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

2. The title of the magazine
• Most music magazines, such as Kerrang or NME, tend to
use large font, and bold text to create their magazine title.
It usually bears effects such as crackling or being heavily
outlined. However, for my magazine, I went for a more
modest look. I chose to place my title at the top centre of
the magazine, however, chose white for its colour to
contrast with the background. This would keep it bold
and eye catching, whilst still looking urban and
fresh, which is something I wanted my magazine to
emulate.

3. Mise-en-Scene of images
• I chose to place some of the images in the studio,
however the majority were taken outside, against fences,
brick walls and trees. I wanted to make my magazine
have contrasting images. Some looking shabbier than
others, in order to coincide with the story behind the
image. For most music magazines, the images are taken
in studios or at concerts, however, I wanted a variety of
mine, as I thought, not only would it reflect the
character’s story, but it would make the magazine more
interesting and versatile.

4. Costumes and props
• I’ve chosen music related props, an acoustic guitar, electric
guitar and a microphone. I thought they would keep with the
musical theme I wanted to create, yet still looked cool. For
example, I chose the electric guitar for Lara as the colour
contrasted with the blue outfit, and the audience would know
the centre of that story, is the guitar.
• For costumes I wanted my characters to look casual and laid
back. I didn’t want it to seem like they tried too hard. So
jeans, baggy t-shirts, vintage jumpers and worn out shoes are a
common theme throughout my magazine. This is fairly similar
to magazine’s like Q and NME, however, dissimilar to Rolling
Stones, as it seems to be more upmarket than the other
magazines, in regards to the way the artists dress.

5. People
• I wanted a variety of both male and female in the magazine.
My intention was to create fairly dishevelled, rebellious
looking characters. Izzy was the one that jumped out at me
most and that’s why I chose her for my front cover. I decided
on Mollie for the contents page, as I felt that she would look
cool and add a ‘girlier’ twist, to the indie look of the magazine.
• Reece looks really effective for the magazine. His long hair
and band tees made him seem perfect to play the role of a
rockstar.
• The boy band I created were made to look contrasting. One of
the boys in vintage, the other smartly dressed and another
looking fairly mainstream. I thought their long and dishevelled
hair emulated alternative rock and thus was effective for my
magazine.

6. Title and font style
• I’ve chosen only two fonts. Times New Roman and Letter
Gothic LTD. The bulk of my magazine is in Times New
Roman. I thought it looked effective, was clear and easy
to read and it took to the colours and the overall style of
the magazine well.
• I decided on Letter Gothic to contrast that. I’ve used it for
certain features I want to stand out and I thought that it
wasn’t too intense and didn’t drown out the other stories,
which is a danger when using fonts that are maybe too
bold or have an intense effect.

7. Written content
• I’ve attempted to use language techniques such as
alliteration and emotive language to get the attention of
my audience. In my attempt to create an interview I have
chosen a relatively generic story of a new album release
as this is easy to write about and also gives leads onto
other stories, such as the collaboration included or a tour.
• For my contents page, I have chosen to sum up the story
beneath the subtitle as it means the reader is able to
decide if they want to read the article and can see what it
is about in a short burst.

8. Music genre and how
your magazine suggests
this
• The music genre was rock/indie/alternative rock. I felt I
have achieved this through my choice of images and
stories, as well as the models I have used for my
magazine.
• By choosing certain stories on my cover and the right
looking models I was able to create a common theme that
was alternative and indie and avoided looking punk, yet
still reflected the idea that was urban music.

9. Layout
• The layout of my magazine was to look clear and
concise, without looking too formal. In punk magazines
such as Kerrang, there can be a risk that the layout looks
chaotic and is difficult to decipher. However, with mine, I
wanted a clear structure that guided the reader and meant
that they were able to understand the magazine and which
title belonged to which story.
• I decided to create a healthy ratio between images and
context, as too many images doesn’t tell you enough
about the magazine, yet too much text can lead to the
reader becoming bored or disinterested

10. Theories
• Typical magazine genres can strain a person’s creativity, they tend to keep within the
social guidelines of that particular genre, using stereotypical iconography along with
appealing narratives to the widespread audience.
• This makes magazine companies less likely to deviate away from this genre, if they
know it works and appeals to a large target audience.
• Because of this tyranny of genres, it means that industries can some times become
dominated by particular genres without experiment.
• I found there were particular conventions when creating my magazine. There didn’t
seem to be much variation. It was either a high end glossy mag, a punk magazine with
a typical genre or a more childish pop magazine, there seemed to be room on the
market for my indie/alternative rock magazine and that is why I created it.
• For my magazine, I tried to keep away from too many conventions, I wanted it to be
as innovative and creative as possible, yet, I did find myself succumbing to social
construct as it would mean my product would sell and would become more appealing
to audiences, especially for those who I wished to target.