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

My media product, a music magazine, quite closely adheres the stereotypical conventions and codes of a real magazine. For example there is a front cover, contents and double page spread which are use in all normal magazines. My product is genre specific, house music, I have aimed to highlight this genre by the use of colour scheme, title, images and text. My front cover has a bold masthead ‘RAVE’ which stands out on the cover and makes it recognisable. However my front cover also slightly challenges the usual conventions with my unique cover image. Rather than a clear/bold photo I chose to manipulate the image using Photoshop to make it look more like a painting with a more ‘inky style.’ Usually the image is quite drastically pushed in front of the masthead but I did not do this as it’s the first copy and therefore not as recognisable. To become a recognised magazine the title needs to be known first, it only slightly covers it at the bottom of the ‘E’.

The front cover includes multiple story lines, usual to a magazine, also including a strap line seen as an introductory headline below the masthead describing the magazine. Also the puff about the main artists Tetra. What’s also quite significant is I’ve included in house trademarks for the magazine, for the example the headline ‘RAVE’ is also used on the contents and the colour scheme throughout is consistent. The black and white stripes on the back of each page.My contents and double page spread also quite closely follow the normal convention; the colour scheme and front throughout is consistent to show professionalism, there are multiple clear cover lines, the picture style is steady and my double page spread shows the generic artist interview. On both the front cover and double page spread I have used pull quotes which adhere to the stereotypical music magazine.

Bold Masthead: both slightly covered by the main image, both use bold capitals and a thick font

Main image: Both bold and the main attention of front cover. However my main image is more of a inky style rather than an actual photograph and therefore challenges the stereotypical front cover.

Issue number/price: Both include this however as mine is a new magazine it includes the tag ‘Debut’ issue

Main story line: Both include a bold main story line, mine is an interview with a leading music artist. Vibe’s is an exclusive on set report, what’s different about the text of both is that mine is quite simplistic and only uses one colour. Vibe uses blue and pink to make certain words/tags stand out.

My includes a puff/strap line, Vibe does not seem to follow this typical music magazine convention. I did this to make the magazine more recognisable and memorable.

Both include multiple other cover lines, a typical magazine convention.

My front cover includes a barcode however vibe doesn’t.

My magazine includes a pull quote ‘you definitely won’t be expecting it.’ Kanye also has a quote ‘I am Rap.”

Both include multiple other cover lines, a typical magazine convention. Also both include the tag ‘features’, this shows that I have followed usual codes. Both have the main tag line ‘contents’ in bold, following the same

font of the front cover to adhere to the in house trademarks. We also see this on my magazine with the similar background and ‘RAVE’ in the top left hand corner, Q does this also.

Images: both use more than one image on the contents. Also what’s quite significant is that the cover lines/ story lines are all up one side. Also my images there all up one side. Also I have used page numbers, a typical convention.

My contents includes a pull quote under the image of Tetra to make their interview most relevant.

Main image of the artist, typically on the left hand side. My image follows my in house trademark style of the ‘inky’ style image. However both are still bold and stand out amongst the double page spread. Also the image with Tetra down the left hand side is Tetra’s in house logo and therefore it is representing them.

What I haven’t included that is quite significant is a drop cap, and therefore my magazine subverts from the typical conventions. I didn’t do this as I did not think it was particularly important, instead I used another drop quote. Also instead of a letter for the background to the text I used the in house trademark of the black and white background.