![Overall
• I wanted to use Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (1954) to make my
readers feel as though they belonged to an exclusive ‘group’ through
the house style continuity to set it apart from other magazine.
• I placed coverlines on the left-side of the page because McKay (2000)
suggests to put the emphasis there ‘as this is the part that will show
when the magazine is on the average newsagent’s shelf’ and made sure
they were large enough to be legible from 2-3 metres away to grab
readers’ attention.
• McKay (2000) also argues to make strong links to the contents page as
‘readers are irritated if the fascinating story heralded on the cover is
impossible to find in the contents list [especially so] if it is given a
different title in the contents list. I could have possibly improved this if I
had changed the font of ‘Stones of the Crown’ to the same one used on
the front cover and double-page spread.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/q1-130418060828-phpapp02/85/Q1-7-320.jpg)
Q1
- 1. 1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
- 2. Layout My magazine predominantly uses a conventional layout seen in other media products. I followed my skeleton layout design in which the front cover features the: • Masthead at the top of the page to catch the attention of readers when placed on a shelf and act as one of the first things they’ll be drawn to • I positioned coverlines to the left and right of the page, which not all magazines do –I did this to separate the right-sided coverlines relating to the main image • I only used one strapline at the top as most magazines do, but Kerrang uses two to get more information on the page. I decided against using Kerrang conventions because it would make the page look too cluttered. • I opted to put enough information on the front cover to attract my readers, but not enough to bombard them with unecessary things to distract them from the main feature on the cover. • I included a circular insert to further attract readers to buy the magazine; however I should have really informed my readers what they could win e.g ‘WIN A GIBSON GUITAR’ for alliterated effect.
- 3. Main Photo • I photographed my models at eye-level to directly address my readers, in the way that the majority of magazine covers adopt. • Moreover, by placing them onto a light-coloured background, they are the main focus of the magazine, framed by the coverlines on either side of them • Most magazine covers do not have the title in full view as I have done but have them hidden behind the main band featured on the cover. I haven’t done this as, being the first issue, the name of the magazine is quite important to establish the brand and authenticity with reader • However, while this is something I could have experimented with during the design process, I didn’t want to enlarge the main photo to a larger extent that they would be unrealistically too big on the cover. • Furthermore,I used the way that the band Paramore have been previously photographed on front covers as a template; I also placed the female lead singer of the band in the middle of the two, without taking the focus off of the other two members, to present them as a unit.
- 4. House Style As a genre convention, magazine brands tend to have their own design that they have to conform to as part of continuity • I have employed a four-colour scheme of pink, yellow, black and white as a continuity feature to not disorient my readers. However this proved particular difficult during the construction process as I had to conform to my own design conventions more so on the double-page spread. • I used safety pins because I promised in my mission statement to take my readers ‘on a journey to the golden ages of punk’ in which safety pins was a convention made by the Sex Pistols’ in their album artwork etc. • I used the same Myriad Pro font throughout the worded body copy features to upkeep continuity, as a magazine convention; usually the only changes to this is to conform to a magazine theme on a certain issue or feature. • In my initial ideas I had stated I wanted to use the ransom-note style font as another convention of punk, so I used fontspace to generate the two particular font styles I wanted to use to further establish the magazine’s punk-infused identity.
- 5. Writing Style • I wanted to give readers an insight into the lives of a band that had ‘made it’ to exploit the Uses and Gratifications theory by Blumler and Katz (1974), as my target audience could use the media text for suggestions on personal identity and relationships. • I used taboo language to make my readers feel like they belong and alienate readers that do not belong to this particular ‘group’. I wanted to reflect the style of language associated with the punk subculture without over-doing it and put off my older demographic of readers. • I portrayed them as passionate through the pull-quote magazine convention; as people readers can relate to through portraying a band who started from nothing by describing the garage and using technical musical terms such as the name of the ‘Jackson King V’ guitar to further alienate certain groups, but subsequently welcoming those from similar readerships of magazines such as Kerrang!, Rock Sound and Metal Hammer who use similar writing styles.
- 6. Cultural Industry Theory • I have made use of Adorno and Horkheimer’s (1944) Cultural Industry theory, who argue that we ‘inhabit a media culture driven society in which one of its main characteristics is product consumption’. Therefore, I have standardised the pages of my magazine to make use of the conventions that readers are used to seeing. • However I wanted to make sure my new magazine would grab their attention, so made use of my unique colour scheme to draw them in, as each cover would be seen for one month at a time. • They also suggest that media products ‘produce a mass, passive and obedient audience of consumers who are lulled into accepting the dreams and the hopes offered’. I am trying to attract my audience by using a band that isn’t so famous that they are unrelatable to readers, but are inspiring to my target audience who are in a band and want the similar style of success.
- 7. Overall • I wanted to use Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (1954) to make my readers feel as though they belonged to an exclusive ‘group’ through the house style continuity to set it apart from other magazine. • I placed coverlines on the left-side of the page because McKay (2000) suggests to put the emphasis there ‘as this is the part that will show when the magazine is on the average newsagent’s shelf’ and made sure they were large enough to be legible from 2-3 metres away to grab readers’ attention. • McKay (2000) also argues to make strong links to the contents page as ‘readers are irritated if the fascinating story heralded on the cover is impossible to find in the contents list [especially so] if it is given a different title in the contents list. I could have possibly improved this if I had changed the font of ‘Stones of the Crown’ to the same one used on the front cover and double-page spread.