'Media is communication' Discuss the ways that you have used media language to create meanings in one of your media products.

The product I have chosen to analyse is my music magazine which is titled 'Replay' and belongs to the genre of hip hop. The intended audience (teenage girls aged between 15-24) would expect certain attributes and conventions when reading this type of text regarding colours, fonts and images. The connotations connected to my magazine title 'Replay' hint at the idea of reading it over and over again which suggest that the reader won't get bored of the content. For my colour palette, I focused on the colour green as it connotes the idea of something 'fresh' and 'new'. The mast-head uses this green alongside a bold, graffiti-style font against a black background to reflect the rebellious nature of my magazine.

For the main image, I have used a striking head shot of my female artist. It attracted my target audience because she holds eye contact with the camera lens and appears to address the audience.  John Fiske suggests that 'denotation is what is photographed, connotation is how it is photographed' I have demonstrated this theory in my photo as it denotes a young girl tyring to make it in the music industry however, her bold facial expression and street-style costume connote rebellion and passion.

The barcode, price and issue number are all typical conventions that are expected of all magazines, despite their genre. I have ensures that I included them in my magazine, putting the barcode and the issue number small in the corner as they are not the main focus of the magazine, they are simply standard requirements. The layout I have used attracts the reader as I have focused on the rule of thirds; thereby making it easy to look at and read. The main star is the focal point of the gold spiral, she is what sells the magazine.

The artist is styled with basic make-up. I wanted to reflect the concept of simplicity and how you don't have to look at certain, conventional way in order to enjoy a certain type of music. The message portrayed by my artist makes her admiral to my target market and perceived potentially as a role model. Despite the natural make-up, her hair styling is more extreme. A high side-ponytail style connotes her rebellion as this image alludes to hip hop star Lady Sovereign. In reference to Stuart Hall's reception theory, the preferred reading of the main image is that the artist is aspirational however an opposed reading could be that my artist is 'fake' and doesn't conform to expectations that the audience want to see.

The cover-lines of my magazine are written in capital letters in a bold font to appeal to the audience. I have mentioned names of well-noted hip hop stars and street dance crews that would be of interest to my target audience. These are also needed considering my cover star is supposedly relatively unknown therefore I have used other stars to help sell my magazine. Capital letters are more attention grabbing than lower-case as they are more demanding.

Overall, I have used media language to create several meanings in my music magazine. I ensured I used a colour palette with positive connotations and mise-en-scene to reflect the personality of the main star. It is important to conform to expectations of media language in order to appeal to the audience, if a media product is too different and strays too far from conventions, then it will only address a very niche market.