question 1

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

Here is an example of Q magazine one of the magazines I analysed in my research stage.

From this initial research I learnt lots of key skills in terms of magazine codes and conventions. These skills I was then able to transfer along aside other research to design and make my own magazine with a front cover, contents page and double page spread.

Front Cover

In my front cover I wanted to show the theme of my magazine and give the audience a real sense of what the magazine is and what’s in it. To do this I designed the cover around real media products. This started with producing the cover photo which had to show the main story within the magazine. To do this I gained inspiration from the composition of real music magazine front covers in particular the magazine cover of Q magazine that I analysed. In the cover photo I found its key to use a mid-shot to show the face and emotion of the artist to convey feeling towards the audience. In addition costume was highly important as this helped show mise en scene to the audience which they could then relate to the fashion and social group of the artist and then the magazine.  

Also I found inspiration to use pugs and titles the same as a real magazine. An example of this can be found around the edges of my cover where additional artist’s names and small amounts of added information can be found. This is the same as any real music magazine where they would show what extra information is in the magazine. 

I also gave the cover story the biggest text on the page to make it clear to audience that this text linked to the cover. This is exactly the same as what a real magazine would do for example the large font of ACDC on the Q magazine cover. Underneath the main text on my magazine I used a pull quote linking to the double page spread I feel this challenges the normal conventions of a magazine as I haven’t seen it being used on any real magazine. I feel it adds to my magazine as it others a small amount of information that gives interest to the reader to buy the magazine and read on. It also helps to show that the magazine, covers inside information about the artist themselves as the pull quote makes it seem like the artist has personally said it to the audience. 

On my front cover I have also used divides which I found on Q magazine and NMES covers. These help to space out information to help fill the front cover but at the same time don’t make the cover feel crowded with information.

Contents page

When I created my contents page I again based it around the design and layout of Q magazines media product. One key part of their magazine that I liked was the coloured circles they put their page numbers in, in order to stand out. In my magazine I did something similar however I developed there idea to change the size and font of each circle in order to add my own personal touch to my magazine.

One area in which my contents page lacks is the amount of photos that are seen on the page. Ideally I would like for there to be more photos so readers got more of an idea of what’s on each page and could associate the photos with the text on the contents page. 

Within the contents page I clearly titled the page so that readers would know where they are. I also added a smaller logo of the magazine in the corner to allow readers to know the contents page was a part of the magazine and wasn’t for example an advert or something separate. In addition I also added the date on the magazine in order to make it very clear for readers to know the time in which the information within the magazine happened and for them to know the time the issue was published. 

I also wanted my contents page to be very clear and easy to read therefore I decided against a background like I had in one of the drafts. Instead I used an idea that I had seen in both Q and NME magazine where they had a clear block coloured background and had text and other sections in bright colours to stand out. I feel this has added to the effectiveness of the contents page as it means the information stands out more clearly and is easier to read.

One thing I had within my contents page that I could find in any real media products that challenges codes and conventions they use is by having the bands and artists names in large fonts and arranged in logos that I made. I found that in real magazines this wasn’t ever used. However in my magazine and as an extra feature I feel it works very well as the audiences are familiar with the logos and fonts that their favourite bands and artists use therefore it means finding the information they are interested in is much easier and the time spent on the contents page is reduced. 

Double page spread

Within my double page spread I tried to use a range of photos almost to act as an addition to the information on the page and for readers to link mise en scene ideas translated in text to the real images. I found this idea was used a lot within real magazines and how photos are used alongside text to tell a story.

In terms of layout for my double page spread I gained a lot of inspiration from the example of Q magazine shown above. I found the layout of Q magazines page was very reader friendly and offered a simple design that could easily be followed. Therefore I used a lot of the layout ideas shown within Q magazine however I made some changes like adding extra photos and more text columns to build on their idea.

 

Within the double page spread I also used drop caps and pull quotes which are conventions very consistent with real media products. I feel the drop cap I used should have been slightly larger as it hasn’t got the impact for example that Q magazines does. This means it takes slightly longer to find the place the article starts. Within my double page spread I made the size of the text used for pull quotes slightly larger I feel this adds to the impact of what is being said and also works very well text to the larger images as it makes it seem like the words are coming directly from the artist’s mouth.

One thing that I didn’t find any other magazines to do was feature the name the same as on the front cover at the top of the double page spread. I did this as I wanted to make it clear what the article was about and also link the pull quote I used on the cover to the right section of the magazine.