Question 1In what ways does your media product use

develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Challenging Conventions

To start off with most, almost all, the images I have taken and used in my magazine over all pages do not have the eye to camera contact you would usually expect.

My images are all taken with the model either with her eyes closed of looking in a completely different direction. This definitely challenged conventions as almost every magazine front cover especially has the model looking directly into camera. I also think that the style of my front cover is challenging. The large print background of roses and the exaggerated look is challenging conventions as there was very little if any magazines that I saw that did this, in this way. I did it to make it different to other best sellers. I chose to develop things like this about my magazine so it represented my genre better and more clearly.

I also think the masthead is intriguing and links well to the strapline “Live Free’

Developed Conventions

I also added the lace banner. This was something else I hadn’t seen on any magazines. So this also developed conventions as it was recognisably Vintage.As you can see, I have also developed conventions by developing the general pull quotes and headlines you would see on a double page spread (dps). These particular elements are quite large and fill up the left and right side of my magazine dps.

This image of my contents page showed the amount of white space I had left at the top of my page. I did this to show of the repeated use of the flowered background. The page worked really well with this background. This again is something I have developed as it is not something that is recognisably a conventional form of real media products – music magazines.

Used ConventionsThis is the features menu on my contents page. This, I think, is a very common convention as every magazine has a page with a features list, mine is slightly different as it is all down one side but it works well. For distributors, it provides a shelf view.

Following conventions: my headline takes up 1/6th of the front page. However, I also developed conventions by using a shade/ pattern effect with my choice of font. I believe this is successful. My TA like this look and say this would encourage them to buy the magazine. It also reflects the genre ‘nostalgia’ very well.

Successful conventions

Columns on my DPS

Drop capitals

Pull quote on the DPS

Institutional features: website/ QR code

Self critique I would change the following if I repeated this task:

The font choices for the features on the front cover

The content on the contents.

A late teen TA tends to like quite busy pages and it may help institutions to sell this magazine more easily if it appeared to have a greater content.