In what ways does your media product

use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real

media?

Lucy Baker

Front CoverMy front cover:

Style models(Real media products):

ResearchBefore starting my own

media products, I researched existing real magazines to examine how I can use, develop

and challenge what they do. I kept a folder of these

to refer to whilst producing my own.

EvaluationOne way in which I used a form and convention of a real media product was my use of a black and white photograph, as seen on the cover of TIME. I liked the contrasting effect it has with the bold colour used for the masthead and border. On my own front cover, I wanted to keep the overall look as simplistic but still effective as my TIME style model and feel I have achieved this through the use colours.

Furthermore, I developed the use of small bars above and below the text of stories, as seen on the cover of Q. On Q, small blue bars are used in this way to structure individual stories. However, I developed this by adding small black bars to separate each of my stories as the read down the right side of the page. I feel that this has added more structure to my stories and makes them more coherent to read, but still defines the individual articles.Moreover, one way in which I challenged the forms and conventions of real media products is through my masthead. Typically, mastheads have a definitive, even structure with text that is all the same colour and size. I challenged this by using different shades of blue for each letter of ‘FOLK’ and placed them at slightly different angles. This helps to demonstrate quirkiness and individuality which is a recurring theme throughout my magazine pieces, reflecting the unique purpose and audience.

Contents PageMy

contents:Style model(Real media

product):

EvaluationOne way in which I used a form and convention of a real media product on my contents page was by mimicking the structure and layout. The ‘Marie Claire’ style model uses a large ‘contents’ heading along the top, sub-headings such as ‘On the cover’ and details such as the date of the issue and the magazine’s website. I used these to recreate a contents page that looks as genuine as possible as well as showcasing technological skills. Furthermore, I used a similar colour scheme to keep the overall aesthetics toned down; this is also seen in the style model and reflect a secondary purpose of a contents page which is to remain neutral, complimenting the main purpose to use text to inform.

Moreover, one way in which I developed a form and convention of a real media product was through my use of photograph. In the ‘Marie Claire’ contents, there is a full length photo of a model to the right of the page. Similarly, in my own contents page, I used a full length photo of a model but structured the rest of the page around her to put emphasis on the article about her. This also allowed me to construct a page in a way that is still clear and cohesive, but has a main focus. In addition, I tried to challenge the real media product by adding details such as a Facebook and Twitter icon and URL which not only demonstrated skills, but reflects the nature of my young adult audience who widely use these sources.

Double Page SpreadMy double

page spread:

Double Page SpreadStyle model (Real media product)

EvaluationOne way in which I used a form and convention of a real media product was by recreating the layout; the Lily Allen interview style model has a photograph on one side, the heading across both pages and the text underneath. With my own title “Lyrics and lovers”, I positioned it across both pages, this helps connect them, making the overall look more ‘completed’. It also immediately establishes the double page spread format. Furthermore, I used columns to structure my interview which is a standardised form and convention of real media products as it adds the formality and image of a magazine; the columns on my double page spread definitely make it look more professional and realistic.

Another detail I used from my style model is the use of page numbers; this is another form and convention of real media products and it helps create realism to my own original piece.

On the other hand, one way in which I challenged the forms and conventions of my style model was by adding a ‘Get the look’ article, as seen on the right of my double page spread. Most real magazine interviews only feature a conversation in text form. By adding a fashion feature, it widens the appeal to my target audience who may enjoy this alternative perspective of the interviewee.