In what ways does my media product use,

develop or challenge form and conventions of real

media products?

Front cover-MastheadConvention

The first convention of a magazine is the masthead, which is usually at the top of the magazine. This is the title of the product and indicates to the audience what the product is called. The Name should connote the genre and content of the magazine, such as ‘Jazz Magazine’ which is all about Jazz music. Furthermore this title masthead is conventionally larger than most of the other text on the page to attract its audience into picking it up. The colours of this masthead usually contrasts well with the background colour, text or the boost image which has been used.

My ProductMy magazine has a conventional Masthead, It is at

the top of my magazine cover and spreads out across the page from left to right. The title of ‘Optimiste’ means in French to be optimistic and upbeat. As my target audience is a high-class group of people, I thought that using another language for the title would make it seem more sophisticated and attract more of a higher-class audience. The font I have decided to use is slab serif which means the text has serifs on the ‘S, P and I’ which helps to create the sense of an old-style, traditional magazine which will appeal to a B , 40-55 year olds, unisex aspires who want to be ambitious into achieving something such as knowing the latest music artists in the chosen genre and learning more about the genre culture. The colour used a gold/brown colour which contrasted with the colour of the saxophone my model was holding in my boost picture. The fact that it contrasted with the boost image helped the cover to connote a sophisticated look Furthermore when looking at my cover, The masthead is significantly larger than everything else on the page, and is the focus centre apart from the boost image which I have used.

Convention My ProductThe majority of Music magazines, mainstream

and independent use a large number of cover stories to interest their audience into picking up the magazine to read. Also the use of reversed out cover-lines are also used to stand out above the boost image which also attracts the audience as it is different to the image. These are used to attract the audience to their magazine and try to fit all the good information onto the cover in order to make more sales.

On my front cover, I challenged the conventions of a typical magazine by only using a few cover-lines. In total I wrote 6 cover-stories and used no reversed out cover-lines , which were just names and simple sentences such as ‘Music study’ and ‘Herp Alpert’ to attempt to attract my audience. They are in a small list with font size of 14, so it is almost impossible to read them without picking the magazine up. There is main focus in the middle of the magazine which relates to the boost image model. This is the one cover-line which is larger than the others to reinforce the nature of a magazine and to connote a traditional magazine of the main focus point of the bigger cover line. I have used very few cover-lines to connote an older audience and that through my research, this type of audience do not particularly mind what is on the cover, but the content inside is more interesting and what matters to them most. The use of the simple sentences and names shows a sophisticated and mature audience because they are people who would look past the cover and the short cover-stories to what is actually inside the magazine.

Front cover- Cover Stories

Convention My Product

All magazines should have the date, price and a barcode on the front to indicate how much it is and so it can be put through the scanner at the till. A lot of other magazines also use screamers, pull-quotes, sell, splash and banners to attract their audience. This connotes a mainstream audience that that they are looking for what is on the front before they buy, an example of this is a younger audience who look to see what is on the front to see what is inside, and if the cover is not interesting enough then they will not pick it up or buy it.

My Magazine has again challenged the conventions of the other cover content. As stated, all magazines have the price, date and barcode on the front, and mine is no exception. I have priced my magazine at £3.99. This will appeal to a higher-class audience because they will potentially be able to afford this price and will seem more stereotypical for them to pick up a more expensive magazine and seem above everyone than picking up a mainstream price of £1.99. I have also included a barcode which is situated at the bottom of the page which is a conventional situation as when it is on the shelf, the barcode is hidden and the audience can see the more important aspects of the magazine. Furthermore I have not included any screamers, Sells or splashes to my cover as My audience, from research shows that they are more interested into the content of the magazine and not what is on the cover. However a few cover-lines, such as ‘ Mark P’ (as I have included) will give them a brief idea of what to expect inside.

Front cover- Other Cover Content

Convention My Product

A Boost image is the main image which is seen on the cover of the magazine which usually fills up the whole cover and represents one of the main aspects the magazine covers and writes upon. These images are usually stereotypical of the person or of the genre of magazine and are often thought of role models for people.

For my magazine i have used a pull page image of my model, Mark which spreads a variety amount of messages out to my target audience. The use of the glasses are natural as he naturally needs them to see and also match well with the other colours in the image. The use of the hat shows the ideology of a stereotype of a Jazz artist. The image has not be altered or photo-shopped, sp the detail of the skin is all natural, which connotes an honest Magazine which is not interesting in the way the artists who feature in in look. The Magazine is about the talent and music and not how they look. The use of the Saxophone prop shows a stereotypical look at the Jazz genre as this is the instrument which is most associated with this genre. However In my double page spread, I challenge these instruments by using a ukulele as the main instrument used by the artist, which is something you would not normally see in this type of magazine and incorporate it within the genre of Jazz. Through my research I noticed that a considerable amount of models in boost pictures use direct contact to engage with the audience. I used a different approach with a indirect contact with the audience. The soft eyes and the fact he is not looking into the camera makes the magazine look less intimidating

Front cover- Boost Image

Contents Page- Numbers

Convention My Product

Magazine contents pages traditionally have page numbers by the side of the text to indicate where about in the magazine that particular article or page is. The amount of pages in magazines vary from styles and genres.

I have written the page numbers fairly large so it is easier to see and read where each article or page is. They are too the top right of each little section of text . They are size 9 font and cover up to pages 32, This connotes a traditional target audience who like everything to be traditional and orginised in the correct order, which I have created so the page numbers go from the smallest at the front of the magazine to the larger numbers at the back.

Contents page- Text

Convention My Product

Contents pages have the main sub-heading of the page or article and then either a little or no information about what is on those pages, along with the page number.

The main heading of each article/page is a size 9 serif font which connotes an older style which will attract an older audience. Furthermore the text underneath is significantly smaller and as i a targeting class B people, then I am sure they will consider reading this before they carry on throughout the magazine to engage in what is going to be in this issue.

Double page- ImagesConvention My productDouble pages usually have images

to illustrate the text which has been written, whether it is of the artists or albums which they have been promoting. Sometimes, magazines may have little images of the writer who wrote the article which is a good technique to use for recognition and if the audience like the piece then they will go back to them to read more of their work.

Within my double page spread I have used two images of my model Matt. The first one is of the side of his face with him looking straight into the distance wearing a wool hat. This is on a white background with the words ‘My Moment,’ which is promoting an album cover.’ The fact that he is looking straight into the distance connotes the seriousness of the music which he creates and that he is aiming for a higher-class audience to enjoy his music. Although he is male, he is not gender specific. The pieces he creates attract both males and females and are liked by both genders. The second image is of Matt sat down holding the instrument which the article is about. The look on his face is very concentrated which further connotes how serious he is taking his music business. He is sat with his legs crossed which shows a relaxed approach and independent which connotes that it is what he likes to do and the way he is dressed also shows his independence as he does not like to follow the crowd.

Double page- Columns and language

Convention My Product

Usually in magazines and particularly in newspapers the text is written in columns across either the one or two pages. The font is rather small which allows the writers to write significant amounts of text. The language used in magazines varies from the type of magazine and the audience it is aimed at.

I have written my article in four columns spreading across the two pages which shows a more professional look as it looks more neat and easier to read. The language i have used is of a higher standard which connotes a more sophisticated, higher-class audience who will be able to follow the more mature language which is suitable for this type of magazine.

My magazine cover of ‘Optimiste’ Looks like a real magazine in many ways. I feel there is a gap in the market for an upper-class music magazine for this genre as alot of them are mainstream and look cheaply sold with a price below £2.50. The use of a saturated image shows a more sophisticated cover which will appeal to my target audience as it looks more mature and connotes a more upmarket audience. The price of which i have chosen also furthers the ideology of a higher-class audience as they will be able and more willing to pay the higher price as they potentially will have the money too. Furthermore the use of cover-stories on the front give the audience an idea of what is in the magazine which may influence then to buy the magazine.

How does my cover look like a real magazine?

As a typical magazine would feature, my magazine has a list of all the aspects in which my magazine features, such as articles with artists, and festival tours. The contents which I decided to write about are from research into the genre and similar magazines to the one I have created. Many mainstream and individual music magazines have a large amount of articles, reviews and interviews on artists which i have included and furthermore festival dates of the less popular festivals which would only appeal to these types of people.

I have also included one main picture, so it is easy to look at and read. As I aim to target more higher-classed people, I felt that one picture was sufficient as then they could read the rest of the page with ease, rather than it being too busy and filled with pictures and them not able to know what is inside the magazine which is what my target audience would rather look at and read. I have also included the page numbers so it is easy to locate where each feature is easily. This connotes an organised feel which is easy to use and to locate the different articles and pages within the magazine.

How does my Contents look like a real magazine?

I have arranged my double page spread in columns, with text at 8pt which is typically found in magazines as it allows more writing and information to be placed on the pages. I have included two images, one of which is an album cover of the artist I am writing about which is illustrating a new album which he is bring out. Normally in a magazine an article is either about the artist or promoting their new album. I have challenged these conventions by writing about both the artist and the album which works well as because he is young, people may want to know about him before they

Buy the album. Typically in a higher-class audience aimed magazine, you would normally find the older generation artists featured in there. I have challenged this convention by writing about a 14 year old boy. The article shows that it is not about your age which should prevent your target audience for the music you are creating come after your age. The type of music the artist i wrote about shows that he is alot more mature for his age and knows what he is doing and who he is targeting, which is something who many artists do not know.

How does my Double page look like a real

magazine?

How is it recognisable as belonging to my Jazz sub-genre?

The main aspect which allows my magazine to be recognised as a Jazz genre is the use of the stereotypical instrument of the saxophone, used by my model in my front cover boost picture, and as a prop for my contents page image. The fact that the article for my double page spread is about a ukulele which is often thought to be associated with Folk music, challenged the stereotypical view on this genre i have chosen. It is allowing new people to come up with new ideas to involve other instruments in other genres.

Have you done anything to challenge the conventions of a existing Jazz Magazines?I have challenged a few of the conventions of my researched existing

magazines. The first convention which I have challenged is the amount of cover-stories on the cover. Existing magazine covers are filled with cover-stories to try and engage the audience. I have taken a different approach with this convention, I have opposed the traditionalist of cramming the cover with all the good stories which are inside my magazine and replaced them with a few names/simple statements such as ‘Music Study.’ as I have mentioned before, this is because the audience who I am targeting are not really interested in what information is on the front, but it is what is in the magazine and the written information which will really interest them. Furthermore I have challenged the convention of using a unfamiliar instrument for this particular genre in my magazine. The usual instrument you would expect to see is the traditional saxophone which is widely associated with the genre of Jazz. I have challenged this by writing about a Ukulele in my double page spread which is a musical instrument you would not expect to find in a magazine like this. I have told the story about a boy who has used this instrument and incorporated it into his own compositions to crate jazz which is well liked by the audience.

“Genres are not static but shifting and slippery, evolving over time”

This quote works well with my magazine as I have incorporated a new idea into my magazine by writing about something which has not yet been brought forward into the music business. No artist in the genre of Jazz has used a Ukulele in a Jazz composition, and with Matt doing so have evolved the Jazz genre more and made it more broad with it using new instruments to create its sounds.