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

Front cover.

My magazines just like every one, has a bold, clear masthead easy for the audience to see. I am following this convention as it is bold, and it is very easy to see and read over a bright blue sky background. My magazine’s typography and font also relates to a metal magazine convention as it is jagged, ruthless and sinister looking, scary too. I have used a font for the masthead called ‘God of War’ this is a great font to use as it is clear that my magazine is for fans of the metal and rock genre, with the fans and audience’s behaviour, and personality traits linking to the jagged, dangerous look to it. The typical thing that is featured in all magazines is that there is a main bold image that is placed on the page, that stands out and is bigger than anything else on the page. It’s there to stand out and to catch the audience’s attention. I have placed my image in the centre of the page as it is prime focal point. I made it slightly blend in with the masthead to make it look more effective. My model is also using direct address, giving it a more personal feel as it looks as though he is looking directly at you. I have not included any secondary images at all, although other magazines of my genre use them, I want to stand out from the rest and for mine to look different from the rest. I think it also has more of an impact, as just once image captures the attention more, and the eye won’t be distracted by anything else. I have also followed the standard, typical style and conventional layout of my magazine, placing my masthead at the top of the page, however not too big, my main image in the centre as my focal point and my cover lines to both sides of the image, the three columns include my cover lines and my main image, this makes my magazine look more interesting along with being able to be easier to read and understand. Along with looking more eye catching and professional. In every magazine they use cover lines, here I have used them in both sides of my page. I have made them different colours to stand out from the page and for them to contrast to the background image. They follow my colour scheme of white, black and red. They also stand out and contrast the most which makes the magazine look more appealing, as the page looks colourful and interesting. I have used a sub heading and a bottom cover line that sums up the magazine, it’s the strap line of the magazine and this is what the audience will remember the most about it. I used red for my sub heading as the black and white colours on my models hooded sweatshirt contrast with the colour well, making it easier to read, I placed it just above the centre as this draws attention to it without getting in the way of other text and the main image My magazine has represented my model in a certain way. It is vital as the audience needs something interesting to look at that stands out and is dominant in contrast with the other features of the page. I have used an up and coming artist so that people would not necessarily recognise him but would be interested in reading on to see what he is involved in and who he is. The model’s clothing, props is conventional and typical of the rock and metal genre, wearing a band t shirt, accompanied by his long hair, baggy jeans and serious expression. I have made my camera take the shot at a low angle, giving the model Conor a powerful and dominating appearance as he is looking down on the camera and audience, representing and symbolising his new found power. He is clearly not totally serious as he has a crutch in his hand which contrasts with his serious expression