1. In what ways does your media product
use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?
Sebastian Cadena
2. As we see, the masthead has been manipulated to go behind
the model which keeps the main focus on him as he is the cover
story and all the attention is on him. In addition to this, the
headline is very bold and big, and is the main attraction to the
front cover, which is common in magazine front covers, such as
‘VIBE’ who do this really well when manipulating the image and
having the headline as the focal point as we
see here through the use of the ‘T.I.’ text
bigger than any other sell line on the page
indicating it is the cover story. Moreover, the
model uses a direct mode of
address looking straight
down the camera breaking
down the fourth wall between
the consumer and the model. Also through the
pose of hav stone cold tough face, with slightly aggressive
body language, it connotes the genre of rap, which is
done well here with Eminem with the model in
my magazine having a similar pose which represents the genre.
SC
Front Cover
In addition to this, the model encodes the genre of rap through the costume and props used such as
the watch and cap from a big brand which is popular within the genre to wear expensive items to
show off their wealth, stereotypically done in this genre. Also, through the fonts used throughout the
cover such as the font for ‘SEBZY’ represents a very masculine strong persona, which is linked with
artists from the rap genre. Furthermore, the sell lines are all clearly differentiated through colour and
size of text, similar to the examples here, which do something similar to make sure the cover story
stands out e.g. ‘EMINEM’ is in red and way bigger than anything else, apart from the masthead.
3. My contents page uses the same model obviously as he
is the cover story so by having him as the biggest image
on the page, we know he is the main focus. Not only this, but
through the costume (which is different to the front cover which
uses the conventions of real media products.) and props such as
the money and watch used, it encodes the genre of rap and very
much conforms to the conventions or real and existing media
products. Along with the cover story model, I used two other
models to fit in with the features and regulars as this is often
done in the majority of music magazines such as this one from Q
which uses multiple images on one page, and
although I went for something similar, I went
with my own style by cutting out the images
from their original background. I feel this
develops forms and conventions of real media
products as commonly, magazines either use
one image or a few but don’t
cut them out and leave them
with the original background
SC
Contents Page
so I feel like I’ve developed my own personal house style for this magazine. More-
over, I made clear what the cover story is with a box in a different colour to the rest,
and also the text colour is different so it is obvious to the audience. I’ve also taken
inspiration from ‘Q’ magazine which uses colour so effectively to organise text, such
as setting apart the numbers from the words to make them clear. In addition to this,
my contents page uses the typical conventions of music magazine’s as the sectors
are clearly organised and has a ‘social corner’ and subscription box, so it conforms to conventions.
4. Double Page SpreadI feel my double page spread (DPS) is by
far my strongest product out of the
three. I feel like I’ve created and
developed my own house style with the
text behind the image, similar to the one
from my front cover. I feel it makes them
feel together and relate in someway so
this either challenges or develops
conventions of media products.
Furthermore, I used a drop capital in a
different font to the general text which
is typical in every magazine out there in
any genre. I also used a pull quote to
draw the attention of the reader which
again is common in magazine to grab the
consumer and keep them here with the
text. Moreover, I again created some-
SC
thing unique by adding the signature of the artist which is in barley if any magazines that exist which I
feel develops forms and conventions of real media products. Also,
the text is aligned perfectly which it has to as that is the very basic
requirement asked of all magazines to look professional. The bottom
right of my DPS has the page number, name and website, clearly
made different by the use of colour, like the one from this VIBE mag,
and we also made it bold to stand out from the less important text.
I created the title ‘Grime Fiend’ with the little introduction to begin
this DPS, similarly to this one from VIBE who have a little title to begin with.
