The document discusses how the author's media product challenges and develops conventions of real music magazines. It strives for a minimalist look but maintains traditional magazine elements. It is inspired by the style of "The Gentlewoman" magazine. The title, imagery, and content are designed to represent an indie genre target audience based on research. Details in the magazine like featured bands, articles, and color scheme aim to immerse readers in the indie culture and personalities portrayed.

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real
media products? (i.e. of music magazines)
Throughout both my research and planning stages of developing my magazine, my magazine has
been challenging the forms and conventions of ‘real’ media products due to the minimalistic look
that I’ve always been striving for with my magazine. To some extent though it can be argued that my
magazine has fulfilled the traditional role of magazines by staying in close proximity to the basics of
a conventional magazine, for example, a strong master head, a informational contents page, and a
good double page spread.
I believe that my magazine, is very similar to that of ‘the Gentlewoman’ both in the style, and in the
graphology of it. I spent a lot of time researching and evaluating their magazines, in order for myself
to become inspired by their stripped back approach. So in this case, I believe that my magazine is
helping to develop the minimalistic approach in media products, as ‘The Gentlewoman’ stands
almost alone in terms of minimalistic magazines.
The Title:
I believe the title of ‘SAINT’ fits the conventions of the typical ‘indie’ magazine, as it’s unique and is a
slight juxtaposition to the type of people that would by SAINT. The definition of SAINT is: A person
acknowledged as holy or virtuous, and my target audience, as far as I’m aware from my research,
aren’t holy. I believe that my title is similar to other magazines in my genre such as Grey, as both are
a single word.

2. Geography and page layout:
Because of how stripped back my front cover is, I can accept that it challenges the conventions of a
real media product. As many critics believe that a ‘real’ magazine is one that looks similar to
Kerrang! or Billboard, of which both have busy front covers- which work for them, but I believed that
they wouldn’t work for my target market. However I believe that this minimalistic approach to my
front cover worked really well for me. For me, it was important that when my magazine was place
onto a shelf, it was the image and the title of ‘SAINT’ that stood out the most, as from day one I’ve
always believed that these two elements are the most important.
How my artist is represented:
My research on the wonderful photographer Viktor Vauthier enabled me to successfully capture
high quality images- which transformed my magazine completely. My research into his work,
allowed me to see which poses worked, what clothes worked, what props worked and what lighting
worked. I was able, twice, to successfully mobilise two photo shoots and receive some high quality
images too. I believe that my images are both obeying the conventions of media products but also
challenging them at the same time. I believe this as, despite my images not being out there or
explicit they still don’t conform to the usual perception of an ‘indie’ artist in this field. I’ve gone
against the normal conventions for indie models, as they are usually more boho and less modalled(
usually dressed in jeans and a top) however I decided to dress my artist in more feminine clothing
such as skirts, as I believe this reflected my artists more.
Costumes, props, iconography used to reflect genre:
I dressed my artist to reflect my indie genre that I choose. I did this by using my research from
tribes.com, to create a polyvore post indicating the outfits I’ve chosen for my model to wear. Here is
that post:

3. Most of the outfits on this post are either from Urban Outfitters or Topshop, as when
conducting my research I concluded that these were the main two shops that the indie group
shopped in. Alongside this, I choose lipstick that was dark and edgy, as this is what my target
audience would also wear.
Genre and how the magazine cover, contents and spread suggests it:
Throughout my magazine, I have used small details to reflect my indie genre. For example on my
front cover, I included bands that I knew that my target audience listened too ( through the research
conducted on tribes), as you can see I included quite a selection:
On my contents page, I also incorporated small details
that reflected the hobbies and interests of my target audience. I got these details from monitoring
my peers that fit the image of my target audience, and my looking on sites such as tribes and blogs
on tumblr. As you can see I’ve included hobbies such as: ‘best buy albums’ ‘the best festivals to
attend’ and ‘up close: band profiles’.
My double page spread (DPS) includes details that through my research I’m confident in believing
my target audience would be interested to read. I know that my target audience don’t like to fit into
a mould, therefore I choose my header to be ‘I was one of those girls that didn’t fit their mould’,
framed by thin lines in order to stand out. I choose this mantra to reflect the personalities of my
readers.

4. I also decided to use a colour image instead of a black and white image that I had previously used. I
decided this because I believe the colour image gives my artist warmth and gives her more depth
than the black and white front cover image.
I also decided to briefly outline my artist, underneath the header saying ‘Bella’. I choose to include
information such as her age and hometown as I believe this addressed and informed my audience
correctly, and provided enough information for them to become immersed into the article.
To maintain my audience’s attention throughout the article, I highlighted interesting slogans in bold
throughout the article. These ‘points’ in the text, highlight the different topics addressed in the
article, in order for readers to pick and choose what they wish to read.
Colour Scheme:
I decided to use a black and white colour scheme. I changed my
opinion on my colour scheme from my research, as I was keen on
having a pastel colour scheme. The reason why I changed my mind
on a pastel colour scheme, was that I believe pastel colours can be
seen as very ‘feminine’ and seeing as my magazine wasn’t gender
bias, then I believe the pastel colour scheme could put men off

5. buying it. Nevertheless, I used a pop of colour on my double page spread to bring my artist ‘to life’
and give her more depth.