In what ways does your

media product use,

develop or challenge
forms and conventions
of real media products?

Front
cover

Masthead
My masthead is similar to Kerrang! magazines.
Both follow similar conventions of a rock
magazine. I used a similar eroded/cracked
font for my magazine which links to the
onomatopoeic word Riff and the harsh noises
created by the F letters thus connotes the
rough/edgy-ness of the magazine. I also used
the conventions of a dark back ground in
contrast to a bright font colour. The placement
of the masthead is conventional also as it is
mainly in the left third of the magazine cover
and also is one of the biggest components on
the page. The masthead also follows
conventions as it is bold and large.

Selling line
My selling line is conventional as it follows the
convention of being above the masthead alike
shown on Kerrang!s covers. In general it is
extremely common for the magazine to have a
selling line featuring on the magazine cover as
it allows the reader to understand what
features within and what the magazine is
about. I chose a short and catchy selling line
which also fits the magazine and its content.
However my selling line also breaks some
codes and conventions as it only goes across
the masthead rather than across the top of the
magazine with a different background colour
surrounding it. I did this as aesthetically the
selling line did not look correct along the top
regardless of the font and size etc and I
wanted to keep the selling line sentence thus
changed the composition.

Main cover-line
I have placed my main cover-line on the right-side of my main image and made it the
largest cover-line on the page. I have followed the conventions of a magazine in general
as the main cover-lines are typically more bold, brighter and the most prominent coverline on the page as it is the main feature. I followed Kerrang!s conventions as they added
a splashed paint effect on the background of the cover line to make it stand out even
more and also the colours fit with the rest of the magazine. I used a deep red for the
paint background and white copy colour to make the cover-line stand out against the rest
of the page. Additionally my main cover-line is conventional to the rock genre ,which is
also shown by Kerrang!, is the main cover-line overlapping the main image either half way
or fully and I have chosen half way.

Main image
The main image for my magazine is conventional in both the
rock genre and the general conventions of a music magazine.
My image is conventional to the music magazine industry as
a whole as the three models are in eye-line with the camera
and they are looking towards the lens thus give the audience
a sense of interaction and direct address. The pose I chose
for the main image is conventional to the rock genre as the
models have hard looking NVC with no facial expression of
which is shown on the Kerrang! cover below where all
models have their bodies and eyes towards the camera lens
with stern glances. The props used are also conventional to
the rock industry of music magazine. I chose black leather
and flannel shirts matched with band merchandise for the
models to wear as these are typical rock outfits worn by
bands and their audiences. Furthermore, my models are
wearing red/dark pink lipstick and have dark winged
eyeliner as these have rock connotations also. Additionally I
chose specific jewellery such as a multitude of bracelets
paired together, chokers and piercings. The main member
photographed in the centre of the magazine image has a
nose piercing, a choker and an additional necklace and the
other members are wearing bracelets all of which are
conventional to the rock scene. Another prop photographed
in the image is the guitar and bass. Both instruments show
the audience that the band play their own instruments thus
making it sure the models are in a band. I composed the
models in a particular way. After looking at a variety of rock
magazines with 3 or more members I realised that the
magazines tend to place the singer or lead member in the
front foreground with the other members behind slightly. I
did this by placing the main member centre and the two
remaining models just behind her shoulders allowing contact
but still conventional spacing.

Cover-lines

The composition of my cover-lines are unconventional to

normal music magazines as they overlap the main image
however this is a convention in the rock genre of music
magazines thus my magazine challenges some conventions
but also follow them. The composition of the cover-lines
are also conventional as they are mainly based in the leftthird of the page and thus allow the audience to see what
is within the magazine when it is in the magazine stand.
The cover-lines of most rock music magazines tend to lack
more than just the main image on the cover and this is
shown by Rock sound and NME, however my magazine as
mentioned before is a pop-rock mix genre alike Kerrang!
magazine and thus follows the conventions of Kerrang!
Mainly. Kerrang! include more visuals alike a pop magazine
and show the posters with the magazine and I have
duplicated this convention on the top right of my
magazine.
The final cover-line is composed at the bottom of the cover
page. This is a very conventional element with any music
magazine especially rock magazines as it lists the artists
and bands within the magazine. The puff in the corner of
the page that resembles a page turning enhances this as it
shows more content of the magazine thus drawing in the
audience.

Barcode, price, issue number and date

Having the website and price with the bar

code is a convention of which I followed. As
you can see to the left, Kerrang! magazine
tend to group the issue number, date, price
and website together with the bar code.
However I have developed this convention by
placing the website above the bar code and I
grouped the bar code with the price alike
Kerrang! However it was developed as rather
than placing the issue number and date or the
bar code I found that it was more conventional
for music magazines to place them separately
below the masthead. I did this so it was more
visible on the magazine and was more visible
in the left-third for the audience.

Contents
page

Title

My title of the contents page is conventional

as alike most music magazine contents pages
it is at the very top of the page. I used the
masthead of my magazine cover as the main
title followed by the subtitle contents. This
means that the master layout is carried
throughout and brandishes the page of which
is done by a multitude of music magazines.

Images
All images featuring in the magazine were taken by me.
The bands featuring on the page include the main article
band of which are completely made up for the purpose of
the product and the rest of the images include bands such
as Lower than Atlantis, Neck Deep and Moose Blood. The
images are taken from concerts of which is a convention for
the rock genre as they tend to use in-action photographs of
bands. The angles of each image is varied which is another
convention of music magazines as the images vary from low
angles, long shots, medium-long shots, medium-close ups
and location shots. I also enhanced each image by playing
around with the hue, contrast and saturation. This is
conventional as all magazines edit their images and the
image featuring my model screaming into the microphone
gives an edgy vibe as it is darkened and made to be gritty.
p
.
professional.

Also the gig images are enhanced through

Photoshop making the images less dark
and more visible and to look more

Colour scheme
The colour scheme of my magazine is
consistent throughout and features the colours
deep red, black and white. The colours are
conventional to rock magazines as they are
applicable to unisex and are not negligent to
any age group thus include all. The magazine
colour scheme is conventionally used
throughout the magazine from start to finish
as it suggests a consistent house style thus
enforcing the professionalism of the magazine
and thus by following this magazine
convention my magazine looks more real and
convincing.

Columns
Unlike on a double page spread the columns
on a contents page do not have to be the same
width nor length. The columns on a contents
page of a music magazine typically are divided
due to the sub-sections and my chosen
sections are news and featured. The
columns are sectioned and go in an ascending
order of page number thus is organised
sufficiently. The outside images are for bigger
features and thus do not show in the columns
but do have their description as a caption to
the image and is paired with a large page
number which is consistently used from the
cover onwards.

Double page

Headline/Quote

The headline of my magazine double page

spread is a quote from the band. This is a
convention with magazines especially rock
magazines as it draws the audience into the
article and makes them want to read further.
Conventionally the headline is the second
largest component on the page (the main
image is the largest) and my magazine fits this
convention.

Image
The main image is conventionally composed to fill the first page and go over to the second page
margin. The image is conventional as although each model is facing a different direction they are all
making direct eye contact with the camera and thus the audience.

Colour scheme
The colour scheme previously discussed in the last few slides is continued in the
double page spread as it makes the ,magazine easy on the eye and more attractive
to the demographic rather if it was to have a lot of colours. The colour scheme also
is conventional as it is fluent from the cover through to the articles within the
magazine.

Stand first
The stand first of my magazine double page spread article is conventional as it is above the
written article. The stand first is also conventional as the font is larger than the written
article below thus making it the second thing read on the page after the headline.
Furthermore the content of the stand first is conventional as it gives the audience a further
insight as to what the article will be about and gives a quick summary of it.

Drop capital

The drop capital is conventional as it is several

fonts larger than the text of the stand first.
The stand first copy starts at the top of the
drop capital and the drop capital takes up
around 3-4 lines and cuts into the stand first of
which is compact around the letter. This is a
convention of every magazine especially music
magazines. Furthermore the typography used
is the same as a previously used font thus ties
the magazine together so that the pieces do
not look like complete separate projects, this
is also a convention.