1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (i.e. of music magazines)

During this project i looked at different styles and model magazines during the planning and research stages. I particularly looked at BAZAAR, Esquire, W and Interview, their page layouts, colour schemes and styles most interested me. To achieve the look of the magazines that inspired me i focused on my genre, which was indie pop, and looked into the audience of my magazine. I felt my target audience should be 16 - 23 females. BAZAAR magazine was my largest inspiration as i was analysing their covers the style of images and colour schemes inspired me. Their image colour schemes and style speaks to audiences showing what type of magazine it is. I kept this in mind when taking my own photos as i wanted the look of my model to speak for itself, this was important as i wanted to use the same conventions as BAZAAR magazine. BAZAAR magazine has a sophisticated retro style, i wanted to challenge this and see if i could make create a modern sophisticated magazine in a retro style.


Also analysing Interviews covers showed they have a simplistic Look and colour scheme, however their layout is still busy with plenty of text. I used this as inspiration as I wanted a magazine that had plenty of text but the focus isn't taken away from the image. Interview achieved this with a simplistic colour scheme; of black and white being the main focus but it features touches of other colours. This inspired me to use a basic colour scheme with black and white as the main colours with touches of browns, purples and creams. 
Researching more stylish colourful magazines such as W magazine gave me inspiration for the type of model I wanted to use. W magazine also uses unique cover images which makes their covers stand out. This gave me the idea to use Phoebe as my model because her facial features had a unique look, also to dress her in a way that when captured is unique and stands out.

Researching Esquire magazine gave me ideas on how to create a popular magazine cover. Their covers include text which is eye catching and straight to the point. As my target audience is 16 - 23 girls text is needed to attract them to my magazine. Baring this in mind I used text such as 'IN LA LA LAND WITH' and 'ONCE UPON A DREAM' these are song titles  which will attract people who are into indie pop which is my chosen genre as they will recognise the artists and be interested. The man's hat in this cover of Esquire was a big inspiration as it is eye-catching however it is only part of the image. I wanted to use this idea when styling my own model. The styling of my model would also link to my chosen music and audience genres. 

When I was researching photographers Rankin was the photographer who stood out the most as his photos are sophisticated and straight to the point. The styles used in his photos are unique and eye catching which was an idea I wanted to put forward into my own photography. Once again a black hat is used in this image. It contrasts with Esquires photo as this time is it for a modern look instead of vintage. Giving me the idea to challenge the use of both modern and vintage. Most of ranking photos are in black and white or are in colour but use this idea of black and white colours with clothing and make up. This is an idea that i wanted to put across when taking my own photos as it makes the features in the photo stand out. The idea of having features standing out links to my chosen target audience of indie pop with a quirky feel. This then led to posting photos of a quirky retro dress style. 

I used normal page layouts and conventions of text as I wanted a magazine that would be popular, I like the simplistic black small text used in W's covers and wanted to use this in my own magazine cover, as the writing stands out and doesn't take the attention away from the title using a basic font. I also took into account the way the writing on the left of Interview magazine is in line and to one side of the way, this looks neat and sophisticated. The sophisticated you layout links to my target audience which is RAHS. I also wanted to use the idea to use white text instead of black as it creates a softer feel to the magazine.


My chosen master head 'PRIMADONNA' represents a music magazine it is a feeling of want expressed in many songs produced by 'Lana Del Rey' and Marina and The Diamonds'. This links to my chosen target audience and music genre has the indie scenesters and RAHs will recognise my chosen artist and music genre of indie pop. It also challenges modern music as my chosen artists use old video clips in their music videos. 

I also challenged the use of different camera shots, by doing so i only used mid shots. This was because the style of my magazine is sophisticated and mid shots look neat and smart, whereas the top of in a shot can impact on the symmetry of the composition. when placing these shots onto my magazine template it began to look simplistic.