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

2. Use– Front Cover There is an easily recognisable mast head for both covers. Kerrang has theirs more covered up as they already have a huge brand identity, but The Mix doesn’t yet have this, so less of it is covered to make sure there is no confusion in what the magazine is called. The top strip on both covers feature other things that are in the magazine, but with Kerrang only stating the name of the band/artist whereas The Mix hints more to what the articles is on. On each cover there is a subheading to go with the title of the magazine. Kerrang’s being ‘life is loud’ and The Mix’s being ‘artists – genres – music’. Both hint at what type of music is inside and help make it clear that they are both music magazines. The name of the band featured as the main image is shown in large text on both pages, both making it obvious what image the text links to. They also both have smaller text underneath that goes with the name of the band, hinting towards the story. Both pages show that there are posters inside, with 2 or more images of them. The positioning is also very similar on both, as well as the similar white outline around the images. Along the bottom of both covers, there is a list of other artists featured in the magazine. Both have two rows of names, and a heading to catch the readers attention and to at least glance upon the names of the bands . On both pages there is a story in the bottom right corner with accompanying image/s, both with a similar white outline on the pictures.

3. Use – Contents Page On both pages, they are titled ‘contents’ both with a similar placing in the top left corner. They both also have the date that the magazine was published underneath in a smaller text. There is also a main image on the top half with a subheading and page number referring to who the band are and what page their features is on. The page numbers in the columns are either highlighted with a different colour as the number or with a colour around them, making them stand out from the other text in the column. The column layout is also similar, with the headings breaking up the list of articles and page numbers. As my inspiration to split the layout of the page came from Kerrang, the layout for both pages are very similar, even though there are also many changes. Both pages also have an editors note, both in different positions but are shown with both an image and text. There is a heading above the text with page numbers stating the name of the magazine and something like ‘this week’. There is also an image placed in the columns for added interest upon the reader, on the Kerrang there are two in the third and forth columns, and in The Mix in the second column.

4. Use – Features Page On both pages, the heading at the top is at a slant at some point, and is in a larger size than any other text on the page. You can also see that both headings have two colours within the title making it more eye-catching. The text leading in to or that is part of the main article is a lot smaller than the other text on the page, keeping the focus on the heading and the images. In the top corners of both pages there is a strip with text on it, matching the heading. In Kerrang is says ‘world exclusive’ and in the mix it states the name of the band, ‘skies of until’. It’s not so clear in the Kerrang image, but both pages have one or two page numbers in the bottom corners in contrasting colours so that they are visible against the image/background. The images used on the article are pictures of the band, dressed appropriately representing their genre of music and their social group. They also represent the target audience both magazines are targeting. The photo’s used have also been edited in an interesting way on both pages. In Kerrang they’re black and white, and arranged in a film strip style. In The Mix I’ve mirrored the same image making it more eye-catching to the reader and fitting in well with the arrangement of the title.

5. Use – Features Page The text on both pages is laid out in columns in smaller text than any other feature on the page. The amount of it is also larger than the other text on both pages. There is also a larger pull quote on both pages, with a quote from the text. They’re both in a larger font size and different fonts so that they stand out from the rest of the page. The images used on both pages are square or rectangular shapes, and not irregular shapes. This fits in with the columned text and helps both pages to flow. In both there is one or two larger images relating to the story, in Kerrang the top two images, and in The Mix the image on the right hand side. On the smaller image/s on both pages there is black box with white text used as a caption for the pictures used on the page, stating what they’re of, or just a quirky caption to match the image.

6. Develop– Front Cover I’ve added a puff overlapping onto the masthead, stating about the ‘10-day rock guide’ that’s inside. This is a development as there are usually used further down the page. It is also filled white, an unusual colour for this to be, as many follow the main colours of the cover, e.g. blue or purple. The house colours of most music magazines are usually red, black, white, yellow, but The Mix uses new colours like blue and purple. These colours also represent the range of genres that will be covered, instead of following the trend and wrongly perceiving the consumers of thinking this magazine only covers rock music. The ‘Win!’ also develops the usual competition shown on the cover of music magazines. Most magazines have the ‘Win’ enlarged, but the rest of the text smaller, whereas here I have also enlarged the artists name who is to do with the competition. Also, by having it as a feature, the consumer is more likely to read it when scanning the cover to see what they want to read inside, instead of just having it at the bottom where a glance is only given in this direction. By developing the forms and conventions of front covers or other music magazines, it shows any consumer looking for a music magazine to purchase this one as it’s colours are completely new and exciting, and doesn’t just look like any other typical music magazine. It pulls them in from the first look, quickly gaining the new interests of the consumer.

7. Develop– Contents Page The brighter colours used following on from the front cover house style, develops the usual darker colours like black and red, bringing the whole page to life. The editors note is in the top right hand corner instead of lower down the page, and is also at a slant to break up the ‘boxy’ feel that is arguable with this layout. The address to the reader in the text of the editors note is enlarged, which is also a development. I thought this would be a better way to catch the readers eye and increase the likelihood of them reading the note instead of just glancing over it. When using the logo of the magazine in the heading about the actual contents, I changed the colour of it, developing the logo but still continuing the flow of the cover to the contents page. For an enhanced viewing by the reader, I’ve added purple colour boxes around the subheadings of the contents. This shows the headings more clearly, and making them more attractive than just text in a different font or colour like other music magazines usually have. This aims to attract the readers attention much quicker, and increase their interest levels in the contents list. Through development of the forms and conventions of a contents page, I aim to catch more potential readers attention to the page so that the read and know about more articles inside. I also think that the colours lighten up the whole page, and make it totally different to the traditional rock music magazine’s grimy contents page.

8. Develop– Features Page The central alignment of the title and the text on this page develop from the usual band at the top or pushed to the side text that is normally shown in an article. In most articles, the images used are edited in some to create an effect that matches the article. In this case I made the text match the image, following the orange/yellow colour of the light in the centre up through into the heading. The image I used wasn’t edited, but was just set in a nice light, and this helped me to decide that mirroring the image would give a nice colour in the middle of the page. Many of the headings that I looked at when researching where bold but basic, and without much depth. So, I kept with the bold and basic, but added the reverse shadowing on the two colours of the headings to add more depth and develop the heading further. By developing the usual forms and conventions of a features page, it brightens the page and makes it more interesting upon the reader, grabbing more peoples attention, and therefore more people following on and reading the rest of the article. To help this page flow with the other two pages of my magazine, the numbers in the corner match the numbers on the contents page, giving identity of these numbers to the reader, creating links in their mind and understanding them straight away. The same font or colour isn’t always used when numbering pages, so to develop this I made sure they were exactly the same as well as standing out from the background of the images.

9. Develop– Features Page The text in the columns, the rest of the article, I’ve also made it larger than many other features page would want have it. I feel that many people get scared by the amount of text on a page, especially my target audience, so decided on enlarging to overcome this barrier. I think it makes the page a lot less daunting, and seem much nicer to read. As my target audience probably don’t have too much time on their hands because they’ve got lots of other things to do, they need the article to be just that bit shorter, so that they don't run out of time to read it, but still feel they’ve been informed and enjoy the article. By developing the forms and conventions of a features page with this page, I think it helps hugely to connect more with the reader, by making it more user friendly. This should then come across as much less daunting to reader than other articles in magazines where too much text is too much for this audience to have the motivation to read. Instead of using more than one pull quote, because I wanted the one in the centre to be a real focus, and didn’t want others to take away the attention of that, I instead just enlarged some of the quotes that I thought were also interesting and would again attract the reader. When the reader looks over the page, they’ll first see the quote in yellow, but when looking closer they’ll see the other parts of enlarged text, that should persuade them to read the whole article.

10. Challenge On the Contents page, I felt that when most people look through a music magazine, the contents page doesn’t receive much attention. To overcome this I added the Top-Picks section, to hopefully engage more readers into the contents page, and to go on to become a popular feature that many readers want to check out every week. I’ve also challenged the usual colour scheme of a music magazine. The colours are usually red, black and white, to match their genre of music. But, as this is a brand new magazine covering a large variety of genres of music, and I felt that the colours needed to represent this. I chose to use blue and purple as they go well together, and don’t clash, but still keep the pages looking professional. The use of white and black also helps to break up the colours, and stop it from becoming tacky looking.

12. After drafting this format, I realised that the centre effect wasn’t usually used because of the problems with the centre of the page being used to staple the sheets of paper together, and therefore cutting out some of the image/text crossing the centre of the page.

13. When looking back over the draft, I still felt that the centring was a great layout as it matched the mirrored image really well. So, I edited the text, and added a gap through the middle. This will then hopefully mean that when stapled together, it will only cut out the section in the middle, and not cut out any of the text.