1. Question 1:
In what ways does your media product use,
develop or challenge forms and conventions
of real media products?
The fonts that I have used on the cover of my
magazine are both bold and a contrast between
serif and sans serif. The reason that I have done
this is to separate the main cover line from the
other cover lines to make it stand out and catch
the eye of the reader so that they know that it is
the focal article in the magazine. The use of both
serif and sans serif fonts together is also a
technique used by Q magazine which has the same
classic rock genre as my product. This follows the
conventions of a rock music magazine because the
serif fonts are formal yet bold which symbolise the
harsh sounds of rock music.
Q magazine
font example
The main image on my magazine cover is of a young
artist ‘Jord’. The target audience for my magazine is
16 years and over therefore I felt that my main artist
should be young so that younger readers are able to
identify with him.Q magazine has a similar target
audience to my magazine therefore their cover artist
is also young.‘Jord’ is also wearing a dark coat. This
use of mise en scene follows the conventions of a rock
magazine because rock music is associated with dark
colours. However, I have broken this convention by
using high-key lighting on my photographs which is
not stereotypical of loud rock music.
I have taken a lot of influence from Q magazine for my product. The colours used on Q are reds, black and
white which represent the genre of rock because they symbolise danger and intensity. The colour scheme for
my magazine is red, black, white and grey. By using dark, hard colours I am following the conventions of Q, a
rock magazine. The dark red and black colours of my product contrast against the lighter greys and whites
which make them stand out and therefore catch the eye of the reader. My audience, fans of rock music, can
identify with the magazine because the colours symbolise the rock genre so they will immediately know the
genre of my magazine through the colours on the cover.

2. The layout of my contents page is similar to that of Q in
the way that I have separated the information using
bars. Another technique I have used inspired by Q
magazine is highlighting the page numbers using a
shape tool. I used circles rather than squares for this as
I felt that this shape worked better for the younger
audience because it gives the page a more informal
look. I have broken the conventions of a typical rock
magazine by only using two photographs rather than
several. I did this because I felt that the page would
look too busy if I added more photographs.
Q magazine have written their article in a formal, biographical style which is more applicable to their
older target audience. The main article on my double page spread is informal which is appropriate to my
younger target audience because it is ‘chatty’ and in the style of an interview. By doing this I have broken
the conventions of a rock magazine in order to suit the younger members of my target audience. I have,
however, given my article a mature, formal feel by using serif font for the article which also depicts the
seriousness of the article’s subject.