The document discusses how the media product uses and develops conventions of real media. It examines how conventions from magazines like Rolling Stone and Billboard influenced the design of the magazine, such as placing the masthead behind the cover image. While initial plans were influenced by other magazines, the final product developed as new ideas emerged during the process. For example, color schemes were altered to complement the cover model's outfit. The document also discusses how conventions like a three-column contents page were incorporated but the skyline text was developed to promote magazine features rather than sales claims. Overall, the media product challenges conventions of "busy" pop magazines by having a simpler, mature design.

1. 1.In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?
Before I constructed my magazine I took out extensive research that enabled me to
get a clear understanding of the current conventions and features of popular music
magazines, carrying out the research helped me gain a wide insight of conventions
used in real media products. For example Rolling Stones magazine influenced my
work a great deal, although having a different genre of music to mine the style of the
magazine appealed to me deeply. The magazine is so successful which I think is due
to conventions like the cover image, that is always high quality and undoubtedly
catches the target audience attention. Billboard magazine also influenced the
construction of my magazine due to the simplistic approach they have towards the
front cover. For example, their front cover looks more like a poster due to the
oversized masthead and medium close up cover image of the artist. This inspired me
to carry out the simplistic approach towards the construction of my magazine. For
example I used placed my model on a plain background, making her the centre of
attention which is what I had planed.
I believe my magazine incorporates all of the typical conventions expected in a real
media product. For example, the front page alone consists of a large masthead
integrated behind a strong cover image that sits alongside features and plugs all in a
variety of fonts and text sizes which resembles a real music magazine. I wrote in my
treatment sheet that I wanted to create a simple front cover a lot like the approach
Billboard magazine took, I wanted to stick with pastel colours and keep the focus on
the cover image.
However once I took the images for my magazine my ideas changed a lot, I altered
the colour scheme and style of the fonts to fit the images. For example the model in
my magazine was wearing a dark green sparkly crop top, which did not compliment
the light pastel colours I had initially chosen. So I changed the colour of the fonts to
deep greens and muted grays which I adjusted the colour and texture of on
photoshop.
Rolling Stones magazine always places their masthead behind the cover image. I
incorporated the same convention in my magazine as I believe it looks very
professional and focuses all the audiences attention on the cover image. I think this
would be beneficial to the revenue of the magazine because people tend to glance at
the images rather than the cover lines, therefore I believe if I have a strong cover
image that instantly catches the audience attention it will be chosen over other media
products. For the contents page of my magazine I took inspiration from Q magazine
and used generic conventions such as 3 columns with the gutter width of 2mm and
images from features within the magazine, I think this kept the contents page looking
very professional and organised. I used this style so it’s easier for the readers to find
what they are looking for within the magazine, it also holds conventions of a real
media product which was my aim.
I think I developed the my skyline on the front cover of my magazine, this is because
many other magazines have a sky line stating that their magazine is the best selling
in the UK and so on, whereas I took the space and opportunity to tell the readers
what else is featuring in my magazine. I think this is more beneficial as ‘best selling in
the UK’ often sounds like an opinion that the audience could very easily disagree on,
but telling them what else there getting within the magazine is more likely to entice
them to buy it.
I believe my magazine challenges the very common style of ‘pop’ magazine. For
example many pop magazines are intensely bright and are very busy, full of images
and features, whereas i aimed to create a more mature pop magazine that's simple
but is still full of features but remains of a higher class. For example, I stuck to
having one image on my front cover which contrasts to other pop magazines as they
have a minimum of 4 on their front cover. Challenging this idea made my magazine
more mature and less busy which I believe is more fitting to my target audience. I

2. also challenged the regular conventions of a pop magazine as they tend to have a
variety of colours that don’t complement each other, therefore on my front cover and
double page spread I stuck to a colour scheme of dark greens greys and blacks.
2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
My media product doesn't conform to any particular race or class, however my
magazine is aimed at a specific age range of mature teenages, spefically 16-25 year
olds. This was represented by the age of the models (17-20) and their clothing. For
example the models in my magazine are dressed in more sophisticated clothing
(plain black jeans, green sparkly top which shows a little glamour, plain denim
jackets and plain jeans) in comparison to other pop magazines, as their models are
dressed in neon colours and more bright, childlike clothing. Where as my models are
dressed in more colour coordinated clothes such as they all wore deep coloured
jeans with mostly plain tops apart from the main model, which I believe makes them
appear more subtle therefore attracting a more mature audience.
My magazine doesn’t conform to any particular gender as I created it to be suited to
neither just men or woman, I did this by using colours such as light greys, greens and
red across my front cover, double page spread and contents page. I believe the
colour scheme will initially attract both genders due to the colours being very gender
neutral. I also used male and female models which I believe will appeal to both
genders. However my double page spread was about a female artist and her
personal life, I believe this may attract a more female oriented audience. This is
because females are stereotypically more interested in the lifestyle of others.
I believe my magazine challenges the stereotype of men being dominant due to my
magazine being oriented around a woman. For example men a portrayed in the
media as power powerful and are very often the centre of attention, even if a woman
is a centre of attention articles are always asking about the men in their life.
Therefore I intentionally focused my article on ‘Amelia White’ and wrote questions
about her life and career, and made sure not to include questions about men in her
life. Which I think challenges the social convention of men being more dominant.
3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
I would publish my magazine with Bauer media institution for many reasons. First of
all Bauer media is one of the most successful publishing houses internationally, as
they sell over 30 different magazines over a range of different categories and sell
over 35 million magazines a year. This publishing house sells magazines all over the
world which I believe would be beneficial to the revenue of my magazine, as it will
reach a larger target audience.
For my magazine I would charge £2.99 per issue, I am fully aware this is at a higher
expense than other magazine however I believe the audience are getting what they
are paying for. This is because I plan to have exclusives for every issue and and
make sure it is full of features that are interesting to my target audience. I plan to
release an issue every month both digitally and manually, therefor for the the first
year I aim to make a revenue of over £11,000. I believe I will make most of the
revenue through digital platform due to having a target audience of 16-25 yearolds.
4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
The audience for my magazine is both genders at age range of 16-25. It appeals to
both genders because I used gender neutral colours through the front cover, double
page spread and contents page. For example for the front cover and double page
spread I ran with a colour scheme of muted grays light greys and greens. These
colours aren’t stereotypically assigned to either genders unlike blue (male) or pink
(female). Therefore just glancing at my magazine I think it conveys it’s for both

3. genders. I also included features that would attract both genders, for example I gave
the audience a chance to win a festival ticket to a choice of three. Festivals are
things that both genders are interested for the variety of music, therefore this is why I
included it in my magazine.
My magazine is suited to 16-25 year olds. This is because I wrote about current pop
music that’s in the charts and people of that age range are stereotypically expected
to like this genre of music. I also included in the content page that the magazine
would include news on the VMA’s, which is an award ceremony catered to current
music in the charts which again is suited to a age range of 16-25 years olds.
I think my magazine is similar to Rolling Stones and Billboard magazine. They both
cater to different genres (rock and pop) however they both carry a style that really
appealed to me. For example they both had a simplistic approach to the front cover
of their magazines. They stuck to having the cover images very strong as they stood
out more than anything on the page.I believe these magazines have the same target
audience as mine, both genders and the same age range of 16-25.
I plan to maintain my audience through the use of exclusives, interesting features
and discounts, For example I aim to have exclusive interviews with people who are at
the top of the charts and create popular music that my target audience are interested
in (pop). I plan to use features in my magazine that the audience can interact with
through social media. For example I’ll create questionnaires that people can vote on
using things such as twitter and facebook. This will maintain my target audience
because the age range of 16-25 are very familiar with current technology.
5. How did you attract/address your audience?
The gender of my audience is male and female. I attracted them to my magazine by
using male and female models, this makes it appear gender neutral and not off
putting to either sex. I also attracted both genders through the use of features. For
example I included a competition to win festival tickets to a festival of their own
choice, I believe this immediately attracts both genders because festivals are events
that both sex’s enjoy. I also included another feature stating there would be a article
on the current top 40 singles, this attracts both genders who are into pop music as
music is assigned to any gender. Both of these features also attract both genders of
an age range of 16-25. This age range suits the typical festival goer and therefore
they’re more likely to buy my magazine. Current pop music is also stereotypically
liked by 16-5 year olds, therefore writing an article of the top pop music right now is
guaranteed to appeal to them.
My front cover image is a long shot of a female model on a plain background making
her the main focus. She is dressed in plain black jeans and a green sparkly top, I
believe this attracts the audience of 16-25 year olds because her clothes looks
sophisticated but also a little glamorous. This is appealing to them because it’s
following the current fashion style, just like 16-25 year olds do. Because she’s a
female model it may immediately intimidate males and they’ll think this magazine
isn’t for them, however once they read the articles about ‘The UK’s Uprising Artist’ it
may interest them and therefore attract both genders.
The double page spread has a main cover image of a male model and female model.
The male model is looking directly ahead which I believe makes the article more
personal to the reader, especially the male readers. This is because the article is
actually wrote about a female, however I believe with the male model looking directly
ahead suggests to the male audience that the article still involves both sexes.
The colours in my magazine runs with the house style of the whole thing. I based the
colour scheme on the main females models top (dark green) for many reasons. First
of all the colour green is gender neutral and immediately attracts both genders, this
along side the dark and light greys really made the magazine stand out to both
sexes. I also believe it makes my magazine look more sophisticated and tidy, which

4. reflects the more mature side of the pop genre, and therefore attracting 16-25 year
olds with a serious interest in music.
6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing
the product?
I personally believe I have improved my technological skills a great deal since
constructing this magazine. At first I had very few skills that aided me in the
development of the magazine, however they soon developed massively. For
example before this project I had barely used a DSLR Canon camera, I had trouble
focusing the images I needed, and the object I was taking pictures of never appeared
to be positioned right. Therefore I adapted to the camera; I used the rule of 9 which
helped my positioning and kept the settings on ‘auto’ so that camera would focus
itself for me. I believe my photography skills developed very well which you can see
in the images that feature in my magazine.
When it came to photography I only had one problem which was easily fixed. At first
the lighting was way too artificial and made the models lose the contours of their face
making them look 2D. I altered the lighting and used to softboxes as the same height
as the models which gave me a much softer light and a better outcome as it showed
the dimensions to the models faces.
I struggled massively when it came to the software needed to construct my
magazine. Before this task I had never used Photoshop or InDesign, and therefore
found the software very intimidating. However I learnt slowly through the use of video
tutorials and trial and error how to bring my magazine together. I discovered on
Photoshop that you can make font or images appear textured, which I liked the effect
of, so on my contents page you’ll see red blocks with this textured effect. I believe
this makes the contents page look like it has more dimension and therefore much
more appealing to the target audience.
However I learnt slowly through the use of video tutorials and trial and error how to
bring my magazine together. I discovered on Photoshop that you can make font or
images appear textured, which I liked the effect of, so on my contents page you’ll see
red blocks with this textured effect. I believe this makes the contents page look like it
has more dimension and therefore much more appealing to the target audience.
7. Looking back to your preliminary task, what do you feel that you have learnt
in the progression from it to the full product?
Before I created my music magazine I created a college magazine. This was my first
time using the software, making flat plans and taking photographs of people on a
more complex camera. I believe my music magazine excels my college magazine
massively for many reasons. For example, the front cover of the college magazine
you can see the background is full of different colours and is quite busy therefore
taking the focus of the two people in the front. Unlike my music magazine where the
model on the front is the main focus because the background is plain and much more
professional. Creating my flat plans for both the magazines I believed to easy, I had
a vision of what I wanted them both to look like and I found it easy to plan it out on
microsoft word. I also think using the camera for the prelim task (college magazine)
improved my images for the music magazine. This is because I learned how to focus
the camera and a just the lighting.
I think my skills on photoshop and indesign have improved massively. This is
because before the prelim task or constructing the music magazine I had never used
the software before, I didn’t even know how to place an image. Now I have the ability
to edit images, add text and construct a full page.

5. In the end I am very pleased with my end product, I think it matched the given breif
well. For example I created a music magazine to a high standard the holds all the
current conventions of other magazines.