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

Looking at tuition magazines I have discovered a few similarities within them, the magazines i have looked at are total guitar, guitar techniques and guitarist. the similarities are endless, the first main point is that all 3 magazines are published by future plc.

In terms of the structure and layout of the magazines, they are all the same. The font type for the mast head is very similar this being a white serif font. The images used may look different as they are of "different bands" but they are still all the same full body shot photos with the front man holding a guitar. the overall layout is very similar with the screamers, main cell and cover lines all being placed within the same spaces for example The main sell is placed to the left hand side of the cover and is in the same font and colour as the mast head, making it as much of a focal point as this and this is the same on all the magazines, its almost as if the covers for all are based on the same template and the only difference is the bands within them. so it is this template that i have attempted to follow

however there are times when i feel it challenges the forms and conventions usually used, according to Susan Haywood genres are not static but shifting and slippery, evolving over time. And this is exactly what i feel my magazine is doing. for instance for the masthead i have used a combination of both serif and sans serif fonts within the masthead, which is rarely if ever seen within the type of magazine that I am producing. The reason I used both is because generically serif fonts are aimed at the older more mature generation and sans serif fonts are aimed at the younger more modern generation, and i felt by mixing the two it would create slight controversy but at the same time produce a magazine that is aimed at a wider audience.






Secondly I have designed my centre spread to appeal more to the female audience. I have used particular techniques like choosing a font that has feminine attributes such as appearing thin, delicate and neat. The lighting is softer and the model displays signature female qualitites yet striking quite a masculine pose. I think this challenges the normal conventions of males dominating the music industry. In this picture the main focus is the girl who is positioned in the centre of the double spread. Her costume is fairly simple, but her sunglasses become a proiment feature and are therefore more noticable in contrast with her feminine face.



On the contents page i have used the same font as the front cover so carry on the continuous theme. The pictures i have used are both of males but in different stances, one is relfective and calm and the other is frustrated. the first frustrated/ angry image is simmilar to that to how you would expect a man to be portrayed (dominant ideology) the second however is alot more calm and some would say the man is in quite a camp pose. this represents emergent ideology within the 21st century of the "new man" who is in touch with his sensitive side, and it is this image that i feel challenges the forms and conventions of other peices of simmilar media.