘Dubriel’, it makes it visually

endearing for the reader. ‘Powerful’ has been written in the same font as ‘women in music’ this emphasizes the theme. It is also in cadmium red which signifies it’s significance.

My sell line were influenced by ‘Q’ magazine. Having sell lines allows me to include other artists that will also be featured in my magazine without me having to write a feature for them on my front cover. It also looks very conventional and professional. I made the ‘+’ to reinforce the colour scheme and the dominance of my magazine.

In relation to mise-en-scene, I think my model looks very conventional. Her outfit matches the colour scheme, but it is still prominent. By having my main image dressed in black it contrasts against the white background and the mast head. The why she is posed, allows me to fit the features around the bend of her right arm. This makes the model look prominent as the features are framing her. Her lipstick is the same colour the mast head which shows continuity. The model has been framed in the centre of the front cover this shows she is the most important and looks professional and conventional.

My barcode is placed in the corner as it is conventional and looks professional. I have also placed the date, issue and price near it when it is usually placed near the mast head. I did this because I didn’t want to distract the reader from the strong the ideology of my magazine.

I decided to do use a banner mast head as I thought it looked professional. I have also made sure that my colour scheme is prominent. I have done this by using my magazine logo ‘R’ in a red box, this reinforces the ideology of the magazine. I have also made sure to include my other colours (black and white) so that it doesn’t look too full of red. This adds continuity to the contents page, whilst also keeping it conventional.

In terms of my features, I have put the title of the feature in a bold font and in capital letters, this will attract the reader straight away as it isn’t difficult to read and you notice it immediately. I then put the subheading in a smaller font but I made certain words bold, to put emphasis on important parts of the article. I have made the page numbers in cadmium red to add continuity and to make it look more professional and more unique than other magazines.

When separating my features, I decided to put them into 4 different categories. The ‘Features’ category is for the features that are included on my front cover, this will make it easier for the reader to find the articles quicker. The ‘Women In Music’ is for the theme of my magazine which includes articles about the most influential women and paying respect to female artist who have passed away.

I also included an ‘Every Month’ category, this shows continuity within each edition and it is some the read will recognize. The ‘Reviews’ section is conventional for some magazine, it will attract the audience. I also have a ‘WIN’ section, which would change each edition, this will draw readers in as a form of persuasion.

I have placed the contents banner at the top of page as it is conventional and it is what the audience would expect. I chose to make the banner black to not only fit in with my colour scheme but to make it recognizable. The ‘Revolution’ Logo is on there too, this maintains the identity of the magazine and reinforces it.

The selling line has been put in a smaller font than the mast head, as it is less important and not a priority. However, if you did not have it on there the contents page would look very unconventional therefore unprofessional. There is also the magazine website address, which readers might want to look at as an alternative.

My main image on my contents page is of my model, who is also featured on the front cover. By having her picture as the main image shows continuity and reinforces her importance throughout the magazine. The model is posed with her back towards the audience whilst giving them direct address, this connotes to her being more important than anything else in this magazine. My secondary image is of Cher Lloyd from a concert, this reinforces the pop genre and shows that there is concert reviews and also reinforces the ‘Women In Music’ ideology. I have also included more images as this gives my reader a visual representation of what to expect, these images also relate to the target audience.

In terms of pull quotes, the one I have used for the article of Natasha gives a brief description of what to expect in the article. ‘Natasha’ has also been put in bold to show her importance and superiority throughout the magazine.

I have added an banner at the top, as some pop magazines have this. By having this it looks conventional, professional and unique. I have reinforced the continuity with my magazine logo at the top as it represents the ideology of my magazine.

In relation to my mast head, I have used a pull quote from my article. This gives the reader an insight of what to expect within my article. I have also made the word ‘Won’t’ in cadmium red and the other words in black, this shows that this is the most important, it also shows continuity with my colour scheme within this edition of the magazine.

In terms of my article, I have made sure that it is in columns and has a drop cap, as these are conventions which makes my double page spread look professional. I have set my article out as a question and answer, as this is conventional for a pop magazine. I have put the questions in Cadmium red, this emphasises my colour scheme

and looks appealing to the reader and it also breaks up the article making it easier to read. I have also added a pull quote in the middle of my article. This is conventional and looks professional as the reader will notice it and attract the reader to read the article.

I have added ‘Photograph: Alice Venard’ as it looks more unique and professional. Not many magazines have this feature, but I think it makes my double page spread look more original.

In terms of stand firsts, I included a brief two sentences that gives the reader an indication of what to expect within the article. I have put ‘NATASHA’ in cadmium red and upper case letters and it connotes to her importance and matches my colour scheme which shows continuity.

In terms of my main image, my model is giving the audience direct address which draws in the reader, my model also appears to be staring down at the reader which connotes to her importance. Also the image being placed on a A4 page on the right hand side she is the first thing you’ll notice when turning the page. In relation to mise-en-scene my model is wearing the same outfit as seen on the front cover which shows continuity. Her dress is black which signifies power and links into the colour scheme.

I have also included page numbers inside a cadmium red box, this is not only conventional but reinforces my colour scheme which allows continuity.

By having ‘exclusive interview: revolution’ stands out to the reader and looks unique and professional. By having ‘Revolution’ in cadmium red reinforces the my colour scheme and the ideology of my magazine.

How My Layout Matches Conventions

My Product:

When looking at existing products such as ‘Billboard’ and ‘Blender’, I noticed that many had their main image in front of the mast head. This not only makes the magazine look conventional to the pop genre but looks professional. I made sure the most prominent colour of my colour scheme was used for my mast head. This made it stand out, but by having my model in front of it made the reader know that she was the most important. I challenged the conventions by putting ‘WOMEN IN MUSIC’ above the mast head, instead of typically having a skyline above it. By having ‘WOMEN IN MUSIC’ above the mast head represents the importance of it. Compared to other mastheads, I didn’t place the date and issue near it as the ideology behind this issue was very important and I didn’t want to distract the reader from it.

Existing Products:

Challenging Conventions From Existing Products:

VIBE:

Billboard:

Billboard:

Challenging Conventions From Existing Products:

In terms of sell lines, I took inspiration from these magazine. Sell lines worked in relation to my magazine as it allowed me to put other artists on my front cover without it looking to congested. I made my ‘+’ bigger than the text as it makes it more prominent to the reader and uses the main colour of my colour scheme- which shows it’s importance. Compared to these examples, I wanted to make sure sell lines fit around the silhouette of my main image, this made the main image stand out more. Also, I made all the text the same colour as I thought it looked more professional than having lots of different colours.

My Product: Blender: iPOP: CLASH:

Challenging Conventions From Existing Products:

My Product: Q Magazine: Q Magazine: NME magazine:

My bar code was inspired from the examples above, but mainly ‘Q’ magazine. I wanted to keep my date, issue and price altogether, if I placed the date and issue near the masthead, it could distract the reader from the strong connotations from the ideology of my magazine. By having it all together in the corner of the magazine, makes it less noticeable and looks more conventional. However, compared to the examples above I have not included the website address for my magazine in the barcode as I thought it’d look like there was too much going on and would distract the reader.

My Product: Q Magazine: NME Magazine:

In regards to features in my contents page, I wanted to keep them all under one column but under different headings. I was inspired by ‘NME’ and ‘Q’ to put the page number in my main colour of my colour scheme, cadmium red. This shows continuity emphasised throughout the magazine. In terms of the headings for my features I have put ‘features’ and ‘every month’ in a cadmium red box, this shows that they are conventional things that are in the contents page. By having ‘Women In Music’ in a black box and a different in font it shows that it is unique to that edition of my magazine. I was inspired to do this by ‘Q’ as they usually do this in their special edition issues. I also made words of the brief description of article in bold to emphasise the key parts.

Challenging Conventions From Existing Products:

I looked at existing mast heads in pop genre magazines, and they all used pull quotes for it. By having a pull quote as a mast head gives the reader an insight into the magazine and will make them want to read the article. I was inspired by ‘We Love Pop’ magazine to make some of the words in a different colour. I chose to make ‘WON’T’ in cadmium red, as this is the most prominent colour. By having ‘won’t’ in cadmium red in connotes to it being the most important word in the pull quote. I have also included a sell line, all magazines use this to give a brief description of what to expect within the content of the magazine. I have also made the word ‘NATASHA’ in cadmium red which shows that she is the main focus of the article. Not many magazines have done this, so it makes my magazine unique but still conventional.

We Love Pop:

NME:

My Product:Challenging Conventions From Existing Products:

To make sure my double page spread was conventional, I have added a drop cap. A drop cap is a large initial letter that drops below the first line of a paragraph. It is use to give a strong emphasis visually. In other word just to make it stand out and attract the reader to it. Usually drop caps are in black, however some are in a different colour of the magazines colour scheme (As seen above). I decided to follow conventions by having my capital letter ‘I’ in the font times new roman. This allows my double page spread to look professional, sophisticated and conventional at the same time. ‘Times New Roman’ also gives off a more of mature look to my DPS, this would work with my pop magazine as my intention was to make it appeal to an older audience rather than to preteen’s, which they are usually targeted it. This also makes my target audience attracted to it as it will not make them feel as if they’re being degraded and treated like children.

Challenging Conventions From Existing Products:

My Product: We Love Pop: Q Magazine: