1. In what ways does

your media product

use, develop or

challenge forms and

conventions of real

media products?

On the cover..

I was unsure on whether to follow the standard

conventions of a magazine of the R&B/HipHop/Rap

genre or whether to challenge them and do

something different.

After looking at the magazines that were already

available I decided to follow the conventions for the

magazines front cover purely because my target

audience are mainstream teenagers and I felt that

following the conventions would be the best possible

way to draw in my audience and for them to show

interest.

On the cover..

I decided to go with the title CA$H & MUS!C as I felt that the majority of R&B/Rap/HipHop artists that my

target audience would admire/be inspired by such as Kayne West and Jay-z are very much influenced

not only by their love for music and performing but for having money and living a wild life style that only

someone with money could live. I therefore felt the CA$H was very appropriate, it also connotes power

and fame and the idea that being rich is something to be admired by and many teenagers would feel

they could relate to the idea of wanting to grow up and be successful and have money. The MUS!C is to

connote that the magazine is obviously a music magazine and the idea of using the screamer(!) as the !

Connotes a passion for music and for money. I used the $ instead of a pound as America always seems

much more powerful and has more influence over my supposed target audience instead of Britain. I

wanted to use symbols such as !, $ and & as it connotes the idea of being modern and the idea of youth.

I used a Sans Serif font as this suggests both power, maturity and makes a statement, the way artists do in

this genre.

I felt positioning the title behind the cover model follows the conventions of other magazines with the

same genre as it helps focus on the model and their ‘importance’ which connotes that celebrities who

are big in the genre, Eminem for example are always in the front and ahead of everyone. I also feel that

it connotes the idea that the magazine is that well known, successful and mainstream that the full title

doesn’t need to be shown as people will instantly recognise the magazine from the colour schemes and

use of cover models.

On the cover..

I again followed conventions of any standard magazine and included the date/month the magazine

was issued, I decided to go with monthly issues instead of weekly as I found in my research many

magazines such as XXL issue their magazines out monthly so I wanted to follow conventions in that

sense. I also included an issue number which again follows conventions of any magazine, not just music

magazines.

On the cover..I set myself very specific ideas for what exactly I wanted my

cover model to be, I wanted to use a guy instead of a girl as

many magazines such woman in a residual idea of them being

used for sex and as something to be looked at and I wanted to

break away from that; however during my research I

discovered many models for my genre of magazine are very

often male.

My model needed to be a guy who was fairly attractive and

someone girls would want to look at and someone guys would

inspire to be like.

I chose the clothes to connote the idea of fashion and youth,

they also had to connote the idea of city living and I feel that is

shown well with the jumper and black jeans.

I told my model the pose had to be something that looked

relaxed and cool not forced and uncomfortable. I told him to

try with his hand in his pocket and to lean back slightly whilst

making direct eye contract with a smug grin as this connotes

confidence and the idea of having just the right amount of

‘cockiness’ in order to be liked and admired instead of

despised.

On the cover..I wanted the background in the photo to be the same

one I use for the background for my cover as the majority

of magazines in this genre use plain white backgrounds

and I wanted to challenge that convention.

I decided to set up a variety of different newspapers in

my room, although it isn’t obvious to see I chose

newspapers such as The Sun and The Daily Mail as their

target audiences are for a more mainstream set of

people and they often post articles on celebrities.

I wanted the newspapers as they connote the idea of

being up to date, being modern and being in the know. I

also felt that photos such as this one are usually deemed

to be quite ‘quirky and indie’ and I wanted to remove

that stereotype by having a model who wasn’t indie and

more in to the rap/R&B genre.

On the cover..

I wanted my main sell to be a story that links to my cover model so the magazine looked

interesting and to connote the idea that everything flows smoothly. I wanted to have a main

sell that something people would be interested to read about and a story people could

either relate to or feel inspired by. As my target audience is teenagers I wanted to choose a

story that was to do with high school and the idea of sex as that is something every teenager

worries about. I wanted the mainsell/pull quote to connote the idea that it doesn’t matter

what you look like, especially at high school because it does get better and girls who are

deemed attractive, Rihanna in this instance is ‘eager’ to get to know you. I chose Rihanna as

she is deemed to be a very powerful and independent young woman who is seen as being

incredibly attractive.

Following the idea of my main sell being relatable to

teenagers, I chose to have the article on music, girls

and partying. I feel that people can relate to this as it

is something nearly every young person goes through

and wants to do.

On the cover..

I wanted my cover lines and straplines to again be

something that again relates to the genre, as my issue is

December 2012 I felt that it would be necessary to

include an almost tribute/flash back to the best songs of

the year as that is a convention a lot of magazines follow

at this time of a year. I felt it incredibly effective as many

people are interested in looking back at the year and

what worked and I wanted to pay a homage to the top

tracks of the genre in the last 12 months.

I also wanted to show the other artists that

my music focuses on and decided the best

way to draw my target audience in was to

include big names such as Chris Brown,

Nicki Minaj and 50 Cent.

On the cover..

To finish off the conventions of my

magazine I included a barcode and

a price in order to make the

magazine look realistic.

I used my research to come up with

an understandable price to again

make the magazine look more

realistic to buy/read.

On the contents..

I wanted my contents and front cover to be linked in many

ways and the first was the colour scheme, I then decided

the contents would again look good using the same

backdrop as the original photo instead of following the

conventions and using a plain coloured one.

I made sure I didn’t follow any standard contents page as I

wanted my magazine to have more of an edge, one of the

only standard conventions that I did follow was having the

word ‘contents’ in large letters at the centre of the p age to

instantly grab attention and draw the readers in.

I also had my cover model stand away from the camera

instead of seeing her face, this was mainly as I wanted to

take away the residual idea of how females are just there to

be looked at/admired and seen as a sex object and facing

away from the camera instantly takes away those opinions.

On the contents..I changed the background to black and white to match the

front cover even more, I wanted the location to be near the

beach to connote the idea that this genre of music can be

listened to anywhere, not just in a busy city setting like my

cover photo connotes.

I also followed conventions by having a ‘On The Cover’

section, instead of just listing the celebrities included as I did

on the cover I extended their articles out for example ‘Tyga’s

New Album’ not just Tyga.

I included the features section to show what my magazine

would always include and I tried to choose titles which relate

to the artists; for example I chose Chris Brown and ‘talks

fame and fortune’ due to his two albums being called fame

and fortune. Similarly I chose ‘Opinions ain’t facts’ for the

‘letter’ page as they are lyrics that a lot of people recognize.

On the double page spread..

I changed the article for my double page spread

than what was first stated on the cover mainly

because for this task I wanted to create a more

standard interview which slightly follows

conventions.

If I had more time I would have perhaps extended

the interview and added more questions including

ones that would relate to the idea of not finding

anyone to sleep with until you left high school.

I wanted to use the same model as I felt it helped

the pages looked more professional and more

together.

On the double page spread..

Following standard conventions I include a title and centred it at the top of the article, I

wanted to use a title that matches the photograph and the article with a clever play on

words.

As my article is an almost introduction to who Young Rush is and a chance for him to almost

show off I liked the idea of showing off stripes, almost to connote that you’re proud of who

you are and simply want to show it off.

I used a sans serif font for the Young Rush and Stripes as this suggests confidence and

makes a statement the same way the article wants to help Young Rush make a statement.

I wanted to use two different fonts as I felt it helps show both his bold and confident side

and the more delicate perhaps personal side to who Young Rush is.

I of course chose the colours to fit in with a tiger theme and the idea of showing off stripes.

On the double page spread..

I chose this as the photograph for the double page spread as it is simple

and relates well to the theme of showing off the stripes. It also fits in with

the more delicate, personal side as it could be deemed as being ‘cute.

I wanted my introduction paragraph to be different to

conventions, I avoided using a large opening letter as I

felt it would make the article look more formal and

mature than what I was originally going for. I was careful

to include big names to hint at the idea that Young Rush

is going to succeed. I chose a sans serif font which is all

in capitals to help make a sudden statement and

connote the idea that there is no messing around and

this is the real deal.

On the double page spread..

I wanted to include a text wrap to help the magazine look

more professional and something you would want to read, I

didn’t want to over do it and kept t as simple as possible.

I found the text wrap to be incredibly challenging especially

as I wasn’t to familiar with Indesign, however I’m incredibly

happy of the result and feel it looks professional and

something you would see in a professional magazine.

I also included page numbers as they are a conventional feature

of all magazines and give the article a professional finish.

On the double page spread..

I wanted the actual article and the questions

asked to be as real as possible and for that to

work I actually made Sam (the model) answer

the questions so they were as raw as they

possibly could be.

I wanted the pull out quotes to show humour,

and therefor thought that ‘It’s where they make

the sauce’ was a good quote as it relates well

to coming from Worcester due to Worcester

sauce and it is a good way to tell people where

you are from.

I included columns to make the article again

look professional and interesting, as well as easy

to read and a pleasure to look at.