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

2. My magazine cover uses typical forms and
conventions of real music magazines.
I decided to use a typical magazine
appearance as it is the most effective in
attracting the audience and providing
sufficient information of what will be
included in the magazine.
As you can see, my magazine cover is very
similar to the ‘Vibe’ cover. Some influence
I took from this magazine is that I used a
medium close up image of the main
artist/artists featured in the magazine.
This is typical of all magazines because it
is effective in drawing in the reader if they
are interested in the person in the picture
and therefore encouraging them to read
the magazine.
I also included cover stories on the cover which are very often seen on magazines. This is because they inform the
reader of what will be included in the magazine which is useful in encouraging the reader if they are not initially
interested in the person pictured on the cover.
Similarly, I used the typical form and convention seen on the ‘Vibe’ cover of using kickers of other artists names to
encourage a bigger audience as these make the magazine appeal to lots of different fan bases. This is also useful in
making it clear which genre my magazine is (rap) because of the clear, bold rapper’s names.
I also included the typical big and bold mast head. This is used on all magazines because it makes the name of the
magazine easily seen. I also positioned the mast-head behind the image which is often used on magazine covers to
make the image stand out.

3. My magazine contents page also
does not challenge forms and
conventions of real magazine
contents pages.
When doing my existing
products research I did not find a
‘typical’ or ‘normal’ style of
contents page of rap magazines
and I found that all contents
pages had very different styles
and layouts. Here are some
examples-
Although I did not find a typical style of contents page I found that the
majority of contents pages had the similarity that: they all included
images and all included a list of what will be in the magazine.
Therefore I decided to give my contents page a simple and standard
layout of a few images and a list of articles in the magazine. This meant
the contents was clear and easy to read and did not challenge forms
and conventions of actual magazines, which made it look more
professional and like a real magazine.
I also included page numbers in the bottom corners of each page
which is what all magazines do to let people navigate easily around the
magazine.
I used mainly bold, striking fonts which I found was a common
occurrence in magazines as it draws your attention and is easy to read.
I planned the fonts carefully in order to fit in with my images and stand
out effectively against the colours used.

4. My existing products research showed that the majority of magazine double page spreads included an image covering one side of the
spread and the article headline and the text on the other.
I decided to challenge this convention by including three images on one side of the spread and the article headline. I decided to do this
as it allows more room for text and I believe that an article is more interesting when it includes more images than just one.
I included a quote in the text in bold red writing to make it stand out. I found that this is often used in articles to add emphasis to
certain information.
The language I used in my double page spread was quite informal, for example I occasionally used swearing and slang such as
“stereotypes are bull.” This relates to the genre as swear words are often used in rap music so it is very unlikely the reader would be
offended by the use of swearing and I found that swearing is quite often used in these magazines.
The models in my double page spread are presented in a conventional way and reflect stereotypes to do with females. They are
wearing make-up, feminine clothes, jewellery etc. However, they somewhat challenge conventions of how women are presented in
magazines because they are not sexualised by their clothes or the ways in which they are posing. They are in what could be seen to be
more stereotypically masculine poses as they are standing in a relax way; also their facial expression are seen as quite aggressive and
care-free which would typically be seen as a more masculine way to look.