My media product mainly conforms to the forms and conventions of real
media products.
My front cover for music magazines challenges the forms and conventions
of real media products by having the main image cut onto the side of the page,
which real life media products do not do. However, my front cover and the other
pages use a designated colour scheme (Red, white, black and occasionally blue),
which is what real media products use.
The masthead “Unplugged” can be seen as a generalised title but has a
strong association with music due to the idea of the bands interviewed have
‘unplugged’ their instruments to join the journalist. With the masthead I
wanted a simple design but at the same time I wanted it to stand out. To do
this I chose a font, which will grab audiences attention and a black and white
colouring as these colours contrast against one another creating a masthead which
catches the eye of anyone looking at it, which is also what other media
corporations have.
The slogan “sounds of a generation” gives the audience the idea that
the music discussed inside the magazine is important to the rock scene
encouraging people to buy it.
The header and footer on my magazine were chosen to appeal to the
target audience by allowing me to be more specific to my chosen genre. The
header allowed me to include more bands that would appear inside my magazine
while my footer would encourage people to buy the magazine as it says “The
greatest rock magazine of 2015”.
The sell lines on my front cover are consitant with conventional
colours by being red and blue. The artists included on my sell lines are all
genre specific so it would fit with the overall feel of the magazine.
The splash is useful as the colour, font and size all create an eye
catching splash to attract audiences.
The pug, which is featured on my front cover, is conventional as it
offers a prize, which would be liked by my target audience.
My contents page uses forms and conventions of real media products as
the features and monthly articles on the left hand side with a small caption to
give more insight into the article. The review section on my contents page also
uses conventions of real media products as it covers a variety of different
topics like music albums, tours, etc. The review section also develops the
forms and conventions as the music magazine industry is branching out to review
aspects of the media like films and technology. My contents page also uses
subsidiary images to help the page look more appealing to readers, which are
what real media products do. The images
also show clothing, which is worn by the youth of today so they are more
identifiable to these young audiences. My front cover and contents page were
both influenced by Q due to the colour scheme implemented. The page numbers are
also easily found on the page due to industry code. The page numbers also have
the masthead next to them (similar to Q) to help keep the image of the masthead
in the reader’s head. The inclusion of
social media links can help appeal to the younger readers due to them being the
main age group on social media.
The artists included in the features shows the reader that the magazine
does solely focuses on the rock and indie genre. The mode of address in the
contents page is informal as it allows the reader feel more comfortable when
reading and can encourage them to continue buying the magazine.
When looking at my double page spread it develops the forms and
conventions of real media products by having a theme that accurately represents
the article in question. The double page spread uses columns to make the
article itself appear more formal and professional which is a convention of
real life media products. The style of writing also uses the forms and
conventions of real life media products. Kerrang influenced my double page
spread! with the informal attitude Kerrang! uses with their interviews. The
black and white image used for the article also helps with the black and white
theme going on within the design of the double-paged spread. The individual
designs Kerrang! do for their double page spreads while keeping the magazines
identity intact inspired me to do the same with my own double page spread. The
headline of my article was A/M/B/E/R the same as the band so the reader will
remember the name but had a just as interesting sub heading to ensure the
reader’s interest is still peaked. The words “exclusive” were added to help
give the idea the product is important and artists are willing to give
exclusive interviews. Q inspired this exclusive idea as they do the same with
their media products.
To ensure I stayed to the conventions of the industry I included an
opening paragraph to give the reader a quick understanding of who the band
were. The red and white writing on a black background helped the text stand out
more and kept the reader interested in the design since it has not been done
often while I was conducting my research. The style also reflects the
rock/Indie feel and also would look interesting to my target audience.
The pull quote chosen helps the reader get a better understanding of
the band at just a glance. By using two red lines help the pull quote stand out
and entices the reader. At the start of the article I followed the industry
code again by using a drop cap at the start of the first paragraph as it makes
the article look more visually appealing.
