The document discusses conventions used in magazine design. It provides examples of conventions for front covers, contents pages, and double page spreads from both the student's media product and professional magazines. Front cover conventions mentioned include the masthead, cover lines, images, rule of thirds, barcodes, and footers. Contents page conventions include the masthead, house style consistency, listings of articles, images, and editor's notes. Double page spread conventions discussed are titles, introductions, drop caps, small columned text, enlarged quotes, and large spanning images.

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

2. Front cover conventions:
There is a price under the masthead to tell
the reader how much the magazine costs.
This is a convention as it tells the reader
straight away on the cover what they would
be paying so they can make a decision as to
whether or not they want to buy it.
There is a masthead at the top in
the centre of the page which is a
common convention of magazine
front covers. This is so the name is
large and people can remember it
easily and recognise it.
The main cover line is in the
centre page to the left side and is
on top of the picture. This allows
the cover line to stand out and
gives the reader an idea of what
the picture is related to. This is a
convention of magazine front
covers because it is appealing
and relevant to the magazine.
The main image takes up the whole of the
background, making it quite large and
stands out. This is mostly in the centre of
the page which is a common convention of
magazine covers. It allows the reader to
see what they can expect to find inside.
There is a clear use of the rule of thirds on
my magazine cover which is a convention
of magazine covers. The masthead runs
along the top horizontal third, the majority
of the cover lines are in the vertical left
third, the picture in the centre vertical third
and the main cover line in the centre left
third.
The cover lines are all relevant to my
music magazine as they feature band
names of rock groups, which is the
genre of music for this magazine.
This is a convention as the cover lines
tell the reader what will be inside so
they know what to expect and know
whether they want to buy it or not.
A barcode is an essential convention
of magazine covers as this is what is
needed to purchase the magazine.
Therefore I have included this in the
bottom corner so it is out the way and
doesn’t take up much attention of the
reader as this would be unattractive.
I have included a footer at the bottom of the
cover which includes what will be inside the
magazine. This is a convention used to give the
readers a brief insight into what they can find
inside and therefore promotes the magazine.

3. Examples of front cover conventions in professional
magazines:
Masthead at the top in the
centre of the page
Main cover line is
on top of the image
in large letters and
tells you who is in
the picture
Main image in the
centre of the page
Footer at the
bottom of the
page
Rule of thirds used in
the magazine
Bar code in the
bottom left hand
corner
Cover lines
down one
side

4. Contents page conventions:
There is a copy of the masthead on my
contents page which has been made
transparent so it does not stand out too much
but is still in the background to remind the
reader of what the magazine is. This is a
convention of magazine contents pages as it is
a constant reminder of the name of the
magazine which helps people absorb the
name and remember it.
There is a consistent house style present on
the front cover and contents page. I have
used the same orange/brown colour on
both and also used the same fonts, font
sizes and effects such as the small glow on
some of the text. This is a convention as it
keeps the magazine constant and reminds
the reader they are reading the same
magazine.
All the articles that will be in the
magazine are listed on the contents
page. This is an obvious convention as it
tells readers what they can find inside
and also tells them what page they can
find it on. This allows them to skip
straight to the articles they want to
read, making the magazine more
convenient and easy to navigate
around.
I have added another picture with a short
article underneath it. This breaks the page
down so it is not just a long list of articles and
page numbers. At the end it tells the reader
where they can find the rest of the article.
This is sometimes seen in magazine contents
pages although it is not a common
convention.
There is a series of small images on my
contents page which are accompanied by
page numbers to give the reader a visual
way of seeing what they want to read
about and navigate through the magazine.
This is a convention of contents pages as it
is more appealing and attractive.
At the bottom I have included a bit of
information telling the reader how they can
get a subscription for the magazine, which is
another convention of magazines as it gives
the reader alternative ways of buying the
magazine at a small cost, which is very
appealing to them as they no longer need to
go out the house to buy it.
I have added a short editors note
at the bottom of the contents
page as this is a convention of
magazines. It allows the reader to
engage with the magazine and feel
like they are more involved with
the people who create it.

5. Examples of contents page conventions in professional
magazines:
House style: consistent
use of the yellow and
white colours often used
for Kerrang! Magazines.
Repeat of the
masthead/logo of the
magazine ‘NME’
Small
pictures with
page
numbers on
them
List of articles
down the page
with page
numbers
Picture with short article
about it underneath.
Editors note
at the
bottom of
the page.
Information on how
to get a subscription
to the magazine

6. Double page spread conventions:
Just below the title there is a short
introduction on what the article is going to
be about. This introduces the interview and
gives readers a brief idea of what they can
expect to read. This is a common convention
of double page spreads in real magazines as
it is essential for starting an article.
There is a main title of the bands
name at the top of the page which is
a common convention of double
page spreads if the article is about a
band/artist. This is to give the artists
publicity and to make the page stand
out and attract people to read it.
I have also included a drop cap at the
start of the text as this is a very
common convention of magazine and
newspaper articles.
I have used very small text for the
main article in my double page
spread, size 11, as this is a
convention of magazines. This is
so that a lot of text can be fitted
onto the page, and so it looks tidy
and more professional. The text is
also in columns as this is another
convention. This adds to the
tidiness and makes the text look
more visually appealing on the
page and easier to read.
I have included an enlarged quote
near the centre of the article, in the
middle of two columns as this is a
convention of magazine articles. This
is because it makes the article stand
out, and people can read this without
reading the whole thing to gain a basic
idea of what the article is about
before making a decision on whether
or not to read it all.
One convention of magazine double page
spreads is to have one main image which
takes up the majority of one half of the
DPS. I have included this is in my
magazine, although as my image has more
width that height, I could not get it to fill
the whole page without stretching the
image.
Although not a very common convention,
the series of four individual images I have
added under the main image fills up the
space on this side of the double page
spread. This can sometimes be found in
professional magazines but is not always
present.
Here I have put in a larger quote which will also stand
out and attract readers. I have put this in an enlarged
lightening bolt, which symbolises the masthead of the
magazine which is on the front cover. This lightening
bolt is in red so it stays consistent with the colours on
the page. Down the bottom of the bolt, it says
“BRASH’s fave quote” making out that this is a regular
thing done by my magazine, and is something to look
out for.

7. Examples of DPS conventions in professional magazines:
Main image taking up
the whole one page of
the double page and
going on to the other
Drop cap letter to start
the article and another
to start a new paragraph
Main title of the
band in large
bold letters that
stand out
Enlarged quote
in the middle
of the article
Text is in small font and it
in two columns
Introduction to the
article
Series of
individual
images put
together