5. I have used continuity throughout my product by creating a house style. I did this by using the same 3 colours
across the font cover, contents page and double page spread. I also matched page numbers to show continuity
across pages and I have used the same artist on all 3 products therefore reinforcing the continuity within my
products.
The colours I chose to use throughout my products are red, black and white.These 3 colours work really well
together ad black and white are neutral colours thus making the red really stand out. I decided to use the 3 colours
on my front cover, contents page and double page spread as it brings my products together and ultimately shows
continuity.Another reason for choosing these colours was because of researched I conducted in the planning and
research stage of my coursework. After looking at other media products such as KERRANG! Magazine I found that
these colours were seen as conventional to the metal genre of music (the genre I based my magazine on). By
choosing red, black and white as my colour scheme I fount that they worked really well as they fit in with the
costume my model was wearing as she wears a red and white bandanna, black and white scarf and bright red
lipstick.The continuity of colours even carry’s on throughout the props I used as the guitar on the double page
spread is red.
I placed my model in all 3 of my media products as it reinforces her importance across the magazine being the
feature story and shows continuity within the magazine. Although my artists is in all 3 of my products I chose to
use different pictures of her so the audience stay interested. Placing the artist on all 3 products is conventional of
a magazine therefore in my product I am conforming to conventions of a music magazine.
Conventionally in a metal music magazine the fonts used are bold as metal music is raw and likes to get to the
point therefore I have used fonts that adhere to that idea of raw boldness in my magazine. in my products the
fonts I used are Calibri and Calisto MT for my main text, they are bold fonts thus reinforce the genre and
dominance of my magazine.
6. I followed the convention of having feature
stories on my front cover as it tells the audience
what else is in my magazine as readers are not
always interested in the main feature story,
although may be interested in the rest of the
content. Readers do not have the time or chance
to look at the contents page when browsing
magazines so feature stories on the front cover
makes it easier for the to see then hopefully buy.
On my front cover I created a plug as this
stands out and catches the readers eye
hopefully making them take another look at
my magazine as there is always deals and
chances to win good prizes.This may make the
reader want to buy the magazine for the deal
or competition.A plus is not always used ion a
magazine but can be seen as conventional as a
lot of magazines do have the.
I followed the convention of a header at
the top of my front cover to give the
audience an incentive to buy my
magazine as they are able to have a
chance at winning good prizes. Although
I followed the convention of a header I
challenged conventions by not creating a
footer as I did not want to overcrowd my
front cover and I have both a header and
plug advertising competition.
I used a bold masthead to catch the eyes of my readers. I placed the masthead is
important as it reinforces the company and is places near the top of the page as it
is conventional of most music magazines.The masthead can tell you the type of
genre of the magazine, especially with well known ones such as Kerrang! Being a
metal music magazine and is one of the first things, besides the main feature story
that the audience sees.
My main feature story is used to attract
readers to my magazine, I created this
story as an exclusive to make my audience
want to by my magazine as they will not
get this story in any other magazines.
Main feature stories are usually big things
that have happened, this attracts readers
as people like to read about celebrities
lives. Main feature stories follow
conventions as all magazines have main
feature stories as a selling point.
in regards to my main images I followed conventions by using a medium close-up so you can really see who the artist is. My model is
wearing a black leather jacket and a red bandanna to represent the metal genre.A leather jacket is rather conventional of the metal genre
as it is seen as tough and powerful, this stems from the representation of youth ‘rockers’ in the 1960’s who listened to rock and metal
music, wore leather jackets and were seen as ‘yobs’ and deviant.This representation therefore creates a powerful image for my magazine.
The main image is important as it show’s the reader who the main feature story is about thus enticing them to want to find out more about
why the artists in the magazine and ultimately making the reader want to buy the magazine.
I followed the convention of having a barcode on
my music magazine front cover as it tells the
reader what issue the magazine is, the date and
the cost of the magazine.This helps people
decided if they can afford the magazine and
helps collectors stay up to date for example if
they missed an issue without knowing, the issue
number will tell them.
7. I have shown continuity throughout my
magazine by using the same 3 colours,
red, white and black.The continuity also
shows as I have placed an image of the
first letter of my masthead on the
contents page to reinforce that the
contents page is part of this magazine
and promotes the company again.
I created an editors note on my contents
page as from research I have found that
it is conventional in most music
magazines especially in Kerrang! This
makes the magazine feel more personal
as the editor is talking to the reader
therefore attracting my target audience
to buy my magazine.
I used the officialTwitter, Facebook and
Instagram logos on my contents page to
appeal to my target audience as my target
audience is young people who thrive on
social media and is generally part of their
everyday lives.This also reinforces the fact
that my product is up to date and present in
social media.
I have used columns on my contents page
primarily because it is conventional of
magazines to have columns on a contents
page but it also gives my product structure as
readers can easily find what they want and
not be confused when looking at my
contents page.
I created categories within my contents page
as it makes things easier for my reader to
find what the want. For example if they just
wanted to find the posters, they look for the
category posters and will then find what
page it is on quicker and easier than looking
through the full contents page.
In relation to Mise-n-scene I have used
this image because it reflects the
genre of the magazine as my model is
wearing a leather jacket, black jeans
and a red bandanna.The image also
shows continuity of my product as the
same model is present throughout the
magazine. An image of the main
feature story present throughout the
magazine is conventional of a
magazine as it shows the audience
who the story is about and reinforces
the idea that the story is big news.
On my contents page ordered my feature
stories in numerical order for my audience to
easily find what they want.This is
conventional of most contents pages. I used
a bright red colour for the numbers on the
contents page to make them stand out and
easy for the reader to see.
I placed the contents banner at the
top of the page as this is conventional
and what my audience would expect.
I used a black box and red and white
writing as it fits with my colour
scheme and stands out
In terms of my feature stories I have placed
the feature in bold capital letters to attract
the audience to it and in some cases I have
put a sub heading about the feature in
normal lowercase as it is not as important
as you can read about that on the page.
8. All the images used on my
double page spread as I took a
lot of them when I went to a
concert.This makes the article
look good because it has posed
photos and action shots
showing the reader what they
would/could experience at a
concert if they went and giving
them a sense of actually being
there.
I followed conventions of a
music magazine by creating a
by-line on the double page
spread.This tells the reader
who wrote the article and who
took the pictures that feature
on the page.
In the main text on my double page
spread I used columns as they are
conventional of an article in a magazine.
However as my article is a question and
answer therefore found that using block
columns was more conventional as it
separated the questions making it easier
for my reader to understand.
In relation to the image, I
specifically chose this
image as my model is
wearing clothes that are
conventional of the rock
genre (black jeans, leather
jacket and a t-shirt) my
model is also holding a red
guitar, a prop that is
conventional of the rock
genre as most rock stars
have electric guitars.The
image is a medium shot,
this is also conventional of
a double page spread.
For my headline on my double page spread I took
inspiration from another magazine.The different
size letters with a shadow behind is eye-catching
and will hopefully entice the audience to read the
article. In my headline I have 2 words in bold, these
words are the main words in the headline and the
boldness of the letters highlight this.
Page numbers on any page
of a magazine is
conventional as it allows the
reader to identify the page
that they want quickly and
easily. Page numbers also
show continuity of the
magazine. I have used the
same style page number on
my contents page to show
where the article is
reinforcing the continuity.
I have used a drop cap at
the beginning of my
article as this is
conventional of a
magazine.This marks the
beginning of the article
so the reader knows
where to start.
I placed the official twitter,
Facebook and Instagram logos on
my double page spread.This
shows my readers that my
magazine is up to date with social
media especially because many of
my target audiences lives revolve
around social media.
I created a stand first so my
reader knows what the
article is about in brief
before they read the full
article in case they do not
want to read about what
the article is about.A stand
first again is conventional
of a magazine.
9. Challenging conventions with
inspiration from other magazines…
I took inspiration from other magazines such as
KERRANG! Magazine to created a promotion
box. This is where my audience can find
information on how to get my magazine
delivered to their door every month. This would
cost £2 less than it would to buy my magazine
every week therefore giving my audience
incentive to buy as they would save money.
Although the image of the Kerrang! Promotion
box is hard to see, I based my magazine
promotion box on this because I thought it
looked different and challenged conventions as
most contents pages do not have this.
KERRANG! MINE
MINE NME KERRANG!
Again I took inspiration from other magazines such as
NME and KERRANG! Magazine when I created my
plug on my front cover. I used a plug because they are
conventional and give the audience some incentive to
buy the magazine other than interesting stories. At
first I wanted to keep my plug simple with just writing
in a circle but then from further research I decided I
had to make my plug really stand out to catch the
readers eye. I used a red circle as the colour is bright
and will catch peoples eye then had white writing
with a little black decoration, these colours are the
colours of my colour scheme therefore showing
continuity of my magazine. In my plug I placed a
black star, this shows continuity with my contents
and double page spread as my page numbers have a
circle and a star.
10. Challenging conventions with
inspiration from other magazines…
From conducting my research into existing
products I found some inspiration for my
masthead for my double page spread from
KERRANG! Magazine. I thought that the
shadow behind the text was quirky and different
that could reflect my article as it is about my
artist turning over a new leaf but her dark past is
still there. I also thought this might catch the
readers eyes and make them want to read the
article. The different size text and some words
being bold are quite conventional in a mast head
as the boldness of some words shows that there
is emphasis on them.
MINE
KERRANG!
11. Challenging conventions with
inspiration from other magazines…
I have used a simple drop cap, this challenges
other magazines because they have bold drop
caps to draw the reader in. I have done this
because the texts is serious and my double
page spread is simple and professional rather
than confusing for the reader but because it is
4 lines long and the text is widely spaces it
stands out to catch the readers eyes. The
darker black of my drop cap will also catch the
readers eyes because it stands out and has no
obstructions such as the box shadow round it
as seen on NME’s drop cap.
MINE
KERRANG!
NME
Q
MAGAZINE
MINE
KERRANG!
VIBE
In my product I used both a conventional barcode and a QR
code. I have done this so that my audience can scan the code
with their smartphones and it can take them strait to my
magazine website.This could be seen as breaking
conventions as most metal music magazines do not useQR
codes. I placed the price of my magazine above the barcode
to make it stand out, showing my audience how much my
magazine is (my magazine is relatively cheap compared to
existing metal music magazines.)
12. Challenging conventions with
inspiration from other magazines…
On my double page spread I decided to use a stand first. stand first is
conventional of a magazine double page spreads as it gives the reader
an insight in to what the main article is about. I placed this just above
my article and below my title so my audience will read it before reading
my article.This allows the audience to see if they want to carry on
reading as well as allowing my audience to read this finding out what
the article is about making the audience want to buy my magazine.
