QUESTION 1

‘In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions

of real media products?’

Masthead

Main image

Features

Enigmatic sell line

Cover line

Anchor text tag line

Date

Barcode

Headerr

FRONT COVER

Plus badge

MASTHEADLarge, simple, san-serif ,drop shadow, capital letters, over image- importance, contrasting colour to background, eye catching, house colours, brand awareness (common convention)

Magazine references that use this convention:

MAIN IMAGE

Direct mode of address- connects audience andartist- creates personal relationship (uses & grat),Behind masthead- masthead still prominent and of Importance, shallow depth of field- blurry backgroundmakes subject stand out, challenges idea of a singleTone background, subject facial expression neutral- not Sexualised- challenges male gaze (Mulvey), mediumClose up shot-links to main story-single person shot (common convention)

Other magazines with this convention:

FEATURES

Indie style lay out, bold capital letters, insight intoFeatures- informative (uses & grat), smaller fontThan main cover line, contrast against darker Background, one of the house style fonts

Magazines with this convention:

ANCHOR TEXT

Stands out against background, anchors image,Main story, large- capitals- eccentric text, artists names-entices fans (common convention)

Other music magazines that use this convention:

HOUSE STYLEFor the house style of my magazine, I challenge the usual red white and black colour scheme by opting for softer colours such as white, grey and blue which makes my magazine more unique and stand out because of its different conventions.

Magazines that I’m challenging (red/white/black):

Magazines that are also challenging:

GRAPHICAL ELEMENTS

Plus sign, anchors features, subliminal messages ‘more’, ‘bigger’, ‘important’ (uses & grats), ‘Double issue’- emphasis on ‘more’, (common convention)

Date

Note from the editor

Numbering

Images

Page number

Social media links

Competition

Regular features

Special features

Masthead

Columns

CONTENTS PAGE

IMAGESThe images of the models that I took are mid shots/ close ups so their body language and facials are still easily visible. I took a picture of a drum set and at a festival to add variation to the page but also give an insight to the articles in the magazine. I wanted to make it explicit that it was a music magazine so used these images to reinforce this. The fact each image has straight edges and aren't overlapping gives a professional effect.

Magazines that use this convention:

NUMBERINGLarge numbers, stand out over images and coloured background, informative- anchors what will be inside (uses & grats), house style colour, convenient- easy to find page

Magazines that keep to this convention:

REGULAR FEATURESFor regular readers of the magazine- consistency, box for text- bold- eye catching,

Other magazines that use these conventions:

EDITORS NOTENo music magazines I have researched had an editors note on their contents page, but as this was my first edition of the magazine I decided that it would be a useful introduction and help to create a relationship between audience and editor.(uses and grats) Other magazine genre’s however, do seem to have this convention:

SPECIAL FEATURESBold, contrasting title, boxed- breaks down magazine into sections, easy to navigate, short description of special features-informative (uses and grats) entices reader, short description-insight into article, numbers anchored to text- helps navigation, eye-catching

Magazines that share this convention:

SOCIAL MEDIA AND COMPETITIONAs my target audience are all teenagers/ young adults, I decided to make an area for social media on my contents page which is essential for this type of audience. This is a way for the audience to get involved with the magazine and keep updated between issues. This is reinforced by the competition element of the magazine. More people will want to keep updated in order to win, reflected by the emotive language (‘free’ etc). In other magazines I have researched I have often found ‘giveaway’ sections to the magazine which are similar to competitions which is a good way to attract regular readers.

MASTHEADBold, simplistic, three lines on either side (link to idea of guitar strings, indie style), informative

Magazines that use this convention:

PAGE NUMBERInformative, easy to navigate, professional consistency

Other magazines that use this convention:

DOUBLE PAGE SPREADImage over two pages

columns

Anchor text

Page number

Drop cap

Pull quote

Introductory title

Artist name

Direct mode of address

LAYOUTWith my double page spread I challenged the usual convention of having an image on only one side on the magazine by spreading it across both pages- similarly to rolling stones magazine. I did this because I wanted continuation across the pages and for the image to be the most important and prominent element of the pages. The text, informative title and artist name are extremely similar to clash’s double page spread and are all bold and eye catching with their large size and contrasting fonts.

IMAGEFor the double page image I used a mid shot as I thought this would be the most eye catching and is similar to many of clash’s double page spreads, so found this as a common convention. I used direct mode of address even though my model is turned slightly to the side, enticing the reader to look at the article. This therefore creates a personal relationship with the artist and the audience. The tones of my picture also correlate with the house colours of my magazine which creates more continuation.

TEXTI used three columns on my double page to the right of the page. This is so naturally, the reader will look at the image of the artist and then read the text. The columns make the text clear and organised which is pleasing to the eye for the audience. The anchor text under world reborn is at a slight diagonal which directs the readers eyes towards the artist name and informs them of who the article is about (uses and grats).

PULL QUOTE

pull quote entices reader, creates enigmas and encourages engagement, personal relationship between artist and audience (uses and grats) larger font used- eye-catching, differentiation between usual text

ARTIST NAMEFor the artist name on my double page spread I used a san-serif font which is the boldest on the page and differentiates it from the other text, instantly drawing the audiences eye towards it

PAGE NUMBER & DROP CAPSPage numbers- easy navigation, informative ,drop caps- eye catching, differentiate from the rest of the text

Magazines that use this convention: