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

2. DESIGNING MY MAGAZINE
When designing my magazine I had to consider the codes and conventions of other
magazine in my chosen genre, but also of magazines in general. After researching
magazines such as KERRANG! Q! and NME, I decided to focus mainly on NME as I felt it
was the most appropriate for what I had in mind, although I did really like the layout
style of Q magazine-especially the contents page.
NME magazine in particular was similar to my magazine, but I feel that mine covered
the whole gender audience, as I feel that NME is some times more gender bias for boys.
With NME I felt that their contents page was crammed with information and with their
basic colour scheme it sometimes didn’t emphasise the different stories-therefore I
tried to adapt this into my work with the block colours and strokes.
The photography techniques of NME were also very interesting. They always featured
artists that are popular and well known. As for the pose/angle they’re very varied, for
example the majority of cover photos are just artists face, or a mid-body shot-usually not
with a prop(instrument) which supported my idea of using just a head shot. I feel that this
makes the audience focus more on the artist themselves. I like the idea of using just a
headshot because it made it much less cluttered and more professional rather than a
mediocre pose with a guitar.

3. INSPIRATION-OTHER MAGAZINES

4. I used a colour that was bold and would create a
contrast but look professional. Its not only
eyecatching but it fits in with the image because of
the natural colours the artist is wearing. Overall I feel
it’s very eyecatching, but it’s also easy on the eye and
it is not TOO in your face
Here is an example from NME. I loved the big bold
text and how the colour scheme is only 2 colours
but works well the colour of the artists hair.
Furthermore I like that this is a headshot, because it
really focuses on the artist and other backgrounds
are distracting around it.
Although I used a similar style, I used a wider range of colours for my colour scheme as I thought
the range of colours are much more eye catching and appealing than just the strict black and white
scheme on the NME magazine example, as I feel texts and colours are major selling points of the
magazine.. As for the photograph, after researching and looking through a lot of examples I found
that the headshot was the most used on NME. I adapted this into my work, because I feel it's
much more eyecatching and adds a personal tone to it-like the artist is looking out at the buyer.
Again I thought carefully about the clothes he wore and I feel through the his clothes I have
portrayed the 'indie' look, which I think will attract both genders as it will attract boys for sort of
'fashion tips' and girls because of the 'heart throb' factor.
Overall I feel the layout of my magazine fits the style and the genre that I aimed for and has a real
quirky look and feel. I think that my magazine reaches out well to my target audience, both
genders and all the stories are appropriate and appealing for both genders such as in the category
of the types of stories included. I took inspiration from NME, Q and KERRANG mostly as they are
very well known and popular.

5. Here is my magazine article/double page spread. Again with everything else I did a lot of research into
contents pages and what I had to do to make it stand out. I needed to make my pages look cool and
original, matching the scheme of my contents and front cover and the 'indie' genre. Not only this, I had to
make it appealing to both genders and with an appropriate story. When researching I found that usually
on the left there was a big picture of the artist, sometimes left blank or summarising/highlighting the
story. I then adapted this into my work as its a real convention of a music magazine. therefore will attract
in the audience and also looks professional.
The photograph I used gave it a nice edge, especially with the use of the guitar as often, some double
page spreads dont include props, just posing or a close up of the artist/band-the photograph aswell also
shows off my photography skills with the use of depth of field. Also, the image on the right, I decided to
take a risk by replacing the usual text or image of the artist with an album cover as you dont see this
usually-again I took the photograph and edited it myself on photoshop. As for the font I kept it simple
and consistent throughout the whole spread as I felt this kept it looking much neater and more
professional.
When deciding what style of article to do I reseached a lot by reading magazines and seeing which
captured my attention the most-so I decided to do an interview as it's interesting getting to know the
artist and its a really big eye catcher for fans as they want to read about him.

6. From NMEs old layout I
really liked the bar of
artists down to side-so
without totally plagiarising
I adapted my own style
and applied my theme of
colours of the red, as I felt
this was more eyecatching
and lively than the black
and white. Furthermore I
added more categories in,
such as 'FESTIVAL GUIDE'
as this topic came up as
favourable in my market
research questionnaire
With my contents page, I used my college magazine and the feedback I got to help produce my music
magazine, which came in handy and worked well. I took inspiration from both NME and Q! Magazine
as I felt that these were the 2 magazines that really stood out for me as they use a variation of sizes in the
photographs which I think is an important factor because thats what really catches the audiences eyes. So
I decided to adapt this into my work, making there be a large, centre photo that would really attract the
audience into looking at it-especially with the use of the fish eye as it gives off a cool vibe.
When looking at Q , although I know its a highly successful magazine there was a variation of fonts
used and I didn't really like this factor because I think it looked a little messy, so I decided to keep mine
all the same font to keep it looking more professional.
My aim of my page was to keep it looking minimalistic but crammed with imformation but so its not
too busy. From taking inspriration from Q and NME I think I did this well, espeshially with the use of
the colour scheme and the bold block titles which gives it a different look making it more eyecatching.
The topics on my page were mainly based upon ideas from research and other magazines, such as
album/artist reviews, quizes/competitions etc.

7. From NMEs old layout I
really liked the bar of
artists down to side-so
without totally plagiarising
I adapted my own style
and applied my theme of
colours of the red, as I felt
this was more eyecatching
and lively than the black
and white. Furthermore I
added more categories in,
such as 'FESTIVAL GUIDE'
as this topic came up as
favourable in my market
research questionnaire
With my contents page, I used my college magazine and the feedback I got to help produce my music
magazine, which came in handy and worked well. I took inspiration from both NME and Q! Magazine
as I felt that these were the 2 magazines that really stood out for me as they use a variation of sizes in the
photographs which I think is an important factor because thats what really catches the audiences eyes. So
I decided to adapt this into my work, making there be a large, centre photo that would really attract the
audience into looking at it-especially with the use of the fish eye as it gives off a cool vibe.
When looking at Q , although I know its a highly successful magazine there was a variation of fonts
used and I didn't really like this factor because I think it looked a little messy, so I decided to keep mine
all the same font to keep it looking more professional.
My aim of my page was to keep it looking minimalistic but crammed with imformation but so its not
too busy. From taking inspriration from Q and NME I think I did this well, espeshially with the use of
the colour scheme and the bold block titles which gives it a different look making it more eyecatching.
The topics on my page were mainly based upon ideas from research and other magazines, such as
album/artist reviews, quizes/competitions etc.