Q1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge

forms and conventions of real media products?

The title of the magazine

I wanted the title of my magazine to be something to grab the audience's attention straight away and for it to memorable so it had to be short and snappy, so that is how I came up with the name “The Beat”. Like the majority of music magazines, its 1-2-worded title but has impact. From my research, I found that some music magazines such as ‘Billboard’ and 'Vibe' have the masthead all across the cover, however, I wanted my model to be right in the centre of the page and so I chose to have my masthead in the left hand corner. Also to add, the masthead should be visible and easy to notice what magazine it is, so I positioned my masthead where more or less all of it was visible and only a portion is not but it is not hard to establish what magazine it is.

The colours were something I had to think carefully about when it came to creating the masthead, because there many aspects that I had to consider. Firstly, the colours were very important I needed something that was bold but different from other magazines so I decided to use white and teal. These to colours are very distinct and not seen on other pop magazines so if this magazine was to be publishes it would be very noticeable. So the title of the magazine is really important and my masthead links to real forms of media conventions as it is really similar but different at the same time as other magazines.

The title of the magazine

The images

Front coverImages are a big part of my magazine because until the magazine becomes established, they are going to be one of the main things which attract the audience. The image on the front cover is by far the most important image so it was vital I got the look right. I had to find a model for my front cover who acted as a sort of representative for the magazine and immediately portrayed the genre and style and what people could expect in an pop magazine, I think my model portrayed this quiet well. I told my model to wear casual clothes that was in style with the teenagers, with an edge that added a more professional attractive look. He himself is a teenage boy, which is an artist these types of images are mostly seen on pop magazines to attract the target market.

The pose he does shows a bit of an edge as he holds his shirt a top underneath can be seen which look a little rebellious like most young pop artists. Also the clothes that he is wearing really stands out from the background which is a really good thing as this will mainly attract the audience.One thing I am really happy regarding this image is the lighting, half his face has more light this makes it more effective, and also many other conventions of magazines use this technique in their images. I did not have to edit the image much when I put the image up all I had to do was make the backdrop slightly more blacker as it looked a little grey, but other than that I think it looked quiet professional. I thought it was important to have an plain backdrop so all the text could be visible and stand out also the image itself should be the main attraction.

Front cover

Contents pageThere are various images in the contents page; I did this so the audience can know what else they will be expecting to be in the magazine. My main image is the same model on the front as he is my main attraction, the audience will be able to sense this as the image is the largest one there. Again the model is dressed the same but with a scarf around his neck this allows the reader to see another side to the “artist”. Adding on, the pose that the model is doing is a care-free cool pose the photo is a long shot this creates a much more effective pose. The other various pictures correspond to other articles in the magazine they are considerably smaller and they are all close up shots.

The double-page spreadThere are many images on my double-page spread, however there is one main one and three small ones all in a straight this just adds a range of variety and keeps the reader more interested as it won’t over well them with too much text, the images links to the image on the cover. Although now this images have an effect on them, I just made the pictures a tad darker with an effect called “sephia”. The lighting here was good to begin with.

I did not want to lighten the image too much because I wanted the effect to work better and have a better effect. I kept the background plain and the setting ambiguous here because the article is completely about this new artist and I did not want any distractions that would take the spotlight away from him. The pictures portray the “artist” doing several poses this allows the reader to see more sides to him so they can connect with the article much more. Overall, all the images in the main task help portray real forms of media conventions as they are really similar to other pop magazines this will help my magazine to be more professional looking.

The double-page spread

People

The choice of people to use in my shoot was very important as it had to portray the magazine as the genre I’d chosen of “pop”. I think the model I used portrayed the genre “pop” very well as is a teenager himself and looks like an artist that most magazines use in their magazines. This contributes to the conventions of real media products as the pictures are what the audience will be attracted to so the pictures I used must look similar to other magazines.

Font and styleThe fonts I used in the magazine I had given it a lot of thought this is because I wanted it to be easy to read. Overall I decided to use a simple font so it was easy to understand and read. So I chose to do the font “haettenschweiler” this was a simple font and it looked professional as it was very easy to read, so it matched my main objective. Also I think that the font conforms to the conventions of the magazine because of its bold lettering. Adding on, I made the style of the masthead so the “the” was smaller than the “beat” this just made the beat stand out as it is the main part of the masthead.

Written ContentThe written content is a huge part of my magazine; I had to ensure that I used language that the readers could all understand. For the content page, I wanted to make the article headings clear and brief so the audience know what the stories are. I also included a brief one-line summary beneath some headings, which I have seen done in other magazines, to expand a little on what the article will include. The double page spread, I found, was quiet easy to write I got some ideas from other magazines however I found it partially easy to write as I was part of the target audience, this made it easy to address the audience. I tried to make the interview relaxed as it is about a young teenager. I made sure that I added in all the typical conventions that a double page spread has, e.g. most interviews have a pull-out-quote.

Music Genre and how my magazine suggests it

There are many ways a music magazine suggests their music genres. Costume and pose plays a big part because firstly that is the first thing the audience sees so the way the models are behaving represents a certain genre. So as my model is young and is wearing clothes that is in style and as he is in relaxed pose this does portray a “pop” magazine. Colour is important also, because I think the combination of teal, white and black as the colours work well and is a soft pallet and warms to the target audience.

Layout

Front cover The layout of a magazine is really important as this is what the audience is mainly attracted to. I want to keep the layout simple but professional looking so it would attract the audience. I chose to have my masthead in the corner as that is the first thing to be read so the reader will know straight away what magazine they are reading. I decided to layout the main image in the centre of the magazine so the reader will be drawn to him. The main article about the artist is laid out so it is the largest so it portrays that that is the main article. All the other cover lines are around the main image.

Contents page

I kept the contents page layout relatively simple because I wanted the reader to be able to understand it more easily. I straight away split the articles into separate sections to make it much more understandable. I also laid out the images in a scattered way but not messily but in a much more professional way. I laid out the central image as the same model as the one on the cover because he is the main feature of my magazine and he is the big story.

One other key convention which I found in every magazine I looked in was sub-headings to each article heading as these are vitally important because they act as a navigation tool for the readers. Overall, I think that the layout of the contents page does use and develop the conventions of real music magazines because I have used my research as to design my own contents page.

Contents page

Double page spread

I made various changes to the double page spread to make it the best as it could be. One thing I was certain that I wanted was the 'film reel' which contained different images of the artists so that there could be variety of images to keep the reader entertained. I thought this was really interesting and developed typical music magazine conventions because I have seen images in a row in many music magazines. I laid out the heading very bold and underneath I wrote a short summary informing the reader what is to come. I made the name “Ricardo” the biggest as it portrays who the artist is and that he is the main attraction.

I chose to have one full side of the double page spread dedicated to the images of the main artist because I felt that otherwise, there would be too much text and not enough images, and also this was a convention I came across in my research. I split the interview into three main sections this allows the reader to not be overwhelmed with too much text and it looks more professional that having one big chunk of text. Overall, I believe that having a well organised double page spread is very important as it will keep the audience more interested in the article other than having a disorganised article.

Double page spread