media

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

2. These are the final pages for my magazine, Anthem. In order to get them to look like this, I
have used forms and conventions found on other existing, popular magazines such as Q. I am
doing this because the design for those pages must be a working formula, as these are
popular magazines. I am taking inspiration from Q a lot because my magazine shares the
same pop rock enthusiast target audience, therefore the fans of that magazine should also be
attracted towards mine.

3. For example, I have taken inspiration from Q magazine in terms of the colour scheme
for my own magazine. The clear colour scheme of Q is red, black and white, and I have
incorporated that into Anthem magazine. The red has connotations of passion, courage
and love, which are characteristics the magazine should inflict unto the audience, the
aim is for the target audience to have a passion for pop rock, and to fall in love with
the magazine. The black and white together conveys the straight-forwardness of
Anthem, that there is no messing around, that it gets straight to the point – which is
pop rock music. However the infusion of the splash of red symbolises that Anthem isn’t
just another black and white boring magazine, it has the exciting element too.

4. However, here I have challenged the convention in magazines, particularly in Q, that the
masthead of the magazine should be placed In the top left corner. I subverted this ideology
because I didn’t want my magazine to be exactly the same as all the others. It is also placed on
that side so it does not completely cover the face of my front cover artist. I have also
challenged the form of Q magazine in the sense that the name of the CVI cover artist should
be on the left hand side of the page, which is where the Foo Fighters is on the Q magazine –
whereas I have put mine on the right side of the page so as to not be exactly like the rest of
the magazines – to show that Anthem is somewhat unique in most respects.

5. Here I have followed the codes and conventions of Kerrang magazine, in terms of where the
placement of my barcode is. On Kerrang the barcode is in the bottom right hand side, turned
90 degrees to either side. I have done the same, as it is the part of my page where there is no
text, therefore there is space for the barcode there. I have also put it there because it seems
that’s where barcodes usually are on magazines (as seen on Kerrang), therefore the audience
won’t have to stress out trying to find the barcode because it is in the same place it always is
on other magazines.

6. I have followed the convention here on NME that the contents page title goes on the upper
right hand of the page, as that is the side of the page that the eye is naturally drawn to. I have
however challenged the convention that there is only one image on NME contents page. I
decided to include more, 4 to be specific, to show the audience that there are lots of artists
featured in my magazine, which in turn entices the audience to want to read more.

7. Here I have loosely followed the conventions of Kerrang magazine’s contents page, as I decided
to include more than one photo, which I took inspiration from Kerrang for.

8. I have taken inspiration from Empire when following the convention of having the name of the
magazine in the top left of the page in capital letters, with a line going across the page on
either side. This reinforces brand identity as it follows the three colour scheme. This reminds
the audience what magazine they are reading which subliminally keeps the name Anthem in
their heads.

9. I have followed the conventions of this magazine double page spread in multiple ways. I have
developed the convention of having the model in the middle-right part of the double page
spread, taking over most of the second hand page and a small part of the left. I have also taken
inspiration from this as both models are looking right at the camera, engaging in direct address
with the reader. I have also included the same form of headline and subheading combination,
as the subheading appears underneath the headline, which is aligned to the left of the model.

10. I have also developed the convention of including a drop cap at the start of the article, to
introduce the story. Another convention I have followed is the pull quote which is featured on
the right hand side of the model, which in both magazines is shown just around the shoulder of
the artist.