'In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? '
Front Cover
The first hurdle that I had to get over when creating my
magazine was the title. When I personally think of titles of magazine I think,
creative, fun and bold, so this is why I chose the word ‘Bounce’ to represent
my magazine. It depicts the magazine is interesting and is a word that a
majority of people would link to dance music; this would hopefully attract the
attention of my target audience as they can link the masthead to the content of
the magazine. I have seen in many magazines that the content or ‘genre’ or
magazine is usually shown in the title which is why I chose to do this also. In
many of the magazines that I have analysed I saw that the companies had put the
masthead at the top of the page in the centre, which is what I chose to do as
when the magazine is on the shelf, my target audience will still be able to see
it. Therefore, as the masthead would be the very first thing my audience see, I
was committed to making it look outstanding; which is why I chose to have a
cold font with and interesting twist as the heart being an ‘o’; this will make
my magazine look more intriguing and so the reader will want to buy it. I would
describe the font as being bubbly which is great for my magazine as it is
rounded, much like a ball, which people link to ‘bouncing’, therefore by
choosing this font, it will attract the attention of viewers. I have seen in a
fair few magazines that the creators like to use primary colours to stand out
against the rest of the magazine cover. In addition to these conventions I chose
to use white and red as I felt these were two brilliantly contrasting colours
that complement each other and are the first colours someone would see when
look through the heaps of magazines on the shelves.
The images on the front cover and inside the magazine are
(to myself) one of the most important factors to think about when creating a
magazine as this is how companies directly target the audience. It is because
of this that I chose to really concentrate on my main cover image. Magazines
usually use famous or well-known people to model for the front cover of their
magazine; however, for someone like me, this just wasn’t possible; therefore, I
decided to use someone with the same unique style and look, as the target
audience. This would make them feel personally targeted by the magazine,
attracting them to buy it to know more about the content and read the articles.
I asked the model to wear something bright, as if she was going to a festival
and her makeup was well-done up, resembling that of most festival-goers. The
colours that she wore fitted perfectly with the colour scheme that I had chosen
as they were bright and pink, which is stereotypically, associated with a
‘girls’ colour. The reason that I did this was because many magazines use the
colours in their photos to represent the target audience for the magazine and
pull in the ideal readers. The pose that my model is in does not typically
challenge the conventions of a magazine, however the model is not making
eye-contact with the camera, which most magazines choose to avoid; I did this
as it makes the magazine look a little different and so it will stand out from
all the other magazines. The picture is edited to look slightly older or
‘indie’ as the target audience would often refer to it as. This makes the
picture stand out to the target audience and they will know that this magazine
is aimed towards them.
The cover-line of my magazine cover is clearly in a bolder
font which is different than all the other fonts on the front of the magazine
so that it clearly anchors the main image and the reader can see what the main
article is about. I chose a plain and simple font for the written content on
the cover as it is easy to read and will attract the target audience as it is
girly and elegant. Finally, the colours I chose for the titles of articles are
just plain black; this may come as a surprise to the reader as black is a dull
colour, so this would not go with the conventions of a magazine, however I
really did think this was the best colour to contrast the pink with as it gives
a sultry look, which shows the reader the magazine is for the older girls in
their teens, not the younger ones. Everything that I have chosen to place on my
magazine cover I tried to fit with the conventions of a magazine, however if
they challenged them, I made sure that I had a justified answer as to why I
ignored them on that feature.
Contents Page
The images that I chose for my contents page are full of
people (mainly girls) in festival clothing with directly relates to the content
and genre of the magazine which is a common conventions of magazines as this
will make the reader understand that the magazine is all about festivals and
dance music. I did not need to edit the pictures as they were taken on a
disposable camera so they came out very unique which will stand out when
compared to other magazine contents pages. All of the images are bright and
airy with ambiguous background which makes the magazine seem jam-packed with
information and articles for the target audience to read. As my cover model is
one of the main features of the magazine I chose to include her in the contents
page as-well. This sort of goes against the conventions of a magazine however
some do choose to do this. I did this because I believe it emphasises the
importance of the article and shows the model in a different perspective,
having fun with her friends, which gives the magazine a positive vibe.
The contents page heading is on the top left of the page (a
lot of magazines do this), to clearly tell the reader what date the magazine
was issued and that this is where they can find the information about what is
inside the magazine; in addition to this, the fonts are bold and plain to show
this is important information. Most magazines keep to a colour scheme so this
is why I did the same by having the red backgrounds and writing. The font of
the contents page features and regulars are much the same and are soft with no
sharp edges as I wanted to emphasise that the magazine is for girls in their
teens. Largely, I kept the text to the left-hand-side of the contents page as I
feel this is where we as people start reading form so this would pull in the
target audience to want to know what the catchy articles are about in full.
Double-Page-Spread
The written content of the double page spread was a big area
that I needed to ensure that I got right; this is because it is the main
feature of my magazine and will be a big part of why the target audience will
pick up my magazine. This needed some serious research. So, after I had look at
some contents pages that had inspired me to get myself together and write the
perfect piece, I decided to have a large picture on the left side of my double
page spread, this would take up the entire A4 side as it is the person that the
reader has been waiting to read about! Many magazines choose to have one side
of their article picture-based, but it is not a necessity as every-one has
different preferences. There are a variety of different ways that I could have
set out my written text on the double-page spread but I decided to do it in an
interview form. This goes with the conventions of a magazines as this makes the
reader feel as though the ‘main person’ featuring in the magazine is talking
directly to them, this will make them feel personally involved with the
magazine giving them a sense of wanting to read more. I felt that the best way
to have my double-page spread was to have the text in columns to show
organisation and make the presentation look good. The main image is in black
and white with the lips being in a bright red colour; I did this because the
red lipstick links to the red in the colour scheme and is very girly. It will
also remind the reader of the summer days at festivals, listening to dance
music, which will link back to the genre of the magazine. The model’s hair is
slightly wavy as this implies she goes to camping festivals often, where there
are no resources to straighten hair, giving her a natural, airy look. She is
posed, head facing sideways, looking towards the text compelling the reader to
want to know more about this person as she looks mysterious. Magazines often
show their model on the double page spread as being mysterious and sultry as
this is a common conception as to how women are portrayed in modern day media.
Next, I debated on what the large font should be and what it
should say. Deciding to have just ‘Rianna Caira’ as the main text as it does
not take any attention away from the actual text itself; I then chose to have a
little enticing line underneath to persuade the reader that this is the article
that they want to read. Many magazines have the ‘famous’ person’s name in bold
writing as the first thing the audience will see, to show they are important
and to excite the reader. The font that I chose for the main title of the
double page spread links back to the main front cover as it also had a heart as
one of the letters; however, on this page the font makes the writing look more
personalised as if it was a signature, which is more fulfilling for the reader
to look at. I developed the common convention of having the famous model’s name
written in bold on the double-page spread as mine is much subtler and shows a
more girly side to the cover model, rather than the common conception that women
have to be empowering to men to be able to get their way. The font in which I
put my description as to what the article is about, is in a plain text, leaving
the last word ‘lover’ in the title’s funkier text. This is contrasting and makes
the page look more interesting which will stand out when looking at all the
articles in different magazines.
No comments:
Post a Comment