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

2. For my media product I worked alone to
create four pages of a R&B music magazine: a
front cover, contents page and a double page
article. To make sure my product was as
professional as possible I analysed a number
of magazines already on the market, and
looked at a range of conventions that they use
to make a successful product so that I could
use them within my work.

3. Existing product My front cover

4. On my front cover I decided to use a similar colour scheme as the one of
this issue of ‘VIBE’: blue and black. I kept key conventions of a magazine
such as a masthead and enticing storylines. I decided to use a colour red for
the story line “top 15 celebrity sex scandals” I did this as it is a well known
fact that ‘sex sells’ and I wanted the story line to stand out. On the ‘VIBE’
front cover the background is a blurred image, I decided for my front cover
to use a solid white as it allows the features on the page to stand out more.
I used a conventional medium shot of an attractive model as the main
image on my cover as this is one of the key things in attracting the correct
audience for the magazine. The model is wearing an outfit which
coordinates with the colour scheme of the magazine, this makes it look as
though the magazine is revolving around him as he is the main feature. The
model is looking away from the camera which is convention breaking
however, I believe this image works well on the front cover. I used different
fonts on the cover so that the different features stand out from one
another.
I decided the title of my magazine would be ‘UPBEAT’ the magazine is a
R&B magazine, and most R&B music is upbeat. The definition of upbeat is
cheerful and positive. The title is short and simple, meaning it will be easy
to remember. On Photoshop I added a gradient, texture and shadow to the
title to make it stand out on the page.

5. Existing product My contents page

6. When analysing the ‘VIBE’ contents page I decided not to follow
the same style as I believed there was not enough information
about the contents of the actual magazine and that the page was
more focused on the image. On my contents page I kept the same
house style and colour scheme as my front cover, I also included
the title of my magazine on the contents page as magazines such
as Kerrang! Tend to do this. However, I decided to break the
convention of separating the stories into different sections and
instead I used alternative colours so that the story lines were still
easy to locate and didn’t all merge into one. The ‘VIBE’ contents
page only uses one image, however I decided to use 3, I decided
to do this as it enables the reader to have an insight of what the
feature is about. I have added page numbers on top of the
photographs so that it is easy for the reader to find the article
that relates to the picture. The story lines/ features of the
magazine are placed down the left hand side of the page in a
chronological order making the layout clear and organised.

7. Existing product
My double page article

8. On the article that I analysed I noticed that the image was
the main thing that stood out on the page, I decided to
transfer this to my article. I used two images of the model,
one being a medium shot and the other being a medium
long shot. The images are vey different from each other and
the model is wearing different outfits in both, this means
they stand out from each other. The title of the article is the
same as the story line that covers the main image on the
front cover, the title also states who the article is about, this
allows the audience to instantly recognise this as the main
feature. The page numbers are placed in the bottom corners
of the pages, these numbers coordinate with the page
number on the contents page. I decided to write a question
and answer style interview and have split my writing into
columns, as this is a common convention of an
article/feature layout. The questions and answers are in
different colours so that it is easy to follow and read. I have
included an introductory paragraph which is in a bigger font
to stand out, this is a common feature of a magazine.