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

By directly comparing my magazine to this one of Kerrang, a similar rock music magazine, it is clear to highlight the similar conventions. This is the type of magazine that I based mine on, as of the genre and also in particular the fact

this magazine also features a strong photo of a single male on the cover, and is fairly minimalist. Many of the main conventions for the cover of a magazine I have followed, as the title is at the top of the page,

enlarged and bold. With a main slogan by the title, mine as ‘Fresh rock’ and for Kerrang ‘Life is loud.’ The title of the main feature is enlarged in the centre of the page with a short tagline beneath, there is a banner containing the

other bands featured in the cover and there is a list of the key contents of this issue. The photo I have used on the cover is also following the conventions as it’s a mid-shot, commonly used on

magazines the same with close ups, such as the one on this Kerrang issue and the image also covers the majority of the page and includes the model facing forward in a simple pose. The clothing of my model is dark and simple much

like this comparison and for this particular sub-genre of rock is particularly common and in keeping, gothic and punky.

My magazine also has the basic use of barcode, issue number and date on the cover, typical to all magazines.

The chosen name for my magazine also follows conventions as it is short and catchy such as other popular music magazines like Q and NME and it also reflects and has relevance to the genre, as

rock music is also considered raw and edgy. (The name also relates to the idea of the inclusion of new or ‘fresh’ bands featured in my magazine, as in raw being fresh.) The Chosen font for my

magazine doesn’t necessarily follow the conventions of most magazines, as those tend to include a simple and merely bold block font, whereas mine is a little rugged and broken. However this does follow the conventions of the rock genre, as with Kerrang magazine this also features a font which appears almost like shattered glass. This style of font is a little more controversial and so reflects

the rugged and controversial side of rock and so will hopefully appeal further to my intended audience as the genre will be replicated in all aspects of the cover.

The colour scheme for my magazine is purple which very much challenges the conventions of the traditional red, a more typical and popular choice of colour. Although I chose this colour for the purpose of standing out as I wanted it to be more noticeable when on the shelf and against the sea of red. I also feel that particularly with

rock as the genre, they purple is acceptable with the connotations of punky and gothic.

My contents follows the conventions of layout as;• The main title is across the top. •There is a dominating image, covering a large proportion of the page, of the main feature band.•A secondary picture of a further article or feature.•The main contents listing with appropriate page numbers and descriptions.•Category headings to sub-divide the separate sections.

On my contents I have also included a subscription advertisement, which I have seen used on some other magazines such as NME.

NME subscription advert.

My double page spread follows most of the generic conventions as it includes a main title, Main (and usually single) image of the band or artist and then the feature article usually covering a whole side. Other features commonly used that I’ve copied is the

highlighted quotes taken from the article to draw the reader to certain aspects and then under the main image I’ve used another key quote for the article to summarise, which is

very similar to this example as they have included a short summary of the article.

The choice of shot for my double page does challenge conventions a little as quite often a long shot is used, like this example. However I think my mid-shot works best as it is a far

more focused image and as this is a new band allows readers to clearly see the artists faces and begin to recognise them.