This document discusses how the media product, a rock music magazine, uses and develops conventions of real media products. The front cover follows conventions such as displaying the masthead prominently, placing coverlines on the left side, and using a color scheme of black, white and red. The contents page also adheres to conventions like including a band index, using the colors red, black and white, and dividing into three columns. The double page spread challenges some conventions by placing the large image at the bottom and surrounding it with text, but keeps the color scheme and features like bold titles and page numbers. In conclusion, the magazine closely follows conventions seen in real music magazines to appear authentic, though the double

1. 1.In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms
and conventions of real media products?
Front Cover
I think that generally, my magazine
has followed conventions of real
media products of rock music
magazines.
For example, the masthead is shown
clearly at the top, in the middle. The
masthead is covered by the model in
the main image, to reinforce the idea
that the magazine is well known- it is
still recognised despite some letters
being covered.
Furthermore, the coverlines on the
front cover are on the left hand side
of the page, where there appears to be an area of clear space from the main image. The main
coverline is larger and bolder, to emphasise the idea that it is anchoring the main image. The
name of the singer on my own front cover is larger than the rest of the font of the main coverline,
likewise is the Kerrang! main coverline, these are typical conventions of a standard magazine.
The main image follows the rule of thirds. The eyeline is placed on the main hotspots, meaning
that it is the first thing that the audience will look at. This is a convention of a real media product
which I have used in the production of my own magazine.
I have included an footer and a header on my rock magazine front cover, which is conventional
to rock music magazines and general magazines. The footer displays some sort of special featurethe main topic of the magazine; the idea that it was the first issue of my magazine, I felt, was
special. In the footer I have included the word ‘PLUS’, a convention of most music magazine
covers- typically Kerrang!
The bar code has been placed in the bottom right hand corner- in the dead space. It is an
essential feature of a magazine to have- in order for it to sell. I haven’t followed conventions of
having the price and issue number/date beside the barcode, I have developed it so that it is
clear to the reader towards the top of the page.
The colour scheme I have used are very cold colours, black white and red (with a bluey tone to
the image). This is conventional for a rock music magazine to have- most real media products
have a black and white tone, with another colour to break away from the monochrome- to draw
attention to important features.

2. Contents Page
I think that overall, my media
product closely follows the
conventions of real media
products- particularly the
conventions of an NME contents
page.
The first major convention which
I used in the production of my
own magazine is the ‘Band
Index’, it is a known trademark
of NME magazine and I wanted
to included it because I felt that
it was a feature which is very
beneficial to the reader of the magazine. It allows them to easily find what they need to.
Secondly, I used a conventional colour scheme for my contents page- red, black and white.
These colours are typical for a rock music magazine to have, so I included this convention in my
production. I think that due to the frequent use of these colours in rock music magazines – it will
make the topic of my magazine much more obvious to the reader. The red was used to highlight
the important parts of the contents page- such as the page numbers and the subscription text at
the bottom right of my contents page.
Another convention which I used in my rock music magazine is the use of a main image
dominating the middle of the page. This helped to divide the page which also made it more
appealing to the reader. This image – due to the mise-en-scene and editing- clearly portrays the
genre of music I am aiming for- a similar feature which NME have portrayed in their product.
As well as this, I followed the convention of having ‘Contents’ placed at the top of the page. This
is an important convention to have on a contents page as it tells the reader exactly what page
they are on. I have also included the date and ‘special edition’ to remind the reader that what
they are reading is different- and of course, special.
Furthermore, I have divided the page into three columns. This is conventional of contents pages to
have, as it divides the page and helps to separate the columns of information. I think that this is
important to have in a contents page as it makes it easier for the reader.
However, I have developed conventions for my editorial at the bottom left of the page. As my
magazine was a first issue, I felt that it needed to have a larger editorial than other magazines- to
make it much more personal to the reader. I think that it was important to do this so that the
reader has a brief explanation of the magazine as a whole.

3. Double Page Spread
I think that –after
looking at the overall
look of my magazine
- I have mainly
challenged and
developed
conventions of rock
music magazines
with my double
page spread.
For example, in mainly all double page spreads, the text is on the right hand page, and the image
takes up the whole of the left hand page. I have challenged this convention as I have lowered
my main image to the bottom of the page and surrounded the figures with the text. I think that
this works well for my double page spread due to the positioning, size and cropping of the original
image. This inevitably changed the whole look to my double page spread- but I think that it suits
the main image and –in some ways- the article itself.
A convention which I have followed is the colour scheme. A colour scheme of red, white and
black is convention for a rock music magazine to have. I think that this worked well in my double
page spread overall as the image looked effective after it had been manipulated so that it had
tones of red added to it, also the fact that the model on the far right had her hair dip-dyed red. It
was essential for me to use this colour scheme as I wanted the genre of the magazine to be
emphasises greatly.
Furthermore, a convention which I have followed is having the title of the article in large bold
font. This is so that it grabs the readers attention and informs them on the band that the article is
focused on. I followed this conventions because I felt that it was necessary to have a title of the
article which is much larger than the rest of the font on the page, so that it displayed its
significance.
Another convention which I followed is having the first paragraph of my article in bold. This is
conventional for general magazines to have. It informs the reader on the basic information they
need to know about the article and the band that it is focused on.
Other conventions which I followed is the page numbers in the bottom corners and also the name
of the magazine in the top right hand corner. This reminds the reader the magazine which they
are reading, making it a much more rememberable magazine. As well as this I enhanced the
importance of this article by including ‘Exclusive Interview’ to imply to the reader that this article is
special – it is a convention used in several music magazine double page spread interviews.

4. In conclusion, overall I think that I have closely followed the conventions of music magazines. From
my research (particularly in tasks 1-3) I understood in detail how features were used and why they
were used. This helped me greatly in the construction of my magazine and enabled me to follow
all of the conventions to ensure my product could be seen as a real media magazine. This was
mainly followed in my front cover and contents page. My double page spread loosely followed
conventions- just by looking at it briefly – due to the arrangement of the font and the images- but
overall it generally follows the conventions also.