Creative Critical Reflection Draft #1

1. How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?

The product I have produced is my magazine Life in Paradise. When you think about conventions of a magazines, you think about all of the necessary items in order to make it successful. This includes the front page, how the title is displayed, fonts, colors, table of contents, articles, and even how the pages are numbered. I would consider my magazine "challenging these convention" because I have made sure my work is original and not copied off of another company. I have even included my own photographs that I have taken that no other magazine would have access to.

My magazine also challenges conventions of the genre it falls under. Life in Paradise would be in the genre of travel and beach lifestyle. Some magazines under these categories just talk about the fun involved in luxuries related to this. However, my magazine also talks about the expenses and all the factors you need to know and consider before purchasing an island for example. This example of my main article allows people to know that owning an island involves a lot more work than just a place to vacation. Owners have to worry about employees to hire in order to manage the island and allow it to be a place to go and relax.

When discussing social groups and issues, my magazine would represent ones involving the wealthier lifestyle. This is so because a lot of stuff in the magazine, like owning an island, is only possible for those with a higher income. Also, on my flat plan, I had more articles that would relate to people who have more money available to them like islands and boats for sale. With this social group mainly in my magazine, the issues arise with the people who can't afford an island. These people may feel like the wealthy are rubbing their riches in their faces and making them feel less than they are. Although my magazine would represent this higher payed social group more, others would still be able to receive valuable information due to other articles like, perfect snacks for the beach or water sports. Thus the issues arising due to certain social groups being portrayed in my magazine are not large and are not anything to worry about.