Media evaluation question 1 (vocab underlined).

1. Foundation Portfolio
Evaluation Question 1

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

3. Use- Front Cover
• My product uses forms and conventions of real media products by following real pop music
magazines. I looked at lots of different pop music magazines and found lots of similarities in the
forms and conventions. I used my research to adhere to the codes and conventions. For
example, I found in my research that many pop music magazines have barcodes on the front
cover. I then added a barcode to my front cover.
• I also used a central image of the artist using direct
mode of address. This is what most magazines use as
it increase the sense of a relationship between the
reader and the magazine.
• I think that if I could have done anything differently, I
would have used a logo to increase the loyal
readership of my magazine. It would also create a USP
which would increase attraction to my magazine.
Research on pop front covers My product
• In my research, I found that many magazines put a few features down one side of their
featured artist. This shifts the artist to one side, using the rule of thirds to enhance the
reader’s interest in the magazine. I followed this convention too.

4. Use- Contents page
• Another convention that I followed was that in some music magazines there were
two categories in the contents; features and regulars. I incorporated this into my
contents page to adhere to this convention.
• I also found that the main featured artist was usually the biggest picture on the
contents page so I used one of the pictures that I had taken for the main picture
on the contents page.
• This helped because instead of having a central image, the image was moved to
the side. This enabled me to organise my features and regulars down one side,
like in other pop music magazines.
Resarch on pop contents pages
My product

5. Use- Double page spread
On the double page spread, there are many codes and conventions that I
adhered to. For example, there has to be space for six columns across the
page. I used InDesign’s tools to create a template so I could see where I was
placing my content in regards to the six columns. I also used this to know
where to put my copy on the double page spread.
Another convention I followed was that I put the picture of the featured
artist on one side of the page with the copy on the other. This was something
I wanted to do as I had seen this style in my research of double page spreads,
and I really liked it because it draws attention more to the picture, and you
can see the copy clearer. Research on double page spreads My product

6. Develop
I developed conventions on my music magazine by further adding social media
links at the bottom of the front cover. This is where a lot of pop music magazines
put more features, such as fashion tips. However, since social media has
developed and grown in popularity in the last five years. My target audience are
the most likely social group to be using most social media platforms, since they
are digital natives. This would increase number of people buying the magazine,
and the amount of promotion the magazine got through the amount of people
interested in following the magazines on its social media platforms.

7. Challenge
• I challenged conventions within my product because of my target
audience. I chose to aim my pop music magazine at slightly older audience
than a typical pop music magazine audience, who are usually around 12-15.
• This meant that I had to change a few things within my magazine, such as
the colour palette. I used colours such as black and red, which are more
suited to an older audience, whereas typical pop music magazines feature
pinks and purples to attract a younger audience.
Also, as my target audience are less
likely to be interested in gossip
surrounding the artists, and more
interested in information about the
artist’s career. I featured these types
of articles on the front cover and
contents to attract more of my target
Research of pop music magazines
My product