My first question completed

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

2. • During the research stage we looked at a wide variety of music magazines, as well as work from
students of previous years. Looking at these and at the more successful magazines, I determined and
sectioned out niche area’s of the magazine market which are not being catered for. During this research
I also found that the most popular magazines and the most highly marked pieces of coursework were
the work that followed the conventions of magazines. The reasons for this is that the publishing houses
who produce the magazines such as ‘IPC MEDIA, future media and Bauer media’ know exactly what
they need to do to grab the attention of their intended audience and enable them to purchase a magazine.
They know what kind of cover artist or celebrity should grace the cover; and how they need to be
represented. For example the most sold magazines are usually the ones that are the most aesthetically
appealing to the eyes.

3. • My masthead is conventional of real magazines; It is the largest text
On the page and it is clear and easy to read, as well as eye catching with
its Silvery metallic colour that sets is self apart from the rest of the text on
the page. The masthead is also positioned in the centre which is one of
two main Typical conventions of mast heads. The second convention of
mastheads Is to place it in the top left. I feel using a simple font that is the
same throughout the front cover creates continuity and a feeling of
neatness, This also enabled me to differ my masthead font which then
attracts more attention to my main title. I made sure both fonts matched
the styling of genre of magazine that I have created, which it does. I
layered the masthead in front of the photograph as I felt it would be more
readable and having it above would take some attention away from the
picture itself and focus more on the magazine. Developing my ideas from
previous and inspirational magazines such as ; NME,RollingStone, Q
and Kerrang. I also delved deeper into my research as I decided I wanted
my magazine to be of a more vintage styled nature, so I looked at popular
magazines from the 90’s and 80’s such as ; The Face, Musical Express,
Sassy and I-D. As you can see from the masthead on the left hand side
‘sassy’ magazine often overlap the main image with a bright masthead
which is an effect I was trying to achieve with my magazine too. Grey,
black and white are my main colour scheme throughout the magazine
which is why I tried to create a masthead that slightly differs yet still Kept
to the magazines sense of style, placement and making it stand out.

4. Here, I have followed the common conventions of music and culture
magazines to the best of my ability as you can see from the following
examples to the left. My magazine contents (Top left) Nme (Bottom
Left). The reason I have done this is because Nme magazine has been
tested and edited to make the most appealing layout for the reader; so
following this layout would create a positive outcome in the making of
my magazine and it’s final outcome. I think my layout is particularly
successful in the way I captured a similar professional layout style
amongst the likes of nme as they are along the same genre. The layout
consists of a title area caring a masthead with the page title of ‘WHATS
UP THIS MONTH!” Below there are a selection of images and a
detailed contents with clear page numbers and titles for each page listed
which is followed by a brief description below in a different font. All of
the fonts are consistent throughtout.The images fall to the left hand side
with some layering included as I found the magazines with images
grouped together looked the most interesting; seeing these pictures as
you open the magazine would immediately draw interest and the readers
attention which then encourages the reader to read the rest of the articles.

5. The images are a key part to my magazine and possibly the hardest to obtain the typical conventions of a magazine.
This is due to not having the resources that mainstream magazines have such as; professional photographers, light-
Ing and equipment. However, I tried to substitute the conventions to the best of my possibility. I achieved a
Somewhat professional look by finding white back drops wherever I could to create a clean and minimalistic look
That would make my main image stand out and also make it easier for me to Photoshop. I tried making my images
Relevant to the genre of my magazine by making sure that the props and clothing used were in keeping with my
Magazine. As my magazines target sector are young people, I tried to make the magazine as appealing as possible to
Them which is why I used young models in my shoot. The models I’ve used are dressed in the typical fashion you’d
Associate within the ‘indie’ genre such as; plaid shirts, shearling jackets, double denim, tour wristbands etc.
The majority of magazines include band photo shoots on location in a musical setting which Is why in one of my
Shots I took a picture of one of my models in a music room behind a drum kit and holding a guitar which immediately
Links to my genre of magazine and the idea of music being the main vocal point to the magazine.
The photographs I took were quite varied as I incorporated different models and locations so that I could have a good
Amount of choices at my disposal. In the end I decided on the photos that are shown in this slide; reason being is
They applied best to my genre of magazine and the angles of the shot were best fitting to my convention too. The
Only thing I don’t think I did that was very conventional of a music magazine was my choice of colour scheme which
Is a collection of blue’s black’s and white’s ; you don’t tend to see that colour scheme very often in indie magazines
However I am comfortable with my choice as I feel that made my magazine stand apart from the rest.
Overall my magazine media product relies quite heavily on the usage and development of conventions in real
Magazines. I did slightly challenge my convention as I stated above as I felt it would make my media product stand
Out above the rest.