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

When designing and creating my three artefacts there were a number of things I had to consider. These are: Title, Mise-en-Scene of images, costumes and props, people, title font and style, written content, the suggested music genre of the magazine, layout and contents pages.

The title of the magazine "One Two" is shown in the top right hand corner of the page. This is somewhat unconventional considering the norms of magazine layout. However I did this to connote unconventionality and to make it more interesting to the potential consumer. The arrangement of the title is also particularly unconventional. "One" is a larger size, different font style and is placed above "Two". This creates a noticeable contrast within the title, which in itself is very interesting. The title "One Two" is an intertextual reference to music and my main idea was that of the sound technicians calling "One Two" into a microphone. I feel this is an effective, yet short and snappy title, similar to "Q" magazine - it is easy to say and therefore easy to remember.

There are a range of different elements in the mise-en-scene of my images. The images of "Ben Francis" were very dramatic and are connotations of his lifestyle and personality. To address the "artistic" side of the musician I shot photographs in an artistic way. An external flash and considerable editing was used to create high key midshot images with artistic qualities. Although the images were shot in the home, I used lighting and editing in such a manner which implies an unknown location. Similarly, this is linked to the article and "Ben Francis'" mysterious holiday home. The only other photographs are candid/documentary images I have taken at various festivals and gigs, I felt this was appropriate as it entwines with the musical theme.

When shooting pictures for "Ben Francis" I made my brother - my model, don a long black coat and a guitar. Some of my inspirations were Ian Curtis from Joy Division and pictures of Bob Dylan shot by Barry Feinstein. In some of the images which show him writing I included pieces of paper which share the idea of lyrics, notation and song writing. Furthermore, I included the Macbook which is mentioned in the article. I ensured the images reflected the article and interview.

The people shown vary greatly. The main model, my brother, was used to represent "Ben Francis" aside from this are pictures of a crowd at "Latitude Festival", Seasick Steve and Sebastien Tellier. I shot these myself prior to this course, but decided these images would be perfect for my magazine. The images even inspired some of the cover lines or 'kickers' and articles in the magazine.

I used a mixture of two fonts throughout the entirety of the three artefacts. I did this to create continuity between the pieces and also to connote simplicity and sophistication. The title "One Two" has a different font for "One" (28 Days Later) and a different font for "Two". The font for "One" is a rugged/scratchy version of the font used for "Two" (Franklin Gothic Heavy). This creates a contrast between the two, as both are simplistic and sans serif fonts, the scratched font implies there is more than meets the eye when considering the simplistic and sophisticated layout. The rest of in the artefacts is "Franklin Gothic Heavy". To differentiate headings, coverlines and show importance my main focus was font size, colour and boldness. I tried to ensure that text colour scheme was monochromatic, usually a dark or light colour to contrast with the background and varying shades of another colour.

The written content is very basic, with the majority of the written work shown on the double page spread. Featured on the double page spread is an introduction and an informal interview. Again, I used an unconventional layout with the text, the introduction and title are shown on the right, with the interview on the left. This is used to draw the reader's gaze across the page.

One of the main ideas of my magazine was to represent many musical genres. I tried to make sure the layout and style did not represent a particular genre. However, I am aware the cover seems deep and dark (Joy Division, Bob Dylan inspiration) so in turn, I tried to juxtapose the image with some of the cover lines for example: The Jam and Jimi Hendrix.

I approached the layout of my magazine very carefully and tried to have a recurrent and simplistic, yet visually enticing style throughout. The cover and contents are very uniform in layout and style. When designing the double page spread, one of my main motives was to reflect the interview in the layout. Although the layout is still fairly simplistic and minimalist; there is an added "edge" created by the torn paper.

I'm pleased with contents page as it incorporates all the styles I had in mind when thinking about/designing it. I feel it is visually enticing, yet simple and effective. In addition, it is not unconventional in comparison to some other covers, but I feel it has a very unique style.