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

Front cover - Convergence/SynergyI used the convention of convergence and synergy, within my magazine. In my front cover I used Twitter, a very common social media site used to promote music magazines, therefore conforming to the norm of the music magazine genre. However, instead of using another very common site such as Facebook for the other use of synergy on the front cover I decided to go with including Tumblr, as it is representative of my target audience (young people who are interested in alternative music). This would not only make my magazine more original in its conventions, but would appeal to my target audience more, as they may see Tumblr and therefore be attracted to the magazine more than a magazine that uses Facebook, for example, as they may be an avid user of Tumblr and want to read something that endorses some of the themes and culture of the site. According to adweek.com, Tumblr is the only social media site to have the majority of users under 17 years of age.

IND magazine

Q magazine

Front cover/contents page - ‘Star appeal’ (Dyer)I also used ‘star appeal’ (Dyer) in my front cover similarly to existing magazines like ‘NME’ and ‘Q’ by conforming to the mid-shot convention that is often seen in music magazines. I did this because it is the easiest way to include mise-en-scene which helps to show who the ‘stars’ are to the reader. I also did this by using the artists’ font on the front cover, like ‘NME’ often do. The mise-en-scene was created through the use of costume. The sunglasses and Fred Perry polo shirt tucked into jeans with a belt is a look that the band member Laurie has worn before. Laurie has a tattoo sleeve, so I used a fake tattoo sleeve to replicate this piece of mise-en-scene. The suit blazer is also representative of the other band member, Isaac. Mise-en-scene was also a convention used in my double paged spread and contents page. In my contents page I decided to replicate the artist ‘rat boy’ by wearing his trademark skater look whilst wearing a color he is closely associated with, pink.

Font cover - PriceI used the convention of the price on my front cover from other music magazines. £2.99 is the typical price for most music magazines that come out monthly. For example NME used to be £2.99 and Q was also around this price. By making it the same price I know that people are willing to pay that much for the magazine.

Q magazineIND magazine

Front Cover - Puff promotion

Puff promotion was a convention I challenged on my front cover. I decided to include two forms of puff promotion, one free mix tape and one competition. The competition aspect is not often seen on front covers, and neither is the fact that two methods are used, it is often just the one. I decided to do this because it is a more interactive way to give the readers something for free, as opposed to just giving it away. Although it is not common, ‘NME once did something similar to this with their front cover, as shown below. I ‘repeated’ this layout as it takes up a minimal fraction of the front cover, allowing for other conventions to take center stage.

IND magazineNME magazine

Contents - Subscription boxIn my contents page I included a subscription box as most magazines that are not free include this convention into their contents pages. This convention was repeated’ (Neale) from the old ‘NME’ magazine’s contents page, as seen in the images below. According to Hartley's seven subjectivities this would appeal to the lower class individuals in my target audience as they will want to save money where they can.

IND magazine NME magazine

Contents - EditorialI decided to include an editorial in my contents page in order to form a ‘personal relationship’ (Katz) between the reader and the magazine. This is done by all magazines, so I used this convention in my contents page. I challenged the typical placement of the editorial (normally right at the beginning of the magazine before contents) because people tend to ignore the first couple of pages of a magazine. By placing the editorial on the contents page it ensures people are going to acknowledge it and appreciate the attempt to communicate with the audience.

NME magazine

IND magazine

DPS - StructureMy double page spread defied certain conventions such as the question answer format of the interview. I decided to write the interview like an article, as It read better and was more exciting than a structured article. By doing this I ensured the reader felt a sense of ‘escapism’ whilst reading the article instead of just a bland informative article. This does not mean that the article is fictional though, it still ‘informs and educates’ (Katz) the reader. However, I did use conventions such as a pull quote in order to entice readers to read the magazine.

IND magazine

DIY magazine

DPS – Tour datesMy double page spread also included a set of tour dates for the artist being interviewed, which I saw at the back ‘NME’ magazine in the adverts section. I decided to include this in the double page spread because people that are reading about the artist are likely to want to go and see them, thus saving them time on turning to the back of the magazine.

DIY magazine IND magazine

DPS – Color schemeI ‘repeated’ the black and white color scheme of a double page spread I saw in ‘NME’ (the vaccines interview used in planning and research), but added some color by not erasing the color of the blood and flower. I did this in order to highlight the key aspects on mise-en-scene in the image. This also happened to make it easier to read for the reader.

NME magazine IND magazine

DPS – Mise-en-scene In my double page spread I was ‘replicating’ (Neale) one of their most popular music videos: ‘The Hunter’. In this video it shows the two band members violently breaking inanimate objects with weapons like baseball bats. Whilst doing this they are interacting with a neon, blood like substance. The flower is included because in the video one of the members breaks a vase of flowers and then eats it. By including mise-en-scene in my magazine it enables the audience to ‘personally identify’ (Katz) with the magazine, as they may recognize the artist in the magazine and it may reflect their own music taste.

Slaves – The Hunter

IND magazine

Other conventions I ‘repeated’ (Neale) are:Front cover:BarcodeStraplineShort, snappy masthead

Contents page:Page numbers linking to imagesStories divided into sections

Double page spread:Drop down capitalMasthead in the cornerInterview format