QUESTION 1

In what ways does your music magazine use, develop or challenge forms and

conventions of real music magazines?

Form and Conventions

The forms and conventions of an indie magazine are:- Minimalistic writing - Pale colours (3 main colours)- Mid-shot Central image- Plugs- Masthead- Barcode

Conform

I have decided to conform to using 3 main pale colours. This is because the pale colours are very subtle and draw more attention to the images and text but also fill the blank space making sure that the magazine doesn’t look bare. I have also decided to follow the minimalistic text layout because the audience I am aiming my magazine at [aged 15-25] may be put off by large portions of text.

Conventions such as the barcode and the masthead are crucial for a magazine front cover however the way they are presented are more flexible. Indie magazines tend to have bold and larger mastheads and I have decided to follow this and have a red/white masthead that stands out on the green background.Plugs are not necessary, but fairly common in Indie magazines and give a large amount of information about what will be within. This is why I decided to use them on my magazine front cover.

Challenge

The NME magazines tend to have a skyline, this is to give a trip of information about what is included. I did not think this was necessary, and when I tried, it cluttered my magazine front cover and I prefer the look without. Another convention for Indie magazines are flashes. I have challenged this convention as I preferred the look of all my info being in a plug, and not in a flash. Also, I thought that the flash took away too much attention from the rest of the magazine.

Forms and Conventions

- Central image- black/white filters- Drop caps- columns- Pull quotes- headings-Graphic features

Conventions

Most magazines have columns, however some decide to have text boxes instead. I decided to follow the convention and use columns because I feel that they make the text look tidier and easier to read. I have also followed the convention of using a heading. I decided this because they make it easy to understand what the bulk of the text is about and make it clear about what you will read.

Challenges

I have chosen not to use drop-caps as it just doesn’t look right in the column of text, I much prefer the look of text as it is.I have also chosen not to use pull quotes as I think it makes the portion of text look cluttered and messy. I much prefer a clean, simple piece of text and think that it is much more enjoyable to look at and more importantly to read.

Forms and Conventions

- Features- Reviews- Subheadings- Central image- Page numbers- Date

Conventions

Subheadings are a must, therefore I feel it was crucial to have it to clarify that it is the contents page. The central image is a good way to create and entertaining background whilst still being able to read the text. Page numbers are a must. They allow the reader to find out what page each article is on and they are what makes a contents page so important.

Challenges

I challenged the convention of having the date on the contents page. This is because I already have the date on my front cover page and do not feel that is necessary to have it again on the inside of the magazine.