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

I don't think my magazine challenges any real media conventions, as I based my magazine on a real magazine called VIBE. I believe it's a classy, modern looking magazine and doesn't seem to cram too much onto the front cover - which I think can spoil a cover. By using a cover like this as a base I was able to achieve a similar look - which I was aiming for.
     I like the look of VIBE magazine but I chose this kind of lay out because it has already been accepted in the media world, and it seemed easier than making up my own look which would have challenged media forms. I did originally try and challenge the 'norms' by having my title positioned vertically in the top left corner, but then decided it wasn't a risk worth taking.
     I did however develop from my base cover and create my own - I didn't completely copy it. Both have similar texts and identical colour patterns, the bar codes are also positioned in the same place and both feature a singer's quote. However each have a different colour schemes, and our featured artists are positioned differently, Ciara is in the centre of VIBE magazine, but Blair is placed to the left or Euphoria. VIBE has a banner of text at the top of its cover, unlike Euphoria, but Euphoria does have a tag line under its title, whilst VIBE missed that out. Euphoria only contains 5 cover stories, compared to VIBEs 8 - not including those in the banner.
     So although I did have an idea and a magazine cover in front of me to copy I did make my product my own.