2. In what ways does your media product use,
develop or challenge forms and conventions
of real media products?
3. Use- Front Cover
• My product uses forms and conventions of real media products by following real pop music
magazines. I looked at lots of different pop music magazines and found lots of similarities in the
forms and conventions. I used my research to adhere to the codes and conventions. For
example, I found in my research that many pop music magazines have barcodes on the front
cover. I then added a barcode to my front cover.
Research on pop front covers- all use rule of
thirds and include a barcode and price. My product
• In my research, I found that many magazines put a few features down one side of their
featured artist. This shifts the artist to one side, using the rule of thirds to enhance the
reader’s interest in the magazine. I followed this convention too.
4. Use- front cover
• I also used a central image of an artist
using direct mode of address. This is what
most magazines use as it increase the
sense of a relationship between the
reader and the magazine.
• I think that if I could have done anything
differently, I would have used a logo to
increase the loyal readership of my
magazine. It would also create a USP
which would increase attraction to my
magazine.
Examples of pop music magazines My product
Having a logo
increase the
amount of loyal
readers and
creates a brand
identity.
5. Use- Contents page
• Another convention that I followed was that in some music magazines there were two categories in the
contents; features and regulars. I incorporated this into my contents page to adhere to this convention. I
also found that the main featured artist was usually the biggest picture on the contents page so I used
one of the pictures that I had taken for the main picture on the contents page. This helped because
instead of having a central image, the image was moved to the side. This enabled me to organise my
features and regulars down one side, like in other pop music magazines.
Research on pop contents pages- NME
uses the features and regulars method.
My final product
This is completely opposite to my preliminary task, before I had
done any in depth magazine research. I was unaware of
conventions of contents pages and there is a comparable
difference between my preliminary task and final product.
My preliminary task
6. Use- Double page spread
On the double page spread, there are many codes and conventions that I adhered
to. For example, there has to be space for six columns across the page. I used
InDesign’s tools to create a template so I could see where I was placing my
content in regards to the six columns. I also used this to know where to put my
copy on the double page spread.
Another convention I followed was that I put the picture of the featured artist on
one side of the page with the copy on the other. This was something I wanted to
do as I had seen this style in my research of double page spreads, and I really liked
it because it draws attention more to the picture, and you can see the copy
clearer.
Research on double page spreads My product
I created a document with pre-set
columns so I could see in
perspective how I should arrange
my double page spread.
7. Develop
I developed conventions on my music magazine by further adding social media
links at the bottom of the front cover. This is where a lot of pop music magazines
put more features, such as fashion tips. However, since social media has
developed and grown in popularity in the last five years, my target audience are
the most likely social group to be using most social media platforms, since they
are digital natives. This would increase number of people buying the magazine,
and the amount of promotion the magazine got through the amount of people
interested in following the magazines on its social media platforms.
8. Challenge
• I challenged conventions within my product because of my target audience. I chose to
aim my pop music magazine at slightly older audience than a typical pop music
magazine audience, who are usually around 12-15.
• This meant that I had to change a few things within my magazine, such as the colour
palette. I used colours such as black and red, which are more suited to an older
audience, whereas typical pop music magazines feature pinks and purples to attract a
younger audience.
Research of pop music magazines- pink and
purple are the main colours featured in pop
music magazines.
My product
9. Challenge continued
• Also, as my target audience are less likely to be interested in gossip surrounding
the artists, and more interested in information about the artist’s career. I featured
these types of articles on the front cover and contents to attract more of my
target audience.
These are different
to my magazine
because they focus
on information not
directly linked to
the artist.
