Beth's AS Media Blog: 1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Conventions of a Front Cover

Conventions are used to help identify different items in a magazine.

Every magazine will have a masthead to help the buyer put a name to the product they are buying.

I used a font which has a scratchy/messy effect to show the reader that the magazine is mainly interested in the music and not that interested in looking glossy.

Cover lines are also used on all magazine covers, they advertise to the buyer what is inside the magazine, but there is usually a main cover line, which shows the main and possibly biggest story inside the magazine. I used the same font for my cover line as i did for the masthead. I put a purple box behind the writing to make it more visible but i used a scratchy effect on the box to make it look messy, for similar reasons to the masthead font.

On the front cover of a magazine, there is usually one main image which is quite big and attracts the attention of a potential buyer. Some magazine use smaller images as well to give the reader a taster of some of the things inside, which go with the other cover lines. I used one main image for my front cover, which i edited a lot to make it look how I wanted it to. I changed the contrast and brightness and i also cut up each person and put them on their own layers and positioned them how i wanted to.

A bar code is added to the magazine, to show the price and give the magazine an official look. Magazines sometimes include selling lines which show the reader if the magazine is worth reading and how many readers they do get.

Conventions of a Double Page Spread

Double page spreads have titles which are usually cover lines from the front cover of the magazine. The cover line on my front cover isn't that same what is on my double page spread. On my double page spread is the name of the article. I decided to call it "Disgusting, Outrageous, Brilliant" as it sums up my article in 3 adjectives and attracts attention, but on my front cover it just says what the article is, "exclusive interview."

Kickers are there to give the audience a taste of what the article is about and gives them a head start to what is inside the text. Drop caps are used to draw the audience in and especially if there is a lot of text, it will help the reader to know where the start of the text is. I used a yellow drop cap to make it stand out more and I changed the colour of the name of the band to yellow to make that stand out as well.

Subheadings are used to guide the reader through big chunks of text. It doesn't make the text look too hard to read. I also made this text yellow to make it stand out and easier to read.

Pull quotes are also used to draw an audience in. It shows off the text and gives the reader a taste of whats inside. They usually use quotes that shock or excite people which is what I've tried to do, but I've used a quote that is more aimed at people interested in real music, which is what my magazine is for.

Body text is the main element of a double page spread. It is usually placed neatly and is placed all around pictures. Gutters are used to separate the text from the pictures and the line in between each bit of text. Side bars are used to advertise products or other stories and facts that relate to the story that is on the double page spread. Captions help the audience to identify what the image is about.
A date line is used to show how often the magazine is released and when it is actually released.

My magazine is a rock magazine for teenage girls, i used the rock magazine "ROCKSOUND" as a basic idea for my front cover and my double page spread.