The document discusses conventions of real media products like magazines and how the student's product challenges or follows those conventions. Some key conventions discussed are having a bold masthead in red, black, or white at the top, featuring the cover artist prominently on the cover, and including a contents page listing article topics. The student's masthead is longer than typical but uses a similar color scheme. Images feature the artist prominently and text is organized into columns, following conventions.

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

3. Masthead
Features
Main Image
Sell Lines
Barcode
Main Cover line
Anchor text

4. A common convention of hip hop/ rap magazines is having a masthead that is
strong bold and will stand out as a recognisable brand name. They are often at the
top of the magazine and usually follow a colour scheme of either red black or
white. I went against the convention of the common hip hop/ rap magazines by
using a longer than usual name for my masthead I don’t this because I thought
the design of the masthead and name looked cool and would appeal to my target
audience. The biggest influence on my masthead was magazines such as VIBE
and COMPLEX.

5. The conventions of the main image are usually quite simple and go
together with the anchor text of the magazine. I followed this
convention and used a medium shot of the artist who is the main
point of focus on the font cover It relates to the Anchor text as the
image is of the person in the anchor text. The complete white
background that the artist is standing against creates contrast between
the artist and the background again reinforcing that he is the main
point of focus on the page. He is using direct mode of address to
create a relationship between the cover artist and the audience. The
attire of the artist directly relates to the target audience of the
magazine also. The all black clothing, gold chains and the action of
putting on a hood are all common stereotypes of those who would
typically listen to the genre of music that this magazine is promoting.

6. The text used in this is relevant to the magazine as it
Is the name of the artist featured on the main image.
It is a common convention to have the name of the
image artist displayed alongside the image of the
artists so the reader knows who is. The writing is
displayed in a large font in the same colour as the
main word in my masthead, this is to follow the
colour scheme. Other magazines such as XXL, Fader
and Vibe follow the same conventions.

7. This is a common convention to make
the reader more interested into what
is going on inside of the magazine. It
stands out against the image. It makes
the reader want to ask the question
(hermeneutic question) ‘why is it his
time?’ the answer would then be
explained in the magazine.

8. The features section of the magazine gives the
Reader an overview of what/whom is actually is in the
Magazine. By having these informative entertaining
elements this satisfies the needs of the audience according
to the uses and gratification theory.
I used contrasting colours of dark grey and red which is a
theme across the whole magazine to attract the readers
attention as they stand out against the background.
I did not follow the common code and conventions by
having the features along the left side of the page, this is
because I believed it fit on the page nicely and gave me
extra space to use whilst having the features in a noticeable
place.
The font is also relatively small, this is because the features
are not the main selling point of this magazine, it is the
artist. As a result the font is smaller as it has less
importance compared to other elements of the magazine.

9. The colour scheme I used is a typical one for a rnb/rap magazine. The white
black and red colour scheme allowed all the colours to contrast and therefore
everything stood out. The main image as described on a previous slide stuck
to the codes and conventions (mise en scene) of a typical rnb/ rap magazine.
The model is dressed in all black which contrasts well with the all white
background causing the artist to stand out. The use of the colour red on my
front cover is used to emphasis all of the key parts of the front cover and
would attract the readers eye before any of the information written in any
other colour.

11. Masthead
Numbering
Features
Main Image
Website link

12. The masthead is related to the masthead of my font cover
which aims to reproduce the brand image/awareness of
‘Swave’ although instead of ‘nation’ I changed the second
word to ‘contents’
Which shows that it is the contents page. Having Contents
at the top of a page is a common convention used by most
magazines, I kept the colour scheme the same to keep the
house theme across the magazine to have consistency.

13. The features of what appears inside of the magazine is shown under their respective
page numbers. I used a font which fit with the convention of my magazine, it looks
handwritten as such and has an edgy look to it. Following the usual codes and
conventions the features that were shown on the front cover of the magazine have now
got a specific place for the reader to find them. The way the features have been worded
isn’t boring and is relevant and has enough information in them so that the reader
would know what would be found on them pages.
The positioning of the writing fits around the artist and makes it look more aesthetically
pleasing to the reader. The colour scheme again fits the house style of the magazine.
How I
challenged
the
common
codes and
conventions

14. The numbering needs to be bold and stand out which is
why it is larger than the text and in a red colour which
contrasts against the background and the writing. This is
so the reader can easily see where to find things, contents
pages are essentially a shortcut to finding what you want
to find in a magazine. This is especially important when
looking at the younger audiences as it is user friendly and
easily navigable.

15. The main image is of the feature artist looking in on the contents. This is
a common code and convention as it looks like the artist is looking at the
contents and the reader would then look at what the artist is looking at. It
shows him dressed in a bomber jacket holding gold chains whilst
wearing a gold watch all of which are common codes and conventions of
artists featuring in a rnb/rap magazine. It would appeal to males that are
interested into the lifestyle that these artists live. The image is large and
is positioned in such a way that the words used to form the contents can
fit around it.

17. Masthead
Dropcap
Main image
Columns/Text
Website link
Social media links
Page number

18. The text is the main written attraction for readers
as they want to read about the feature artists life.
It enables them to form a personal bond between
them and the artist as the interview is written
directly from the artists mouth. This should fill
entertainment and informative purposes that the
audience seeks.

19. The dropcap is usually used to introduce an
article, which includes a small paragraph of text
of what is in the article. It aims the grab the
readers attention when they see the beginning of
artists name and would make them want to read
it.

20. The article is divided into two neat columns which are nicely organised
and therefore would be attractive to the readers. I used the justify tool
on Photoshop to make sure the text was aligned. In contrast to the other
text it is smaller than the large masthead this is to show that it is the
main body of text. This is a common practice for most magazines.

21. In one of my images it show the artist looking away from the camera
towards the text in a medium longshot which is similar to my contents
page. This is to attract the readers attention to the text which further the
connection between the artist and the audience. As the artist is looking
away from the camera this adds to his mysterious persona and makes
the reader ask questions making them want to read the article. The shot
also includes the background which overlooks houses, the mise en
scene on the whole creates a dark moody vibe which is relatable to the
artist as explained in the text. This is not a typical code and convention
nor does it fit the uses and gratification theory although it fits in my
style in my magazine.

22. In my second image in included some
images from a performance from the
artist. This is to show the reader the
‘hype’ that the artist creates at his
shows. My showing other people find
him this good it will make them more
excited to read the article about him.