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

The key needs of a music magazine rely massively on the front cover. If the front cover is well made and the masthead, headlines, puffs and cover model are appealing to the target audience then there is a much higher possibility that it will be bought and increase profits.  The main things that need to be included on a front cover are the masthead which is the main title and is usually on the cover in an appropriate font for the style and genre of the magazine. The cover model is also a major part of the magazine cover as it represents the entire magazine. If the cover model is an image that the target audience find appealing such as a major artist or a band cover art then it allows the person viewing the magazine to decide if it is something they would be interested in. the Headlines of a magazine are usually in the same font as the masthead however the magazine layout ensures that they do not take attention away from the more important factors such as the masthead. They are used to tell the reader what articles to expect inside as well as revealing important details inside such as interviews with certain people or bands. Another important part of a magazine cover are the Puffs. The puffs are usually located along the bottom or top of a magazine cover and normally display prizes, free-bees inside the magazine or images that appear inside the magazine. They are used to show the reader that by buying this magazine they could potentially win prizes.

A typical contents page is usually similar to the cover of the magazine. For example if the cover is organised and formally put together the contents page is not likely to be unorganised or set out in an informal way. The contents page will also usually have the same colour scheme as the rest of the magazine especially the cover. This also helps to keep the magazine feeling organised and well designed. A double page spread however may not follow the same layout as the rest of the magazine. As the DPS will most likely contain a large picture the magazine will usually follow the formality of what the article is about. For example if the article is about a heavy metal band you would not see the same layout as if it had been about a classical band.

 

I have included all of these factors in my magazine by ensureing I make my magazine feel more realistic. I have made sure that the headlines do not draw attention away from the mast head and cover image by making it smaller than the masthead and out of the way of the main image. For my contents page I have made sure that the layout is well done and looks fairly formal and have used images of relevance somewhere on the page to show what will be appearing in the magazine. My DPS however does not look similar to the cover and does not follow the same colour scheme. It does however use the same font as used in the rest of the magazine to keep some semblance of order throughout.