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

1. Title of my magazine:

When thinking about the name of my magazine it was important to think about how it would represent the genre of music and the vibe that i wanted to portray. I did not want to represent the acoustic genre as being dull and unexciting, however wanted to maintain the connotations of purity and nature. I chose to spell it phonetically to make immediately it attract the eye and the 'coo' creates a soft sound therefore suggesting that the magazine is natural and pure.

2. Mise-en-scene of images:

As my magazine is focussed on the Acoustic/Folk genre, it was important to compose my images to reflect the genre of music. In the picture labelled '2' you can see that the model is positioned against a plain background and is the focus of the image, she comprises of over 2/3rds of the shot making her the focal point. The plain background emphasises the connotations of acoustic being pure and simple and so the mise-en-scene of the images did not need to be over crowded. I think the simplicity of the shots work well with the genre of magazine as opposed to a very crowded image found on mainstream magazines. (Example)

3. Costumes and props:

In picture '3' the model is wearing a flowery dress and is posed with an acoustic guitar. I decided to have no other props to complement the mise-en-scene of images and again, reinforce the connotations of the Acoustic genre unlike some mainstream magazines that use a variety of props and have busy set designs. (Example)

4. People:

The models used on the contents page and front cover represent older musicians of the Acoustic/folk genre. I chose musicians that were recognisable to fans of this genre, no matter what age or gender therefore maintaining and increasing the market for my magazine. Here is a link showing the real life musicians pictured: (Imogen Heap) (James Morrison) The only reason for not photographing people of a similar age to the musicians was that I could not find any body with real resemblance, but the models I chose do in fact represent older musicians. 

5. Title font and style:

The masthead uses a font which connotes antiquity and has a rusty appearance due to its colour scheme and design. I feel the colour scheme works well to complement the rest of the magazine and also represents the acoustic genre very well; they are all warm browns, oranges and greens which enhance the natural/warm quality of my magazine.

6. Written content:

The content included in my magazine maintains the conventions of a music magazine; I have included interviews with musicians, information about concerts and a selection of reviews. I have tailored these features to be suitable to my genre.

7. Music genre and how your magazine suggests it:

I have included an effective use of prominence on my front cover; the BBC Folk Awards (Info about Folk awards) is an event that my target market would collectively recognise and understand and so would be appealing for them. The colour scheme throughout my magazine is based on colours which I feel effectively represent the acoustic genre as being pure and natural and therefore most of the colours are warm and neutral. Also the features in picture '7' show that the content of the magazine is specifically focussed on the acoustic/folk genre; there are gear reviews based on acoustic guitars and the interviews feature prominent acoustic/folk artists.

8. Layout:

Conventional layouts of magazine use techniques such as the left-side third in which the main pieces of information are placed on the left hand side vertical third on the front cover (Example). However I have not decided to do this as my magazine is a niche magazine and so does not need to attract a mass market. I placed the information on my cover where I felt appropriate: I used a visual hierarchy to place the main article anchoring the image directly below it, the second most important article in the left-side third and the other  articles framing the main image. The double page spread also uses a simple layout and colour scheme to emphasise the prominent musician.

9. Contents page:
The contents page does not necessarily conform to the generic conventions of magazines; there are not as many pictures and there are no adverts as you would find on magazines such as Kerrang! (Example) However this simple style works well for the genre and the fact that it is a niche magazine means that having adverts and an overcomplicated style would not complement it. I included features that would be found on other magazines such as reviews and concert dates but tailored them to be suit the genre I am focussing on.