In what ways does you media

product use, develop or challenge

forms or conventions of real media

products?

Codes & Conventions

I started by researching existing products and analysing the

codes and conventions within rock magazines. These included

recognising why certain fonts, colour schemes, photography and

writing styles as well as other conventions were used to draw in

the target audience of the product and why they would appeal to

them. I used Kerrang!, NME and Rock Sound to investigate

what codes and conventions I should use in my own rock

magazine to create a believable and realistic product.

I found that all the rock magazines I researched have some form of distressed title font and so I decided

this would be a good place to start in replicating this for ACID magazine.

The font that I used for the title of my own magazine

is distressed, split and broken which is quite similar

to that of Kerrang! Magazine. I used this particular

font, called Northern Territories, because I felt that

this would draw in my target audience as it clearly

indicates the genre of the magazine from a glance.

The title font for Kerrang! magazine is cracked

and has a distinct rock feel to the font. This is so

that the audience can easily identify the gene of

the magazine. This shows the violent edge of the

genre and shows the hard edge of rock.

Although Rock Sound magazine has a slightly

more subdued title than that of Kerrang! and my

own magazine, it still influenced my choices. This

is because the font is subtly distressed. Also, the

body text font is more simple than that of the title

and so I used this technique in my own magazine

Fonts

Colour Scheme

The colour scheme of my magazine features the colours red, black, white and yellow.

This is because in my magazine research I found that these colours were the most

widely used throughout most rock magazines as they often connote certain things to

the audience which helps them to immediately identify the genre.

connotes death, power and formality

connotes blood, passion, violence and rebellion

connotes purity, goodness and positivity

connotes energy, happiness and intellect. However, sometimes

yellow can be a disturbing colour. I used it as a contrast towards

the darker colour scheme

• In my colour scheme I went against some aspects of the normal conventions of rock magazines as black often connotes

formality and correctness, whereas this rock magazine breaks the boundaries and rebels against society as this is appealing

to the target audience as they don‟t want to follow the crowd.

• Black and red were featured heavily in every rock magazine I researched and so I decided this colour scheme would work

for my own magazine to make sure the audience could immediately identify the genre when the magazine reaches the

shelves.

• I used yellow to accent the important selling points of the magazine and the things that the audience would notice the most

while glancing at the cover of the magazine:

Photography

Double Page SpreadThe photography in magazines such as Kerrang! and NME are often

very high contrast to make the blacks stand out dramatically against

white and lighter colours. I adjusted the contrast for my own photos

in Photoshop to better suit the look of the magazine as the models

were wearing very dark colours. I felt that, compared to Kerrang!

magazine, my own images didn‟t need a higher saturation and more

colours – I think the dark look of the clothing and mise-en-scene

worked with the overall colour scheme. The poses were fairly

relaxed and eye-level with the camera giving the impression that the

audience are their equals. This draws the audience in as they like to

think that they are connected on a personal level to the band.

However, the „photoshoot‟ look of the main image gives the

impression of being serious about their music to the audience so it

appears they have a passion.

Front Cover

The front cover of my magazine is very similar in style to

Kerrang magazine. This is because I felt like Kerrang

represented rock magazines efficiently and so used some of

their conventions in my own magazine. I had one of my main

subjects look menacing towards the camera to better portray

the violent, passionate emotions of the band members which

would appeal to the audience. The image is quite high-key to

connote intensity and it is also high contrast which makes the

image stand out and give the clothing a dark appearance as

fans of the magazine would often wear black to form their own

identity. Having the camera at a slightly low angle makes the

band members appear powerful which would make the

audience idolize them and looking into the camera helps to

create a sense of unity between them and the audience so

they can feel like the audience are personally involved.

Writing Style & Cover LinesFrom my existing magazine research I found that the articles and cover lines featured in rock magazines

are often very informal and contain words which wouldn‟t normally be used in magazines, such as

profanities and other content which would be inappropriate for children (such as sex or drugs). These

help to make the audience feel free from censoring which often happens in other genres of magazines

such as pop, and so makes them appear more independent against the bigger media.

The words above feature in my double page spread and follows

the conventions of rock magazines by including profanities which

are relevant to the article “not taking anyone‟s s**t” which inspires

the audience to be whoever they want to be and don‟t think of the

consequences. This also links into the rebellious nature of rock

enthusiasts.

Words such as “mosh pits” are specialist terminology/language

which only fans of the genre would understand and are only

relevant to rock fans and so makes the audience feel more

unique.

The language featured on my cover lines and the contents

page of my magazine is also very specialist as only fans of

rock music would know who “Jack” was in All Time Low and

that “American Tragedy” was an album by Hollywood

Undead. This also follows the conventions because the

audience feel like the magazine is talking personally to them.

Barcode & Page Numbers

A barcode is another convention for any magazine that is going to be published

and so I placed this one on my front cover smaller enough so that it isn‟t really

noticeable and takes away from the main image but large enough for it to be

scanned.

Also, on my contents page I placed a QR Code which can be scanned by a

smart phone or QR Reader which can unlock extra content online through the

website attached to the magazine. These are fairly new to magazines and let

the audience have a better and more fuller experience while reading about the

bands they love.

Page numbers are something that I placed on all my pages as they are a

convention of magazines as well. I made the text noticeable and highlighted

the page number as well as adding the magazine‟s name as this is often done

in other rock magazines.