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

2. Masthead – Bold, black writing is conventional, similar to Kerrang. Large font, grabs attention. Cracked graphics of the font fit the style and genre of magazine. Image superimposed onto masthead is effective 7 conventional Image – Studio type shot with plain background is conventional. Medium shot of attractive musician looking directly at the camera is realistic and effective. The image is back and white, which is not very conventional, although most magazine do use a black and white cover occasionally. It looks artistic. A less conventional aspect is the bright colour on her lips, which is obviously edited. I think this is effective though, as it adds colour and a touch of fashion photography to my cover, which is what I aimed for. House style – Many covers use four main colours for their house style, as I did with black, white, orange and purple. I used a lot of bold, graphical fonts for my house style to create a rebellious edge to my magazine. Strap lines – The band names attract the most attention with bold font, which is conventional. Also having a quote or short sentence about the article is conventional. I used plainer font for this so the band names are in focus. Main headline – Bold, clear font in the middle of the page is conventional. The musician’s name is the main headline which is often used in magazines. The small sentence underneath adds brightness to the cover and explains the photograph and headline, which is an effective organisational method that magazines use. Plug – Pulls reader in by offering potential prize, very common. The black circle background links other dark tones on the page. Banner splash at the bottom: Using a graphic type font with ‘plus’ is a conventional way of adding small detail to the cover to suggest there’s lots inside the magazine. The barcode is essential and realistic, as is the slogan, price and date of edition.

3. Title – Splash of orange across top to bring attention to title. The masthead incorporated into the title of the magazine, and ‘contents’ in clear, large white font is conventional. Contents – These are well organised with main headings which are conventional. The style of font for these headings also reflects my house style and genre of the magazine. The page numbers are in orange which stand out. Images – smaller framed photographs are convention for a contents page. The larger one in the middle is not edited as well as I could have done and if I had more time I would defiantly change this. However, the style of photograph is conventional as the suit and black and white reflect some of the fashion styles of my chosen genre of music. Subscription box – It is very conventional to have this on the contents page of a magazine, as the reader would reader the contents page often to find certain articles, and it’s the first inside page a reader sees. To persuade them to subscribe to the magazine would be profitable for the company and also increase the fan base of the magazine. House style – The house style is consistent, using four main colours which are the same as on the cover. The font used is often very bold, with a graphic effect like a cracked screen. This symbolises rebellion and edginess. The crowded contents does not match the simple front cover, however these were my personal favourite style of each thing. This may not be conventional though. Arrows – these add an element of colour and shape to my contents page which I think is effective. Also, the plug of free festival tickets appears again to persuade the potential audience to read further.

4. Style of article – There are many different types of article, therefore most of the ones I chose would be conventional. I chose an interview as I found his style the easiest to write and most interesting to read. The orange font for the questions set them apart from the questions and make the whole article well structures and organised. I tried to use language which sounds sophisticated and intelligent, yet still youthful and lively similar to that of Q. However, I did not include as many expletives and vulgar language as some music magazines do. I used alliteration, clear language and appropriate introductions. Image – One long shot photo used in the article, taking up a whole page, which is conventional. The costume and make up is fashionable and conventional and the casual appearance of the model reflects the background and the content of the article. The simple background is effective in making the article have a simple, elegant style to it. Title – the font is large and bold, and attracts attention. The font is similar to that of the masthead and therefore the house style is kept consistent and professional. The language does not make sense, but in context it does; the musician was previously in a band called ‘Cats Cradle’ and her next album is called ‘Into the Universe’. Chance to win a copy of ‘Into The Universe’ in a small block of black colour adds audience gratification to the page. The website address also makes the magazine look more like a real product and business.

5. Comparing my magazine to existing products

6. I think my contents is very similar to this NME page! Both use contents with large headings to categorise articles. Both use one framed picture in the middle of the page and both include a subscription box. However, I also used smaller framed photographs also because I think that a contents page looks more effective when it is crowded, as this suggests that the magazine is bursting full!

7. Similarities: Both covers only include one image; the main background shot. The main headline on both is a large font simply reading the name of the musician. The overall layout and appearance of both magazine covers is similar – they are both simple designs with only a few strap lines, plugs and colours. Perhaps the female cover musician affects this. The appearance of both musicians are similar – both have wavy hair with a lot of volume and make up which emphasises their eyes and cheek bones. Differences: My photograph is a medium close up whereas the Rolling Stone cover uses a close up. I think both are effective though, as I like how you can see the denim jacket in my image. I think the quality of the photograph of Adele is much better, due to the quality of the camera equipment and the skills of the photographer used in the Rolling Stone edition. The mastheads are very different but both are conventional.

8. My feature article appears very similar to this one from Q magazine, which is very positive as I based my magazine around the conventions of Q. Both use a photograph as one of the pages, however mine is a long shot of one model whereas the Q photograph is full of detail, models and bright colours. I think the content of the article affects this, and each photograph matches the type of article well. Both use small black font in columns, although mine is an interview where the questions and answers are set out, as I prefer this style of writing. The Q font also looks more professional, however the text tool on the software that I used was not very effective. I worked with it as best as I could. Both headlines are quiet mysterious and leave the reader guessing what it means, leading them to read through the rest of the article. However, I used a more graphic, dark font which I think is appropriate due to the blunt, slightly darker image that my musician has.

9. Photography style My cover and this Q cover have similarities in the de-saturated main image, with one main bright colour for the house style. Both use medium long shots. A difference is that the photo on Q is completely black and white whereas mine is not. This photograph of my model, Conor, has similarities to this photograph of Liam Gallagher in that both are black and white medium close ups of the men. Also, there is a high level of contrast in both photographs, making the dark and light both exaggerated, for an edgy atmosphere. However, my photograph has a black background and this one uses the natural setting.

10. Photography style My first photograph is similar to the fashion photograph shot as both include the model in a very natural setting, both incorporate sun rays as an impotent part of the photo, ad there is a soft effect to both photos. However, the background of mine is in focus whereas in the other photograph it is blurred. Also, the models are dressed in different styles of clothing. In the next set of photographs, both are similar due to the fantasy theme. This is common in fashion photography. The above Vogue photo uses different props, but the overall aim is to create a slightly unrealistic, strange essence to the photograph which I think I done successfully.