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

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

2. MASTHEAD:
This is the masthead for my magazine. In terms of naming the magazine, I wanted something
that related to music to suggest it is a music magazine. I felt that the “play button” is an
essential as it is the first step to listening to music. I therefore decided to have my masthead as
“Press Play” as it is memorable and is related to music. In order to make my masthead look
unique and creative, I replaced the “a” in “play” with the play button icon. In addition, I
created a “song stream” which I placed underneath the “play”. This will give readers a feel of
music when reading the magazine. I decided to place my masthead in the middle across the top
as this will grab readers’ attention. I also wanted it to be right above the model. In terms of the
format of my masthead, I wanted something bold and eye-catching. I decided to have the font
as “Impact” as I felt that it was bold and looks professional. This font is also used in real media
products such as Vibe magazine. I chose to have the text in block capitals as it will be easy for
readers to read and also more attention-grabbing rather than lower case. In terms of the colours
used, I wanted colours that have a mixture of bright and soft colours. I decided to have the
colours white, blue and grey as blue is bright but grey is more soft. I felt that most real media
products have white as the text so I decided to do have it as it contrasted well with the
background and stood out. In order to make my magazine look really professional I decided to
cover my masthead slight by placing the model in front. This convention is found in majority of
real media products.

3. IMAGES: FRONT PAGE
The image on the front cover is most definitely the most
important so it is essential for me to make it attractive in
order to appeal my target audience. In terms of clothing, I
instructed my model to wear clothes that is stylish and
looked fashionable due to that fact that target audience are
young so therefore they would know the latest fashion.
When taking photographs, the pictures were not coming
out the way I wanted due to the weather as it was outdoors.
I therefore had to edit the image- which I did by using tools
on Photoshop. This goes against the conventions
of a real media product as images used on the front cover are not edited, however, I
felt it looked rather attractive. My image for the front is located in Holland Park. This
challenges conventions of real media products as it is usual to have a studio shoot
rather than a outdoor for the front cover. However, I felt it looked different and will
attract the audience thus developing conventions used in real magazine. On the other
hand, I had an issue with the text as the main focus was the background rather than
the text. I then decided to blur my background in order to take the attention away
from the background. In terms of image, it again follows conventions of a real
magazine as my model is looking directly at the camera- making eye-contact with the
readers which will draw them in. It is also a mid-long shot which is found is most
real media products and looks professional.

4. IMAGES: CONTENTS PAGE
My image used in the front page links
with this image as they are same
model. I decided to have my model
facing side wards as if looking at the
text. This would perhaps influence
readers to look in that direction. In one
way this follows conventions used in
real media products such as Vibe
magazine (right) As you can see from
the image, the model seems to looking
side-wards- towards the text, similar
to my contents page. In terms of the
location of the image, I decided to
again have it outdoors but in a
different area. I chose to have a forest,
wild background as the feature
journalism is named “On the Road has
been wild”. This links with my image
as the location gives off a wild look
due to the tree’s. As you see from Vibe
magazine, the location is a studio
shoot which goes against conventions
in a real media product.

5. IMAGES: DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD
Looking at the images on my DPS, I decided to create a photomontage as this
suggested that the artist is “On the Road” and shows all the different places he
has travelled which links to my article as the artist talks about it. Although the
artist seems to be in different levels and looking at different directions, this
looks unique and will intrigue readers to be interested in the article. I decided
to create a black and white effect on the image as this put more focus on the
article. The image on the left is taken from Adele’s Glamour magazine
interview. This influenced me to create my feature Journalism this way as I felt
it looked really professional and different, thus showing I have used
conventions used in real media products.

6. FONT AND STYLE:
While working on the font and style of my magazine my main concern was
whether it was readable. I therefore decided to use “Impact” as I felt that this
font is both readable and professional. This font is used in many media
products which conform to the conventions of media products. Due to the fact
that I used to 2 icons in my masthead, I felt that my font style should be simple
otherwise it would be too difficult to read. The font used for my cover lines
were also impact. This challenges the conform of a real media product as it is
usual to have different fonts. When analysing Vibe magazine, the text on the
front cover all seemed to be in block capitals. I felt that it this made the
magazine more readable so I decided to have all my text in block capitals. In
terms of the colours, I decided to have a consistent house-style of white, grey
and blue as this looked professional. I decided to have my masthead text in
white as I felt it contrasted well with the background, making it stand out. This
is unusual for a media product as people would say it is a boring colour but I
felt due to the fact of the style of my masthead it was safe to go for that colour.
This not only challenges real media products but develops them at the same as
it suggests that bold, bright colours are not needed.

7. WRITTEN CONTENT:
In terms of the written content of my magazine, I
felt that the language should not be too
complicated and be informal as my target
audience are young and still in education.
Looking at my contents page, I wanted the
heading to be clear in order to grab the attention
of the readers. I also included a small summary
of what each feature consisted of. This follows
conventions in real media products as this is
usual. On to DPS I believe I have followed
conventions used in real media products as I
decided to have a question and answer interview.
This makes it easier for readers to read the article
and is used in many media products. I also
ensured that the language used is very basic and
simple acceptable for readers to read. Pull- quote
is also very common to have and follows
conventions.

8. While completing my front page, it was vital for
LAYOUT: FRONT COVER
me to get the layout correct or it could look over-
crowded and un-professional. I decided to have
my model in the centre of the page and place my
masthead right above in order to balance the
focus both on the model and the masthead. I then
decided to place my cover-lines around the
model as this is found in many media
conventions. Another aspect that is found in real
media products is skylines. I decided to use this
in my front cover in order for it to look
professional and also to show my audience what
the magazine would consist of. I also included a
barcode in order for it look established and
purchasable. When thinking about how to format
the pricing of my magazine I wanted to lay it out
against a blue circle with the pricing in white.
However, this layout is mainly used in fashion
magazines so I therefore placed the pricing near
the barcode, which is done in most music
magazines.

9. Looking at my contents page, I believe there are
LAYOUT: CONTENTS PAGE many aspects that conform to a real magazine.
After doing my research, I felt that branding
would make my magazine look very
professional. I then decided to do this. As my
magazine is named press-play, I placed my logo,
which I created a transparent effect on using
Photoshop and placed it in the corner of the
contents page. I also included sections in my
contents page, which follows conventions found
in real media magazine as this makes it easier for
readers. In terms of images used, I decided to
have the artist that is on my front cover enlarged
as this issue is mainly based on him, which is
done in many media magazine. Next to each
image, I placed a page number and a quick
summary of what the page would consist. This
conforms to many media magazines and also
makes it easier for readers.

10. LAYOUT: DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD
I kept the layout of my DPS quite
simple as I felt that while doing my
research the simpler it is the more
affective. I included aspects that
conform to real media magazines as I
included a title - which is normally
the artists name as I have done. The
title of the article- which is normally a
pull quote from the article. I also included a quick 2-line introduction of
whom the artist is, for readers who don’t recognise the artist and also what
the article is based. This conforms to many real media magazines. In terms
of the layout of the actual article, I split it up in 3 different columns, which
is also used in real media magazines. Moving on to the layout of the
image, I created a photomontage and placed it on a full A4 page on the
next page, which is done in basically all feature journalism.