I N W H A T W A Y S D O E S Y O U R M E D I A P R O D U C T U S E , D E V E L O P O R C H A L L E N G E F O R M S A N D C O N V E N T I O N S O F R E A L M E D I A P R O D U C T S ?

Question 1

FRONT COVERS

FRONT COVERS

The cover line defeats normal conventions as its located above the masthead.

Masthead typically centred and located at the top of the page

The cover lines enlighten the reader on what the content of the magazine will be about and artists names are in a bigger font to draw attention of fans to encourage them to read the magazine.

The lighting for the picture is bright and the artist is pictured against a plain white background. This allows the reader to fully concentrate on the artist and as the background is the same colour as the clothes, it allows the artist to stand out.

The date line is incorporated with the barcode and the price.

basic, memorable title relating to music

Direct eye contact with the audience

The artist is wearing expensive, designer jewellery which represents his wealth and is also what artists in this industry are seen wearing

This is a collection of cover lines giving an insight into the content of the magazine

MY FRONT COVER

The cover line is placed above the masthead following vibe magazines conventions.

The masthead is in a bold colour, red to stand out against the white background

The main cover line is of the featured artists name. I placed this in a larger font in order for it to stand out more.

The background is a gradient of a black to white blend. It becomes darker at the bottom of the page

The artist is pictured in accessories such as a hat and jewellery. E.g. the ‘pinkie ring’ featured which is popular in the hip hop industry

I have incorporated the same style and placing of my cover lines . I have used a bigger font for artist names followed by a brief description of the contents of their feature within

the magazine.

Direct eye contact with the audience

front covers

I based my magazine on the vibe magazine pictured previously. I believe that the vibe magazine shows the conventions of a true hip-hop/R&B magazine and therefore in order to try make mine look professional, I have almost used this magazine as a template for the layout of mine.

I have tried hard to follow the conventions of a hip hop magazine by using clear mastheads, structured cover lines and a main focus of a hip hop artist centre line.

I also have incorporated a clear colour scheme of black, white, grey and red throughout my magazine.

CONTENTS

CONTENTS

The contents page shows 4 pictures offering different artists, scenery, shot sizes and props. Each picture is presented in a square form. Emphasizing the organized look of the contents page.

Cover lines are used for each page number, followed by a brief description of the contents of each page highlighted.

Page numbers are clear and consistent as they are all presented in a red box with the same white font for the numbers.

All text about the content of the magazine is in one place, neatly on the left hand side of the contents. This also contributes to the structured layout of the contents.

The colour scheme is clear within the contents page and very simplistic colours such as black, white and red are used.

The masthead for the contents page is clear and still represents the magazine as the logo is positioned beside it clearly to catch the readers attention.

Spacing within this page is key and this is shown by the structured layout and the lack of overlapping apart from a small animation linking to a cover line.

The pictures shown link to the content of the magazine as artists are pictured and then the page number is placed on the left hand side describing their feature within the magazine.

MY CONTENTS PAGEI have placed a mast head of the contents page at the top of my page-following conventions, however I have slightly broken conventions by choosing to place my masthead towards the left of my contents page. I believe placing it there with the magazine logo adds diversity whilst still having aspects of a conventional contents page.

My contents page is structured. I believe there is a good use of space, and I have used faint grey lines to segregate different parts of writing and the pictures.

I have also used cover lines for each page number, briefly describing the content of each relevant page. I have placed the cover lines in a larger and different font to the description in order for the page titles to stand out and catch the readers eye.

I have followed the conventions of keeping my text in one section of the page. This contributes to the structured appearance of the contents.

I have only included 3 photos, I have tried to incorporate different shot sizes, artists. effects and scenery. Within my photos I have tried to represent the different styles of hip hop- such as the glamorous side for females, the ‘criminal’ side shown with the smoking artist and the business side shown with the artist pictured in a suit.

Like the exemplary Q2 magazine shown previously, I have used a clear colour scheme which is consistent with the colour scheme I have used throughout my magazine.

I have used a red rectangle/square with white font for the numbers for all my page numbers. This is consistent and allows it to stand out.

CONTENTS

I chose to use a Q2(rock genre) music magazine as my template contents to follow as I found that after in depth research that hip hop magazines don’t normally have a detailed contents page with a variety of pictures within them, this is a convention of hip hop magazines however for this task in particular, I felt as though I needed to show different shot sizes within my pictures and a more generally conventional magazine contents page.

DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

The artists initials are pictured in big font and two different colours, which are the colour scheme of the whole page as there is a prominent consistent use of black and yellow, even within the written article.

A close up shot is used of the artist in which he is directly facing the camera and smoking. The smoke is effective against the black background and is a pose that represents many factors of the hip hop industry such as the smoking aspect that many artists actively partake in.

The artist is also styled like a hip hop artist with the use of a popular hat- still fitting in with the pages colour scheme of black and yellow.

The magazine logo can still be recognised at the top right hand corner of the page

A subtitle is included to inform readers as to what the article may be about, conventionally-magazine place an outrageous statement there to encourage readers.

MY PRELIMINARY DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

My cover line for the artist is in a large font with shadowing so that it stands out against the grey background

My picture of my artist looks professionally taken, however I feel as though it comes across as slightly boring as there is not much going on in the picture or the background

My article fits into this page much better than it does on my final double page spread. This is due to spacing.

Overall I find my page looks well structured and laid out. However I have not chosen to proceed with this double page spread as my final page because it lacks any appeal to the readers and may come across as slightly plain or boring.

MY DOUBLE PAGE SPREADI have stuck to the previous magazines conventions by using an overlapping title of just the artists initials.

I have also used a sub title/cover line for the article in a slightly larger font, encouraging readers to read onto the article, as it gives them an insight into the interview.

My artist is also pictured smoking which is stereotypical in the industry, therefore fitting in well with the hip hop/ R&B genre.

My colour scheme stays consistent throughout as we see here the same initial colours used of red, black, white and small parts of grey.

My artist on the front page corresponds with the artist featured on my double page spread. This follows conventions of a music magazine as their main feature in their magazines are often displayed on the front of their magazines in order to catch readers and potential fans’ eyes-making them wanting to read the magazine. Evidently I have struggled with spacing in this page and as I have tried to

incorporate all of my article within the article, there is a lack of space and the text almost overlaps the cover line of the artists name.

DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

I feel that I have stuck to the conventions of a double page spread article in a hip-hop/R&B magazine as they are often simplistic with a clear colour scheme which is reflected in mine.

I have also only chosen to use one picture within my double page spread article as this also follows conventions and the picture in particular I have used is based on the vibe magazine double page spread article shown previously, both reflecting what readers expect to see from artists in this industry.

I have been unconventional in the fact I have used a subtitle/ cover line that is at the bottom of the page, in a different lay out to a normal subtitle for a magazine article. I have chosen to do this as I find it stands out more and the use of colour and shape within the subtitle is more likely to catch the readers attention.

I have struggled with the spacing of my double page spread and although my final double page spread does appear slightly crowded, I find that readers would be more attracted to reading this article as opposed to the preliminary article’s layout as that appears lack luster and plain.