Question 1 done

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

FRONT COVERCode or convention present Repeated, Challenged or

Developed & why?Masthead Repeated

Mastheads are typically placed on the top of a magazine. I decided to place mine here too because I think it looks

good and draws the reader’s attention to the name of the magazine.

Cover Star Repeated & challengedCover stars are usually looking straight

ahead at the camera to create eye contact with the reader. However, I

challenged this idea as my model’s eyes are closed.

Her pose is quite sensual which attracts the “male gaze” (Mulvey) this is a

convention I decided to repeat so I can also attract a male audience to my

magazine. To do this I also made my model wear red lipstick which is usually associated with seduction. As well as

that she is wearing a black lace bralette which to my target audience (girls age 15-23) will be seen as edgy, cool and fashionable. However black lace can

also symbolize sexiness, again attracting the “male gaze” (Mulvey)

Puff Promotion DevelopedDuring my research I found that a lot of

magazines, even across all genres, didn’t really have puff promotion.

However, I think it would attract a reader and encourage them to buy my

magazine; therefore I developed this idea and even included two different

types which will increase the chances of boosting the reader’s esteem if they believe they can win the competition. However, even if they don’t win, every

reader gets an “exclusive” discount anyway.

Date/Barcode Repeated

I included a barcode and date on the front of my magazine, which challenged my magazine of inspiration, Vibe, as it

doesn’t have one on the front.

Varied font/sizes Challenged

To make my front cover look more exciting, I varied the font and sizes I

used which challenged my magazine of inspiration because other than the

masthead, Vibe only used one standard font. I wanted mine to a little more

interesting a fun.

CONTENTSCode or convention present Repeated, Challenged or

Developed & why?Pulled Quote Repeated & Challenged

A pulled quote is typical in a magazine, however it’s usually on the double page spread, therefore I challenged this by

putting it in my contents page because I think it’s a good way of advertising the main story and still gives the reader the

same sneak peek they would have if they read It on the double-page spread

Colour Scheme Repeated & ChallengedLike most magazines there is continuity

with colour scheme and design. I decided to keep the colour scheme the

same on all pages because I think it creates better flow for the reader.

As well as that, I challenged the colours that I used for my genre R&B (with a pop element) by using purple and pink on my cover. During my research I found that

most R&B covers used a lot of dark colours or red, black and blue, however, my magazine of inspiration, Vibe, used

Pink and Blue for their Kanye West issue and I think it still looks good so I wanted

to repeat this y making my magazine stand out.

Supporting images Repeated

Supporting images are used frequently in contents pages to show readers what the

story is about. I decided to repeat this because I think it makes the page look

more interesting (rather than just having a long list of text and page numbers) and

the reader can also respond to the pictures quickly. E.g. a big Drake fan might see the picture of drake and

immediately go to that page.

DOUBLE-PAGE SPREADCode or convention present Repeated, Challenged or

Developed & why?Drop down caps Challenged

In my research I found a lot of double page spreads used drop down caps,

sometimes even twice, however I didn’t feel it was necessary for my magazine

because my DPS was just a Q&A interview with a small introduction.

Colour scheme Repeated & Challenged

The colour scheme I chose for my magazine is quite bold and colourful – not the typical colours used for an R&B magazine. However, my magazine of inspiration, Vibe challenged this with

their Kanye West cover which inspired me to too. I didn’t want to restrict my

magazine to black/red/gold/white (typical magazine colours)

Mise-en-scene ChallengedFor my photoshoot my model wore 3

different outfits in total, however, I ended up picking images with the same outfit

for my front cover and double page spread. I think this adds to the continuity of the magazine because the mise-en-

scene is the same.