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

FRONT COVER

Most magazine front covers that fit into the genre of my magazine follow these conventions: -- Masthead - Fonts- Colour scheme- Style of photography - Writing style - Coverlines- Barcode/Price/Date- Sub-Heading

In my masthead I chose to go with the same, vibrant and capitalised style as the two existing front covers. I chose to do this for the same reasons I believe the existing products did it, to appeal to my target audience better.

Both existing front covers above have the masthead panning across the width of the page. I chose not to do this so that my main image and story would stand out more. Also I did this to create more space for my barcode, date, issue etc.

Notice that I chose to put my key image over my masthead like the existing products do. I felt that in the existing products it kept the key image (main story) the main part of the front cover – which is why I chose to do this on my front cover.

The font choice in both mastheads is bold, capitalised and quite distorted. This suits the target audience of these two existing front covers

Both existing magazines’ mastheads; the masthead pans across the width of the whole page.

Both mastheads have the main image covering it to keep the main story dominant and stood out.

MastheadMastheads

My Masthead

Like the existing products I also chose to keep my main story big bold like the masthead. I chose to do this to keep the main story the biggest part of the magazine. I also chose to use a sub heading like the existing products do to draw in my target audience more effectively and easily with a catchy line.

Like the masthead, the font of the title is big and bold and matches the colour scheme of the front cover itself.

Sub heading to bring in reader more. Also written in big font which matches colour scheme well.

HeadingHeadings in existing front covers

My heading on my front cover

Colour SchemeColour schemes in existing front covers

Colour schemes in my front coverAs you can see in the existing products both colour schemes are exactly the same. I chose to incorporate some of the ideas from there colour schemes because I felt it suited my genre well. This colour scheme allows my magazine to be quite rocky, like the genre, but also not be too boring.

Style of photographyPhotography in existing front covers

Both posed

Both taken in studio

Both quite monochromatic

Both passive

Both front covers have the people in eye contact

Both photos quite personal due to eye contact

Photography in my front coverI chose to use this type of photo as I felt it was effective on the reader. This is due to many reasons. One being the eye contact made by the artist in the photo; I felt that this was a good thing to use in my magazine as it creates an immediate bond between that artist and reader. Like the existing products, my photo is also monochromatic. I did this for two reasons; one being it suited my colour scheme really well. The other being it doesn’t make the photo busy, it doesn’t contain a lot of visual information meaning the photo is simplistic which is what I intended it to be like.Also like the existing products I chose to have my photo posed; my reason for doing this is because I think it makes the artist and the magazine seem more professional. Also it makes the artist and the magazine more serious about music which I think is what fans want to see.Although my photo was not taken in a studio, I chose to cut out the mise-en-scene to make it look like it was. I chose to do this because I wanted my magazine to look as professional as possible – and I felt that it was effective in the existing products.

Writing styleWriting style in existing products

In both existing products the writing style is reasonably informal. In ‘KERRANG!’ (to the left) they chose to use a powerful choice of lexis. For example the use of exclamation marks is used a lot throughout the front cover – ‘FREE!’ and ‘PLUS!’ This lexical choice is supported by the fonts used. In ‘NME’ to the left they also go for this technique, although the words chosen aren’t quite as powerful and aren’t emphasised as much as those in ‘KERRANG!’. The use of quotations in ‘NME’ was effective as it draws the reader in.

Writing style in my magazineI chose to go for a similar technique to that of ‘KERRANG!’ and ‘NME’, as I felt it suits my target audience and the genre of my magazine. In ‘KERRANG!’ they choose to emphasise words like ‘free’ by using a different colour or exclamation; I chose to incorporate ideas from this by putting the word ‘shook’ in a completely different font to the rest of the front cover. I chose to do this as it is a powerful word which I think would catch the eye of my target audience. In ‘NME’ the use of quote is very effective as it draws the reader in, I chose to use this in my magazine for similar reasons ‘What happens on the Weezer cruise, stays on the Weezer cruise!’

CoverlinesCoverlines in existing products

The coverlines in the existing products are again, big and bold like the masthead and heading. However they aren’t quite as big and bold due to the fact the heading (main story) is much more important and the editor will want the focus on that.In the coverlines from ‘KERRANG!’ they include photos to go with the story, they choose not to do this in ‘NME’. The coverlines also follow the colour scheme in both existing products. The coverlines in ‘NME’ (far left) have a sub-heading also – gives extra detail.

Coverlines in my magazineI chose to incorporate some ideas from the existing products seen above. Firstly; in both, ‘NME’ and ‘KERRANG!’ we saw that the coverlines are bold and stand out. I chose to use this in my magazine.Also, in ‘NME’ I noted that they chose to use a sub-heading with the coverlines. I chose to do this so I can give the audience extra detail which could possibly attract them more to buying the magazine.

Bar code/Price/DateBar code/Price/Date in existing products

Both bar code/price/dates are located on the bottom right of the page. They aren’t a distraction from the key image/headline.

Bar code/Price/Date in my magazine

Located on the top right of the page. I chose to do this for similar reasons – doesn’t distract the reader from the key image/headline.

Sub-headingSub-headings in existing products

Both sub-headings have a short and catchy line which immediately draws the reader in. In ‘KERRANG!’ the use of a rhetorical question is extremely effective as it makes the reader want to search for the answer.In ‘NME’, we can see that have chose to use a short quotation from the article itself. Doing this allows the reader to gain some information but not enough to not buy and read the article.

NME

KERRANG!

Sub-headings in my magazine

I again gained ideas from the existing products. By using a catchy line like they do in ‘NME’ and ‘KERRANG!’ (above) I have immediately drawn in the audience in ‘the man behind the album that shook the world’. I also chose to emphasise the word ‘shook’ by changing it to a completely different font and a change of colour which fits in with the organized colour scheme – I chose to do this as ‘shook’ is a powerful word which will stand out to my target audience (writing style)