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

 

Below is the script I used for the above video:
The media product I have created is an acoustic/folk music magazine aimed at a young audience who are interested in the genre and are keen enthusiasts of new music.

The music magazine I have created was supported and inspired by other music magazines such as NME and Q. I feel that the support from the real like examples challenged my original ideas; they were highly limited in the conventions I planned to include. Therefore made the overall outcome of my music magazine look professional and real. 

During the creation process of my front page, contents page and double page spread, I always used real life examples beside me to ensure I was conforming to the expected conventions. Below, are a few examples of music magazines that supported me during the creation process.

NME was the first magazine I analysed and I felt that the front covers they had were the best option to support me during the creation process of my front page. When creating my front page, I understood the importance of the conventions such as cover lines, plugs, puffs and left thirds as well as the photography conventions, considering the rule of thirds. When creating my front page, I followed some aspects of NME's front pages like how they situated the left thirds and the behind the head points. I am pleased with the outcome of my front page although, I have acknowledged some changes I could of made. Refer back to "finished front cover" post for the reasons why I didn't change my front page. 

The music magazine Q had a vast influence on my contents page. This is because I liked the way in which they situated their text on the page as well the picture. Moreover, I found that the main image on the contents page was posed, as most contents pages are and that the mis-en-scene was limited so that the audience were not distracted by what's in the background and were focused on the artist or anything thing else obviously shown. During the creation process of my contents page, I debated to whether I would challenge the forms and convention to do the opposite with my main image positioned on my contents page. For example, I'd have the image of the musician with numerous items in the background, creating a busy mis-en-scene. I decided against this as I knew the importance of good photography and didn't wish to confuse my target audience. I feel that the more objects in the picture, the more interpretations the audience can have. I didn't wish for this, I wanted my audience to have a grasp of the passion and enthusiasm the musician in the picture had towards their music. 

I wished for my double page spread to look real and professional but be my own. That's why I din't use one pure music magazine to support me during the creation process of my double page spread. I used numerous examples of music magazine double page spreads to contribute to my ideas on what I wished to have in the outlook. I found this process challenging but highly rewarding as it gave me a more, broad understanding of the creation of music magazines and how they are made to work with their audience. Personally, I believe that my double page spread is the the best piece out of all three pieces.

Below are some opinions of those who have seen my music magazine:
Source: Facebook

Finished Double Page Spread

This is my finished double page spread. I am pleased with the outlook as it looks professional and remains to the magazine conventions. Furthermore, I have remained to the colour scheme and font types which shows a sustained design.

Click on the image for a higher quality display. 

Double Page Spread Creation Process

I have created my double page spread on Adobe CS6 InDesign. I felt that Adobe InDesign was the most appropriate software to create my double page spread on as it allowed me to navigate easily during the creation process. Also, it allowed me to follow a template of lines, ensuring that everything is in alignment and to size.

Step 1: 

To begin, I created a plain black stroke for my background; I had the same background on my contents page. Following a design from another music magazine, I wished to have one whole side of a page with a picture relating to the story. From then on, I began to design and write my main story.






Step 2:

I wished to have a quotation on something spoken during the interview overlapped onto my picture as it looked appealing and professional. As well as this, readers who are scanning through the magazine would be appealed to this double page spread due to the phrase.

I made the headline of the main story the artists name as it is about the musician. I chose to do this in block capitals so that it was big and bold, like the story. Furthermore, I relayed my colour scheme.

Step 3:

Lines and spacing made the overall outlook of my contents page look professional and appealing. When creating my double page spread, I ensured the content was good likewise, the graphology was excellent. With my spread, I felt that a full story would be irrelevant for my young reading audience. Therefore, used short paragraphing with answers from the questions asked in the interview.

Finished Contents Page

This is my finished contents page. I am please with the outlook as it looks professional and relates to my front cover.

When completing my contents page, I took into account the quantity of text on the contents page and thought it was too much. Although, when researching other magazine contents pages, I discovered that the amount of text was sometimes high as long as it didn't relate to one story.


Click on the image for a bigger and better quality display. 

Contents Page Checklist

Does your main image relay your musical genre? 

Yes, the main image relates to the main story about Jerry Williams, an acoustic singer/songwriter. The main image of the person on my front page is the same person on my contents page. The photos were taken at different locations with the musician wearing different clothes.

Have you got a good selection of relevant images? 

My magazine uses images of Jerry as the main images; she is the main musician focused on in that issue. I have used an image from a live event as I wish to have a section in my music magazine purely devoted to live music pictures and captions. I understand that live images aren't the best for photography however, I felt that live images of gigs would be more appealing towards my audience than just original, posed images.

Do your content headings relate to your Cover Lines?

Yes. My main cover line which says "Jezza" relates to my main image on my contents page.

Do you have a consistent design feel? 

I feel that I have a consistent design over the two pieces. I believe that the colour scheme, sizing and pictures all tie in well together and contribute to a professional outlook. I have also ensured that the texts relate to each other and that the font types aren't to exotic when coming to a music magazine.

Contents Page Creation Process

I created my contents page on Adobe InDesign CS6. 

Step 1:

When creating my contents page, I ensured that the page orientation was portrait, A4 and consisted of three columns. I did this before I opened a page, a small window shows on screen where I can create the page I wish to have. To begin, I created various boxes and colours to see what looked good and professional for my double page spread. As well as this, I recreated my magazine title on this programme so that the page was consistent from my double page spread.


Step 2:

When choosing my font type for my contents pages, I made sure that it wasn't too wild and didn't distract the audience from the magazine genre.

For the phrases such as "This Week In..." I used a more handwritten outlook so that my contents page looked modern.

Step 3:

When creating my contents page, whilst looking at another music magazines contents page for inspiration, I felt that it would be relevant to add some form of advertisement that related to the music magazine. Therefore, I included a 'subscribe today' box. I included a terms and conditions paragraph with the subscribe today box so that it looked realistic and professional.

Overall, I ensured that my contents page had a use of lines and was in alignment so that is looked real. Also, I kept my colour scheme consistent from the front page so that the audience aren't distracted from the main story. When I was drawing out the flat plan for my contents page, I considered having another photo of another artist linking to another story in my magazine. I didn't do this as I was afraid to make my contents page look too amateur and cluttered.