The document summarizes the ways in which the media product uses, develops, and challenges conventions of real media. It discusses using a masthead similar to other magazines in terms of location, colors, and font. Images are used that represent the rock genre through posing, clothing, and facial expressions of models. Layout follows conventions such as masthead location, pull quotes, and issue dates. The written content aims to be interesting and understandable for the target audience. In summary, the document outlines how the media product adheres to and develops conventions through its visual design, images, layout, and writing.

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

2. Codes and conventions- Masthead
The masthead of my magazine is similar to NME and Q magazine where it is located on the top left of the front
cover. I used the same colours (red background and white text) which links back to the rock genre. It is also in a
sans serif font in white and in a red rectangle shape. Moreover, it is also used as a logo which makes it
recognisable for the readers. I used a masthead which is noticeable and would grab the audience’s attention. I
came up with ‘AMP’ as it is short and quick to remember; as it links to the rock genre and it’s a shorter version
for the word ‘amplify’ as it means increasing the volume; which suggest that rock music is usually loud and
increases the amplifier. As you can see, the font that I’ve used is bold as it shows that it’s important and has a
strong effect on the rock genre of my music magazine. The colours of my masthead is in red and white which
fits in the theme of my magazine and they are a perfect colour combination for the masthead, due to the fact
you can see the contrast between the two colours and they stand out together. I decided to use ‘Invisible Killer’
font, consequently I think it links to the logo name itself because you can see the style of the font is in different
stages like the volume and has a rocky style. Furthermore, in some magazines such as Kerrang! and MOJO, the
masthead spreads across the page which they also use a bold text for it to stand out on the page. If I had my
masthead across the page it wouldn’t look good as it is a short masthead just like NME and Q. The main image
on my front cover will cover a bit of the masthead similar to most magazines and it is a convention that suggests
that the company is well-known enough to hide their name, as it shows the aim of my magazine is that it is to
the present and trusted customers. In addition, as seen in NME and Q magazine they use the logo on the
contents page and for Q magazine they have it on nearly most of the pages of their magazine.

3. Mise-en-scene – front cover image
The use of images in my magazine plays a big role, as they are the main aspects in a
magazine to attract the audience and they are the first things they see especially on the
front cover. So, it was vital to think very carefully about the models that I used and
what they were wearing. They need to act representative for the magazine and they
have to immediately reflect the rock genre of my magazine, which will make it bait to
the audience that as soon as they look at the front cover they will know it’s a rock
magazine. I used four models due to the fact that most bands are usually made up of
three or four artists. I instructed all my models to wear the typical rock star style which
are black leather jackets (but I asked the main artist to wear a red leather jacket so he
looks different and stands out from the rest of the models), black jeans/leather
trousers and sun glasses. As soon as you look at my front cover image, you can straight
away feel that it has a sense of rock genre which without having to say they are a rock
band from the way they are dressed. From my research, most of the rock bands wear
fully black and leather clothes; so I tried my best to make them fit in which perfectly
does and I’m very proud of. Moreover, I added a black and white effect on the image as
most of the rock magazines that I have research the main image is in black and white
which links to the name of the band and it implies that the band has a dark side and a
light side. The shot was taken in the studio as it has a pure white background and was
easy to manipulate on Photoshop and Ipiccy and I had professional lightings which
made the image look perfect as the models faces lighting is balanced. Furthermore, I
edited the image so I took off the black and white effect of the red leather jacket that
the main artist is wearing would show and stand out to the audience more than the
rest of the artists. In addition to that even though he is sitting on the floor and they are
above him, he still looks dominate and the main focus is on him as his facial
expressions also suggest that he is a serious and like he doesn’t care about the rest. All
the facial expressions of the band emphasises that they are ‘undefeated’ as it links to
the name of the band which is ‘The Undefeated Muse’. The colour red connotes
danger, love, passion and evilness, so in this case the red leather jacket is used to show
danger referring back to the name of the band. The image below of Q magazine
illustrates what I am trying to get across for the conventions with regards to mise-en-
scene; however the main image is not very similar but her facial expressions suggest
emphasise that she is evil and what reflects on it is the red sharp heels goes with her
evilness and danger. On the other hand, my image doesn’t look as dangerous as the
one of Q magazines front cover; it links with the splash which is ‘kicks off’ so she is
kicking with her sharp heels which suggest it links with danger.

4. Mise-en-scene – contents page image
The contents page image is similar to Classic Rock’s magazine as I was
inspired by their main image on their contents page; so I got my model to
pose the same way with a microphone as I think it looks effective and as if
he was on stage. The posture of my model links very well with my target
audience. I decided to make it in black and white as I wanted to keep a
theme between the front cover and the contents page. The way he is
posing suggests that he is a fun and young artist as he is not very serious.
The use of the microphone suggest that he is an artist. The fact that the
artist on his own suggest that he is the main artist and the cover story links
to him as it will be a Q&A about his band. Moreover, this image illustrates
his style of music by the hair style, facial expressions and the way he is
standing. I also left the background plain as I wanted to prevent
distractions by the readers so they meet the new artist and get a sense of
how he is. In Classic Rock magazine I can see that it is a common
convention to only add one image on the front cover which takes up most
of the page, so I used this convention as I thought it would be effective and
the reader can see a lot of the image and meet the artist. From research
into MOJO magazine, they also usually include one image of who the main
cover story is about and this example on the right also uses a black and
white effect on the image to keep a theme of the magazine; as it is very
important to keep a theme throughout the magazine to give it a sense of
professionalism and when the reader sees my magazine they will feel a
sense of consistency while reading through the magazine as it is very
important.

5. Mise-en-scene – Double page spread image
For my double page images, I made them look and interesting and
something that will grab the audiences attention, so I was very careful
with the choice of images throughout the constructing of my DPS. For the
main image which is spread over the two pages; I took this image on the
performance stage as I wanted to change the setting as the audience
would be bored of seeing the same white background more than twice. I
used crops like guitars and microphones which are usually used in a rock
performance and most rock stars play the guitar. The models in the image
look like they are into the performance and are very passionate about
performing. Furthermore, from their facial expressions they look as if they
are performing their best piece of rock music ever. I decided to put a blue
effect on the main image as it looks like when the picture was taken the
lightings in performance hall were blue and it looks very cool. They were
all organised carefully on the stage where the main artist is standing at
the front holding a microphone and is into to his singing, where all the
rest of the artists are behind him. Moving on to the next image is located
between the text where it’s a black and white image of the main artist
holding a guitar which is there to make them less bored of reading the
article as it will catch the reader’s attention as it is important to keep
them interested and have something to look at not just text. The image
shows that there is a sense of humour as he pretending to hit someone
with a guitar which suggest that it is a fun band and fits in with the target
audience which is for young people so they would like to see themselves
being part of the band and that they have an impact on their life.

6. People
The choice of the people to use in my photo-shoot
was a vital element to consider while planning out
the image, as they have to look like they are part
of this type of genre and have a realistic and make
it believable that these type of people would be in
a band together. The models I chose looked
perfect as they looked in role and had a rebellious
rock look which I think was perfect for my
magazine. They were aged 17-18 years old which
links back to my target audience. My target
audience would be from 17-24 which young and
would like to see artists similar to their age. I didn’t
want to base my magazine on just for men like
most rock magazines; so I included three girls and
a boy main artist, so both males and females
would be interested in reading this magazine.

7. Font and Style
Typography is a very important aspect to consider while
creating my magazine, as they had to fit in and have a purpose
why it has been used in my magazine. The main aim that it has
to be readable and attracts their attention. As I stated before
in my house style, the masthead font which is ‘Invisible Killer’
it links very well with the masthead ‘AMP’. I felt that it
illustrated the volume and as the word ‘AMP’ is a shorter
version to amplify; I got this font from InDesign. The size of
the masthead was big enough to read and be noticed from a
far distance and the audience will straight away know that it is
the masthead of the magazine as it is the most superior font
on the front cover of the magazine. Another main font that I
used on the front cover is the band name which is in ‘Husky
Stash’ which I think fits in very well with the image and it is
noticeable; moreover, I think that the way I placed it on the
front cover suits the front cover. I used a ‘Segoe In’ font for the
pull quote which I also used for the pull quote on the double
page spread. For the text on my contents page I used a simple
‘Times New Roman’ as it is easy to read, so I used it for the
text on my double page spread to keep a sense of consistency
throughout the magazine and the size of the text was 10-11pt
as it is a convention to have small sized font on the DPS. The
colours of the text is also consistent which is red, black and
white which fits in with the colour scheme for my magazine,
so the reader will be more attracted to read the magazine.

8. Layout – Front Cover
The layout for my magazine is one of the most important aspects that I
considered how I should layout the features on my front cover. I used
the research into magazine layouts such as MOJO, NME, Q and Classic
Rock. If my layout especially for the front cover wasn’t laid out
professionally; it will look unprofessional and the audience would not
want to buy a magazine that has an over-crowded and messy layout. I
used the common convention for the masthead where I located it the
on the top left of the page where the main image is slightly covering
the masthead which is seen in most magazines as I wanted to keep the
attention on the main image as it is what will sell the magazine. For the
first draft of my magazine front cover it was a bit empty for a front
cover as I don’t have many features for the bottom half of the page.
So, I decided to add a pull quote to fill it up and make it more
interesting as it will catch the reader’s attention. However, I had
problems with placing the pull quote on the page and make it
noticeable and easy to read for the reader from a distance. The main
problem was that it covers some the image and doesn’t stand out on
the page, so I played around with it and had to move the barcode up a
bit so I could put it instead which gave me a good outcome overall and
you can read it perfectly fine now. Furthermore, where I similar to
NME, I placed the barcode vertically on the side of the page which I
think this convention fits well to the theme of my magazine. I took the
idea of the puff from MOJO magazine, as I think looks good and stands
out on the front cover as the colour yellow is quickly noticed when the
reader looks at the front cover.

9. Layout- Contents Page
The layout is simple and I was inspired by Classic Rock’s
contents page mostly from my researched. I liked the way
the main image on the contents page how it takes most of
the page and it is left with a small column to place the
content on. I decided to use an image of the main artist in
the band as it will be an interview with him on the double
page spread which links to the cover story. I located the
date just below the contents title, so I let the reader know
what month the issue is as it is a common convention to
include a date on the contents page. A vital convention is
all magazines is the subheadings which are normally the
features, regulars and reviews. So, I put a box a black
rectangle shape around them and made the writing in
black which makes them stand out and clear for the
readers to see them as they are in a clear and logical
structure.

10. Layout - DPS
Overall, the layout of my double page spread fits in very well
and follows real conventions of magazine double page
spreads. I think that my double page spread is very effective
due to the fact as it has a sense of professionalism. I was
inspired by MOJO’s double page spread and the conventions
used on it such as the text wrapped around the image of the
main artist and this will make it less boring for the readers
and they will stay interacted throughout the reading. I also
placed a pull quote to also make it more interesting to read
which is a common convention in magazines have on their
double page spreads. I liked the convention that MOJO used
for the pull quote and the title of the article where the words
are stuck together and they are separated by colours (e.g.
DOUBLEPAGESPREAD), so I used it as I thought it catches the
reader’s attention and they would read it in a different way
to the rest of the text and it would feel as if it is shouting at
the audience as it is in capital letters. I included only two
images as the main image of the band as the interview is
based on them and the main artist, and the other image of
the artist holding a guitar pretending to hit someone which
creates a sense of humour as the target audience is for 17-24
year olds. I also started the interview with a drop capital as it
is a common code and convention for DPS and it has to stand
out, as it shows where it starts and brings attention to the
audience.

11. Written Content
The written content is the most
important part of the double page spread
as I had to focus it on the target audience
and make it interesting to read. The most
vital part is the language used that the
readers would find it easy to understand.
It was straightforward to write up the
text for my double page. My main aim
was to make the introduction very
interesting which will make the audience
want to finish reading the magazine as it
will be the first thing they will read as it a
brief summary.

12. Referring back to criteria checklist