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

2. Titles- Front cover
• The title of my cover page HOLLA MG isn’t like
other Hip-hop or other rap/ urban magazines as
it is an actual slang word which has been
around for many years being used throughout
the world by those of different ethnicities, ages,
etc. this reflects my target audience and
product as it is sold both in the UK and America
(making it an international product), a wide age
range from those 16-early 30’s, people of all
different backgrounds, men and women etc. I
got the idea of having my title in a text box from
the XXL magazine. A text box separates the
Masthead from the rest of the page and giving
it its own space which draws attention to it, on
top of that the red and white clearly stand out
on the black background.

3. Titles- Contents pages
• Like XXL my contents pages have a clear bold
title similar to each other. XXL’s titles are the
A-side and the B-side while mine is INSIDE
THIS MONTH and INSIDE THIS MONTH. The
pages are like positive and negative which
reflects the entrance and exit on the line
below the title separating the title and
contents information. I was able to change
the colour of the title by copying the title
from dafont.com by snipping it, pasting it
onto paint and inverting the colour. The font
is old school, rigid and different to what is
used in other contents pages as I looked
through my case studies and other student’s
case studies which were off this music genre.

4. Titles- Double page spread
• Most titles are placed at the top of the page but on a double page spread
it is common not to be placed at the top on mine it has been placed at the
bottom of the page where the page is its whitest and where the base of
the t-shirt is. I could have placed the title in the middle of the chest which
would resemble the model being at the heart of the group, as if to say
without him there is nothing but I thought that he is the foundations of
the group and place the text at the base of the page. The colour of the
title is golden yellow and black because they are clearly seen on the white
t-shirt. The Young Stars part is golden to resemble that they are stars like
on the cover page.

5. Distribution-
• In most magazines the title font is big and bold because it has to be easy
to recognize when being sold in shops this why I have done this; this then
relates to the distribution methods. When sold in news stand the left side
of the magazine is put on show, this is why it has been placed on the left
side of the magazine and not in a central or right position. This is also why
the majority of cover lines have been placed on the left hand side. For a
new and uprising magazine competing with other magazines u need to get
the reader interested in the magazine. This is why I placed the Nas tickets
on this side of the page; Nas is an older artist and very well known, this
would be appealing to many people. Part of my distribution plan was
direct distribution, selling magazines to people on the street with reduced
prices of £1.50, I was originally going to sell them for free but my teacher
said the cost of making a magazine would need to be paid for.
• A lot of magazines have a website where u are able to view the magazine
issue or subscribe to as magazine so you can have the magazines sent to
your house or preferred place, this often involves deals and readers saving
money this another way of distribution. I applied this at the bottom of my
contents page where I said subscribe to HOLLA Magazine at
HOLLAMGINTERNATIONAL .co.uk

6. Layout, font and colour scheme-
Front cover
• Like my title, the layout of my magazine was helped together with the aid
of my XXL case study because in my case study the photograph was taken
so that text could be placed down either side of the page. My chosen
photo of my male model was just right because my model was right in the
middle of the page allowing me to place my cover lines on either side of
my model. The space available could have been used better though as
there are a few patches of space on the page, e.g. the Kendrick Lamar
cover line; the name in the cover line could have been bigger so that it
took up more space because there was plenty available. Again the idea of
having various fonts, font sizes and colours derived from my XXL case
study the range of colour makes and fonts makes the magazine more
attractive to its audience. I applied the darker colours of red, black and the
golden yellow to the white areas and the other colours like white to the
black jacket where they were going to be visible. The Stars part in shoot
for the stars cover line is golden to resemble that they are stars.

7. Layout, font and colour scheme-
Contents pages
• The line that separates the title form the contents on the contents pages
was an idea that I picked up from the XXL magazine, I just made it my own
by adding enter and exit to the bold lines. On the second lines which are
at the bottom of the page include subscribing details and social
networking information. The side on photo allowed me to place my
contents information in vertical fashion. Unlike most magazines where the
listed content is posted up against the side of a page mine runs freely with
the central alignment set to flow with outline of the model. The colour
scheme of the magazine was originally supposed to be golden yellow,
white and black. This remained the same on the cover page and double
page spread but in in the contents page the golden yellow was replaced
with red because the double page spread and cover page linked together
whilst the contents pages were but wasn’t at the same time as the
contents page was and overview of the magazine as a whole and the cover
page was showing of the feature article. On the second contents page I
wished for there to be more photos that were studio and non-studio
based photos to give an better overview of the magazine and make them
more interest in it but for non-studio base photos the camera that I
borrowed was not good enough for the magazine; I was lucky to get a
decent picture of the trainers with it.

8. Layout, font and colour scheme-
double page spread
• The layout of the double page spread is simple compared with the rest of
the magazine; the first page is of the model which featured on the front
cover with the title at the bottom of the page. The second page is of the
journalism. At the top of the page I placed the introduction to the group.
Then I placed a quote from the interview below the introduction. Below
the quote I placed the question and answer in two separate columns
because columns something that many magazines do and it is a clearer
layout. The quote is in the golden yellow colour because e it represents
that what they say is gold, it is important. I did not put the answers to the
questions in golden because I know white is easier to read on a black
background as the different is greater than any other colour. The
questions were in gold just so that everything fit the colour scheme. The
font of the text was between size 11 and 12, not too big and too small, big
enough to read and small enough that I can fit enough text on the page.
The questions being in italic to make them stand out as much as possible,
this is helped by the colour of the questions. This is generally the size
used in magazines. I think the layout of my unique; a quote is common in
double page spreads, the same with an introduction but not to be laid out
in this way.

9. Models and Props-
• The lighting that I was using was ok but one of the soft boxes was broke so
I only had one to use, this would mean that the light would be directed
onto one side of the models face as you have seen in the studio photos
taken.
• My model typical of a lot of most R&B, Rap and Hip-hop magazines as he
is black in race although my model differs from other models based in
magazines. Because my feature article is on an upcoming group I wanted
the audience to see the artist for who he is and look how he would
normally. Unlike many models in magazines where they wear the most
attractive and expensive clothes possible; this goes for all my models.
• The shoes that are within the contents page were taken in urban area as u
can just about make out from the concrete slabs on the floor and the back
ground, I also picked a spot where there was a few leaves on the floor to
reflect the time of year. The jeans that the model is wearing are also the
coloured jeans would suit this type of/ coloured trainers.
• The photo of the double page spread was a photo caught whilst my model
was laughing. On the cover page the look he portrayed a serious almost
evil look, this image on the DPS has shown another side to him, the coat
resembling the serious working side and the white t-shirt resembling a
relaxed

10. Journalism-
• The journalism in magazines is used to attract and make things seem
appealing to the audience the using attractive adjectives e.g. the contents
and cover pages, or to relate to the audience.
• On the front cover there is the cover line about the Nas tickets which
includes the word exclusive, this means that the tickets are currently only
available from the magazine at this time, this would attract people to look
for the tickets or article on the tickets, as they flick through the magazine,
as they go through it they will most likely come across something that they
are interested in and carry on reading the magazine. This is something
that is done in most if not all magazines to gain more interest in the
magazine. I have also used slang on the cover page and throughout the
magazine to relate to my chosen audience. The listed artists that are
featuring in the magazine which I have place down the right hand side of
the magazine, in the list there are various artists, old, new, commercial,
non-commercial, American or British etc. the idea of listing the artists
down the right hand side came from XXL.