Question 1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge or develop forms and

conventions of real media product?

Titles- Front cover • The title of my cover page HOLLA MG isn’t like

other Hip-hop or other rap/ urban magazines as it is an actual slang word which has been around for many years being used throughout the world by those of different ethnicities, ages, etc. this reflects my target audience and product as it is sold both in the UK and America (making it an international product), a wide age range from those 16-early 30’s, people of all different backgrounds, men and women etc. I got the idea of having my title in a text box from the XXL magazine. A text box separates the Masthead from the rest of the page and giving it its own space which draws attention to it, on top of that the red and white clearly stand out on the black background.

Titles- Contents pages

• Like XXL my contents pages have a clear bold title similar to each other. XXL’s titles are the A-side and the B-side while mine is INSIDE THIS MONTH and INSIDE THIS MONTH. The pages are like positive and negative which reflects the entrance and exit on the line below the title separating the title and contents information. I was able to change the colour of the title by copying the title from dafont.com by snipping it, pasting it onto paint and inverting the colour. The font is old school, rigid and different to what is used in other contents pages as I looked through my case studies and other student’s case studies which were off this music genre.

Titles- Double page spread• Most titles are placed at the top of the page but on a double page spread

it is common not to be placed at the top on mine it has been placed at the bottom of the page where the page is its whitest and where the base of the t-shirt is. I could have placed the title in the middle of the chest which would resemble the model being at the heart of the group, as if to say without him there is nothing but I thought that he is the foundations of the group and place the text at the base of the page. The colour of the title is golden yellow and black because they are clearly seen on the white t-shirt. The Young Stars part is golden to resemble that they are stars like on the cover page.

Distribution-

• In most magazines the title font is big and bold because it has to be easy to recognize when being sold in shops this why I have done this; this then relates to the distribution methods. When sold in news stand the left side of the magazine is put on show, this is why it has been placed on the left side of the magazine and not in a central or right position. This is also why the majority of cover lines have been placed on the left hand side. For a new and uprising magazine competing with other magazines u need to get the reader interested in the magazine. This is why I placed the Nas tickets on this side of the page; Nas is an older artist and very well known, this would be appealing to many people. Part of my distribution plan was direct distribution, selling magazines to people on the street with reduced prices of £1.50, I was originally going to sell them for free but my teacher said the cost of making a magazine would need to be paid for.

• A lot of magazines have a website where u are able to view the magazine issue or subscribe to as magazine so you can have the magazines sent to your house or preferred place, this often involves deals and readers saving money this another way of distribution. I applied this at the bottom of my contents page where I said subscribe to HOLLA Magazine at HOLLAMGINTERNATIONAL .co.uk

Layout, font and colour scheme-Front cover

• Like my title, the layout of my magazine was helped together with the aid of my XXL case study because in my case study the photograph was taken so that text could be placed down either side of the page. My chosen photo of my male model was just right because my model was right in the middle of the page allowing me to place my cover lines on either side of my model. The space available could have been used better though as there are a few patches of space on the page, e.g. the Kendrick Lamar cover line; the name in the cover line could have been bigger so that it took up more space because there was plenty available. Again the idea of having various fonts, font sizes and colours derived from my XXL case study the range of colour makes and fonts makes the magazine more attractive to its audience. I applied the darker colours of red, black and the golden yellow to the white areas and the other colours like white to the black jacket where they were going to be visible. The Stars part in shoot for the stars cover line is golden to resemble that they are stars.

Layout, font and colour scheme-Contents pages

• The line that separates the title form the contents on the contents pages was an idea that I picked up from the XXL magazine, I just made it my own by adding enter and exit to the bold lines. On the second lines which are at the bottom of the page include subscribing details and social networking information. The side on photo allowed me to place my contents information in vertical fashion. Unlike most magazines where the listed content is posted up against the side of a page mine runs freely with the central alignment set to flow with outline of the model. The colour scheme of the magazine was originally supposed to be golden yellow, white and black. This remained the same on the cover page and double page spread but in in the contents page the golden yellow was replaced with red because the double page spread and cover page linked together whilst the contents pages were but wasn’t at the same time as the contents page was and overview of the magazine as a whole and the cover page was showing of the feature article. On the second contents page I wished for there to be more photos that were studio and non-studio based photos to give an better overview of the magazine and make them more interest in it but for non-studio base photos the camera that I borrowed was not good enough for the magazine; I was lucky to get a decent picture of the trainers with it.

Layout, font and colour scheme-double page spread

• The layout of the double page spread is simple compared with the rest of the magazine; the first page is of the model which featured on the front cover with the title at the bottom of the page. The second page is of the journalism. At the top of the page I placed the introduction to the group. Then I placed a quote from the interview below the introduction. Below the quote I placed the question and answer in two separate columns because columns something that many magazines do and it is a clearer layout. The quote is in the golden yellow colour because e it represents that what they say is gold, it is important. I did not put the answers to the questions in golden because I know white is easier to read on a black background as the different is greater than any other colour. The questions were in gold just so that everything fit the colour scheme. The font of the text was between size 11 and 12, not too big and too small, big enough to read and small enough that I can fit enough text on the page. The questions being in italic to make them stand out as much as possible, this is helped by the colour of the questions. This is generally the size used in magazines. I think the layout of my unique; a quote is common in double page spreads, the same with an introduction but not to be laid out in this way.

Models and Props-• The lighting that I was using was ok but one of the soft boxes was broke so I

only had one to use, this would mean that the light would be directed onto one side of the models face as you have seen in the studio photos taken.

• My model typical of a lot of most R&B, Rap and Hip-hop magazines as he is black in race although my model differs from other models based in magazines. Because my feature article is on an upcoming group I wanted the audience to see the artist for who he is and look how he would normally. Unlike many models in magazines where they wear the most attractive and expensive clothes possible; this goes for all my models.

• The shoes that are within the contents page were taken in urban area as u can just about make out from the concrete slabs on the floor and the back ground, I also picked a spot where there was a few leaves on the floor to reflect the time of year. The jeans that the model is wearing are also the coloured jeans would suit this type of/ coloured trainers.

• The photo of the double page spread was a photo caught whilst my model was laughing. On the cover page the look he portrayed a serious almost evil look, this image on the DPS has shown another side to him, the coat resembling the serious working side and the white t-shirt resembling a relaxed

Journalism-

• The journalism in magazines is used to attract and make things seem appealing to the audience the using attractive adjectives e.g. the contents and cover pages, or to relate to the audience.

• On the front cover there is the cover line about the Nas tickets which includes the word exclusive, this means that the tickets are currently only available from the magazine at this time, this would attract people to look for the tickets or article on the tickets, as they flick through the magazine, as they go through it they will most likely come across something that they are interested in and carry on reading the magazine. This is something that is done in most if not all magazines to gain more interest in the magazine. I have also used slang on the cover page and throughout the magazine to relate to my chosen audience. The listed artists that are featuring in the magazine which I have place down the right hand side of the magazine, in the list there are various artists, old, new, commercial, non-commercial, American or British etc. the idea of listing the artists down the right hand side came from XXL.