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

2. The conventions of a magazine
• Barcodes and
issue numbers
• Masthead
• Colour scheme
• Fonts
• Photography
style
• Writing style

3. Bar code, issue date and price
• All magazines include a bar code,
issue date and price. My magazine
features all of these on the front
cover which help identify it as a
magazine. The bar code is kept to
the bottom so not to block the
image as many magazines do, while
the issue date is at the top right
corner above the price. Some music
magazines choose to put the issue
date and website above the barcode
but I chose to put it above the price
as to keep it clearer.

4. Masthead
• The masthead is an important
feature of a magazine as it is
what identifies it from the
others. My masthead is large
and easily recognisable to the
reader with the damaged style
identifying the magazine as
rock. It is placed in the
conventional way, across the
top of the page. This is so it is
easily noticed when placed at
the back of a shelf.

5. Colour scheme
• For my genre of rock
music I chose to use the
colours red, black and
white which appeals to
the target audience. In my
market research I found
these were the most
predominant colours
associated with rock
music. My magazine uses
a simple colour scheme
with red and blue being
predominant colours in
both my model and the
cover lines. My colour
scheme has been carried
across on my contents
page and double page
spread to show the genre
clearly.

6. Writing style
• On the front cover the writing
style usually consists of exciting
language with the use of
exclamation marks to grab the
readers attention. In the double
page spread it is set out in
columns in either a question and
answer format or prose style. My
magazine used question and
answer format so it could be
easily understood. The writing
style changes from magazine to
magazine depending on the
audience. Since my audience was
mainly teenage girls I wanted the
writing style to be interesting and
attract them.

7. Photography style
• Music magazines always
feature a main image of an
artist which is eye
capturing so people are
more likely to look at it. My
image has direct eye
contact with the reader
meeting this convention.
The image stands out while
the pale background allows
the cover lines to be
attention-grabbing. The
mid shot means her pose is
depicted, showing attitude
which is a style of rock
music.