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

2. Conventions of a magazine
I began researching media products that could be sold along side my film trailer to produce ancillary sales. I
started by looking at the conventions of modern film magazines and how their layout is used to entice its
audience.
The main conventions I began to notice through out my search are as follow;
• A mast head – making your magazine instantly recognisable to your audience.
• A variety of fonts will be used to make the cover more appealing and interesting to
look at.
• Using a central image that shows a celebrity/actor directly gazing at the ready
creates a bond, making the audience feel connected to whoever they may be
reading about.
• To address the articles within the magazine, tag lines or cover lines will be used.
• Most magazine covers include a specific colour palette that is recognisable to the
magazines audience.
• Strap lines are also added to magazine covers – usually highlighting the main
actors/celebrities that are announced within the magazine.

3. Research into ‘Total Film’
I began my research by comparing this collection of randomly
picked ‘Total film’ magazines with the conventions of magazine
making.
Masthead- Each cover displays the branded masthead in roughly the same
way, excluding the size. This allows the company’s audience to become
familiar with the logo and able to recognise it quickly.
Fonts - Again the fonts displayed on each cover comply to the conventions
of magazines by following the use of a variety of different fonts per page.
Central image – Although the images used range in size from mid-shot to
close-up, the layout, stance and gaze of the characters are all very similar.
Colour palette – The majority of magazine companies tend to stick fairly
closely to the idea of using the same colour palette for each of their designs
in order to make them recognisable to their audience however, ‘Total film’
designs each of their covers to specific colour palettes but each individual
cover is different, even the mast head changes colour. This idea challenges
the conventions.
Tag lines and strap lines – when comparing these magazine cover
designs I noticed that they all incorporated strap lines to promote the actors
and celebrities they write about in their articles but only a few of them
promote the articles within by using tag lines with details of the cast of film.
By avoiding this we can see, in the design bottom right, that the cover is left
fairly bare and simple which can often be used to advantages but does
challenge what would be considered the norm.

4. Designing my own magazine cover.
When I began to design my own cover, I chose three of my favourite ‘total film’ designs and decided to incorporate
sections from each cover within my own. The most important aspect for me was selecting a variety of fonts that worked
well with my trailer but also followed the designs of my influencing magazines.
I feel that I have carried out this task to a
high quality, not only does it mirror the
designs of modern magazines, it include all
of the key conventions that should be used
within the designs.
For example, I have included a masthead
using the Total film logo so that my magazine
would fit in with todays market, I have
included advertisements and gift prizes to
attract audience attention. I have also
included cover stories, taglines and tried to
keep to a subtle colour palette throughout.
I was slightly
disappointed with
the inability to
find the actual
font used for the
mast head,
however I believe,
on a shelf along
side the others it
would not be out
of place.

5. My cover image design. Out of all the aspects of producing
my magazine cover, I found the cover
image the most difficult to get right.
Most cover designs have a character
shot placed onto a fairly neutral or
plain background however I wanted
to challenge this idea by layering two
images together.
Using the
setting
shown to the
left on photo
shop I found
this simple to
do and felt it
was creative
with an
effective
outcome.

6. My final design.
After constructing my cover to include the character
shot I was able to step away from the computer and
begin gaining feedback for my product.
The writing was designed like most of the ‘Total film’
designs to frame the cover image which I feel has
been successful, it fits in with the magazines I have
researched even though it does challenge some of
their designs.
When editing the
image for my
cover shot I was
slightly
apprehensive, I
believed the use
of the layering
may have become
overcrowding or
distracted the
reading of the
taglines however
the positioning of
the image has
produced a subtle
backdrop against
the lighter
writing.

7. Research into ‘Little
white lies’
After producing a conventional, modern take on a magazine cover I
decided then to experiment with a design that would be more targeted
to an ‘art house’ audience and felt that the indie company ‘Little white
lies’ displays this style of magazine cover.
Masthead- Each cover displays the branded masthead in roughly the
same way, excluding the colour occasionally. This allows the company’s
audience to become familiar with the logo and able to recognise it
quickly.
Fonts – The majority of the covers designed for this magazine only
display the logo, therefore only requiring one font and challenging the
idea of conventional magazines with a minimalistic design.
Central image – Unlike more conventional designs made with studio
edited photographs, little white lies cover images are often illustrations
based on the actors, this gives a more art house creativity and
therefore stands out to this specific target market.
Colour palette – Their designs often incorporate carefully selected
colour schemes to enhance the atmosphere within the image and also
to like them to the film more, this is similar to conventions.
Tag lines and strap lines - There are rarely and taglines or strap lines
incorporated into the little white lies designs, this is used to keep the
cover simple.

8. Drawing my protagonists in the same
style.
I began my response to the ‘little white lies’ covers by drawing
my own protagonists from my trailer in the same style as the
lawless and drive, black and white covers. I wanted to keep them
fairly simple and use small, scratchy brush strokes to create
texture.
I began this experiment
with the intention to
develop both images of
my protagonists however,
I decided, due to
producing a conventional
magazine using my male
protagonist as my central
image that I should
develop this idea further
using only my female
protagonist.
I feel that this has also
resulted in a better
outcome, the image is
lighter and there for the
details more clear, helping
to produce the right style
of cover I was aiming for.

9. Editing my photo and logo
Firstly I chose to edit my drawing using photo shop software to enhance the
contrast of my image and make it darker and the lines fuller.
After centring the image on Indesign I began to recreate the logo belonging to
the little white lies brand, staying as close as I could to the design with fonts I
then chose to make the ‘truth of movies’ slogan bigger and stand out upon the
logo more.
After researching a few of the different logo
designs for this company I settled on using the
white logo, I felt this would keep this image
light and wouldn’t produce too much of a
contrast against the drawing.

10. The final edit
I was drawn mainly to the black swan edition of the
little white lies magazines as it displayed the same
simple and light style of magazine I was aiming for.
To further my design and to produce a direct response
to the black swan edition I chose to apply the same text
as a layer above my image.
I was unable to find the exact font used however, I feel
the font I have used works well and because it is thicker
than the original it is easier to read and still allows the
cover image to be seen through the writing.

11. Experimenting with
colours
After producing my black and white response to the little
white lies covers I began to look at some colour editions
and producing my own using the same layout as I had
done previously.
Using the lasso tool on photo shop I was able to select
specific areas of the image to colour.
Both of my final edits of my little white lies responses I
feel challenge all the conventions of magazines in one
way or another but mainly through the simplicity of the
designs and the minimalistic approach that is used.