1. In what ways does your media product
develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?
2. I have used a masthead at the top of the front cover to
follow the conventions of music magazines. The masthead is
located at the top left hand corner of the front cover so it
stands out but also isn’t in the way of anything else, this is
also where many other music magazines place their
masthead. The colour of the front is white which is
portrayed through the red box behind him which makes it
more brighter so It catches the attention of the target
audience.
I have used just one image on my front cover which is a
medium close up of my male actor and is therefor following
the rules of a music magazine. I’ve got my actor using
earphones so it relates to music and his pose looks stylish
which will intrigue the target audience.
The colour scheme of my magazine mainly includes the
colours of red, white, black and a hint of yellow to relate to
the conventions of magazines as it must be kept consistent.
The reasons for this was that these colours were more
aggressive and masculine which is what is associated with
hip hop however after doing research through my
questionnaire it is still suitable for female audience’s.
I have also followed the conventions of a music magazine by
including a barcode in my magazine, a date and a price on
the cover to make it official. The barcode is placed on the
bottom right where its easily seen for selling the product.
This is a convention of the magazine as the barcode registers
information of location and price which can really help the
company. The price is just located above the barcode while
the issue number is placed on the bottom left. The price is
placed so the customer could see how much it costs and the
issue number allows the audience to see if the magazine is
up to date
3. Another convention that I have followed of real music
magazines is using cover lines which are lines on the
front cover that tell what's included in the magazine
but most importantly catch’s the audience’s attention. I
have also added special effects to these cover lines
such as drop shadow, etc. this allows it to stand out
more which is the whole idea of cover lines. The font
colours includes the same colours of the colour
scheme, red , white, black and yellow. This is important
as it shows the consistency of my magazine which is a
convention that real magazines follow to make it look
more professional
I have used a quote from my artist as one of the cover
lines which is an convention that most music
magazines use. By using a quote this suggests to the
target audience that the magazine is the truth and
gives raw information about the artist and what he is
saying. I have also used a catchy quote to intrigue the
audience into wanting to buy the magazine which will
want to make them read more.
4. I have included the same font style as the front cover to
create the ‘contents’ title. I used the consistency from the
front cover to have the colour of the font red and white.
However I have also added the letter ‘B’ using the exact
same font colour, style and background on the top left hand
side of the magazine which is what most music magazines
may include to represent consistency. I have researched
that most magazines include there mastheads from their
front cover to the contents page or either a symbol/logo to
represent the magazines name, in my case it’s the letter ‘B’
which stands for my magazine name ‘Bass’, this will also be
the logo.
I have only included one image on my magazine which
wasn’t the idea at first but I did a little research on the
magazine that I was emulating (‘XXL’) and that convention
included only using one photo for the contents page, this
was important as since there was only one image it was
easy to understand everything else. I have also decided to
use a female for my second image as this would also attract
female hip hop fans which would be better for business .
On the left included the features of the magazine which was
convention that all magazines included, this explained what
the magazine included which was important because the
audience needs to know what's included. I have also kept
consistent the same font style and colour to keep it looking
professional and only editing the effects for visual reasons.
5. I have used page numbers throughout the contents page
as this is a conventional feature that I found when
researching into music magazines. There would be no
point in a contents page If it didn’t include page numbers
since the customers wouldn’t know where to go for
certain sectors of the magazine.
I have used the same colour scheme as the front cover to
create continuity following conventions of music
magazine. This means I am creating a house style
throughout the entire magazine to keep consistency
making my magazine professional.
Near the bottom of the magazine I have included the
website of the magazine company so the target audience
would be able to go home or even on their phones to
electronically check out the music magazine company
through the internet which is another way for customers
to interact. This is a convention as when I did research I
found that magazines put some sort of contact or a way
where customers are allowed to interact through
different ways.
6. I have used the same font size
and style for my title that I
used in both my front cover
and contents page to keep
consistency which is an
convention
I have kept the information set
in columns when presented on
the page. When I researched
this I found that almost all
magazines set their articles as
columns
The colour scheme even
within the article is still kept
same with the colours of red,
black, white with a small
amount of yellow to brighten
up the page. This makes the
page feel like its part of the
magazine. I have challenged the conventions of Another convention that I challenged
music magazines by using my image as when researching into music
I have placed the masthead
the background of the article to take up magazines is that the artists used as
on the top right of the
the whole double page spread. When I their image on the double page
double page so it stands out
did research most magazines didn’t do spread normally looks different by
and identifies what's the
this. However I didn’t do this as I believed wearing different clothes, etc.
article about
using the image as the background really However I didn’t’ as I had to take the
makes the information stand out images of my actor on the same day
