In what ways does your media product use, develop and challenge forms and conventions of real media?
- 1. In what ways does your media product use, develop and challenge forms and conventions of real media?
- 2. During the process of making my product, I wanted to make sure I followed the conventions of a typical pop magazine. I used a variety of conventions of many different pop magazines that I found. I wanted to make sure that it fit the young target audience that the magazine is focused towards, without it being too immature. I researched many different genres of magazine to see the conventions all magazines follow, such as sizing, mastheads and cover stories. After that, I researched just pop magazines in order to get an idea of the basic styles and layouts. I tried to add the concepts from these magazines into my own product. These are thing like: direct address, medium close up camera shot and bright colours.
- 3. When starting my magazine, I wanted to stick to the conventions of a typical magazine closely. I didn’t think the young target audience would want a magazine that stray away from what they are used to. On my front cover, the first convention I decided to use was a large main image in the centre of the page. The image is a medium close up with a direct address. The expression is ‘happy’ and ‘carefree’. I also added small images, with direct address, to the front cover. I thought this would attract the audience the best.
- 4. My contents page only included one photo because I designed it to have the main focus as the front cover image. The image I did use was also a medium close with direct address. This was to create a poster-like image. I used this this camera angle and pose a few times because it best suits my audience. I think this because the readers feel more closely involved in the story in question.
- 5. In my double page spread, the main image I used was a long shot. This is a common convention for the double page spread. This image is more relaxed than the other images within my magazine. This was to make the article feel casual, like a ‘chit chat’ instead of an interview. For the other image, I used a close up camera shot. I used it because the image is supposed to give the reader more information on the article, not one of the interviewees, therefore does not need to be a medium close up.
- 6. By keeping the same colour scheme throughout my magazine, I have ensure there will be continuity. My colour scheme was pink, blue and yellow. These are very common colours in pop magazines as they can be very bright and eye-catching. I did not use these colours completely exclusively as I used black for text colour in the main body of the contents and double page. I used black because the text needed to stand out from the light background. I could have used a very dark blue but as the background was already blue, I didn’t want to go over the top with the colours infused into the magazine.
- 7. I only used two fonts throughout the whole magazine. I used ‘cheri liney’ for the masthead and contents title. This is a bubble text that is girly and childish. It will stand out to the young audience more than block text would have. For the rest of the magazine, I used the font ‘myriad pro condensed’. The font isn’t too harsh or formal for the magazine and is very easy to read. Cheri liney Myriad pro condensed
- 8. A competition entices the readers and compels them to buy the magazine, which is very common to be included in pop magazines. I added one to my magazine including a photo of make up which is the prize. The young target audience will be more likely to buy the magazine with this prize as that is something most girls are interested in. Also, parents are not always willing to buy their children expensive makeup, they will be keen to have the chance to get something for free.
- 9. Using cover stories on my front cover makes the reader look more closely at the magazine when choosing it. One large story was used in the centre of my front page which is very common in pop magazines. I added two small stories to my front cover. They include a photo and a caption; the caption is short and catchy to make the reader want to find out more. On my contents page I listed all the articles that would be in my magazine if I had created the whole thing. These are very short pieces of information with plenty of celebrity names. The celebrity names interest the reader making them want to find specific pages for the articles.
- 10. The common conventions of a masthead is bright, bold and eye- catching, this is what I tried to do when making my masthead. I initially started off with a blue masthead but because it wasn’t standing out enough, I had to change it. I did not add a strap line to my magazine because the young audience I am aiming my magazine towards care more about the content and less about brand loyalty. Strap lines are not always in pop magazines. Old masthead design New masthead design
- 11. Overall, I think I stuck to the conventions of a pop music magazine closely. Sticking to the conventions was important to my magazine as I wanted the target audience to be able to distinguish what genre my magazine was. There were very small areas, such as having a blue background, that were not common as I wanted my magazine to be unique and stand out from others.