This document discusses the evaluation of a media product's magazine cover, contents page, and double-page spread. It examines how the product uses conventions of real magazines and where it challenges conventions. The magazine cover uses conventions like a masthead, cover lines, and barcode but challenges conventions with fewer images and cover lines than typical magazines. The contents page follows conventions like titles, images, and page numbers but faced challenges finding appropriate images and article titles. The double-page spread uses conventions like a headline, byline, main image, and written interview but challenges were faced in finding suitable images. Overall, the document evaluates how the media product meets and challenges real magazine conventions.

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

2. Front cover- uses
This is the front cover of my magazine, It uses the conventions
of a typical magazine cover in most ways but I have also
adjusted some of the features so it is quite unique and makes
the magazine seem individual.
The conventions that my magazine uses are the fact that it has:
•
A masthead- I chose to make the mast head really stand
pout by using a unique font found on Dafont.com. I think
that his font really links in well with the rest of my
magazine and the patterns that it is made out of reflects
the name which is ‘The Noise’
•
Useful cover lines- The cover lines I used were selected
from about 20 others that I had written, I chose to use
these ones because I felt that they were quite interesting
and would attract the reader to the magazine and make
them interested about what will be inside. Cover lines are
important so I had to ensure that I used were relevant to
my rock music theme.
•
Main image- My main image uses/follows the conventions
of a magazine because I ensured that the photo I chose,
Faye was looking directly at the camera which made it a
direct mode of address image which can make the reader
feel more connected. Also I used a guitar in the picture so
it still had some connotations of rock. Finally I placed the
main image slightly over the top of the mast head but not
too much so you can still read it clearly and understand
what it says. This is important because on most magazines
the main image covers the masthead.
•
Barcode, Issue information and price- These features
were important with using conventions of a magazine
because if my magazine didn’t have this it would be quite
pointless. I made the issue information and price quite
hidden and in small on top of the barcode so it wasn't too
clear.

3. Challenges
There are some features on my magazine that challenge the
usual conventions of a magazine front cover, I tired to ensure
that I followed as many as possible but I found that the
things I wanted to include would then challenge the
conventions but I went on to include them anyway, these are:
•
The use of images- Usually on magazine covers there are
quite a few images used to indicate some of the articles, I
found that the magazines I looked specifically at
KERRANG and aimed to make my magazine have layouts
like that. On KERRANG there is quite a few images used
on the cover this gives the reader something to look at
and usually when you spot your favourite artist on a cover
you automatically want to read it. With my magazine I
chose to only use one cover line image which is of the band
‘Wood vibrations’ I used the image to attract the reader
but I feel now that I could have possibly added more
image to make the page look more interesting and
appealing.
•
Coverlines- In a way I challenged the conventions of
cover lines as well as following them. On my cover I didn’t
include too many cover lines because I didn’t want to over
crowd the page. On other magazines there are more cover
lines which gives more information but I felt like these
cover lines were good to use because they are relative,
•
Puffs & Buzz words- These are just small features I
could of used on my cover but I chose not to because I
felt like they would of made my page look quite
unprofessional and not as neat as I wanted it to be, On
most magazines they put the price in a puff but I didn’t
because it would of taken up room and looked stupid.
‘FREE’ and ‘WIN’ are the only buzz words I used on this
cover, if I was to make it again I think I would include
more buzzwords to attract the readers attention.

4. Contents page- uses
With my contents page I tried to ensure that I followed all the
conventions that typical contents pages follow. I did this by
including:
•
A title- The title of my contents page had to be interesting
and eye catching so it drew in the audience. I found it difficult
to find a suitable font to use that still reflected the theme of
rock music. I used Dafont to find this font and decided to layer
it with black behind it so it stood out.
•
Main coverline images- I tried to make sure that the picture I
used for my main cover line of ‘Exclusive interview with wood
vibrations’ was suitable and looked relatable. I chose to use the
image of them playing at a gig because it shows that they are a
band. Possibly for next time I would try to choose a better
image to use.
•
Smaller images- On a contents page there has to be a certain
amount of smaller images which relate to the articles written. I
found it difficult to find images that match some of my articles
but once I found them, it was hard to arrange the page
appropriately so it all fit properly and didn’t look too cramped.
Next time I will try to find better pictures to use or I will
change some of the articles to help myself.
•
Subtitles- Subtitles is a important convention because it makes
everything much clearer for the reader and easier to
understand. I struggled with thinking of titles for the articles
under the features section because I had to try make them
innovative but still relatable to the theme.
•
Article information- I found this hard to do because I didn’t
want to write too much information but I also didn’t want to
write too little. Most of my article information is questions to
the reader but I think this draws their attention even more. On
some of the articles including some under the feature section,
they have a lot of information underneath them whilst others
don’t. Next time if I ever make a contents page I will make sure
there is an equal amount of text under each heading.
•
Page numbers- Page numbers are important because it tells the
reader where to go to find the article they are looking for. I
made the numbers into a different font and made them quite
big so they stand out against the article titles and information .

5. Double page spread- Uses
I found my double page spread quite
simple to do because I already had it
completely planned before I started and I
didn’t change much from my draft. My DPS
follows the conventions of a typical double
page spread because I have included:
•
•
•
•
A title/headline- This is a main
convention of a double page spread
and it has got to be large and stand
out against everything on the page. I
chose to do a simple headline of ‘Wood
vibrations world exclusive’ because I
didn’t want the title to be too long and
overpowering.
By-line- The by-line is just a small
section where I wrote that the
photography and interview were by
me, I made sure this was small and
hidden away near the title
Main image & Smaller images- I found it difficult to find a picture to use for my main article image because from all of
the ones I took I couldn’t specifically pick one that I like or that I thought would fit with the page. Eventually I chose
one of the band playing and it fit perfectly on the page. With the smaller images it was hard to find suitable ones to
use, also they had to be different to the ones I used else where in the magazine e.g the front cover & contents page.
I chose to put smaller image of each band member down the side because I thought it looked quite nice and it took up
some room. Next time if I make something like this I will try to make the article /interview longer so I don’t have to
use pictures to fill up space.
Written interview & Quote- The interview was the significant part of the double page spread because the content of
the article had to be quite professional so it looked like it was made by a publisher. I ensured that it was written in
full interview style with the questions in a different colour and the layout being in columns. This is how I’ve followed
the conventions of a DPS. Also I found a part of the interview and quoted in on top of the main image. This quote is a
important part because it should catch the readers attention as they turn the page

6. Contents page- Challenges think that my contents page or double
I don’t
Double page spreadpage spread challenges many of the
Challenges
conventions because I used a checklist whilst
Outcome-
making it, this helped me ensure that
everything on the page was relevant and met
the conventions as much as possible. I am
quite proud of the overall outcome of my
magazine and everything it includes. It
turned out exactly how I planned.