• In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of realmedia products?

Throught this project i have kept to the same stylistic principles as that of authentic print production magazines. Through my research i was able to gather the background infomation and principles of the conventions of media texts in order to replicate and personalize into my own ideas and designs. In this project i have used many conventions that can be seen throughout todays media print works. In the Front cover i have used a bold, stand out masthead that is the ideal of all print productions. A strong image is the centerfold of the front cover and is the main attraction of the front page. By using an attractive girl, its eye catching and graps readers attention. I got my model to look at the camera in order to interact with the camera in a sense so that her eyes are cleary visible giving off interaction. The image overlaps the title which is used throughout magazines monthly, a good example of this is FHM as the logo is clearly world renowned and therefore everybody recognises it as FHM just by the little bit of font on show. Ive used different ways to show the main features of the magazine by using circles which FHM also do and + signs to give readers the sense of "WOW theres more" i.e they think theyre getting more for their money. 

In the contents page i had the tile in the top left hand corner, leaving more room to showcase special features onto the page. I used a red and white colourway to produce the title in as i believe it to be the two best striking colours and is used in everyday media marketing such as coca cola as the colours are eye catching and vivid. I cut out a guitair and overlapped the title a little in the corner to give it that quirky vibe and to stopm the page from looking to boxy and simplistic. I found that in most magazines a slogan was produced on the contents page aswell and therefore used a black liner heading underneath to showcase my slogan giving it that proffessional outlook. By doing so this gave me three predominant colours to choose from when designing my contents page, a habit that magazine pages have to keep the page looking professional yet simplistic and attractive. This therefore is the approach i have used in order to create a neat looking page. i have also kept the same font variations evident throughout the page, using the same font for my number pages as my contents title, this gives the page some order. i created boarders for the pictures to go under creating a break up from the white background, this also uses up more space and gives the picture more meaning, something that NME use in their contents page. This effect works well and i kept in conjunction with the colourways that i chose to use. I then boxed out a features column where the main features and others are listed with a short description keeping writing to a minimum therefore placing more focus on the outlook and pictures of the contents page, a general convention for mainstream magazine covers alike.

The double page spread starts off with a large titles again, yet this time i have centered it rather than aligning it to the left. As its a band name i wanted it to create the effect of almost headlining a gig on a music poster. I used a stencil type font to create the title to symbolise stamping their name on the music world, a trait most magazines following by using puns or play on words to symbolise different meanings. I used a black background due to the genre of the music, predominantely being rock music, therefore giving the readers a sense of what they represent. Using red heightens the black and creates a sort of old school punk rock effect vibe which i thought related to the band perfectly. I wrapped the text accordingly around an image i placed in the bottom left hand corner to create a less formal page, i wanted tis image to represent a scruffy look and feel, i placed a white lining around the image to give off the view that it had been glued down to take the page away from its formal state. I stuck with white and red for the text throughout to give a sense of order on the page with the red representing the questions being asked and white the answers. The picture i chose to take up the whole of the other page, magazine features are becoming more like this way as its easier to read and view from a readers point of view. As it splits up the page and therefore doesnt become too cramped and sore on the eyes, this was something i wanted to go for on my contents page but didnt feel it worked for a double page spread. The picture i edited to black and white creating the flag colourful to translate to "the cream of the british crop" therefore recognizing to audiences this is a british band. Also it ties in nicely with the colourways on show therefore blending in well. i feel the blackness of the photo makes it blend in smoothly with the background on the other page a common theme ive found in magazines in the past.