Question 1

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

Front Cover

My front cover has generally used the common forms and conventions of a regional magazine, however that being said I did try to subtly challenge the conventions found in real life media products

TITLE

Whilst I did follow the usual convention of the central top placement for the magazine name I chose to develop the existing convention of the placement of the magazines location. Usually the location is either above or below the title, however I wanted to challenge this so I overlapped the two pieces of text to create a more original and youthful looking front cover. As well as this I chose to follow the convention of using a bold dark font which looks professional and also allows the magazine to be easily recognizable.

MASTHEAD

I wanted to create a masthead for my magazine as I believed it would make it seem more professional and also kept in line with one of the typical conventions of regional magazines. I chose to use the 'ARCHANT' logo in my masthead as this would show that the magazine is part of a recognizable brand.

COVER-LINES

My cover-lines follow the usual convention of using a white/black sans serif font. This looks less formal than a serif font and the white font makes it look more professional. Another convention I followed was making the sub-heading of the cover-lines in a larger, bold font. However I developed this convention further by writing the text on a orange box; this made the cover-lines stand out more, creating a more youthful looking magazine.

I used the convention of creating hermeneutic codes by informing the audience that the winners of the Young Musician competition have been revealed. This creates a uses and gratifications theory of surveillance as it makes the reader want to read on and find out who actually won.

MAIN COVER-LINE

I followed the convention of making the main cover-line larger than the other cover-lines as this emphasises the importance of this in particular. It also links with the image which is also a common convention. I chose to put the sub-heading in orange in order to keep in line with the house style. Although this does happen occasionally it isn't a common convention so I'm arguably challenging the usual norms.

IMAGE

My front cover uses the typical convention of having a location as the main image. This allows my readers to clearly tell it's a regional magazine. The image is attractive and puts the area in a good light. This is a convention all regional magazines seem to follow.

FLASH

Whilst doing my research I found that it was not a common convention for regional magazines to have promotional 'flashes'. So I decided to challenge this idea as I believe it creates a more youthful impression. After asking my focus group what they would like to win out of gadgets, a shopping spree and a short break they chose the shopping spree. As this is what my focus group chose it is likely that it will appeal to the rest of my target audience. I also kept it within my house style to keep in line with the rest of the front cover.

ADVERT

As there is a very wide range of advertisements in magazines I decided to focus specifically on watch adverts

My own advert both uses and challenges the codes and conventions I'd found in my research

TITLE

I chose to follow the usual convention of having a sans-serif font.

Another convention I followed was using a white font on a dark background, this really helped to make the title stand out as well as keep it looking sophisticated.

I chose to follow the convention of adding a sub-heading under the title, this creates less white space but doesn't make the advert look too 'busy'.

IMAGES

The typical convention for watch adverts is to have a large close up of the face of the watch, I chose to follow this convention as I wanted it to appeal to the target audience as much as possible.

I found that in one of the adverts the Fossil logo was used, however this was a rarity. That being said I wanted to include the logo to reinforce the brand recognition and apply the uses and gratification theory.

TEXT

We see a different form of direct mode of address in Fossil adverts as they don't tend to use models they instead directly address the audience in text format. This creates a personal relationship between the reader and text. This is a convention I wanted to use in my production.

I also added the address to the bottom left corner of the advert, this was to appeal to the uses and gratification theory of surveillance.

CONTENTS PAGE

My contents page uses and challenges the usual conventions put forward by other regional magazines.

TITLE

The title follows the usual conventions of other contents pages.

It is the same font as the front cover, continuing the brand recognition, this is something the other contents pages do.

It has a conventional top left placement, this is the first thing that catches the readers eye.

IMAGES

I followed the usual convention of placing the pictures at the top of the page.

I slightly developed this convention by leaving a small amount of white space between each image to create a more modern effect.

My two models both use direct mode of address, this is a convention found in most contents pages and it allows a relationship to be formed between the audience and text (uses and gratifications)

COLUMNS

I used the common convention of columns to help organise and separate my text.

This creates an ease of navigation for my readers, something which should appeal to my target audience

EDITORS NOTE

The use of an Editors note is very uncommon in regional magazines however I wanted to challenge this as I think it's a good way to create a personal relationship with the reader, which will also appeal to the uses and gratifications theory.

INFORMATION

One fairly common convention I found on the contents pages was the use of information sections. These sections informed the reader of important details on the magazine. This appeals to the uses and gratifications theory of surveillance.

By including the 'contact us' section it encourages the reader to get involved in the magazine and feel included in the production this appeals to Stuart Hall's reception theory. This idea is emphasised further by adding the social media icons. This isn't a convention I found but I felt that it would be appropriate to add in order to appeal to my target audience.

FEATURES PAGE

I both used and challenged the codes and conventions in my features page.

I challenged some conventions in order to create a more original production.

I also used some of the common conventions found as these have been shown to be successful.

HEADLINE

The usual conventions for a features page headline is to firmly state who/what the article is about. I used this convention as I felt it was the best way to grab the readers attention.

Another fairly common convention I found was using a pun in the title, I decided to develop this convention by leading into the title with 'street style' this is because the article is about a designer and the actual photograph was taken on a public street.

I decided to challenge the usual convention of having a sans serif font and went with a serif font instead, because I believed it looked more artistic and kept more in line with the feel of the article.

IMAGE

I challenged the usual conventions of regional magazine front covers by having my features image take up the whole page. The usual convention is to have one or two smaller images placed strategically around the page. I didn't want to do this as I felt that by using the whole page but blurring out the edges created a more artistic feel to the production.

I made sure to use fairly common convention of direct mode of address in the features page as this would create a personal relationship between the model and the reader.

ARTICLE

The usual convention for a features page is to have the article set out in three columns on the page. I decided to challenge this and only included one short article in one column. I did this as it looks more youthful and will appeal to my target audience.

My article is very short in comparison to the conventional articles in regional magazines. This is because stereotypically the 'younger generation' don't like to read as much. By making the article short it should appeal to my target audience as it gets straight to the point and gives an insight into the models life, which should appeal to the uses and gratifications theory.

I followed the convention of using a drop capital to introduce the article as it clearly tells the reader where the article starts.

BILLBOARD

I followed the usual convention having a large bold serif title which is clear and easy to read for drivers and passers by.

I developed the convention of just having the app store icon on my billboard by adding three social media links. I did this in order to appeal to my target audience who are heavy social media consumers, this means they will also be able to interact with the magazine on a more personal level. This means I can apply the reception model to my billboard.

I also followed the convention of using images on my billboard to advertise my magazine. I did this as it gives the audience something to quickly glance at but also understand that the magazine comes in a digital format as well as a physical one.

WEBSITE

I followed the usual convention of having a navigation bar at the top of the page. This creates a sense of order and makes it easy to navigate, this should appeal to the target audience (uses & grats). One of the headings is 'Contact' which lets the target audience get involved with the magazine, this appeals to the reception theory.

I used the convention of putting the title in the top left corner, this creates brand recognition.

I used the convention of having articles from the physical magazine as well as original articles specific to the website, this creates a broad range of information and encourages the reader to buy the physical copy.

SUMMARY

Throughout my media production I have used, developed and challenged the usual forms and conventions of regional magazines

It was important to both use and challenge the conventions of real media productions, as it enabled me to use the already successful techniques produced by other magazines as well as put my own 'spin' on things.