2. IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP AND CHALLENGE
FORMS & CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?
The product I have created is a new music magazine. The
forms (building blocks) I used, include graphics, text and
images.
The conventions of a music magazine cover
include:
- image of an artist or a band at the center
- eye contact from artist
- headline (main feature)
- cover lines (includes what’s inside the magazine)
- text fits around the edges
- name of the magazine on the front cover
(masthead)
- portrait
- date line
- pull quotes
- selling lines
I did not challenge the conventions of a music magazine because I felt following them would
allow me to create the best magazine I could as it would be more obvious as to what I had
created and avoid looking very amateur.
3. IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP AND
CHALLENGE FORMS & CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?
The masthead, a convention that
features in most magazines.
I chose to have my artist giving eye contact because
I felt this would encourage people to read the
magazine by communicating with them.
This is a popular convention of a magazine.
For example, both these magazines have a masthead and have
the artist giving eye contact:
4. IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP AND
CHALLENGE FORMS & CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?
Masthead:
The masthead is the biggest bit of text on my
cover and fills the whole top part of my cover
page. Unlike magazines like NME and Q which
has created a brand that has a masthead not
filling the whole top of their page.
I chose the name Platform because my magazine
will be an all genre magazine and focus on chart
music, I feel it reflects all music and doesn’t
limited itself to one genre.
Also, my magazine will be a platform for music, so
I like how the name can link to the function of the
actual magazine.
I used the font, Death Star, and added a shadow effect around it to force it to stand out so it was clear to
the reader.
5. IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP AND CHALLENGE
FORMS & CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?
Cover photo:
The artist is placed at the center of the page, with a white background.
The artist is making eye contact with the reader in order to make a
connection with the audience.
Headline:
The headline is the main feature and
is the second largest text on the cover.
I made the text close together, by
decreasing the line spacing between the
surname and the forename.
This made the headline look more
grouped together and made it look more
interesting than if it just had one font and
was on a single line.
The lead in lets the audience know why the
artist is featuring in the magazine. I made sure I
didn’t give too much away in order to ensure
my audience still wanted to find out more and
buy the magazine.
6. IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP AND
CHALLENGE FORMS & CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?
Cover lines:
Cover lines are other features in your magazine. They are smaller
than the headline because they aren’t the main feature and are
usually place around the artist’s photo to prevent covering the main
selling point of the issue.
I added a stroke to the word “exclusive’’ to ensure it stood out. This
is because the fact it is exclusive is good because the reader can’t
get it anywhere else making it a going point to make as the
magazine offers something others can’t.
7. IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP AND
CHALLENGE FORMS & CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?
Editor’s letter. This is a
personal touch and allows
the reader to know a little
more about the editor,
and their views.
Pull quote from the
main feature to
attract the reader.
A common
convention in all
magazines.
Categories to make it
easier for the reader to
find what they’re looking
for.
Page numbers are a vital
convention of a content
page as it’s purpose is to
guide the readers to each
page.
Underneath each page
content is an introduction
to what the article is
about. This intrigues the
reader, encouraging them
to read on.
8. IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP AND
CHALLENGE FORMS & CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?
One of my magazine features is
the Platform’s Monthly Top 100.
This took inspiration from
Billboard magazine.
9. IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP AND
CHALLENGE FORMS & CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?
The body text is split over three
columns to divide the text equally
across the page. This is a common
convention of a magazine article.
Another common convention of a
magazine is to have the artist photo
on one side of the double page
spread and the article writing on the
other. I did this in my draft but then
added a box of information about
the artist on the photo side, not only
to improve the way it looked to
avoid the second page looking
empty but also I think it’s a good
and interesting feature to include
and gives an easy read and
introduction of the artist to the
reader.
I did my article in question and answer format because I feel
this is the most enjoyable way to read about someone’s life
and provides a personal touch, allowing the audience to really
feel a connection with artist rather than someone who knows
little about the artist writing about them as an outsider.
10. Developing ideas
I took inspiration from Q magazine,
specifically their Ed Sheeran issue.
I first took inspiration from the
magazine in that I liked the
photography and how the artist was
holding a guitar.
I also liked how the headline and
artist’s name took a more rounded
approach in that the headline was
central compared to the cover lines
which were placed at the start of the
cover image. This forces the headline
to stand out.
11. IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP AND CHALLENGE
FORMS & CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?
Both follow the conventions of
a music magazine.
This issue of Vibe magazine
also inspired me. I liked how it
had a white background and
orange writing.
The vibe magazine has the
same colour scheme all the
way through, the masthead is
the same colour as some of
the cover lines.
My magazine’s masthead is
completely separate from the
cover’s content.
This is because I wanted the
masthead to be the same on
every issue (if it was a being
released every month) to
really create a brand. I feel on the Vibe magazine, the masthead is not the thing that stands out
most and I think it’s important so the target audience are aware who make the magazine.
Therefore, I made the masthead orange and created a blue issue featuring an acoustic artist. I
made the stroke around the ‘free’ orange so there was a little hint of orange to tie the
masthead’s colour in.
13. IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP AND CHALLENGE
FORMS & CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?
On this Q magazine, I
liked how the featuring
artist took up most of the
content page.
I also liked how the text
was to the left of the artist
and the column headings
and the numbers were the
same colour.
My text follows the same
scheme in that the page
numbers and the column
headings are the same
colour.
My artist photography is the
focal point of the content
page, like in the Q
magazine content page.
14. IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP AND CHALLENGE
FORMS & CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?
Another magazine that
inspired my content
page was Billboard
magazine.
A sense of identity in
the content page. I
was inspired by this
because I want my
magazine to be a
strong and well known
brand, and by having
it at the top of the
page it really
emphasizes this.
I also liked the idea of having extra photos which included what was on the
inside of the magazine. I wanted to have a very clean and tidy content page,
which is why I have a white background, so I felt just one extra photo was
appropriate.
16. IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP AND CHALLENGE
FORMS & CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?
I like how this magazine has both text and photos on
both sides of the page, which creates a full looking
magazine.
I like how it has a strip of information, which
is similar to what I added to my magazine.
Both these magazines have sloped headlines,
which in my opinion, creates a fun effect, and
makes my very organised and clean magazine
have a fun edge to it.
17. IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP AND CHALLENGE
FORMS & CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?
Again this has a sloped headline, but it was the
text in this magazine that inspired me, as I too
have a question and answer article.
I like how the questions stand out from the
answers, they have put a white highlight over the
questions.
Keeping to my theme, I made the questions bold
and made them orange. This makes it easier for
the readers to understand the article as they know
what the artist is answering easily.
18. Challenging ideas
I chose to have a conventional magazine
to appeal to a mainstream audience as my
magazine is a multi-genre magazine.
By going against the conventions you may
exclude people as they could think the
magazine is too out there for them as it
attracts a more unique audience.
19. IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP AND CHALLENGE
FORMS & CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?
This is an example of an unconventional magazine cover.
Firstly, the masthead is horizontal rather than straight across
the top of the page. This is unusual as most magazines don’t
do this.
Also, there are no cover lines, just the headline, which tells
the audience nothing about what else is in the magazine.
There is no bar code or price on the cover, making this a very
bare magazine cover.
Equally, this is an
unconventional magazine cover
because it has no cover lines,
nor does it give us an insight to
who this person on the cover is,
or why they are on it.
Usually magazine covers let the
audience know a little bit about
what is in the magazine to
intrigue them.
