In what way does your media product use, develop and challenge forms and conventions

of real media products?

Strap line

Header

Features

Cover lines

Sell lines

Anchor text

Main cover line

Front cover features

Header

The name i have chosen suits the style of my magazine as I have gone for a more music gossip magazine, to speak about aritsts lives as well as music, this challenges codes and conventions as most music magazines as they usually focus on the music. conventionally the header is in the left hand corner of most magazines, i have gone against this as my header goes straight across the top of my magazine just like bliss, the reason i have done this is because i want it to catch the eye of my audience and will be memorable. The font i used for my text is bold and large with deep colours to make my text stand out. The main reason i had to make my text stand out is because my text is placed behind my main image which the text could get lost from the readers view, as their main focus may be on the image this also challenges the codes and conventions of other magazines.Here is an example from other magazines:

Strap line

My skyline is a different coloured font to the rest on my text on the front page, this is so that it can be noticed by my audience on the page. I have used a variety of names of artists which the strap line usually uses buzzwords and offers to attract an audience, but I have done this because the preferred reading that i want from this is to attract people who like a number of musicians. Using a variety of musicians from different genre’s allows me to gain a wider audience for my magazine. This also shows that my magazine contains a large amount of content as i have included more than one artists name.

This is an example from the magazine I focused on for my front cover

Cover lines

my cover line has the use of a deep coloured bold text so i catches the eye of the reader. Underneath that i have used a buzz word 'Exclusive' this is the use of a hypodermic needle as it is injecting thoughts to keep reading into the audiences head and they are powerless to do so. My cover lines inform the reader of what is inside, this will make them want to find out more thus buying the magazine. I have also used two different colours for my colour line the top line is a bold deep colour which will catch the eye of my reader and underneath in a lighter colour is information that will inform the reader of what the article may contain.Other uses of this in magazines I have researched:

BarcodeI have placed my barcode in the bottom left hand corner of my magazine which follows conventions of most magazines, the reason I followed the codes and conventions was because I wanted to draw less attention to the barcode and the price of the magazine and more on the content. I felt that having the barcode in the corner it was out of the way doesn’t overlap any images or words.

These are the examples that I used from other magazines(bliss and under the radar:

Main imageMy main image goes against codes and conventions as, the image doesn’t have a direct mode of address because I have wanted my artist to look away from the audience to cut off the relationship between the audience and artist, this will give my magazine a sense of mystery and distance and it will make my audience wonder why the artist is facing away from the camera and read on due to the effect of a hypodermic needle.The reason I wanted to create a distance between my audience and artist was because the style of my magazine is a music magazine that finds out about the personal lives of artists and to have the musician on the front cover facing her left looks less personal and is quite the opposite of what my magazine is about so my audience may want to know why I have done this and what is different encouraging the reader to pick up and read it ( uses and gratification theory).The magazine front cover that I used as an example:

Main cover line

Uses hermeneutic questioning, audience will want to know why it is the best of Kourtz. A common convention used in the main cover line is that it contrast’s against the main image and the anchor text although my main cover line doesn’t contrast as much against my main cover line, to make it stand out some more I used a shadow in the background, this allows for the main cover line to still contrast against the anchor text. It informs the audience (uses and gratification model) my main cover line is above my anchor text this goes against conventions as it is usually below.Examples of this are:

Anchor text

The name of the artist is used, this will attract fans of the artist to pick up the magazine allowing for a wider audience as it is encouraging fans of the artist to buy the magazine. It is also gives an insight into who the article is about. The colour of the anchor text is the same as the house style I have used and because it is on the image I have used a white glow in the background this will make it stand out more from the image and it strikes the reader more.

Other magazines that do this are:

featuresMy features allowed for insight into the content of my magazine which gives information to my reader and it was also for entertainment purposes (uses and gratification). I used the same colours as my house style, to make it stand out more I am using a glow in the background to attract attention from an audience. Some words are in a smaller font than others, some are capitals and some are lower case, there is no selling point to this it just made it look nicer and I wanted my features to go in an angle.

An example of this would be from under the radar magazine:

Sell linesSell lines are conventionally positioned around the main image as mine are, sell lines are used for a hypodermic needle effect as the reader will see the buzz word I use; in this case its ‘FREE’, and will entice the reader to want to explore the magazine to find these songs that are included inside. My sell line keeps with the house style which is a bold deep purple, it uses ‘30 FREE’ in a large bold font and these are trigger words that can catch the eye of the reader and underneath in a smaller font is ‘songs inside’ the reason it is smaller underneath is so that the reader would have to pick up the magazine to see what is free and therefore are more likely to buy it due to them becoming powerless to the media source.Other magazine examples are:

Contents pagemasthead

features

Main image

Page number

Other image

Small article

subscription

Date

Social media

Call outs

Title-Contents

Page numbers

The title tells the audience that it is the contents page, it is informative (uses and gratification) this informs the audience of what they are reading. The text is bold enough to stand out but keeps with the house style. It is also in the right hand corner of the magazine. This can be seen in magazines such as bliss and NME;

My page numbers keep to the house style of my magazine reinforcing the magazines brand, they are informing the reader which page they will find certain articles (uses and gratifications) it allows for an easier navigation around the magazine. They have quite a bit of spacing between the writing this is so that the numbers are noticeable by the reader.Example from bliss magazine:

Images and feature articleThe images used for the contents page are an insight into who the main article is going to be about and who it is about. The images are generally framed by text which is a convention I used when creating my contents page. I have used two images in my contents page that are quite natural, which will create a relationship with the audience as they may be able to relate to the group and see that they are similar in ways. To keep this effect I didn't really edit any of my photograph, I made this choice as I wanted the images to be as natural as possible for a relatable effect on my audience making them more likely to read the article, not editing my images on my contents page as I am going against convention of most mainstream magazines as they tend to edit the colour and contrast on all images.Examples of this are from bliss, NME and under the radar;

My article about the band is underneath, this is only a small section of what will be in the main interview, it is using uses and gratification as it is informing the reader on what the main article is going to be about. An example of this is from NME;

features

Makes it easy to navigate, gives the reader information on what type of stuff the magazine contains. Bold titles which is eye catching for the reader.The features have a title that is a large font size and the call outs underneath are a smaller font size, so this catches the eye of the reader and to read the information underneath they would have to pick up the magazine.They contain information (uses and gratification) this is so that the reader knows what is inside the magazine and what sort content to expect. By using slightly larger font to catch the readers eye this is the use of a hypodermic needle as they will see the small amount of information about what is inside and will want to read on to discover more.

Examples of this is in bliss and NME.

subscriptionTo follow convention I have used a promotional offer to entice my readers to subscribe to my magazine for a monthly fee and in future purchase other magazines. I have placed contrasting text on a black background to make it easier to see and a lot more noticeable, it does not go with my house style as I wanted it to catch the eye of my reader and stand out, although I have still used a dark colour like the colours I have used for my house style so I haven’t strayed from the theme to far.

An example from this is in NME magazine:

Social media

DateShows recent information and this will be informative to the reader (uses and gratification) because they will know when the issue has been released and is able to keep up to date with each magazine. It is positioned at the top of the page, this is so that it is the first read on the page, my date uses the same house style, which breaks convention as it is usually a contrasting colour to stand out, but I don't want it to be that noticed as I want my articles and content to have more of a focus; this is another reason as to why my date is in a small font. I have gone against convention as most magazines have their dates all in capitals but I have decided to use all lower case, the reason being I didn't want to much attention paid to the date of my magazine, it should be informative but it shouldn't draw to much attention.

Social media isn't a convention used in any magazines that I have researched, but I have found that it would be quite useful as it would be a different way to advertise my magazine. This will allow me to gain a wider audience for a new magazine. I thought this was a good idea as I am targeting teens who use their phones tablets ect. to log on to a social networking site.

Double page spreadAnchor text

Callouts

Drop capital

Columns

Main image

Fact file

Gutter Pull quote

Anchor textIt is informative of what the article is about (uses and gratification). IT’S ALL ABOUT BEING BELLA is used to anchor the text to the left of the page to who the group is. I have used the anchor text as the group name Bella means beautiful in Spanish so I used the text as I would if the word was beautiful instead and I have changed the colour of the group name to fit the house style to put emphasis on the fact that its the groups name and these contrasting colours make them stand out to the audience to entice them into reading it (hypodermic needle).Other magazines that have used this anchorage is bliss magazine:

Call out

I have used pink to highlight the important words to make it more striking and stand out a lot more, I have used a buzz word also this will attract the readers as they will want to know why they broke through with a bang so they will want to read the rest of the article (hypodermic needle). This section is giving additional information about the background of the band (uses and gratification) this sticks with the theme of the house style of the double page spread as it is pink and dark grey.

Other magazines that have done this are Under the radar and Bliss magazine:

Drop capitalsDrop capitals introduce the article, it is bold and stands out from the text, it entices the readers to read the article by grabbing the readers attention to the text.

Other magazines that have done this are under the radar, bliss and NME:

Pull quote The pull quote is an insight into the rest of the comment, most pull quotes are inside the body of text but I have gone against conventions and placed it on the image, I have used it as a personal statement from a band member, it creates a personal relationship between the band and audience. It creates engagement for the audience Other magazines that have featured this are under the radar magazine:

columns

Fact file

Columns are arranged into 2 neatly placed columns and a fact file down the side this goes against the codes and conventions of other magazines as they usually have 3 columns of writing. This informs the reader of the artists (uses and gratification) My text is arranged in an interview form of questions and answers, the questions are a contrasting colour to the response informing the reader what are the interviewers questions and answers. Other uses of this are Bliss and under the radar:

My fact file informs the readers of the background of the artists (uses and gratification). it is placed in a pink box to make it stand out as a fact file and doesn't clash with the rest of the text. I used bright vibrant colours to attract my audience.Other uses of this:

Main imageMy main image uses direct mode of address as they are looking straight at the camera, this created a relationship between the audience and the artists(uses and gratification). It is a mid shot for a more overall view, they are positioned close together to show a close relationship of the group. They are expressionless, it shows a more serious view and they take their music seriously and this is a contrast view of the girls in the contents page, this indicates there is more sides to the girls. There is shading on one half of their faces to emphasise that they have good and bad sides which the audience may be able to relate to as this is the same as everyone.Other magazines that use these kind of shots under the radar and NME:

Gutter

The gutter is placed at the bottom of the article, in my gutter it is the web address of my magazine, this will attract an audience that uses the internet, and they are able to find the magazine and articles online, this is a good use of synergy as phones can be used to read the magazine as well as the paper based type.Other magazines that have used this are bliss magazine: