1. 1) In what way does your Media Product use, develop or
challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Throughout the production process of my magazine (front cover, contents page and double page spread) in relation to my
colour scheme I have used hot pink, orange, purple and white. I ensured that these colours were the only colours that were to
be used throughout the magazine in an attempt to maintain continuity and create house style. This also works as a way of
linking each page together and brings a certain theme/tone to the magazine. I chose to use these three colours, after
researching other products, because it seems that it has become a convention to make this genre of magazine quite feminine –
appealing to the stereotypical target audience of young teenage girls. I also used these specific colours because they were very
easy to work with and direct around the page in order to create an aesthetically appealing front cover, contents page and
double page spread. I chose to place my main model on all three of my media products in order to enforce his importance
across the magazine and to make it easier for the consumers to understand which article is the main one. This also
demonstrates continuity across the magazine as the idea of him only being featured on the front cover and not the other
products would have an effect on how professional or consistent the magazine, as a whole, would look. In terms of the font, I
used a girly type of font I created for my masthead and nothing else in order to make the masthead stand out. I then used a
bold font (“Gills Sans MT Condensed”) for my cover lines to reinforce the dominance of each of the articles within the
magazine, also to maintain the identity of the „Wired‟ brand.

2. The Front Cover
In relation to my sell lines I used a lot of inspiration from TOP of the POPS magazine as I used a similar font, style and article
ideas for my front cover and contents page. My double page spread was created with no influence but the intention of creating one
that linked with both of the other products that I previously created. On my front cover I have placed the masthead at the top of the
page specifically so that it follows the conventions of a magazine front cover and to emphasize the importance of the brand name
as the positioning/font size helps the title to stand out dominantly. My main image was eventually chosen from a possible 14
images because of the way it tends to stand out from the rest of the images and also looks a lot more natural than the rest. The
model is wearing a simple white t-shirt because, originally, I had planned to use a lot of colour in my text and titles and so used this
white t-shirt and background as a way of avoiding any colours that clash – making it easier to create a simple colour scheme. I used
a male model on my pop magazine so that he could be portrayed as “a teenage heart throb”, which would evidently attract younger
females (my target audience). I placed my model so that he is slightly overlapping the masthead and taking up the majority of the
page as this highlights his dominance within this magazine whereas if I placed the masthead over the model he would have
appeared less important.
After redrafting my product after feedback, I changed some of the layout and added a lot more images and stories in order to take
up any free space and filling the page. I also added a barcode, price and date as I realized it was a missing convention which
needed to be added. I placed these at the bottom of the page so that it would take no attention away from the main parts of my front
cover.
I also placed a skyline and footer as they are conventional and are a successful way of applying USP‟s without taking any attention
away from the main subject of the page and felt like this may have done so. The real artists I have used on within my footer are
well known artists and so make my USP work better than it would have done and draw in a specific audience. The fact I have
featured these also makes my magazine look very up to date.
I have placed a puff to advertise a special article inside that may or may not draw in a wider audience rather than just my target; I
placed it within the puff so that it is easier for people who would normally not notice this magazine, to be attracted to it. I decided
to use a puff because it is also very professional within music magazines, especially in the shape of a circle or star. I used the circle
as I believed it looked a lot more sophisticated than a star would and so can also reflect the attitude of the magazine‟s older
audiences. The fact that I have used two huge stars within this industry helps to make it more appealing to the readers also. My
puff is the only part of my front cover that does not follow my colour scheme as it is a different type of story to the rest and so
immediately tells the audience that this article does not exactly relate or link to the rest of them.

3. The Contents Page
Firstly, I have shown continuity by the use of colours as I have used the continuous colours of hot pink, orange, purple and white
from my front cover – (I made sure that these colours were identical by using the „Eye Dropper Tool‟ and selecting the colour I
wanted to use from the text on my front cover). Although, on here I have used each colour equally so that not just one colour
dominates the page and so it looks more professional and conventional.
I have placed the contents page title at the top of the page so that this page in particular is easily recognizable and because it is
conventional to have the title in the position – thereby being what the audience expects. I have used the images on my contents
page to create a more visual aspect of reading for my audience, this is because it is a younger target market and so are
stereotypically more interested in products that apply images and colour. All the models I have used within these images are young
and of both genders, which means that they will relate to and appeal to both genders of my target audience. One of these images I
have used is also an image of my front cover model, this is so that it shows continuity through the pages in the magazine and
reinforces his importance. On my images I have placed page numbers so that the audience can easily navigate to the most
interesting and also I have added titles for the articles to appeal to the audiences and make them want to read on.
I also used the official Twitter and Facebook logos on the bottom left hand side of my contents page to appeal to my target
audience and to reinforce the fact that my magazine is up to date with social media. I chose to have the footer on my contents page
so that the Facebook/Twitter logos, the magazine website and the page number would all be easily identifiable as these conventions
are not usually what audiences tend to look for, and this way the consumers will see them anyway. These parts of my product are
used as a good way of advertising the product/brand.
When categorizing my articles and stories I had to look closely into how other magazines tend to organize themselves in relation to
featuring stories and the regular stories. After researching into many different brands I found that a lot of magazines had different
styles. Within pop magazines I found that they would broadcast the featured articles a lot more than their regulars and so I chose to
use this style in my magazine also. All of my featured articles are grouped together in a box which makes the contents simple to
understand. I then put my subscriptions close to the bottom of the page as this is conventional to include on a contents page and I
felt it was important to include as a way of increasing profits for the magazine if it were to ever be sold.
For my contents list I felt that it would be more effective if I used a variation of font styles in order to ensure that it does not take
the form of a regular list and looks more interesting for the audience. I also used large page numbers in a separate colour so that the
audience can easily navigate their way through the magazine with as little confusion as possible.
To fill space I also added a box filled with contact information of the magazine which may or may not be a convention within the
industry as very little magazines do not have this feature. I also added another USP to keep the consumers interested and a simple
editors letter to follow the rules of creating a magazine contents page.

4. The Double Page Spread
In relation to my main image, I chose this specific shot as it is conventional within music magazines to have a mid shot included –
which I have learned from my research. When taking this image I had to take into account the layout of my spread and so left
space above the models head for the title and space next to the model to allow space for my article. I positioned the model (Evan)
so that he would be facing the text, which gives the impression that he is reading or narrating the article along with the audience. I
thought this would be an effective way to challenge the convention of having direct address between the model and the audience
but still gaining the same amount of attention. Also, Evan takes up the majority of one page which suggests that he is a very
dominant figure within this specific industry. I have used the same clothing as the clothing used on the contents page and front
cover in order to follow the conventions of showing continuity within a magazine.
I used drop caps as it is conventional to start an article with one of these and looks extremely professional as they are seen in the
majority, if not all, magazines.
I used my models name as my main head line as a way of drawing the audience into this article in particular. I feel as though this
would be more successful in doing this rather than a long headline as the audience are young and stereotypically need more simple
headlines. This ensures that they will be more interesting in this article because the first part of it that they will read will be Evans
name. I also used one of the main colours of the article/magazine as a background to the text in order to reinforce the dominance of
his name and thereby reinforcing the dominance of him as a whole. I chose to have the main title underneath Evans name as a
subheading because of the reasons above. I used the other main colour of the magazine within this so that the two different texts
link together. I also used the colour to highlight the word „Conman‟ as this is a word which lets the audience know what exactly
they‟re going to be reading about and gives them the choice as the whether or not they wish to read on.
Underneath Evans name I also added the official iTunes logo, which is used to demonstrate the power of my figure within the
music industry and suggests that he is very professional as he is known well enough for his music to be sold on iTunes.
Additionally, the iTunes logo is recognized by a huge amount of people both inside and outside of my target market and so draws
more people in. Using these types of logos is very conventional when creating a double page spread and therefore makes my
magazine look professional and up to date.
In relation to the layout of my text, I have placed my text into columns as it is a conventional feature in regards to double page
spreads. I also used columns as a way of appealing to my target audience as they are young and so will get bored of reading too
much at one time – using columns helps to create the illusion that they are reading quicker and getting to the end of the article
faster. I used two colours within my article as a way of demonstrating the conventions of having a Q+A article and to help set the
two types of texts apart for the audience.
I placed a pull quote in the middle of my article in order to draw the readers in and give a hint as to where the conversation is
going. Also, pull quotes help to keep the readers interested because if the pull quote seems interesting then they will read the entire
article in order to put the quote into context.
I used page numbers in each of the bottom corners of the page as this is a convention throughout all magazines and makes the
navigation process for the audience a lot easier. These numbers are in black so that they audience will be able to see them but they
are not so colourful that they take attention away from the subject of the page.
I placed a by-line just above a secondary photography of „Lou Pearlman‟ in order to give credit to the photographers that would
have taken the photographs if this were a real magazine. It is also very conventional to include these.

5. Following Conventions