This document discusses the forms and conventions used in magazine design. It provides examples of common magazine elements like the cover layout, masthead, cover lines, and content page. It then describes how the student applied these conventions in their mock magazine design. Photos from a mock photo shoot are presented along with explanations of design choices for the cover, content page, article page, and use of images, fonts, and colors. The student aimed to follow conventions to make their magazine look realistic while also drawing some inspiration from existing magazines.

1. 1) In what way does your media
product use, develop or
challenge forms and conventions
of real media products?
Final Evaluation Question 1

2. Forms and
Conventions…what are they?
The forms and conventions are the way a
magazine is created, for example the way the
overall layout is of each page of the magazine.
The conventions are like the set of rules for
example every magazine cover has a large
cover image on the front page, a large
masthead at the top of the page, a selling line
above the masthead, large headline with a sub-
heading under (usually a pull quote), the cover
also has cover lines, margins and finally a
dateline. The forms are the way something is
written, the graphics and finally the images.

3. Photo shoot for the Cover
Page

4. Conventions of my Cover
The Cover Image I have used all the conventions in my final
cover such as eye contact, I made the model
look straight at the lens when I took the photo
to make the cover look more realistic and to
engage the reader more and make them want
to read the magazine.
The image was in the
center of the page as
that would be the
main focus point
when the target
audience looks.
To show that the image is
the main focus I decided
to have some of the
models arm overlapping a
bit of the title of the
magazine TTR to show
what’s more important in a
I made the image link to the
overall layout by giving the model
a bright red lipstick and a red,
white and black scarf which
made up the house colors.

5. Cover page ideas
I got the ideas for the photo
shoot from an existing
magazine ‘faze’ featuring
Taylor Momsen. I like the
positing in which Taylor was
on the cover however I
didn’t want to completely
copy it therefore I increased
the warmth in the photo to
make Claudia appear
tanned in comparison to
Taylor. I also liked the red
lipstick however I made it
brighter as those were the
house colors of my
magazine.

6. Masthead
One of the main
conventions is a
Masthead on the
top of the page. I
chose to have my
Mast head in the
top left corner,
filling up about ¼
of the page to
make it stand out.
I made it quite
large to make it as
visible as I could, I
also wanted it to
be covered up by
the models arm a
bit to make the
model stand out
however it still had
to be readable.Many real magazine covers have a different
font for the title compared to all the other text
on the cover page, however I decided to
leave it as it is because I wanted all to be
linked and to look the part. I have improved
the title a couple of times to make it look the
best, above is the final idea.

7. The Cover-lines
I made all the
cover-lines go
around the models
face as she was
meant to be the
main focus on the
cover, however I
made the text
stand out by
putting them onto
3D rectangles, I
decided to make
them 3D to make
the magazine look
more realistic. I
made all the
writing to be Abadi
MT Condensed in
capital letters as
that was one of the
I used red, brown
and white.
Instead of black I
used brown as I
felt like that would
be too heavy and
the shadow
wouldn’t show up
very well so I
decided to give a
black shadow
instead. I
changed the
colors of the text
to nor make it
confusing for the
reader, I also
didn’t want to
change the font
because that
There is a visible margin on the left side of the
page to make it more realistic because of that
was the cover page it should have a margin
because when the page opens the side of the
magazine will get bent and if it does get bent it
wont be very readable.

8. The Headline
Headline is also an important convention because
this shows the name of the artists who is usually on
the front of the magazine, meaning that the main
article will be about that certain artist. In my case
Claudia.
The headline should have the largest font, however I decided to make it the
second biggest, after the masthead because I feel like that’s more important,
also if I made the headline bigger it would cover up more of the model which I
tried to avoid. I decided to add a shocking drop quote overlapping the headline
Claudia to make it more shocking, especially for Nirvana fans, which will make
them want to pick the magazine up and read why Claudia doesn’t believe that
Kurt is dead.

9. Selling line
The selling line is typically next to
the masthead or on top of the
page, it usually says a little
something about the magazine or
information about being able to win
something such as gig tickets.
At the top of this PowerPoint is my selling line, I decided to write something bout
the magazine because it’s a new magazine I wanted people to know a little bit
more about it. “biggest magazine in the UK answering all your rock questions”
suggests that my magazine will have lots of Q&A’s which will be a good magazine
for people who are seeking answers or want to see different point of views. I also
decided to write the date of when the magazine was produced and the issue
number to make the magazine look official and for the readers to wait for the next
issue.
I decided to make the selling line
black because I feel like I haven’t
used enough black in the rock
magazine.

10. Conventions of my
Contents Page

11. Features and content
Content is the information
about what’s inside the
magazine and what’s on what
page. I used the same text
font as I used on my cover for
the cover-lines to link the
cover to the content page. I
also used the same house
colors to make it look alike.
The font of the page numbers
are a size bigger, bold and
black to make it stand out
and to not confuse the
numbers with the artists
names for example ‘18 30
seconds to mars’ can be
confusing because there are
two numbers next to each
other therefore I had to make
the numbers larger and a
Above is a content
page from the Q
magazine, this is
where I got the
idea to make the
numbers different
colors for them to
stand out, I also
got the idea of
putting the titles in
visible blocks to
make them stand
out.
I only used 2
columns as I
thought more
could be too
much and would
look messy

12. The content page photograph
I have only
included two
images on my
content page as
I didn’t want the
content page to
look busy and
when I tried
putting another
image in it
looked messy.
The two images are, a ‘selfie’ of the editor to show the
readers what the editor looks like and a large image of
Claudia to show that she is the main focus in this issue
in the magazine

13. The page title
The content page title
has the same font as
the cover page as I
used the same TTR
logo but I just added
‘content’ underneath the
logo, I did this so the
audience would
recognize the logo and
not necessarily read it
but know what it is.
I liked the idea that
the Rock Sound
magazine uses
because their font is
very plane a large
however very
effective and that’s
what I did to my title
however to make it
stand out more I
decided to have it
two colors, red and
black. The Rock
Sound magazine
also has their title in
the top left corner
which I liked.
I added the date and and issue number under the name
which is also what the Rock Sound magazine did. I made it
smaller so it doesn’t draw too much attention away from the
most important aspects of the page, I added the date and
issue number for the reader to not have to turn to the front
page to see what the issue number of the magazine is.

14. The Editors letter
I decided to add the editors letter to the content
page to show the reader what the editor looked
like. I also got the ide from existing magazines
such as the Kerrang! Magazine, they usually
add editors letter and say a little something
about the magazine issue.
I decided to add an image of
myself as one of the 4 photos
required to show the readers
what the editor looked like to
make it more friendly and
personal. I also added a link to
the magazines Instagram web
page for media lovers who like
to be up to date will all the
gossip.
On the left is a screenshot of the kerrang magazine editors letter
which includes an image of the editor and short paragraph of what
the magazine issue is about.

15. More information
I decided to add more
information about the
magazine and any
promotions or
opportunities to win.
I decided to add a border below with more
information about the magazine for example
the phone number for the reader to call if
they’re interested in getting a magazine
delivered to the door every month which will
be cheaper than just buying the magazine in
a shop.
M
I also decided to add a small image of the
cover page in the corner to show the reader
what magazine it is so they can look in the
corner and see the magazine an not have to
turn the page to see what issue of the
magazine they have, they could also look at
the date which is under the title.

16. Article

17. Photo shoot for the article

18. Main image
The conventions of the main image is
that its usually of an artist or band who
the article is about. In my case I decided
to have an image of an artist who is on
the front cover, she is covering up half of
the background with her bodies and the
flying papers around her are under the
text to make it look like a part.
I decided to have a
large image of
Claudia to show the
reader that the main
article is about her. I
made the model look
serious to show the
reader that the
article is serious and
the flying papers
around show the
busyness of the
I made the model
wear red lipstick
and a red rolling
stone logo on her
top to show the
rock aspect of the
article as well as
link to the house
colors of the
magazine.

19. “Quotes”
I decided to add a lot of main quotes on the
article page and I made them very large for
it to be more eye catching for the reader,
when the read the quotes they will want to
carry on reading the article.
All the quotes are somehow
linked to Kurt to show the
reader who the article is
about.
I added a quote onto the cover and the
content page therefore to make it all like I
added three more quotes into the article
page which can be found in the article.
Finally I chose the colors to be red, white
and black for all the quotes to link with the
house colors and stand out at the same
time.

20. The article
Blurb- is the little
paragraph of
information about
the article for the
reader to get a
small introduction
to the article.
The blurb is where the reader decides whether
they want to read the article or not therefore it
has to be interesting.
The main article is split into two columns to
make it easier to read. It’s a Q&A therefore I
decided to add the questions in red and the
respond in black for the reader to know what is
what. The main article is Claudia’s opinion on
Kurt Cobain’s death and what she thinks
happened.

21. Title of the article
I decided to use a
different front for the
title of the article to
show the independence
of Claudia and the
different view.The title uses up ¼ of the page which shows the importance
of her name and how important her story is which will make
the reader wonder why her name is so big on the page.
At the top of the second page is a quote
about Kurt that Claudia has said. I
decided to add such a dramatic quote to
make the reader wonder if they actually
know everything about Kurt and if there
is more they need to know which will
make the wonder and want to carry on
The color of the title is black to show
the simplicity of the article however
the font size shows the importance.

22. Forms
All the images that I have used were taken by me as shown in previous slides, the
cover photo and the content page photo were taken outside using a Nikon
COOLPIX P610 Digital Camera, and the article photo was taken indoors by a Nikon
D5200 with a 18-55mm VR Lens to make the papers more clear.
I have used a clear color scheme of red, white and black with hints of brown.
The red and black usually shows the rock aspect of a magazine therefore I
used those two as the main colors however I didn’t want to stick to two colors
therefore I chose white and brown to add the contrast because white is a calm
color therefore it gives the magazine a sophisticated side as well as a clean
finish and the brown shows the different aspects of the magazine.
I have considered different fonts however I wanted to stick to a plain bold font
to make the magazine seem sophisticated and not too busy. However I did
decide to add a different font to the article page to make it look independent
and different to show the difference and the independence of Claudia and her
story.

23. Developing my ideas
I got the idea for the cover photo from
Taylor Momsen’s photo-shoot for the
faze magazine in 2011. I liked the
position because it looks mysterious
and very serious which is the theme I
was going for. The model is looking
right into the camera which creates
eye contact with the reader which
makes the reader feel involved.
I liked the idea of the headline being in a
red box with bold writing on top as I
thought that it looked very effective and
stood out very well, especially the black
writing on the red background.

24. Challenging conventions
I tried to follow all the conventions to make the magazine look
as realistic as I possibly could, I also feel like a lot of rock
music magazines try to be hipster and uncommon however
because a lot of rock magazines try to challenge the
conventions it makes them look mainstream, so for mine to
stand out I left all the conventions in to make it look and seem
like a normal magazine.
Also I feel like the conventions make a magazine look and
feel like a magazine which will make it stand out from the
ones that are trying to be uncommon however being
mainstream.