This is my answer presented in a slideshow on how my media product uses, develops and challenges the forms and conventions of real media products.

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

2. • To make my media product conventional I carried out some research on music magazines identifying all
the features that are conventional.
Below is some screenshots of my initial research on the generic conventions of music magazines.
• From this is I learnt that on the front cover I needed to include a creative and unique masthead for the
magazine name, a barcode, issue number and date. Having an eye-catching main cover line, with a
distinctive main cover image of a figure is important to draw in the reader’s attention.

3. • I made the front cover look distinctive by making the figure standout with wild, curly auburn coloured hair
and pure red lipstick to make her lips standout and correspond with the branding colour of red. I chose to
have the model wear a white leather jacket which blends in with the background making her facial features
standout more. The use of a strong contrast to make the figure appear more vibrant makes the image look
more distinctive from the rest of the cover.

4. • The layout of contents pages vary from each magazine style. The main conventions of a contents page
includes a bold heading that makes it clear that the page is the contents, with some branding on the page
of the company; the content is written in columns with section headings and page numbers next to the text;
at least one image of the main featuring article and a page number.
Company
branding
Bold heading
Section headings
Content
written in
columns
Page
numbers
next to
the text

5. • I used these conventions to make my product successful by trying to make it look like a conventional
magazine by including a bold artistic style font called ‘stentiga’ for the heading of contents. I included
branding on the page by making the company name run from left to right across the top of the page in its
associated font of ‘stentiga’ and red and black trademark. I wrote the content in columns because this is
the conventional structure of a magazine making it easier for the readers to read therefore I divided the
page into two columns with four section headings. The headings were in the ‘stentiga’ font so that it stood
out from the rest of the heading titles. The page numbers are to the left of the article headings to make it
clear which page number the article is on. I made the page numbers stand out and separate from the text
by placing a colour block shape of a red circle behind the number. I included three images on the contents
page with the main image being the main featuring artist which is on the front cover. The other two images
were made smaller to attract readers to these articles but not take attention from the main one. By using
this conventional features lead me to making a more successful product as it made the product look more
realistic and professional.
Font from 1001
fonts
Company branding
Column layout
Section
headings
Page numbers
Main article image
Other sub images

6. • The double page spread contains an artistic font that makes the article stand out from the text, one main
striking image with perhaps other smaller ones that refer to the text for more interest and the text is
written in columns.
On my double page spread I used an artistic girly font called ‘freestyle script’ for the artist’s name ‘Ashley’
to emphasise her character with the use of the colour pink to highlight her girly personality. I included two
images to attract the readers’ attention and not boring them with pure text. The one of a full length shot of
the artist holding a rubber duck is unusual and people would wonder what the meaning is behind it and
so read the article to find out. I wrote the text in columns as this is the conventional way for magazines to
lay out its contents. Therefore I included some conventional features of magazines to help make my
product be successful by making it look realistic and attract my target audience.
Column
layout
Artistic font
Full length
photo
Pull Quote

7. • My media product contains a front cover, contents page and double page spread which you would find in a
real magazine. On my front cover I have included a bold masthead using the ‘stentiga’ font that creates an
association for the company having used a bold block font from 1001 fonts so that it stands out in the main
colours of red and black. I chose the ‘stentiga’ font because it is simple yet bold and extends the capital
letter to make it standout more so from the rest by making it bigger and bolder. I chose red and black for
the main colour scheme for the brand so that it stands out among the rest of existing music magazines.
The colours can represent various meanings such as love, anger and power whereas black is associated
with elegance, darkness and power also. Therefore the two show similarities and differences and so they
contrast with each other yet work well together. The font and colour choice could suggest that my
magazine features various styles of music meanings as some songs could refer to love, anger or energy, or
the opposites of fear, death and protection. The colours could suggest how the company is bold and
standouts from others yet the font choice could show how it is simplistic and basic to suit the target
audience’s needs.

8. • Therefore the main cover line is of
this artist ‘Ashley’ and is placed
beside the main image so that it is
clear that it is the main article and
correlates to the image.
• The font size has been made larger
compared to the other cover lines to
draw more attention to it as well as
changing the colour to a contrasting
colour of yellow to make it standout
further. This established it to become
the main feature because it
contrasted from the rest of the text
making it standout therefore drawing
more attention to it to signify how it is
the main article.
• The other cover lines are in smaller
fonts which are bold yet plain and
simple so that they do not take away
attention from the main feature. I
based these cover lines on what
existing music magazines would
include in addition to what my target
audience are interested in such as the
top chare lists therefore I made one of
the cover lines as “November Chart
Hits”. The age of my target audience
meant that they are interested in
attending festivals and concerts and
like to read about them, consequently
I included two other cover lines on
festivals and concerts: “Top 5 festivals
to attend voted by you” and “Top 10
concerts of 2016”.
The main cover
image is a close up
of a model with direct
eye contact. The
model on the front
cover is the main
feature of the article
having a double
page spread written
about her.

9. • To further include generic features of a magazine, I included a barcode to give it the generic look and make
it sellable with the price next to it as well as the date and issue number in a smaller font so that readers are
aware of this information. Making the price the smallest font means that it is present for the reader to see
however not big enough to draw attention to it without the reader deciding on whether to buy it or not yet.
On existing music magazines the prices are quite high of around £4 compared to what I priced mine at
£2.49. Because of having a new magazine I felt that the price needed to be lower and more reasonable for
the target audience to purchase, I still sized it at a smaller size because I did not want people to base their
opinion on the magazine from the price – I felt that it was important for the reader to review the content of
the magazine to decide on whether to buy the magazine or not before deciding on the price of it.
Date
and
issue
number
Barcode
and
price
Date,
price
and
barcode

10. • I have used three main colours of red, white and black to create a brand image so that these colours can
be associated with the brand. I included hints of yellow to draw attention to that particular feature such as
the competition and main article; I chose a contrasting colour to make the features stand out more
however on various issues this colour could change to fit the season, occasion or theme of the magazine.
Using three main colours creates a base and consistency to the brand that people can then recognise;
including a hint of a contrasting colour gives focus and attention to the feature that is in the contrasting
colour. I chose yellow because it is bright and standouts to the other three colours of red, white and
black, therefore the features in yellow standout and show either importance or significance to the
magazine issue.
Main colours of red, black and white, with hints of grey
or image, like the union jack.

11. • I have used layering to create the front cover like music magazines do, however I did not place the main
image over the masthead, as the magazine is a new issue which will need to be seen and readable
without features being covered up. Layering over the main image needs to be done suitably so that no
features of the face is covered as this lowers the effect of the image, making it look less interesting and
unprofessional. On my product I did not cover any of the model’s face and mostly none of the hair was
covered either to give full focus on the model, having been an unknown model that not many people
would know of.
In these magazines the masthead has been covered slightly
by the model, yet have some of the cover lines laying over
their body.

12. • On my contents page I have used columns to layout the text with the company masthead to give branding
to the page as well as a clear heading of “Contents” in a bold and simplistic font called ‘stentiga’ that is
used consistently throughout the page for the section headings. The colours used are red, white and black
to maintain the consistency throughout the magazine. I have made the main article image bigger than the
other images to make it clear what the main feature is of the new artist. Page numbers are used on top of
the three images on the bottom right hand corner so readers know where to head to for that particular
article as well as to the left of the text heading listing all the articles in the magazine issue. The section
headings are in the same font as the main heading and are of equal size and spacing to one another. The
main article has been made clear by making it the largest feature on the page with a larger font size and
information in comparison to the rest of the articles.
• The features that I did not include that I could have, or next time, include is advertisement and an editor’s
note.
Editor’s note
Advertisement
Company branding and contents title.

13. • On the double page spread I have included a unique artistic heading font called ‘freestyle script’ to make it
stand out from the rest of the page as well as changing the colour to pink. I have chosen pink and black on
these pages as the pink is associated with the artist and the black is the generic and clear colour to read
and is commonly used in magazines. I included a stand first with a drop cap to enhance the text having
been used extensively in the past for books and magazines so the start of the interview is clear and draws
the reader’s attention to the starting point of the interview. I laid out the article in columns as magazines are
commonly laid out in this way with a different colour and font for the questions to distinguish what the
question is and what the answer is. I also included a pull quote from the text in the colour scheme of pink to
make it stand out from the rest of the text as this is commonly used in magazine articles also to guide the
readers’ eyes to it. I included a long shot full length photograph of the artist to the right-hand side of the
pages as well as a smaller circle image to relate to the artist’s work. The page numbers are located at the
top edges of the pages with the company branded on the right-hand side.
• Features that I could have done differently on my double page spread was having a full page image of the
artist like the example shown below, and changing the colour of the drop cap for further effect.
Full page
photograph
Long shot
photographArtistic font
Creative font

14. Masthead
Date
Issue number
Tag Line
Main Cover
line
Cover
line
Barcode
Price
Competition
Pug
Strip
Main
Image
Cover line
Cover line
Here I have annotated the features where I have met and used the generic conventions of a music magazine

15. Page
number
Main Article Heading
Company
branding
Page Heading
Main
image
Category
headings
Sub
images
Article Page number
Article Heading

16. Company
branding
Article Heading
Stand first,
with drop
cap
Pull Quote
Artist
image
Reference to
article purpose Author
and credit
Column
layout
Sub image Pull Quote