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

1. Question 1:
I N W H A T W A Y S D O E S Y O U R
M E D I A P R O D U C T U S E , D E V E L O P
O R C H A L L E N G E F O R M S A N D
C O N V E N T I O N S O F R E A L M E D I A
P R O D U C T S ?

2. Front Cover
Many magazines choose to put their masthead across the top of
the page, which I chose to do aswell. However, a lot of
magazines chose to place their main image slightly over part of
the masthead, but I didn’t do this because this is the first issue
of my magazine so I needed the masthead to really stand out
because the audience aren’t familiar with the name yet.
They also typically have
an eroded kind of font so
it reflects their genre and
target audience, so this is
why I chose that sort of
font too.
Another convention that magazines often have
is they have a footer across the bottom of the
front cover page. This often advertises what's
in the magazine or the bands that are starring
in it.

3. Front Cover
The main coverline tends to be bigger than the rest
of the coverlines because it needs more attention
brought to it. They’re also often placed in the
middle of the page over the main image to make it
obvious which is the main coverline.
They also typically have
an eroded kind of font so
it reflects their genre and
target audience, so this is
why I chose that sort of
font too.
This is a convention I chose to follow because
its something that would really catch the
viewers eye.
Also, another convention I followed
was that the main coverline anchors
the main image. For example, on my
front cover the main image is of the
person mentioned in the main
coverline, just like this existing
magazine too.
Almost all magazines have a barcode on
the front cover and its one of the key
things to include. Usually, the date, price
and issue number go near/under the
barcode too however I chose to place my
date to the side of the masthead.

4. Front Cover
Specifically for rock magazines, one of the
conventions that is used very often is the ripped
paper look, where they make it look like part of the
page has ripped off. This helps fit in with the
aggressive theme, portray the rock genre and
attract the right target audience.
This is a convention that I followed
because I think its one of the key
things that really helps people
identify the genre.
Another pattern I followed is to
include a pull quote to attract the
audience. A lot of magazines do this
and I chose to as well because it
would intrigue the viewer to buy my
magazine, especially if its a quote
from an artist they like.

5. Front Cover
Most main images are a medium or a mid­close up
shot because they want the viewer to focus on the
facial expression. Furthermore, the model tends to
give direct address so it draws the reader in and
feels more personal like the model is looking right
at you. I followed both of these conventions for
those reasons.
A lot of rock magazines include
covermounts and competitions to attract
their target audience. The target audience
would be middle class and probably still in
education so they don’t have loads of
money, therefore this attracts them.
This was one of the conventions that I chose to follow because I
think it would really help attract the right audience.

6. Contents Page
A convention of a lot of magazines is to repeat the
masthead on the contents page so it just reinforces
the name of the magazine.
The 'contents' has been sectioned off from
the rest of the page and made a different
background colour so it stands out more.
This indicates to the reader that its the
contents page. I chose to follow this
convention also because it makes the
page layout look neat and its easy for the
reader to view it.

7. Contents Page
In addition to this convention, the
subheadings sometimes have a different
coloured box around them to make them
stand out more, just like this existing
magazine. I also did this too, aswell as
putting them in a bright colour, because it
sectioned them off from the rest of the page
A main convention for the contents page
of a magazine is they tend to have
subheadings to categorize all of the
articles. This helps the reader find quickly
what they're looking for so I followed this
convention. Furthermore, they are also
usually place in columns to make the page
layout look neat.

8. Double Page Spread
A convention used on a double page spread that I
followed is to make the headline being the biggest
text on the page. It's usually placed somewhere
near the top whether its on the left or right hand
side or even in the middle.
If the article is about a specific artist/band, then
the name of that artist will be made to stand out
on the page. This is because the target audience
will be drawn to it because they're familiar with the
name.

9. Double Page Spread
Usually, the main image is one side of the page,
however I chose to challenge this convention. I
edited my picture on Photoshop to place the
models on either side of the page. Therefore, I
put the text in the middle of the page which was
different compared to most normal magazines.
One of the main conventions for a double page
spread is to split the text into columns. I think the
most common ones are split into 3 or 4 but I
chose 2 because I split the text in halves so one
half went on the left page and the other half went
on the right.

10. Double Page Spread
The majority of articles in magazines have a
subheading underneath the article which is a little
smaller than the actual headline but bigger than
the main piece of text. This gives the reader an
insight as to what the article is about.
Pull quotes are used almost all the time in
magazine articles. This is one of the conventions I
chose to stick to because I think it really helps
draw the reader in.
A lot of
magazines
have a byline to
give credit to
the writer or
photographer.

11. Colour Scheme
A convention that most magazines have is that
they keep a consistent colour scheme throughout
the magazine. I stuck to this convention because I
think by keeping a colour scheme, it gives branding
to the magazine which is what I wanted to do with
mine. I stuck to masculine colours to attract my
target audience and the dark colours to represent
the genre.