Before beginning the creation of my magazine I researched several magazines to gain inspiration and acknowledgethe typical codes and conventions which relate to different aspects of a magazine in order for it to be successful.Throughout my magazine I aimed to maintain a particular house style which consisted of the colours: grey, black,maroon and white. By using this on each element of my music magazine I created continuity, giving my magazinean identity which can be easily recognised. The same fonts were also used throughout the magazine as this followsconventions and makes it look a lot more professional regarding the layout and format of the magazine.

Q1.) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

I decided to experiment with a variety of fonts whichgave me a wide variety to choose from when decidingwhich to use for my final piece.The font I decided on was ‘Gill Sans MT Condensed’ I felt asthough this fitted well with the genre of my magazineand the desired look I was going for. After looking atother magazines such as NME/ MOJO I realised thatthe fonts are fairly straight edge and bold which iswhere my inspiration came from.

Q1.) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Initially I came up with 4 potential colour schemes, the oneI decided to go for was black, white and grey. Later on inthe production I decided to introduce a fourth colour(yellow) to break up the darkness of the magazine andcontrast with the duller colours such as grey and black.Although my music magazine is based around the indierock/pop rock genre which can be grungy, I thought itwould be good to incorporate another colour to make itseem a lot more light-hearted as opposed to constantlymelancholy.

Q1.) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

SPECIFIC CONVENTIONS I CONFROMED TO:

The cover line used in combination with the pull quote is effective in relation to the fact that it highlights the main feature of the magazine and makes it clear to the audience what the main article is likely to entail. Due to me replicating a feature from an existing product it makes the magazine appear a lot more industry standard.

Similarly to Q’s Lady Gaga issue, the font appears to be situated behind the artist as opposed to in front. I adapted this technique in my own work in relation to the fact that it connotes the idea that the artists status it high enough for them to be recognised without the full name being shown. It also heightens their popularity further due to people being interested in the person on the front, if they don’t already know their name they will be more interested in finding it out due to the layout it is shown in.

I also included a puff on my work as it will help lure in those with a particular interest in the product or artist I choose to promote within it. I also adopted the ‘5*’ element of the existing product and used it as a rating scheme of ‘this century's’ album. This was adapted slightly to ensure it fitted in well with the house style of my product due to it being maroon, black and grey predominantly.

SPECIFIC CONVENTIONS I CONFROMED TO:

I also decided to place the masthead of my magazine in the conventional area of the left hand side as shown on the Q magazine. This allows my product to look a lot more industry standard and appealing to customers willing to purchase the product.

I chose to include my barcode in the same place of the existing product due to the fact that it is a conventional area for barcodes to be placed. I also included the issue number and price on it so customers can find the details easily here if they do not see it in the top right hand side of the cover. The existing product appears to have removed the barcode strips however they have also included the date and price on the barcode, reinforcing the fact that I have conformed to conventions of an industry standard product.

Similarly to the Q version, I decided to included a skyline to my magazine however I decided not to place my slogan on it. This shows that I have partly conformed to this convention due to me making it black despite the fact that I added artist names instead of slogans.

Q1.) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

After researching several music magazine contents page’s, my main inspiration camefrom NME’s music magazine in relation to the fact that it is blocked into differentcategories through the use of several subtitles, this makes it easier for the reader tofind a particular article they are interested in. This relates to the fact it creates aposter-like effect therefore relating to my predominant target audience of youngpeople such as students. I decided to include an editors note as, although it is notincluded in NME, I thought it was a convention which would be good to include. Itmakes the magazine appear a lot more personal to the editor and creates arelationship between both the editor and audience.

I also included the masthead once again on the left hand side of the page to createcontinuity throughout the magazine, this makes the magazine easily recognisable tothe readers and maintains the house style. This is a convention taken from variousmagazines including the NME magazine below.

A ‘subscribe’ option is also included in my contents page which is another conventionof music magazines as seen on the NME contents. This helps lure in potentialcustomers to purchase the monthly magazines at a discount. This is helpful as mymagazine revolves around students, which will not have mass amounts of disposableincome.

I also conformed to the conventions of a music magazine in relation to the fact thatmy magazine includes a variety of pictures relating to the articles on particular pages,the captions located next to the image also give the reader an insight into the articlewithin it. This technique is also shown on the NME magazine of which most of myinspiration came from. Although, it was adapted to suite my particular genre andideas behind the magazine better.

Once again the main inspiration for my music magazine double pagespread came from the source of NME – their article of Florence and TheMachine.

In this article I particularly liked the background of the image made upof the text ‘USA’, so I decided to recreate it into my own using the nameof my artist; ‘BEAN BROOK’. The reason for using 3 images of my artistfrom different perspectives connotes the idea that she is fully exposedwithin this interview – we see her from every angle.

I also followed conventions in relation to my double page spreadthrough the use of a standfirst to give a vague introduction to the artist,and the article on the page.

I then used a drop cap to once again reinforce conventions of thedouble page spread regarding the article. The article was thenseparated into segments of bold and not bold to make it clear whichpart is the question, and which is the answer. A credit line was also putin regarding the model, and who the images and article belong to.

Page numbers were also included at the bottom of the page, sticking tothe colour scheme, to maintain continuity throughout my magazine.The page numbers also related to the articles shown on the contentspage which reinforces the continuity throughout the magazine.

Q1.) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

SPECIFIC CONVENTIONS I CONFORMED TO:

As shown in the images I have adopted a similar stance in my piece, inspired by the existing product as I thought this would make the model appear elegant however I still managed to maintain the grungy effect through the dark colour scheme used and the incorporation of the ‘Marshall’ speaker; reinforcing the fact that this article revolves around music.

The artists name is also replicated in a similar way down to the point where I also chose to used differing fonts that were similar to those used within the existing product. The standfirst used in both products are 3 lines long, brief enough to give the audience an insight into what the article entails.

A drop cap is another convention of industry standard products, I decided to incorporate this into my work as it gives the article more of a professional ethos. Despite the fact that NME’s version of a drop cap is slightly deeper, I did not feel this mattered in the production of my material.

Masthead on the left hand side conforms toconventions due to them usually being placedin this area as seen on NME and Q.Despitewanting to conform to conventions, I alsochose to place the masthead in this area as itlooks better regarding the positioning of theimage. It makes it easier to read and morenoticeable for readers.

Magazine and date line are located to the rightof the artists head in a maroonfont to createand maintain the house style throughout the

magazine. The font ‘Gill Sans MT Condensed’.is used on both the date and issue line to showcontinuity between the two pieces of text. Thisfont also features within the magazine but Iensured a variety of other fonts were alsoencorporated.

I followed magazine conventions by using a pullquote on the front cover which links to the mainimage, relating to the main article within. This isdone to attract potential customers and give theman insight as to what the main feature for thismonths issue is. Which could then possibly lurethem in to purchase the product.

Similar to official music magazines, the name of mymagazine and price of the issue is located on thebarcode. This follows typical conventions of a musicmagazine.

Once again following conventions of a musicmagazine, I included a header at the top of thecover to give the reader an insight as to what themagazine features before they choose to purchaseit.

Conventions were alsofollowed on my musicmagazine regarding the selllines. They are placed on theleft third which is the mostcommon place for these to besituated. The house style isalso introduced due todifferent colours being usedboth on the artist and withinthe text, creating a maroon,grey and black colour scheme.The black and white contrastwith one another to create agrungy effect. However, Idecided to incorporate maroonas I thought it was still slightlygender neutral andaccentuated the less grungy,light-hearted atmosphere ofthe text.

Q1.) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

The main image is of the artistwhich this months issue of mymusic magazine revolves around –‘BEAN BROOK’. She is shownstood up facing the audiencewhich I feel links with the pullquote on the front cover. The factthat she is stood up with her handon her hip connotes the idea thatshe is not beaten, she will riseabove those trying to beat herdown.

Q1.) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Conventionally, the image relating to the main article is a lot larger in comparison to the others featured on the contents page. The image is different, with the artist in a different stance and outfit to show variation. The main article is also featured on a page relatively close to the front due to it being higher of importance.

Smaller photos are also shown on the contents page, showing the different features within the magazine. They are placed further back in the magazine as they are less important in comparison to the main story on the front page.

A ‘subscribe’ option is also included in mycontents page which is another convention ofmusic magazines as seen on others, such asNME. This helps lure in potential customers topurchase the monthly magazines at a discount.This is helpful as my magazine revolves aroundstudents, which will not have mass amounts ofdisposable income.

I included an editors note in my magazine. I don’t feel as though this is 100% conventional due to the fact that not many music magazine of my genre include one. I still decided to include it as I feel as though it helps develop a good relationship between the editor and the audience – it makes it more personal.

Sub headings are a convention ofmagazines which help readers findwhat they are looking for,efficiently. My magazine alsoincludes 51 pages, which is anaverage amount for a musicmagazine. Further reinforcing theuse of conventions. The headingsalso allow potential customers toquickly understand what themagazine entails as they flickthrough when it is on the shelf.

I also included the masthead of my magazine on the contents page to make it more recognisable to readers and maintains the initial continuity of the music magazine. To further reinforce continuity, I ensured the use of the same 4 colours, black, white, grey and maroon, throughout. The maintenance of this house style makes the magazine more recognisable, giving it more of an iconic look.

Page numbers used on the left page conform to the house style of the magazine, they also link to the numbers stated in the contents page correctly and look more industry standard as a result.

I included a stand first as an introduction to my article, it gives the reader an insight into who the artist featured on the page is, and what the article is about.

This pull quote is used to intrigue the audience into reading the article. It connotes the idea that the artist has struggled in some shape or form. ‘VIBE’ are given the opportunity to investigate what exactly it is that ‘BEAN BROOK’ is struggling against. The pull quote above the text also creates continuity due to it being the same as the one featured on the front cover.

The use of the word ‘BEAN’ in the background makes it clear to the audience who the article is based upon. The fact that the images are placed over the top of the text imply that the person is more important than the words on the page.

The main image consists of ‘BEAN BROOK’ sat on a speaker which insinuates that she is very music orientated which is the main reason for her not backing down from those that do not support her. The image shows ‘BEAN BROOK’ looking at the audience, this engages them with the artist and lures them into it.

The same fonts are also used throughout the article. Once again, reinforcing continuity. The body of the article shows bold font which makes it clear to the audience which part of the text is the question and which is the answer; through bold and not bold fonts. A drop cap is also used at the very beginning of the article. Reinforcing the conventions of a music magazine.