in what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

My article follows the conventions of a real magazine as I have included several things you would expect to see for example: kickers, pull-quote and a drop cap. I have a connection with my front cover as I have used exactly the same size and colour of font and the same font for ‘The Clones.’ My colours throughout the magazine have stayed the same as red, white and black. The image I have used has relevance with the interview I have used, simply as it is an interview about the band featured. The image also shows them smoking which is mentioned in the interview and links back to the front cover and a sense of rebellion. The background of the picture isn’t an ordinary background you would normally see a band photo shoot. This portrays to the audience that the band is quite rebellious and gives an insight into what they do in their free time.

My cover follows the conventions of a real magazine as I have included several things you would expect to see for example I have my title at the top which is the biggest font on the cover which makes it stand out the most, I have included 3 colours red, black and white. I’ve used 3 fonts. I’ve included a website, date of issue and price. I used an image which is different to the typical main cover image as I have no eye contact to the audience so this shows rebellion. I have included a pull quote from the double page spread onto the cover which gives an insight to what is inside. I have featured the band that is being interviewed and the image on the cover. There is different band’s mentioned on the cover to show what is inside.

My contents follows the conventions of a real magazine as I have included several things you would expect to see for example i have used the same 3 colours red, black and white. My pictures are in grey scale because my magazine’s audience profile is aimed to more arty and cultural people. I have included regulars and features which every magazine has, but I have also included at the bottom a picture of the cover and included who has done what in the magazine. I have used the same font and colour of the title which is on the cover. I have included a band index too and made it look more professional compared to my old contents page.

Looking back at your preliminary task (the college magazine task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

Compared to my preliminary task my main task is more developed in photo shop skills and has a more professional outcome, this is because for my preliminary task I used paint to make my front cover as I didn’t understand photo shop. My photo shop skills have improved as I can now easily create pieces that look presentable. I found it hard at first to crop images from their backgrounds and replace the image to a new background. I found this really hard to start off with until I practised and made progress. I experimented with different fonts and merged pictures together. Compared to my preliminary task my front cover for my magazine has improved compared to my student magazine as I have creatively applied more to my cover and have different layers to my cover whereas my student cover has a main picture with text in speech bubbles.

finished contents page and article

finished front cover

These are some fonts i would want to use for my Masthead.

I used Blogger to publish all of my writing and pictures of my magazine, even all of my 'Flicker' items. Its really easy to use and the hompage is very well set out.

Advantages- Well set out. Post anything you want.

Disadvantages- Its owned by Google so your account can be deleted at anytime.

I used Photoshop to produce my magazine, it was easy to layer my photos and text and to edit my pictures. Also in my double page spread i added more smoke coming out of the females mouths for a better effect.

Advantages- You can learn so much from it. It’s easy to crop people out of photos and add them into other photos with a professional look using the ‘magic wand’ tool and the ‘eraser’. Its gives the overall finished project a professional look. If something went wrong or didn’t work out well you can undo it at any time using the ‘History’ tool.

Disavantages- Its quite hard to get the hang off at first, it would be quicker to learn if someone was there to guide you. It costs alot. Takes up alot of memory on your hardrive.