Evaluation question one

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

2. Front Cover Masthead
I used the convention of having a large
easily noticeable masthead.The masthead
is up against a bright blue sky with the text
being white this helps it stand out more
also following the colour scheme of the rest
of the front cover. As you can tell this
follows the convention of all other existing
magazines of where the masthead
contrasts the background in order to stand
out more as well as being bold and white.
To make the masthead stand out more the
Font I used was Sitka Heading, this used all
uppercase letters making the masthead
even more eye catching again following the
conventions of the other magazines.

3. Front Cover Colour Scheme
The majority of colour schemes have white text as this contrasts the background image with 2 other colours
to contrast the overall colour scheme. However my magazine slightly contrasts these conventions as the
majority of my text is in black, with one other contrasting colour which is just a lighter blue. I have done this
as It makes my magazine different from the others and I feel this suited my magazine better as if I used the
white font I feel my text wouldn’t be as legible and therefore not be as appealing to the target audience.

4. Front Cover Sell Lines
A main convention within
regional magazines was the
use of bold numbers which
related to the sell line, this
would engage the audience
with the magazine enticing
them to read more about the
article.
Another convention I
followed was that of
competitions, I followed this
as the incentive to win
something will entice the
audience to buy the
magazine, so I saw this as a
good and useful convention
to follow.

5. Front Cover Barcodes
Every magazine I have researched has used the convention of a bar code with a price to state how much
the magazine costs.This convention therefore seemed to be necessary in my magazine, as it allows the
readers to quickly see how much the magazine costs,With mine being much cheaper than the others this
should encourage readers to buy my magazine rather than the others as it is much more affordable.

6. Front Cover Image
My front cover
Existing regional magazines front covers
With my image I have followed a convention of using a
recognisable scenic photo on my front cover (white cliffs of Dover),
this provides the readers to relate and recognise a landmark giving
a direct address to the target audience. Furthermore with my
image being of a landscape and not people, like existing regional
magazine front covers it allows me to follow the convention of
having plenty of sell lines which could appeal to a wider audience
with plenty of stories to encourage them to buy the magazine.

7. Contents Page Images
I followed the convention of
using images on my contents
page which relate to certain
articles within my magazine.
This helps the readers know
more about the articles within
the magazine, as well as being
able to navigate their way
through the magazine as the
images have a page number.
The common convention of
images on a contents page is
also very useful as it makes it
more appealing to look at and
can engage the reader in the
magazine much easier than
words.

8. Contents Page numbers
Using the convention of having
numbers on my images allows the
audience to navigate their way
through the magazine to find the
specific articles that they want to
read much easier.This would aid
the audience with navigation and
entice them to buy the magazine
as it is easily accessible,

9. Contents page Editors Information
Having an editors information column is very useful as well as a common convention.This allows the people who
contributed to the magazines to be recognised and seen in a more professional manor. With some readers looking
specifically for a certain writer as they may like what they write.so with Most magazines such as kent life having
established writers entices people to read more.

10. Contents Page Layout/Text/Font
As you can see the subtitles use bolder slightly larger fonts
compared to the smaller more italic article headings.This is to
separate the articles into categories for easy navigation this is
following the common convention of san serif to make it well
organised and practical. Having certain categories would
support hall’s reception theory of having a preferred reading for
example a sports fan would turn straight to the sports category
section.

11. Contents Page Colour Scheme
Following the convention of having a white background allowed all the
images and black text to contrast each other which meant they both could
stand out easily drawing the audience in to read the magazine. However
one conventions I didn’t follow was that of adding another colour, most
other contents pages used black the and white background with another
colour for certain pieces of text. However I decided not to add another as I
wanted to keep it plain and simple and have the colourful pictures stand
out more.

12. Billboard Evaluation A major convention I used
was the use of a magazine
on my billboard to show the
audience how they can
access my magazine in
different media forms (i.e.
by the phone in a digital
form or on an actually paper
magazine)The magazines
website and social
media platforms can
be found on my
billboard, I used this
convention as it
allows the audience
to gain information
about the magazine
and how to find out
more information
about what south
east Kent magazine
has to offer
With the title of my magazine being in white, large and all upper case against a black background it allows
my billboard to be more eye-catching for the audience driving or walking past the convention of having a
plain and simple billboard is it gets straight to the point and people can easily gain info about the magazine
I used the
convention of
Having the slogan
‘your magazine’ as it
intrigues the reader
as to why its their
magazine and
create a personal
idea that the
magazine is made
for them
encouraging them
to buy the magazine
Having a red line in the corner of my billboard isn’t very conventional however I have decided to use it
because If people have previously seen or read one my magazines they will know that the billboard is for
my magazine without looking at the title as the line across the corner can be very eye-catching and is
across all of my magazines this helps me establish my magazines brand and make it recognisable

13. Website Evaluation
Having a masthead at the top was
a common convention in almost all
magazine websites I've researched,
as it provides a greater brand
recognition which the target
audience can easily recognise as
well as it standing out in white
against the background image to
make it easily noticeable.
I used the common convention
of having an image on the
front home page as this makes
the website look more
aesthetically appealing to the
audience, as well as showing
the audience what kind of
photography they are going to
be looking at.
I also used the common
convention of having the links
to social media.This is
because it would boost the
profile of my magazine the
more people liked or followed
my accounts and therefore
widen my audience
supporting the reception
theory of readers response
Having articles on my
home page is another
common convention
used by magazines, uses
and gratifications theory
can be used here as the
audience are gaining
information for the home
page articles which they
can read up on.

14. Website Evaluation
I Added a contact us page because I
found from my research that it was a
common convention to have on a
website as well as being a practical
one.This page allows people to
contact any member from my
magazine and ask any question, find
where our offices are or talk to us
about a new news article e.t.c. I
achieved this by following conventions
of having names and numbers to call, a
map of where our offices are located
and a quick and easy way to email
about any enquiries.