QUESTION 1IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

In the construction of my magazine, I tried to use as many conventional magazine features as possible in order for my magazine to look realistic. On my cover I included:• The masthead of my

magazine in the top left corner, creating a trademark logo for my magazine, drawing attention to the magazine name.

• I included a tagline/unique selling point for my magazine and placed it next to the masthead to create a selling point for my magazine that would encourage people to buy it.

• The cover lines give information on stories that will be found inside the magazine, including the names of different artists.

• The use of one main image on my cover shows clearly who the main feature and story of the magazine is.

• The date and magazine issue number display typical magazine features

• The price and barcode help to make the magazine look more realistic, as if it was on sale in a shop

• The use of a quote on the cover helps to draw the reader in and give them an idea of what the magazine story entails

• The lead article/cover story is evident through the headline simply being the artist’s name. The caption underneath also give a brief description of the article

• The magazine colour scheme is evident through the masthead, text and image, with the only colours being red, black and white.

My front cover uses conventional magazine features in many ways. I used many music magazines (including the ones pictured below). Similar to many of the magazines, my cover shows the masthead placed at the top left corner of my front cover. The colour scheme I used is also typically conventional for a music magazine as the colours are dark, bold and gender neutral. Similar to these existing music magazines, my cover uses just one large main image, focusing the reader’s attention on the main feature of the article. My cover also has cover lines on both sides of the page, using large, bold text in capitals to make it clear for the reader.

My contents page included these features:

• Page title to clearly state the page as the contents

• Magazine masthead to link the pages together, using the same masthead as the cover

• Several images of different artists, showing what is featured in the magazine

• Sub headings to divide the stories and pages into categories, making it easier for the reader to find what they want to read

• Image captions to describe who the artist is and why they are featured in the issue

• Page references so the reader knows where they will find each article

• I made sure that the colour scheme fits in with the rest of the magazine, sticking to the main colours of red and black

• Editor’s note -this makes the magazine less formal as well as giving it a personal feeling and let the reader know what they will find in the issue.

My contents page layout follows conventional magazine features such as using several images (both posed and candid) with large bold numbers on them which refer to the page they are found on. My magazine has followed the use of having columns of text this makes it easier to read. I also used the method of making the numbers a different colour and font style for the subheadings. This is because it will stand out on the page and draw the reader’s attention to read the titles. Most of the magazines I researched had the title 'Contents' situated at the very top, I followed this convention as well as having the magazine masthead logo placed underneath the contents headline.

This is my final double page spread for my magazine. I included these features:• Headline-

highlighting the artist the article is based on

• Article written in columns

• Enlarged quote from the person the article is about

• Lines to fit in with the rest of the magazine

• Page numbers

• Magazine masthead- to fit in with the rest of the magazine

• Colour scheme

• Image of artist who the article is written about

My research into music magazine DPS articles showed that they follow a common convention of having a large image of the article’s focus artists in one of the two pages. I followed this convention with my double page spread. I also followed the convention of having a large headline positioned at the top of the article as well as an enlarged quote within the article. I also included the feature of an enlarged letter at the beginning of my article, changing the colour of it to make it stand out and fit in with the magazine colour scheme. I challenged the typical magazine article conventions by placing the first column of my article on the left page, rather than having all text in the right page. This helps to blend the two pages together. I also included black lines at the top and bottom of the pages to help blend the pages together as well as make the magazine look more professional.