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

2. As I have decided to aim my magazine at girls ranging from about 14 – 20 I have decided to compare my pages to two
different magazines. I could not find any other magazines which were very similar to mine; magazines such as ‘Sugar’ and
‘Top of the Pops’ are aimed at a younger audience than my magazine and therefore I feel that my magazine should be more
organised and mature. However magazines such as ‘Billboard’ have a target audience of women from late-teens to late-
twenties and therefore they include some artists which are not ‘pop’ in order to please a wider scope of people. For these
reasons I feel that my pop magazine should be have a more relaxed mode of address than ‘Billboard’ magazines and should
focus solely on pop music.
The two magazines which I have chosen to compare my magazine to are:
Top of the Pops B illboard
It is clear that these magazines are very different in language, colour, image, layout and target audience. As my pop
magazine is aimed at girls who are too old for ‘Top of the Pops’ but may be slightly too young for ‘Billboard’, I feel that my
magazine should include some aspects of each type of magazine.

3. In contrast to ‘top of the pops’ magazine, ‘InTune’ does not have Another more modern The majority of magazines One of the main conventions of this
a coloured background, the use of a clean white background is convention of many available use lures/hooks style of magazine, which is aimed at
not very common within magazines aimed at young girls, however magazines is the use of a web in order to encourage the girls in their early teens, is the use
it is more appealing to a more mature audience; this is the reason address related to the readers to buy the of bright and stereotypically ‘girly’
that I chose to use a white background instead of a bright colour. magazine in order for people magazine. This magazine fonts and colours such as pink and
I also felt that it would make my magazine more easy to read if to access information online. clearly uses a lot of these, yellow. Within this cover these
the background was white because I could then draw attention to Both these magazines used for example “Fashion colours have been used a lot and
the cover lines using colours without the risk of colours clashing these as the use of the bargains” and “Special therefore it is clear that it is a pop
or not being visible. internet is very popular now. Report” magazine aimed at girls.
Similarly to most other
One convention Another convention which is
magazines I have used the
which both of commonly seem in teenage
rule of thirds in order to
these magazines pop magazines is the used
organize my page and to
use is a striking of colloquial language which
ensure that the first thing
masthead. This is is used to address the
which draws the viewers
essential in order reader and encourage them
eye is the main
to draw to buy the magazine. This
image, then they will
attention to the language can be quite
probably be drawn to the
magazine. Also childish and terms such as
cover lines and then other
the masthead ‘Hot’ and ‘OMG’ are clearly
aspects such as the lure in
often tells more suitable for a young
the top right hand corner.
readers what teenage audience as my
Lures/hooks are one of genre of music target audience of late
the key techniques which the magazine is teens – early twenties
magazines use in order to based on, this is would probably not use this
draw the eye, I have certainly true for type of language.
advertised fashion tips both these
One convention which all
and the chance to win a magazines, there
magazines aim to have is a
competition on my cover fore bold
striking image on the cover.
in order to do this. mastheads are
This is used by this issue of
vital.
‘top of the pops’ to draw
Similarly to ‘top of the pops’ I used many different font attention to the main focus of
Another convention To many people this issue This magazine has
styles and sizes in order to make each cover line clear and the issue which is clearly Zak
is the use of other of ‘top of the pops’ may also used the rule
readable. I ensured that the fonts connote pop and that Effron. Also the fat that this is
smaller images on not be very appealing of thirds which is
they would attract the correct type of person. I also a male is another convention
the cover, this helps because it is very commonly used
wanted to make sure that I did not use to many different which is commonly used by
to show what will be crowded, however this is a by magazines in
fonts as this would make my page look too busy. Similarly magazines aimed at women;
inside the magazine convention of this type of order to draw
to almost all other magazines I wanted to show continuity by having a men on the front
and therefore magazine. The use of lots attention to the
by using the same fonts and colours of font on all of the cover women are more likely
attracts readers. This of pictures and colourful main parts of the
pages. In order to do this I chose 5 main fonts and used to be attracted to the
is the reason that I writing draws the cover and to show
them all one all 3 pages. I also used 2 main colours of pink magazine and therefore want
decided to use this attention of the magazines some
and blue to show continuity; then I used some black and to buy it.
convention. target audience. organisation.
yellow to draw attention to certain parts.

4. The majority of pop magazines When creating my magazine I wanted it to suitable for girls This issue of ‘Billboard’ clearly uses the rule of thirds which is
are not only focused on ranging from the ages of about 16 – 22; Billboard is in some a convention of nearly all magazines. The eye is immediately
music, but also fashion and ways too mature for some young adults, however Top of the drawn to the image of Lily Allen and then moves to the
beauty as well because many girls Pops uses a mode of address and colours which are too childish cover lines on either side. The use of the rule of thirds also
are interested in these topics. for most teenagers, therefore I have not followed all the draws the eye to the masthead, as I said on the previous
Both my magazine ‘InTune’ and conventions of either of these magazines; instead I have used slide the masthead is essential because not only does it draw
‘Billboard’ show some focus on some conventions of each, for example I chose to use some attention to the magazine but also, as ‘Billboard’ is a popular
fashion and beauty because the bright colours similar to Top of the Pops, but I also chose to brand, it allows people to recognise the magazine.
clothing, make- have a clear background like the Billboard magazine.
up, position, lighting, expression One of the main
of the models of the front seem conventions which
to have been planned. I chose to magazines aimed at girls
dress Kirsten in girly/summery in their late teens/early
clothes because this issue would twenties use is just
be released in May and many girls sticking to just a few
will look to magazines to keep up colours. The ‘top of the
to date with the latest fashion pops’ magazine on the
trends. I also planned the make- previous page uses
up, lighting, setting, position and many colours which do
facial expression in order to not all compliment one
compliment Kirsten's figure and another, however
looks. By making Lily (in Billboard) ‘Billboard’ magazine
and Kirsten (in InTune) look uses only 3 main colours
naturally pretty the magazines – white, pink and
will hopefully show people that it grey, these appeal to a
is easy to look good without young adult audience.
changing yourself. Similarly I chose to use
Also, fashion/beauty tips (such as pink, blue and white as
the Pixie Lott clothing part of my the main colours of my
magazine) are lures which , when page in order to attract a
I conducted my questionnaire, my more mature audience
target audience felt would be than most pop
very appealing. magazines.
One of the conventions One aspect of this magazine which I do not find
One of the main conventions which I have challenged is that instead of which I would follow if I was appealing is that fact that a lot of the writing is white on
having a large bold masthead, I chose to have one word bold and blue and to produce more issues of top of a light background, and therefore some of the
the other word more delicate and pink. I did this in order to make my ‘InTune’ would be to use cover lines and the words ‘Lily Allen’ do not stand out.
masthead different from all the other magazines which have very similar the Therefore I used a white background with colourful
font styles, colours and sizes. I also wanted the word ‘In’ to draw the same, fonts, colours, masth writing on top to draw the eye and ensure that all
attention of the audience and show that there will interesting and serious ead in every issue. This writing is not only legible but is easy to read without
content within the magazine, on the other hand I wanted the word ‘Tune’ shows continuity and picking up the magazine, therefore the audience may be
to look more delicate and show that the magazine is mainly for girls. ensures that readers can drawn in without meaning to look at the magazine.
recognise the magazine.

5. One key convention which is needed One of the main conventions of a music magazine which I have challenged is the use of headings on Similarly to the cover of
is bold and eye catching titles on the contents page. Most magazines sort the articles into groups and put them under headings; in ‘Top of the Pops’ the
each of the magazine pages. I chose the ‘Top of the Pops’ contents page they have used headings such as ‘Wins & Offers’ and ‘All about contents page has used
to use the same font for the titles of you’. I decided not to do this because I wanted to have a range of articles and therefore they did not many small images in
my pages as its used for the word fall under particular topics and therefore using headings may not have looked very appealing . As I order to show what will
‘In’ in my masthead as this shows did not use headings it was essential to ensure that each of the things on my contents page were be on some of the
continuity and looks appealing. easy to differentiate from one another and easy to navigate around the magazine. pages. On the other
hand I decided to have
Unlike the ‘Top of one main image on my
I chose to
the Pops’ contents contents page as this
have an
page, I chose not to would emphasise that
editorial
have a labelled Kirsten is the main
profile on the
image of the cover feature of my magazine.
contents page
on this page I also felt that using one
of my
because I felt that big image would look a
magazine
this would take up lot more appealing and
because it is a
too much room on would fit with the genre
first
the contents page of pop more than
publication
and would not be smaller separate images
and therefore
needed because it because using a large
including a
was just as clear image helped to shape
brief
and simple to put a space for the text and
introduction
the articles in a list made the page look
stating what
because this will more mature.
the magazine
look more mature
will include
and organised and
may help to
therefore will One convention which
encourage
appeal to my target this ‘Top of the Pops’
people to buy
audience more than magazine does not seem
the magazine.
an image of the to have used is bold
cover would. shapes and colours in
order to make
Another key feature of most contents pages are the competitions and lures
Many magazines aimed at younger audiences use shapes One convention
use of bold page numbers; this is clearly shown on stand out. All of the ‘Wins
and symbols such as hearts and smiley faces in order to which all good
the contents page of ‘Top of the Pops’ as the & others’ are written is
draw the eye and, because many people between the magazines use is
numbers are colourful and range in size in order to small font and do not
ages of 10 – 14 use these types of shape, they may feel as page numbers in
draw attention to certain articles. I chose to use this include many colours. On
though they can relate to the information within the the bottom corners
convention, but to a lesser extent; I used pink and the other hand my
magazine. However, as my product is aimed at an older of the page. I chose
the same font for all of the numbers, however they magazine uses colours
audience than ‘Top of the Pops’ magazine, I decided not to use pink for the
still all stood out because there was very little other and eye catching shapes
to use shapes such as these because they may make my page numbers in
pink on the page. I made some of the numbers to grab the attention of
magazine seem too immature for my target audience and order to make them
bigger than others, for example ‘31’ is large because the reader .
would therefore not appeal to them. stand out.
it is the page of the interview with Kirsten.

6. ‘Billboard’ have included a music chart down the left hand side of the page; this I chose to have Similarly to my magazine, ‘Billboard’ seem to have chosen
is not a convention of music magazines however I think that this is a good idea. Kirsten dressed and just a couple of colours in order to ensure that their
In my magazine I decided not to have a music chart on my contents page as this positioned in a pages do not look too busy. The main colours which have
would take up a lot of room and is not necessary, however instead I decided relaxed manner in been used on this page are blue, white and grey. The
that, if I had created a whole magazine, I would have included an article about order to make her white and grey make to page look very clean and easy to
the best songs to listen to during summer 2012 as this keeps readers up to date look calm and yet navigate, and then the blue adds a splash of colour and
with the latest pop music and would therefore appeal to many readers. glamorous. makes the page more interesting and eye catching.
Unlike ‘Billboard’ I chose not
One of the main
to use an organised layout for
conventions of
my contents page because I
magazines similar
felt that this was slightly
to ‘Billboard’ is the
boring and would therefore
use of structure.
not be suitable for my target
This contents page
audience of girls in their late
is very organised
teens/early twenties.
and uses
Although I did a lot of
techniques such as
planning for my pages I did
lists and paragraphs
not want them to look too
in order to inform
formal and structured and
the reader about
therefore I decided to make
what is in the
each section of my page clear
magazine. They
and easy to read without
have also used lines
using lines to separate them.
to separate the
Most pop magazines use a
different sections of
similar structure to the layout
the page. This
I have used and therefore in
layout is probably
this way I have followed the
quite appealing to
conventions of a pop
many people who
magazine, however some
read ‘Billboard’ as it
magazines aimed at young
seems mature and
girls look very busy and
clear.
unorganised, on the other
hand many more mature
Another convention of most One of the conventions which most magazines use is to include other images on the
magazines are, in my opinion,
magazines is to use similar fonts contents page in order to show what will be included in the articles further on in the
too structured and therefore
and colours throughout all their magazine. This contents page within ‘Billboard’ uses this technique near the top of the
look boring. In order to avoid
magazines in order to help the page, however in order to make the page slightly more fun and eye catching they have
either of these extremes I
view recognise the magazine. I included an image of a girl smiling and having fun, this type of image seems to be very
used a clean and yet relaxed
decided to use pink and blue and typical of pop magazines because this genre is often connected with ideas of
layout for my contents page
the same fonts on all 3 pages in dancing, happiness and fun. Therefore by including a more casual image such as this
as I felt this would appeal
order to show continuity and one, the page seems to fit more with the genre of pop, whereas the more serious square
most to my target audience.
make my magazine look appealing. images along the top are often used in magazines based on genres such as R&B and rock.

7. One convention which both my magazine and ‘Top of the Pops’ seem to Another convention of most magazines similar to One of the conventions of many
have challenged here is the idea that the double page spread should ‘Top of the Pops’ is the fact that the articles are not pop magazines which are aimed at
have one main image. Typically the double page spread has a large very long. Instead of writing a slightly formal article girls in their early teens is the use
image of the artist/band and the text fits around this image. However in including paragraphs and using full English, of many colours. This is clearly
both of these magazines other images have been included; I chose to magazines such as ‘Top of the Pops’ tend to include used on this ‘Top of the Pops’
have other images of Kirsten in order to show a different side to her and short interviews and some other shapes and areas of double page spread in order to
the ‘Top of the Pops’ magazine chose to include images of people text separate to this. This is possibly done because make the page eye catching and
related to the topic of the article. It could be presumed that this would these magazines are aimed at younger girls who will interesting. It could be suggested
draw the attention away from the main image/article and would very often be more interested in looking at pictures that the page looks quite busy,
therefore not be very successful on the page however I feel that in both and finding out about the latest pop news than however this style usually appeals
magazines the extra images improve the pages, making them look more reading a detailed article or interview with an artist. to a lot of young girls.
interesting and appealing.
The double page spread of my
One of the main conventions
magazine, ‘InTune’, is quite different to the
which my magazine has used Another key difference between my double page spread and the ‘Top of the
‘Top of the Pops’ magazine to the right. In Pops’ page is that mine has a clean white background. When I was receiving
and the ‘Top of the Pops’
contrast to the short interview on the ‘Top of
magazine has not, is placing feedback I found that the majority of my target audience liked the white
the Pops’ magazine, my double page spread
the main image of the left background and felt that it made the page look modern, appealing and
includes a full interview with Kirsten Hayes
hand page which will be clear. However some of my audience felt that it may have been more eye
which includes questions about her music, her
viewed first by the reader. In catching if I had used a black colour for the background, although I can see
life and her inspirations. This style of article is
my plans I drew the image on why this may appeal to some people I believe that my magazine, compared
typical of more mature magazines such as
the right hand page, however I to ‘Top of the Pops’ looks more mature and easy to read and is therefore
‘Billboard’ and ‘Company’ and I feel that it was
quickly changed this when I more suitable for the age range which my magazine is aimed at. Therefore
suitable for my magazine because my target
realised that this would not be even though it is uncommon for an article to have a white background, I
audience tend to enjoy reading longer more
very attention grabbing. feel that challenging this convection has benefitted my magazine.
formal pieces of text.

8. One of the first ways in which my magazine has used the conventions of a more mature pop Unlike ‘Billboard’ I used the convention of an enlarged quote
magazine is by having quite a long article which uses full sentences, paragraphs and proper English. to draw the readers attention to the article and encourage
Unlike ‘Top of the Pops’ magazine, ‘Billboard’ has devoted a whole page to the article; this will them to read the whole text. I also attracted the eye to the
appeal to most girls in their late teens/twenties because they are happy to read long text in order to quote by making the quotation marks blue and the word
receive interesting information such as advice, exclusives, and stories from/about the artist. I ‘ABBA’ pink, this makes people more likely to read the quote
decided to use a similar length of text for my double page spread because I felt that it would be and in turn they may wish to read the rest of the article id they
suitable for an audience of girls between the ages of about 15 and 22. However in many other ways found the quote interesting/funny/etc as they will want to
my article is quite different to the one about Lady Gaga; this is because mine takes the form of an find out more about the artist. For this reason it is essential to
interview and is clearly a discussion between me and the artist, however ‘Billboard’ has written a think carefully about which quote from the interview is
piece about Lady Gaga which does not seem to contain much impact from the artist herself. I feel enlarged because this may affect whether or not the person
that an interview style is more suitable for my audience than a piece written about the artist because reads the article.
interviews are more direct and personal and therefore my readers will be able to relate to Kirsten.
One aspect of the ‘Billboard’ page which I think readers would find
One convention which a lot of magazines aimed at people aged 18+ use is
appealing is the large ‘L’ which is over the top of the writing. This adds
seduction. This issue of ‘Billboard’ has done this by showing Lady Gaga showing
a splash f colour to the page and makes it more interesting. In order
a lot of skin and covering her chest with her hands. This appeals to a lot of
to add colour to my article I made the headings/questions blue as this
adults because the girls may wish to be like Lady Gaga and many men may find
draws attention to the questions and makes it easy to find where one
her attractive. This encourages people to want to buy the magazine because
question ends and another begins. My method of colouring the
women often want to look like the celebrities which men find attractive. I did
headings seems to be used more often by magazines and cold
not really use this technique within my magazine because I feel that my target
therefore be seen as a convention, however the red ‘L’ on the
audience are too young for this, however by showing some off Kirsten’s figure
‘Billboard’ page is more quirky and therefore stands out from other
on the contents page and her legs on the cover/double page spread I have
double page spreads. If I was to begin this project again I may consider
encouraged readers to want her figure and therefore they are more likely to
using a large, coloured shape or letter in order to make my magazine
buy the magazine in the hope that they could be more like her.
more unique.

9. Overall it is clear that my three pages use some conventions of mature magazines such as
‘Billboard’ and ‘Company’ and this helps to appeal to my target audience who quite often
wish to be addressed like an adult. However I have also used some conventions which are
typical of magazines such as ‘Top of the Pops’ and ‘Sugar’ which are aimed at girls in their
early teens; these slightly more ‘girly’ aspects such as the use of shapes, pinks and a range of
feminine fonts help to make my magazine seem more fun and light hearted than magazines
such as ‘Billboard’ and therefore I feel that I have achieved a good balance of conforming
and challenging conventions and I am happy with the way my final products look.