1. Online Magazine Press LO: To examine the pre-release material and predict what you may be asked.

2. Have a look at your pre-release. In your book, I want you to write a bullet point list of things that you may be asked to do in the exam, based on the information that you have been given. Ideas:

3. Online magazine pages It says at the bottom of the letter... This makes it clear that you will need to design a web page for an online magazine. We have not spent much time looking at these so we are going to do some research into them today.

4. The PP Our exam prep is going to take the form of a Powerpoint, that way you can use it to revise from easily. Today, we are just going to get a flavour for online magazines so I want you to spend a bit of time browsing some and then create a radial analysis highlighting some of the conventions.

5. Online magazines to check out... hiphopdx.com mixmag.net houseplanet.dj lyricaltherapy.com unitedreggae.com thesoulsurvivors.co.uk revolvermag.com nme.com kerrang.com mojo4music.com qthemusic.com spin.com pitchfork.com newcountrystar.com Or you could just Google any genre of music and add “online magazine” to the end of your search.

6. When researching/analysing consider... The layout of the online magazines. The multimedia aspects of the page. The interactive elements of the page. The fonts, colours and text sizes used. Advertising on the site. Images and the connotations that they have. The target audience for the pages. I want you to produce two radial analyses of contrasting online magazine pages Finally, I want you to produce a slide that bullet points the conventions of the online magazines, i.e. the things that they both have in common.

7. Bold masthead in a thick, masculine font. The black colouring helps the masthead stand out from the background and also connotes with genre. The central, and only, image displays a heavy metal guitarist. The knowledgeable target demographic will recognise the guitarist and the image also helps to attract the significant number of fans of the genre that are also musicians. The latest news links are prominent both in location and colour. They will appeal to the audience’s desire to be knowledgeable about the genre. Social media links are displayed using their instantly recognisable logos. However, these have been distressed slightly to appeal to the target demographic. Search bar is prominent at the top of the page suggesting that visitors expect the ability to find what they want quickly and easily. Prominent direct link advert to an album that fits directly with the genre of music the target demographic will like. Comprehensive list of multimedia links which are easily navigated and instantly accessible. Secondary list of links increase the multimedia content yet further, the audience expects a wide range of content. The colour scheme is basic, using only black, white and red. The black and red connote violence and destruction and the white helps them to stand out.

8. Conventions you have found Name at top left. Current news located near the top, to the side. Search Bar. Membership facility. Colour linked to genre. Simple, contrasting colour schemes. Lots of multimedia links found at the top, under the masthead. Images link to story. (Large main image linked to main story) Multi social media links often found at the top right. Video links to genre specific content. Links to reviews.

9. Updatable Online Magazine Page: The Conventions Page Header/MastheadSearch boxSocial Media Links Global Navigation Genre specific advertising Main Image/Usually Linked to Main Article Secondary Navigation News Bar Genre specific music news Album reviews Collated news list (chronological order). Secondary Images (article links).

10. Once you complete your analyses… I want you to choose a genre of music and begin to plan your web page. Sketch a layout. Start putting together colour and font boards. Use you list of conventions to decide what must on your page. Start to research the concept of an “online talent search.” What are the aims of the talent search? How do you take part? How do they decide on a winner? What is the potential outcome for the winner? Create a slide of research into Twitter. What is it? How does it work? What benefits does it have to an operator of an online web page? How could you use it on your web page?