The document discusses the design of a music magazine media product. It describes how various real media conventions are used, developed, and challenged in the design. Specifically: - The front cover uses a barcode, price, and QR code for social media like real magazines. - Features like logos and color schemes are developed to create a consistent branding across pages. - Unlike the front cover, the double page spread does not use the same color scheme to better feature the artist instead of the magazine brand. Design elements like fonts and clothing style still maintain continuity in representing the hip hop genre.

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

2. The music magazine which I have designed
implements real media products through
the features I have used in various pages to
make it realistic and legitimate. Throughout
the front cover I have used various
techniques and features throughout my
front cover to make it seem like a realistic
music magazine.
Throughout the magazine there are also
subliminal links which apply to the scheme.
Phrases such as “Explosive”, “detonating”
etc. The continuous scheme allows the
magazine to be categorised as a whole brand
in itself as a music magazine. It creates a
convincing legitimacy which persuades the
audience to purchase the magazine.
I have included a barcode and a splash on
the side with social networking details
where the readers can subscribe to the
magazine and follow it online to receive
updates and the latest news. I have also
included the price on the side of the
barcode to make it realistic and appealing to
the audience/customers.
I have used features such as a custom
logo that portrays an ongoing scheme
throughout the cover and contents page
of my magazine. The logo is a
microphone with a nuclear hazard
symbol. The microphone itself conveys
the musical aspect of my magazine.
The nuclear sign links to the title of the
magazine; “BLITZ”. There is a snappy
slogan; “Drop beats, not bombs.”
There is a colour scheme of red, black
and white throughout the front cover of
the magazine which makes the cover
neat and clean. The front cover doesn’t
look messy and looks well put together
which is appealing to the target audience
as they feel that the magazine is of a
good quality and well put together.

3. The front cover of my Music magazine uses various
forms and conventions of real media products. I
have used a barcode to scan the price of a
magazine. I have also used a QR code to allow the
customers to access the social networking sites of
the magazine itself. I have also used a large title
with an attractive font as it should be a recognized
branding like a logo which must be unique.

4. I have developed the main concept of
the front cover of my magazine from the
front cover of a Source hip hop
magazine. I have developed various
conventions.
I have developed the colour scheme of
red black and white by adding the
scheme to the clothing of my artist. I
have also developed the text to the side
of the key image with the different sixed
fonts.
I have developed the square text box on
the side as the stars related to my
artist’s slogan; “From the streets to the
Stars”. Toward the bottom of the
magazine front cover there is a section
containing names of various artists
which I have also developed from the
magazine.

5. Through my contents page research I have found that a few magazines include a “hits” chart with the top singles of the specific time
period. I have decided to do the same by making a monthly top 10 chart. I did this as it is a good way to fill the page and add a feature to
the contents page which is related to the fact that it is a music magazine. It is appealing to the readers as they obviously enjoy music and
the majority of people buying an urban music magazine would be interested in knowing the top 10 urban singles of the month.

6. I added a section to the contents page
where is says “WIN A MACBOOK PRO”. I
have got this idea from my research of
other music magazines. I took photos of a
MacBook at different positions and placed
them side by side on the screen. I then
added a title with bold, red, impact font
to make it stand out and make it
attractive. This extra section makes the
magazine appealing to the target readers
as they will be interested in winning a
MacBook and will be hooked into reading
on deeper into the magazine.
I have used large page numbers and a
column for Regulars and a column for
Features on the contents page just as the
majority of music magazines use. I used
more features than regulars to make the
magazine look exclusive and unique. The
readers will understand that there are
more featured stories than regular stories
which will grab their attention and hook
the readers into exploring further through
the magazine.
Even throughout the contents page, the
colour scheme stays consistent with black,
red and white. The “Impact” font also
stays the same through both the front
cover and contents page. This makes the
magazine seem legitimate as a brand
because the scheme is ongoing through
the various pages. I changed the main text
from Impact to something more simple,
as it is a contents page and therefore it
should be easy to read and understand.
However, I kept the titles and subheading
the same to attract the reader’s attention
and stick the to scheme. I also included
the BLITZ title and logo on the contents
page to contribute to the scheme.

7. Unlike the Front cover and contents page, the double
page spread does not contain a white/black/red
colour scheme. I chose to do this as the double page
spread is a whole page based on the artist himself
rather than focusing on the magazine as a brand /
company. In this case, I chose a Gucci pattern scheme
throughout the background and colours. I did this to
make the appearance of the double page spread
appealing to the readers in terms of the chosen
artist. The artist is a person who likes to wear
designer clothing to represent his wealth and the
fact that he is successful. Therefore I chose to use a
“Gucci” designer background.
The name of my chosen artist is written behind a main image of the artist in an attractive font which
relates to the genre of hip hop. The artist himself is also wearing “street” clothing to create a
continuous hip hop style scheme throughout the double page spread. Furthermore I placed another
quote near the artist which was not included in the interview, hence the use of no speech marks. I
also used this quote in both the contents page and front cover. The word “STARS” is slightly larger
than the rest of the words in the quote to portray how successful the artist has become.
On the double page spread, I included two quotes
from the artist’s interview. The first quote that I used
was an opinion from the interviewer; “Gangster AND
a Gentleman”. I used this quote because it represents
the artist in a positive way which attracts the readers
as they would want to read on to find out why the
interviewer gave this opinion, and to discover more
about the artist. The second quote I included was for
the title of the interview page; “BLOOD DOESN’T
MAKE YOU FAMILY LOYALTY DOES”. From my research
of other double page spreads, I have found that
nearly all interview pages have a title quote from the
artist interview with a strong meaning which grabs
the attention of the reader. I have used a variation of
two fonts which both appeal to the genre of hip hop.