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

In my magazine I have developed modern ideas from magazines such as Clash and Wire where I have taken their styles of design. This is the style I like along with influences from Q magazine. However in the process of building my magazine I didn’t take a direct magazine to mirror. Instead I took my own ideas and put them with the design style to form something unique to my magazine. This is displayed throughout the magazine as there is a house style used throughout with the use of 3 different texts and only 2 colours. This way I have challenged the media products that are already out there and not directly taken everything from one magazine.

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? The image from the wire magazine seemed better as the background was more interesting than the ones from Clash. Also I preferred the medium shot instead of a portrait are I felt it gave me a background to work with which is also more interesting to look at. The image is probably the biggest reason someone buys the magazine because if they see someone they like then their going to want to know about them. This makes the image extremely important. I had to find someone for my front cover who fitted to the style of magazine that I wanted to do. The model acts well for the front cover due to it being me and I knew what I wanted it to look like in my head better than anyone. The image was suppose to serious and give a meaningful deep mood which I feel is portrayed well, similarly to the Wire magazine here. The clothing used wasn’t suppose to be typical like hoodies or t-shirts, the idea is to be slightly different. This is shown by wearing the wax jacket with the green checked shirt and the black vest instead of the typical fashion at the moment. Also standing with my hands in my pockets gave this idea of nervousness, it’s quite a standard stance to stand in. I also looking straight into the camera to be able to connect with the public better to give the idea that I was confiding in them or to make them wonder why I was in that stance so they’d buy it. The magazine is suppose to be for people such as Creatives and DIYers which I feel I have portrayed this image through the front image and the house style of the magazine. I wanted the magazine to be slightly different from the mainstream magazines such as Q, NME, Kerrang! etc. I wanted to display and a slightly dark and meaningful approach as an artist which I feel is done well through the editing of the photo as well. The photos contrast was increased to give the photo definition in the edges and colours. The brightness was turned up this gave the photo a more moodier approach as the colours were dampened. I wanted the background to have a vintage and whether feel like an abandoned house. I wanted this as it gave it a vulnerable feel to the magazine. It also fitted into the types of people who I wanted to buy the magazine. The weathered bricks give it vintage feel and are a clear background to work with. The lighting on the day was useful as well due to it being overcast. This helped portray the moody image which I wanted. I Feel that the Wire magazine gave a good idea as to what I wanted despite the age difference and colour differences.

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? I liked the style of the Clash masthead and made my own version as I felt it was stylish and bold, catching the publics eye. I wanted my magazine title to grab the publics eyes therefore I chose Clash to replicate as it is a well known music magazine. Most music magazines have one word titles or abbreviations so I decided to chose the word ‘Tremolo’ because as it is one word and is a type of bridge that you can get on a guitar, this felt fitting as a guitar makes music and the magazine is a music magazine. Magazines such as ‘Q’ or ‘NME’ have their masthead in the top left corner of their magazine as well. I decided to go with it going across the top because it is more bold and suits the style of magazine I wanted to have. As you can see there is the Clash masthead vs my masthead. I liked the boldness and thickness of the masthead so I decided to replicate this. This style of text also reflects the style of music in the magazine. The idea being that the music in my magazine is new which is represented by the white and a clean canvas. The white is also a great colour to use because its bold and clean making it bright therefore sticking into the publics head. Therefore my title style implies the music inside because of the whiteness being bold and bright for bring clear and signifying new young music. Despite this as you can see in behind the Clash masthead there is the artists head due to it being a portrait picture. I didn’t want this therefore I steered away from this idea and kept the masthead on its own to give it more prominence.

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? I liked the idea of having a special issue or something that the magazine wouldn’t usually do. This is because when something is unique or ‘special’ then people are more likely to buy it as it will have something inside that’s new. I thought the conventions of this worked well here as it is stylish which as I explained it what I looked for. However when I created my own I felt as though it wasn’t clear enough. That’s why I used the idea from the as I explain later from the ‘12 Free Downloads’. The black blocks behind the text cause it to stand out more and give the words more definition. The reason I put it there is because I felt as though there were to many dark colours on the bottom left like it is in the Clash magazine, therefore I moved it to the orange bricks as they were lighter. On top of this I wanted to put the text on the left because in English we read from left to right and this means that the public would automatically start reading the text on the left. I also placed it higher because I wanted to keep the balance of text right and not have to much text to high or to low in the magazine.

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? I like the text used to display the main story in the magazine as it I felt it was different and a nice text to use. I felt that it connected best with the audience I wanted to attract due to the fact isn’t ‘in your face’ and it’s not massive and bold. Also I didn’t wanted to put any bright colours in it as I didn’t wanted to keep it to the house style of white and black. Bright colours also take away the stylist look I wanted. The white works well as the bottom of the image of my magazine is dark colours therefore the white contrasts this and stands out well. Obviously the ‘Seven Seconds To Shore’ is the band name, this needed to be the biggest part as they are the main feature. The writing underneath which says ‘The waves are yet to come’ is smaller. This is because I wanted it to intrigue the public as to what it meant so they would open up the magazine. The reason I put it in the bottom left is because I felt It fitted well here due to the dark colours and if I put it at the top of the page then there would be to much large text at the top therefore having it at the bottom levels the front cover out. On top of this the ‘Special Issue’ column was already there and I didn’t want to move it as I felt it looked good there.

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? I felt that this idea drew in more buyers as people love free items. Therefore the idea seemed legit to use. I took influence the styling from this magazine as well as I thought it worked well with the blocks behind the writing because it makes the text stand out better and still looks stylist. The reason I put it there is because once I had put it in the ‘Special Issue’ column the other side of the page felt empty without it. Also the reason I didn’t put it higher than it is, is because below it was still to empty. The same goes for when I moved it lower, above it felt empty so in the middle seemed perfect. I left the ‘12’ without a black background as it is much bigger. The reason it is bigger is because when the public see the ‘12’ it draws them over and then they see the words ‘Free Downloads’ which then makes them want to buy the magazine due to the fact they are getting value for money when they buy it.

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? Throughout the magazine keeping a house style is very important if you want it to look stylish. I did this by keeping the same text on the contents page, in the same colour along with keeping the lines underneath the title. I still kept the idea of having boxes behind the text as it made them stand out more and also kept them inline and it helped with the columns. On top of this I wanted there to be a an underlying image instead of a plain back ground. This contributed to the house style due to the fact that I didn’t want there to be any plain background. As you can see the image of Dave Grohl on the left is what I took inspiration from. I liked the idea as I felt it gave the reader an exact idea of what the main story was about. However I wanted to take the colour away from the image. This was because I felt as though this gave it more style and the idea of a contents page is to clearly direct you to certain areas on the magazine. I felt I have done this well as bright colours distract the eye. On top of this increasing the contrast on the photo caused the edges and shades to become more sharp which once again causes the image to stand out more so that it doesn’t just sit in the background. I also decided to move all text behind around the model, this is because I wanted to show the significance of the main story and covering the model up would have taken this away and made them less important.

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? This part of the contents I felt worked well. This is because it shows the main story clear and well due to the fact that its higher than the other texts and its also on its own. I took inspiration from this as I felt it was stylish and connected well with my magazine. At this point I used white text as this met my house style along with the same font. The faint box behind helped to bring out the text so that it stands out more. It also makes it look organised and neat which is what I was trying to achieve. I used bigger text than the rest of the magazine due to the fact I wanted it to stand out more, because it’s the main feature. As you can see as well I added a longer teaser underneath ‘Seven Seconds To Shore’ this also shows the importance of the feature and draws in the reader.

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? In the feature part of the magazine I liked the idea here as it I felt it was organised and clear which I what I wanted my contents to look like. Also the fact that that its stylish is pleasing to the eye and what I wanted. Also I took inspiration from the text as I felt it went well with my magazine therefore I went ahead and did mine. I had to use the features on the front of the magazine as this was what the magazine is about. Sticking to the house style is important and this way of presenting the text is what I wanted to use to attract my target audience by using the same text. Also once gain using the vague box behind the text helped to bring it out more and separate the text from the image. On top of this I put a small version of my masthead ‘TREMOLO’ in the top corner of each page, here it is at the top right. This works well by keeping the magazine to its house style. The reason I put the two columns on the right is because wanted people to see the cover feature first due to the fact in English we read from left to right.

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? I wanted the images of the other artists to sit in the in the same way that the main image with the black and white with high contrast. This is because this is the look I as going for and these artists look like typical for the image I was trying to portray to my audience by making them wear brands and clothing that was vintage looking such as Levi’s and the floral t-shirt. Similarly to this magazine on the left I wanted the images to be subtle and neat with no major outlines. I felt as though this worked well as they are evenly distributed around the page. I wanted them at the top due to the fact that there is the main image at the bottom of the page. This way the page looks in proportion.

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? I decided to put this found advert in the magazine as I thought it helped to attract my target audience. I used this specific advert due to the fact that it’s a festival line up which is the sort of thing which DIYers and Creatives do in their spare time. Also the fact that it’s a alternative small indie rock festival also is the sort of target audience which I wanted to attract.

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? The text in my double page spread took inspiration from Clash. Mainly in the idea of the text. I liked the way the text stood out in front of the text using the boxes behind it as this was one of my original ideas from the cover. Therefore arranged my own ideas and formed them into an interview. I felt that this made the text stand out more and gave it a stylist bold way to stand out in front of the main image. Also placing the text at each side of the pages gave room for the big image to clearly show that it’s the double page spread. I wanted the boxed to just cover the writing as I wanted to keep as much of the main image showing as possible. Also making the questions of the interview bold gave it a clear outline and sequence to the magazine.

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? I liked the way this title spread across the two pages and how bold it was. There for I adapted this to my own taste. I wanted the title to clearly show what the article was about in a neat and bold way whilst sticking to my house style. I Did this by using the same font and black text with a white box behind it as this stylish idea is what I was looking for. Spacing out the text across the page clearly caused it to become more sophisticated and once again all the text across this page is the sort of style which Creatives and DIYers like.

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? Finally at this point I wanted to show the whole band which I had been advertising throughout the front cover and contents page. I did this to keep the reader intrigued so that they would buy the magazine and then look for the double page spread. I wanted the image to look moody and dark as this was the image that the band I wanted to show. I feel like it did this well by choosing to take the photo at night in an empty car park as this is an alternative place to hang around. Also I wanted the band to look slightly rebellious by being somewhere, where they shouldn’t be. Increasing the contrast and decreasing the brightness helped to portray to the reader this dark moody band. Also the choice of clothing was made to be alternative to suit DIYers and Creatives. This was done by wearing tight jeans, baggy coats, busy t-shirts and parkas. Also the idea of messy hair helped to portray this. Moving the model in the middle slightly to the left was also to help so that when you opened the magazine he wasn’t lost in the fold. I didn’t take this image from any magazine that I have found however I used my own ideas to create something unique which once again is to help attract the target audience I wanted.