The document discusses how the author's media product uses and challenges conventions of real magazines. For the front cover, the author's masthead follows conventions by being at the top of the page, and the main image relates to the story while using grayscale effects. On the contents page, the author initially challenged conventions but then grouped articles into sections like real magazines. Images are used to advertise articles, and social media links are included. For the double page spread, the author researched conventions and wrapped text around images and quotes, as seen in other magazines, to keep the layout simple yet effective.

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

2. Front cover - Masthead
I think my front cover follows many conventions of a real magazine in industry. To
start with, my masthead conforms to conventions in the way that it is placed in a
common spot; which is the top of the page. Other mastheads in my genre that I
looked at during my research, seemed to vary in style so it was hard for me to get an
idea of what I wanted mine to look like. I eventually decided to follow a similar design
to the magazine ‘KERRANG!’ This involves using bold text but making it look like
graffiti. I personally think that my masthead would be successful in a real magazine but
during my feedback, some said that they thought too much of the text was missing
and that it should be bolder.

3. Front Cover - Main Image
I think that the main image follows conventions in some circumstances but the
image conventions generally vary depending on what the article is about.
Although, the models do look serious which can be a common convention in
this genre. The image does also relate to the story and provide hints so works
successfully rather than just looking good. I used effects to make the picture
look dull in grayscale but still adjusted the contrast and brightness to make the
photo stand out.

4. Front Cover - Conventions
• The main cover line conforms to the conventions of a magazine in many ways.
Firstly, the main cover line stands out above any other title on the page which is
important as it is the main purpose of the main cover line. The colour used also
continues the colour scheme of the magazine issue which often makes a magazine
look attractive. I think that on the rest of the cover lines and secondary pictures, I
did not follow any usual conventions and decided to use a few colours that are odd
to my genre. I think ultimately, to other people these colours chosen may look
strange but after trying lots of colours, these were the most attractive. To add to
this, I inserted a barcode and positioned it in the bottom left corner of the page.
This is conforming to the convention of where the barcode is placed.

5. Contents Page
I like to think that my contents page is original to an extent but at the end of
the day it is a contents page. As you can see in my first version of the contents
page, I really challenged normal magazine conventions by having no structural
format and rather trying to add articles in positions to make them look artistic.
I found that this method was not professional enough and generally needed to
be a lot better for the final page. I followed conventions in the way that
magazines often group their articles into sections rather than page order. As
you can see under the ‘Features’ section, there are lots of articles all with mixed
up page numbers because it is not important.

6. Contents Page
I did the same as many magazines in the case of using the front cover characters as the
populating image and article of the whole page. This continues the story and provides
more information about the main article on one of the first pages. I used the same
sort of red colour scheme that I was trying to establish on the front cover. This was
because I decided that red would be this issues featured colour. As well as using just
the titles in the left column, I kept to many magazine conventions by using secondary
images to advertise other big articles. Many magazines also have their own social media
pages on which they post updates, advertisements and other related information.
These social media links are often advertised in the company’s magazine in various
places; the main place being the contents page.

7. Double Page Spread
From my research I discovered the styles and conventions used in a double page
spread. From looking at a range I learnt that there is no specific way of presenting a
double page spread as every article is different. Although, I was able to take away some
techniques that I decided to use. For example I noticed that many magazines wrap
their text tight around other objects on the page. So as you can see on my double page
spread, I overlapped the text onto the images so that the text would wrap itself around
the images. To add to this, I noticed many magazines inserted quotes around the page
so I then did the same and wrapped the text around it. Many double page spreads are
actually quite plain and simple so I therefore did not want to overdo it. Keeping this in
mind, I tried to include everything I needed to but also keep the layout simple.