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

2. For this evaluation question, I will be comparing
my own final piece with a published piece from a
similar magazine, Mixmag.
I will be analysing in detail and showing the
similarities and differences between my piece
and a real media product to show how my piece
depicts, develops and challenges the
conventions we see in real media products.

3. Here is an overall look at both of the pieces I am going to be comparing and
contrasting. On the left is my final front cover and on the right is a real media piece, a
front cover from Mixmag, the October 2009 issue.

4. Layout – Front Covers
Comparing my front cover to Mixmag’s, instantly we can see that there is content
along both the left and right hand side of the front covers. I have wrapped the text
around my image to ensure the image is the centre of the attention and then the
reader reads around the image.
Mixmag’s layout on the other hand is more spread out and they can get away with
putting their text over the image as the colours will not clash as they are using
bright colours where as I am using black for my fonts on this page. If I attempted to
add the text above the image and make the image larger it would be harder to
read the text.

5. One obvious similarity between both media pieces is they both feature a
masthead. Also, both pieces feature a tagline, located above the masthead. I
have featured the date on my piece by the masthead so it is quick to tell when
the issue is published. Mixmag have made their date fit in at the bottom of the
front cover, near the barcode where the pricing information is.
In this way, I believe my piece is clearer to understand from a first glance.
Mixmag have followed a common convention in real media pieces of presenting
the “freebie” of their issue in the top left hand corner, where I have featured
my free CD at the bottom.
Personally I feel spacing the “freebie” further down and using the opportunity to
add an image means a reader will be able to identify the artist which the free
CD is based on quicker.

6. Layout – Contents Pages
Comparing these two contents pages, they do look
similar. I used Mixmag’s contents page as inspiration
when making my own contents page. I like the idea
of splitting the features using white lines. An
improvement I would make is adjusting the
thickness of the lines so they look more consistent.
Mixmag add information about the “freebie” of the
magazine at the bottom of every contents page, but
I have used this section for an editor’s section as I
feel it would not be necessary to have information
about a well known artist as they are widely heard
of already.
I have featured a common convention of a special
offer / subscription offer in my contents page, one
example of where I have seen one of these
previously is in an NME magazine.

7. Layout – DPS
The layouts of both double page spreads are similar,
they both have a main image covering one page and
the article on the other page.
Both double page spreads also feature a standfirst.
My double page spread features more pictures
about the artists and also has more columns. The
Mixmag article has a much more catching heading,
with an underlined font and white text.
I have used a feature that I saw in a Vibe magazine
article in the corner of the right page of my double
page spread. I have a little “d” in the top right
corner and underneath it says dancetronic,
reminding the reader what magazine they are
reading. Vibe uses a very similar feature but they
use a “V”, for Vibe.
I have promoted the artists soundcloud and
website, whereas Mixmag have provided a small
paragraph about Duke Dumont’s new album.

8. Mastheads
Looking closer at the two mastheads I feel mine may present the genre a bit easier,
but the idea of “mixing” suggests the presence of electronic music. The similarities
between the mastheads are that they do stand out due to their size on the front
covers compared to the smaller features below and to the sides.

9. Mixmag’s main image covers the whole front cover whereas mine is central and
doesn’t cover the whole cover. I also didn’t feel like the direct eye contact is necessary
because Bart and Baksa haven’t reached celebrity status yet so a direct contact from
them to the reader wouldn’t create as much of a link as opposed to having Annie Mac
or a famous DJ looking at you.

10. Barcodes and Prices
Another similarity, being a legal requirement is the
barcode featured on the front cover.
The prices are different, comparing between the two
magazines. My magazine has a lower price than the
established magazine Mixmag. I have used this price from
my market research and it also appears competitive if it
were to be produced as a real media product.
Mixmag have done something which I think is a really
good idea, listing the overseas prices in Euros as it shows
they are aware the international coverage they have.
This could be an improvement I may make after my
evaluation.

11. Props
In my media piece, I have
used props that I feel
connote the genre of music,
such as a midi keyboard,
audio mixer, microphones
and a digital receiver.
This conforms to the
conventions of real media
products as in a lot of media
products you will see artists
with instruments, from
guitars, to brass instruments,
to virtual instruments.