In what ways does your media product use, develop or

challenge forms and conventions of real media

products?

ResearchInitially I looked into the genre of Rap and Hip-Hop music magazines, I noticed some of these didn’t conform to the key conventions- masthead, main image, main features, taglines, plug, key quotations, a header, footer, skyline, a barcode, price and date. Therefore I decided to base my designs around XXL’s magazine designs, which incorporate the majority of these elements however not usually all the conventions. This would not include features, quotations, or a header or skylines. Furthermore it would include a masthead, a plug, feature artists, and a main headline.

FRONT COVER

I chose this as my model front cover, I liked the style that it had also it was really

simple and didn’t contain many of the conventions of a magazine. The lack of the

convention elements challenges the conventional

magazine, which I liked. However I felt like I needed

to include more

MY INSPIRATION

MY FRONT COVER

My front cover is representing the XXL front cover it also shows more conventional features such as a footer, and extra information (the yellow box). These create a convincing magazine cover yet also doesn’t follow the conventions of a skyline, features and quotations from artists. It develops the conventions of a plug, which usually introduces a promotional feature however mine simply announces an awards programme. This is a non-conventional addition I made.

My inspiration for my contents page is the XXL, B-Side page.

This breaks the conventions as it doesn’t include one main image. It does not include the artist on

the front cover at all. Also it doesn’t list everything in the magazine only three or four

features. It includes the logo of the brand, images, a square box effect for each feature. It doesn’t

include editors letters or subscription information. It

includes the issue number and date, the contents page title and

the page numbers.

CONTENTS PAGE INSPIRATION

MY CONTENTS PAGE

My contents page uses the same concept of XXL’s. I have used the term the ‘E-side’ which stands for my name , Enea and also means the ‘extra’ side. My contents page challenges the conventions by not including an editors section, subscription information and no main image. I have had more information about each feature than XXL’s contents page as I wanted the readers to know more about each feature. I have also added my own artists column which breaks the convention as they would usually have page numbers but I like the simplicity without them.

With my double page spread, I didn’t have an inspiration to follow. I based it on my own

thoughts of design. The conventions for a double page spread would be- main image (covering one whole page), a main title, the artists name, a

drop cap at the start of the article, page numbers at the

bottom, the logo of the brand, a pull quotation, credits who wrote the piece and a photo caption. I

have made my design rather unconventional in layout

however I have included all of those elements. The reason behind my DPS not looking

completely conventional is due to my main image. As it only takes up half a page. However I have

added a ‘turn for more’ arrow to suggest the DPS continues over

the next couple of pages.

DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

I asked 10 different people, ages ranging from 48-11 if they thought my magazine looked genuine due to the conventions of other magazine and

if they believed mine challenges the conventions or is rather conventional.

RESULTS

60%

10%

30%

Does my magazine follow the standard conventions

of a music magazine? Yes No Don’t Know

20%

30%50%

Do you think my final designs challenge the conventions of a

magazine or obey them? Challenge Obey Don’t Know

I would suggest that overall my three page would all support the claim that I followed the conventions that go into a

music magazine. I have usually included all of the elements, however when I haven't included that it usually was down to how the design looked without them. For example I felt that I didn’t

need feature stories on the front, as that isn't what my inspiration did and I want to be known for rap music. The double page

spread is although appears to be unconventional, in actual fact the DPS is rather conventional as it contains all of the main

elements that a dps usually has. My designs rarely challenge the conventions, however when I have challenged these conventions I

believe I have made it look realistic and professional. I would suggest on the front cover there should be more typography,

possibly using a main quotation or including more artists, as it appears to be fairly empty. On my contents page I would have

included more images, possibly of other artists rather than destinations. And on my double page spread I would have made the text less dense, included more pull quotes to break up the

text because there was a danger that I was heading into the NME style DPS. However I feel I corrected this by breaking up some of the text. But I would increase that next time to make it perfectly

clear I am a rap magazine.

OVERALL