How does my media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Comparison to real magazine

VS

The Masthead

My masthead I used for my magazine is completely original I had thought of the slightly tilted font along with an image of a star in the masthead myself however it has been developed while making my magazine. At first the font was not tilted and the star was also white instead of being yellow this looked too bland therefore I changed the colour of the star to match my colour scheme of the magazine which is white,blue,yellow this now made the masthead stand out on the page and attracts the attention of the audience much more. The next thing I did was decided to use a tilted font so it looked more professional and made it stand out from the rest of the text on the screen.

The Image

I ensured for my main Image that the place was not too lit up but also not too dark either as this way the image wouldn't be clear as too much natural light would be on the model or the model wouldn't be clear enough. Furthermore I had decided the image must have been taken on a plain background preferably white as this would make it easier to crop the image and remove the background and red and black would stand out well on a white background therefore this was taken into consideration when taking the photo

Costume/Genre My image is conventional as for the rap genre having the hood part way up conveys that the genre is rap as typically rappers either wear caps or hoods therefore choosing to have the hood part way up was good as you can still see the models face however it gives of the rap feel to the image.

Audience

The pose my model is doing was an idea taking from the vibe magazine in the right hand side of the screen the arms folded approach was good as it shows the seriousness of the person conveying the seriousness of this magazine. However my model appeals to a wider more diverse audience as he has trendy clothing on appealing to a younger teenage audience as well as adults. With the trendy clothing and the modern hairstyle it will attract more teens with similar style with the model being late teens and him being a successful rapper people may want to be like him. In comparison to Eminem where he is wearing a basic black tank top just conveys the seriousness and the stereotypical rapper.

PeopleIn my magazine I have mentioned some of the most well known rappers in the world with names ranging from up and coming rappers such as: Kendrick Lamar,Tyga and Chris Brown to the icons of rap such as: Jay-Z, Snoop Dog and Dr.Dre, therefore I can target a large, varied audience as the the icons of rap can appeal to a more mature audience (20-30’s) as they were around when they were younger, and then the up coming talent can appeal to a younger teen audience as the young rappers can appeal to a younger audience. With such big names on the front cover of my magazine this will attract big fans of rap, however since all rappers featured in my magazine are male this will mean my audience will predominantly be male between 16-30.

Front Cover As you can see I am comparing my magazine to one of the best most successful rap magazines ‘Vibe’ I followed a few of the conventions from vibe magazine as firstly I used a few of the colours used in a lot of rap magazines which is yellow and white. However I decided to try a different background which has not been seen on a rap magazine before it’s a navy blue background which make my magazine stand out from the other two which are black and white. Also I have challenged conventions as in rap magazines you don’t normally see shapes/images in the title however I have decided to use a star in yellow to help the title stand out, in comparison to Vibe who have kept it plain and simple.

ContentsI have challenged conventions in my contents page in comparison to two other content pages one from a Vibe magazine and the other from an XXL magazine. I have done this as in most rap contents pages they use one pro dominant image in there content pages that fills ¾ of the page however I have decided to fill half of my contents page with two images to give the reader more of an idea of what's to come in the magazine. Furthermore most rap magazines including the two below have very basic contents pages with limited text however the text on my contents page fills half the page giving the reader a good idea on what's in the magazine.

Double page spreadMy double page spread challenges the conventions of the majority of rap magazine double page spreads this is because usually the image will be on the left however I have put my image intentionally on the right hand side. This makes my magazine completely different to the other magazines, also my rap magazine is supposed to be different to the others and the artist in my double page spread also likes too be different to other rappers and wants to be shown differently therefore the image is on the right hand side. Also I have added a title to my double page spread whereas a lot of the rap magazines don’t use titles for there double page spreads they add pull quotes which is also a good idea however the reader must be aware that this rapper is returning therefore I think the title is effective for this double page spread.

Conclusion

In conclusion for some aspects of the magazine I followed conventions including the basic conventions such as barcode, issue number and price this keeps the magazine looking professional. But also certain colours such as yellow has been used in a lot of magazines and I have used it following that convention. However I have also challenged a lot of conventions such as the layout of the double page spread, this gives the audience something different. Overall I think the conventions I have followed and challenged ends up making my magazine very professional looking and makes my magazine competitive against other magazines.