Question 1

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

Conventions of a Front CoverMasthead is at the top of the page

Short, memorable name

Large main artist covering masthead

Eye contact is made with the audience

Full page image

Bright/clean colour scheme - Pop

Lots of cover lines, information for the readers

Simple language used

My Front CoverAdvertisements at top

Large catchy masthead

Bright colours for background

Colour scheme is kept

Main artist is dominant on the page

Eye contact is made

Large cover lines; easily seen by reader

Simple language used

My magazine has followed many conventions of a pop music magazine. This enables the magazine to easily be identified when on the shelf by the reader, and the bright colours also allow it to stand out.

The front cover has challenged certain conventions as well. I have placed the ‘free posters’ section on the bottom whereas others place this at the top. The reason I have done this is because my masthead is large, and if I made it smaller it would be difficult to read.

Conventions of a Contents PagePage title at top of page

Features section

Subscription section/promotions

Advertisements

Main image focus of the magazine

Page numbers

My Contents PageTitle at the top of the page

Date

Features section

Main artist focus

Page numbers

Subscriptions/Promotions

Advertisements

Images of other pages in the magazine

Bright background/clear

Conforms with colour scheme

As you can see from the comparison, my contents page follows many conventions. I have kept the same layout at the top of the page, and put the features down the right hand side of the page. This means the readers are able to see the magazine contents as soon as they turn the page.

Some conventions I have developed from this example is the images at the bottom of the page. The reason why I have done this is to draw the readers in to give them an example of what is in the magazine.

Conventions of a Double Page SpreadText on the left hand side of the page

Small artist title

Large letter representing the artists name

Page numberArticle is in columns, and paragraphs

Main artist covers the whole left hand side of the page

Simple colour scheme

Magazine logo

My Double Page SpreadMain artist title Artist

quote

Large letter representing artist name

Page numberSmall sideline article

Simple colour don’t draw attention away from main artist

Large image of main artist

Article in columns

The double page spread follows the conventions of the article being on the right and the main image being on the left. The main image in large, which is conventional as it is usually meant to be the size of a piece of A4.

One convention I challenged was the small side article at the bottom of the page. This was to meet my target audience, which is mainly younger people. This will keep their attention on the page as there are different things going on and the bright blue will draw them in.