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

In the main task, the creation of 'Space' magazine, I used, developed and challenged several codes and conventions in relation to existing music magazines. In many respects, the media product adheres to the majority of conventions associated with music magazines, with the cover page featuring a large, bold masthead, price, month & issue number, barcode, badge (in order to entice possible readers) and a list of bands featured within, to name a few.

The title of the magazine is also a conscious attempt to reflect the content; with the homographic word 'space' connoting the spaciousness and purity of the magazine, the spacing of the letters reflecting this, as well as meaning the expanse of the solar system and the vastness of existence. The futuristic connotations of the word also appealed to me greatly.

Similarly, the layout of the contents page featuring the month/year, the magazine title and the word 'contents' (below) all correlate with the conventions of current music magazines. However, the single focal point of the page is a black and white image I captured at a live event. With this I intended to challenge the convention of including a several images on a contents page, and wished to continue the minimal yet striking aesthetic of the magazine. The text on the page tells readers of the main features within, with a short description of each article.

The double page spread also follows many forms and conventions ofmusic magazines, with a large title (to capture the reader's attention), introduction to the article, text organised within columns, images of the artist featured and quotes picked out from the text (see below).

Despite this, with the simplistic, minimal design scheme of the product, I wished to deviate slightly from the likes of Q, Kerrang, etc. in which maximalist design schemes often feature, often including a large array of colour and information. The design of the magazine is a conscious response to the overload of information and we habitually receive from the media; by focusing on a clean, light and spacious layout I endeavoured to present readers with the information desired by readers and nothing more, focusing on the quality of information given rather than quantity.