1. In what ways does your media
product use, develop or challenge
forms and conventions of real
media products?
2. • Here you can see that my music magazine (Front Cover) develops and challenges forms
and conventions of a real media product in many ways:
- It uses typical conventions of magazines, from the images above it is clear that to a
certain extent my magazine mirrors the conventions of NME, for example:
• Bar code, issue number and price
• Big, bold masthead
• Consistent colour theme (House Style)
• Text to image ratio
• Various cover lines relating to the genre of the magazine
Masthead
Cover Image
Cover Line
4. In what way your magazine cover develop and/or use conventions of
real magazine covers?
My magazine uses convention of a magazine because it has all the desired features that consist
in a magazine, for example my masthead. In both of the images the masthead’s are aligned to
the left hand side, adjacent to the main cover image. The masthead is the largest texts located
on the cover, therefore this shows that it is a dominant feature, highlighting that the masthead
of a magazine is an important factor to entire cover. This is because essentially the audience
will recognise a magazine due to its name, making it popular which makes people purchase the
magazine - this is a useful for advertising and marketing .
Also in my magazine, as well as in many others cover lines are shaped around the main image.
In my magazine I aligned the cover stories to the left to enable a neat and professional look to
my magazine, much like the NME front cover. I placed the cover line in bold lettering, this a
common feature seen in magazine because it make the magazine easily read by audience. For
example ‘Brian O’Rielly’ and ‘My Chemical Romance’ are placed next to the main image and in
larger fonts than the other cover lines highlighting there importance.
I have also used a consistent house style much like the real magazine product. When thinking
of a good colour scheme, I noticed that magazines often stick to three colours. This is done to
allow a professional look the entire of the magazine. My magazine cover has a unique house
style which is effective in targeting the correct demographic. The blue, black and white theme
develops the convention of a indie/rock magazine targeted at both sexes due to the neutral
colour scheme. It would be highly unlikely to see this colour scheme on a pop magazine
because it is meant to carry out the convention of it being feminine and girly- the common
house style would be pink. The use of colour for my magazine add a sense of professionalism
attracting real music lovers to purchase it.
5. In what ways does your magazine cover challenge
conventions of real magazine covers?
My magazine cover challenges convention of a real magazine cover in various different ways. I
wanted to make my magazine to stand out however I still wanted to take inspiration for other
magazines such as NME. This balance allowed me to create a decent a professional product.
When thinking about how my cover would be different from others I had to take into account
the conventions of a typical magazine.
Many magazine such as Kerrang have there masthead located in the centre of the page
whereas on my cover, it is aligned on the left hand side. However this doesn’t make my cover
unique because NME also challenges this convention. I think this offers a more structured
layout to the cover because it doesn’t take to much space up and you are still able to identify
other key aspects on your magazine with it still being a dominant factor.
I also challenged the conventions by adding a bar code, issue date and price to my front cover.
This doesn’t contrast other magazine because this is another key element to the front cover. I
did this use space and add structure to my cover to make it look neat.
I have also placed two banners on my cover, consisting of cover lines included in my cover.
This challenges the convention as it isn’t seen in various magazine. This could also be seen as
a plug (a unique selling point) this entices readers to purchase the magazine.
6. My front cover challenges the convention of a
magazine as it doesn’t follow a backwards ‘Z’
rule which is often used in magazines such as
Kerrang and NME. I have used cover stories
which feature popular artist/designer of the
genre of the magazine that I have chosen.
7. How does your masthead develop, use or challenge the
typical conventions of a masthead?
• My masthead challenges the conventions of a
magazine because it is aligned to the left hand side.
This isn’t typical amongst all magazine such as
‘Kerrang!’ but can be seen from my inspiration
magazine NME.
• I have used acronyms for my masthead, this isn't
common in all magazines therefore it challenges the
conventions. I have done this to add simplicity to my
magazine and not made it too showy like a pop
magazine would. This shows that my magazine isn't
targeted at people love ‘entertainment’ but for
‘real’ music lovers.
• The bar/line under the masthead is done to
essentially highlight and make the title stand out.
The white outline around the ‘MBS’ is done for
reader to distinguish the masthead from other
items on my cover.
8. • Here you can see that my music magazine (Contents Page) develops and challenges forms
and conventions of a real media product in many ways:
- It uses typical conventions of magazines, from the images above it is clear that to a
certain extent my magazine mirrors the conventions of NME, for example:
• Multiple Images with text
• Big, bold masthead
• Page Number
• Text to image ratio
• Various stories that will be included in the magazine
Masthead
Images
Page
Numbers
9. How does your contents page develop, use or challenge the
typical conventions of a contents page?
My contents page challenges the convention of a typical magazine because my contents
page doesn’t have the typical columns places. On my contents page every text is structure
around images. I didn’t include columns on my contents page, because I wanted to go for a
more visual approach.
My contents page does follow the conventions of other indie/rock magazine, this is because
page numbers are places beside the images, this enables readers to navigate themselves
throughout the magazine. Also there are quote from artists/bands, this adds content to my
magazine. A QR scanner is placed, you will see this in magazines such as NME, I thought
that this was an excellent feature for my contents page because is allows readers to
physically interact with my magazine. I think my target audience will appreciate this
because the QR scanner consists of competition of going to concerts, my target audience is
aimed a people who have an interest in these type of things.
I have also included an advertisement for subscribing to my magazine which I feel is a nice
element in ensuring that my contents follows typical indie/rock conventions. The
subscribing advertisement offer a reduce in price for my magazine which I think would
appeal to my target audience (age 14-25). This is because I have targeted my magazines at
teenager/young adults who will not have the income to buy expensive items, if the price is
cheaper it encourages them to buy the magazine in the future.
10. • Here you can see that my music magazine (Double Page Spread) develops and
challenges forms and conventions of a real media product in many ways:
- It uses typical conventions of magazines, from the images above it is clear
that to a certain extent my magazine mirrors the conventions of NME, for
example:
• Main image alongside smaller images
• Big, bold masthead
• Captions describing the images
• Main article
11. How does your double page spread challenge the typical
conventions of a double page spread?
I decided to add a personal touch to the DPS, this was so I had
multiple images on my DPS to show its versatility. I placed smaller
images beside the main image dominating the page. I placed the
smaller images in polaroid which challenges the convention o a
double page spread. I did this to add a creative and arty theme which
went well with the indie/rock genre.
12. In what way your magazine double page spread develop
and/or use conventions of real magazine covers?
My double page spread also follows the conventions of a typical magazine because I have
placed page number located on the bottom right/left side of my DPS. This is seen in every
magazine that I have come across, and is done for readers to located and navigate
themselves throughout the entire magazine.
My double page spread follows the conventions of a typical magazine as it consist of a text
and image aligned beside each other, this allows my DPS to look organised and consistent in
terms of layout. Also there is a consistent house style adding to that professional vibe.
My DPS also follows the conventions of other DPS’s as it include text. On many double page
spread’s the text is often likely to be an interview with a music act. The article has good
depth and larger quote placed in the article which is what my double page spread does.
The column in which my texts are placed are of equal proportion, allowing the overall page
having a neater and professional look. The is also allows the text to be readable for my
audience and follows the conventions.
