Masthead

Dateline and price

Bar code

Main Image

Skyline

Selling line

Main cover line and cover lines

Footer

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

• The masthead is Lyrics. It is placed on the left hand side, by following conventions. At first I had thought if challenging the conventions by placing it on the right hand side but then I realised it would look unreal and less believable as a music magazine. The name is simple and catchy and it directly refers to the music, so that the audience can easily relate it to a music magazine. I have also chosen to bend the “S” at the end: this way I create a specific characteristic logo of the magazine. Not only the name has to be catchy, but the audience has to be attracted visually and that simple bended “S” gets more of the readers attention.

• The main image follows conventions as it is a mid shot. The artist appears as looking directly at the audience, creating a visual contact with them.

• The main cover line states “Vause Returns”. It is written, following the colour scheme, in white and pink on a black background. This way it is made more visible and attracts the reader attention.

• Secondary cover lines refer to the other articles that are featured in the issue. They are written in black boxes, alternatively in pink and white so that they stand out more and attract the readers’ attention.

• There is a hook at the top of the cover which is used to attract more audience. • The footer at the bottom of the page tells more about the artists featured in the issue, so that the readers can have an insight of

what they can find in the magazine. • The skyline at the top of the page has the aim to attract a target audience: it doesn’t give any specific information, that is

because it has to attract readers who already know what the magazine is talking about. I found it very common on magazines to talk about singers or artists without giving much information, as most of the audience probably knows what the magazines are talking about.

• The magazine follows codes and conventions as it has a bar code, with price and dateline at the bottom left corner. I have come up with the price (2.10£) by comparing other music magazines with a similar target audience and through a questionnaire and a video interview. This is because, as my main target audience is composed by students (D&E socio-economic group), I had to make sure they could afford to buy the product.

• The colour scheme is pink/white/black. However, I have chosen a really soft pink, to make sure both male and female audience could be attracted by the product, even though my magazine has a slightly higher percentage of female readers. At first I had chosen green, but I thought it didn’t reflect the magazine genre at best and it also looked too aggressive to the eye. As I was researching, I also noticed that apparently there aren’t many magazines that feature green on the front cover.

InspirationI took most of my inspiration for my front cover from the Rolling Stone magazine. I noticed that other music magazines like Kerrang! or NME, have too many cover lines or pull quotes on the front cover, overlapping most of the main image. On the contrary, Rolling Stone gives more importance to the image, by only placing the cover lines on the sides.I also think that it has a very neat and essential structure and colour schemes as they use very soft and warm colours, compared to very bright ones used by NME or Kerrang!However, my masthead is inspired by Q Magazine and NME, as I placed it on the left hand side and also because I was trying to come up with a simple and short name, as it is easier for the audience to remember it.

Page title

Masthead

Features section

Subscription advert

Main Image

Ear

Main feature

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

• The contents page follows conventions as it has a title, so that the readers can easily understand where they are in the magazine. The title “This week” implies that the magazine is published weekly.

• The features sections is on the right hand side, and it is divided in different sub-sections with specific titles, so that it is easier for the audience to find what they are looking for in the magazine.

• The main image is placed on the left hand side. I have deliberately decided to put only one image. I have seen several other music magazines with just one main image in the contents page, so I’m still following conventions.

• The main feature is placed under the main image as it relates to it. It just briefly tells the readers what the article is going to be about and interests them by proposing a contest with the opportunity of winning two tickets for the artist’s concert.

• I have followed conventions by placing a subscription advert at the bottom of the page as I have noticed that they are usually featured in the contents page.

• There is an ear at the bottom right side of the page, that tells the readers about a special content featured in the issue. The ear has the shape of an arrow as to direct the readers trough the magazine.

• There is continuity as the title of the page has a bended S as well as the masthead. This way the S becomes a specific logo of the magazine and it gets fixed in the readers’ minds.

InspirationFor my contents page I have mostly looked at NME. I liked the structure and layout of the page, with a main image on the left side and the features section on the right. Music magazines like Kerrang! have too many pictures and as I wanted to obtain an essential look for the magazine, I figured that too many images would have broken that and made everything too confused. So, even though I only used one image for my contents page I still think I followed conventions as more than one music magazine have only one picture in the contents page. I followed continuity by using the same colour scheme as the front cover. I have also followed conventions by placing a subscription advert at the bottom of the page, as many music magazines have. From NME, I also got inspiration for the ear at the bottom right side of the page.

Main Image

Page number

Article

Pull quote

Drop Cap

Title

Image and article credits

Introduction to the article

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

• The double page spread follows the conventions as it has a title, placed on the left page just over the main image.

• There is continuity throughout the whole magazine regarding the colour scheme. As this is the main article featured in the issue, the colour scheme in the DPS is the same as the one on the front cover and the contents page.

• Conventions are also followed within the article as it is written in columns and it starts with an introduction and a drop cap. The introduction is written in pink, following the colour scheme so that it is clear to the audience. The drop cap attracts the readers’ attention and clearly shows where the article begins.

• The pull quote reassumes the attitude of the artist and the atmosphere of the article. It is placed in the middle of the article and written in pink, following the colour scheme, so that is in evidence and it is well visible by the readers. The use of swear words makes it more real and it also attracts the readers as they feel they can relate to the artist and the story she is telling.

• The main image is a mid-shot of the artist taken from a right angle. • I also followed conventions by placing the credits for the article and the picture on the right hand

side of the first page. • The page numbers are placed at the bottom of the pages, respectively on the left and right

bottom side.

Inspiration I got inspiration for my double page spread from different music magazines. Again, I wanted it to be clear and essential. I tried different types of layouts, put more pictures etc., but at the end I decided that one main picture would be more effective and it would give more importance to the artist. I followed conventions by dividing the article in three columns and I have placed the pull quote in the middle of the page so that it would stand out and get the audience attention. I have placed the title under the main image and left the second page entirely for the article. However, I don’t think I have broken conventions as I have found several music magazines that put the title on the other page, even though it’s less common then to put it right above the article. I have also put a drop cap at the beginning of the article to follow conventions.