The document discusses the conventions used in the design of a music magazine cover, contents page, and feature article. It analyzes how each element conforms to typical conventions such as placement of the masthead, use of images, formatting of text, inclusion of contact details, and more. Some aspects that challenge conventions are discussed, such as an image spanning a double-page spread for the article and the artist not maintaining eye contact across elements. Overall, the document focuses on how the magazine design draws from real-world conventions to appear like an authentic product while also including some unconventional aspects.

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

2. Using Conventions-The Cover
This is my music magazine cover that contains may conventions of a usual
magazine such as:
Mast head to be
at the top of the
page and the
biggest text on
the page.
For there to
be a edition
sign so that
the readers
know this is a
special
edition.
For the cover
lines to be a the
edges of the
page and not
covering the
artists face.
For the Headline to
include the artists name
and be placed under the
picture so it doesn’t cover
the face of the artist.
For the date and price
to be away from the
main image but still
visible to the readers.
For there to be eye
contact with the
readers to create a
personal
connection.
For the strap line
to be just under
the headline
and in a smaller
text.

3. Conventions in my Magazine Cover
The Mast Head- I placed the mast
head at the top of the magazine to
make this the first thing the readers
eyes are drawn to as they naturally
start reading at the top left hand
corner. Also it is the biggest piece of
writing on the page so the eyes
naturally look to the mast head first.
MAST HEAD
COVER LINES
My Cover lines fit conventions as they tend to
be at the edges of the magazine and
shaped around the face of the main artist in
the cover image so that not only can the
target market read the extra features
included in my magazine but they can read
them without it interfering with looking at the
cover image. Also it follows conventions as
they tend to be a smaller font than the
masthead or the head to not draw as much
attention but still be easily visible.

4. Conventions of my Magazine Cover
EYE CONTACT
Another convention that my magazine meets is that the
cover artist has and keeps eye contact with the camera
and thus the target market, also the photo reveals some
aspects of the artists personality for example she’s
holding a guitar and so target market can take from this
that she’s a musician. I have taken this eye contact from
real magazines such as this ‘Q’ cover with Florence from
‘Florence and the Machines’ as it also captures the
readers attention and create a personal connection with
the readers as it looks like Florence is looking directly at
the target market.
HEAD LINE
(Billboard Magazine Headline)
The headline on my music magazine cover
conforms to conventions as like the magazine
‘Billboard’ it is located near the bottom of the page
and the headline its self is bigger than the strap line
which is underneath. Also as expected the headline
and strap line are underneath the main focus of the
cover image, so in most magazines the focus is the
artists face and their eye contact with the camera
and the headline is underneath this to not take
away from this focus.
(‘Q’ Cover
Image)

5. Conventions of my Magazine Cover
DATE LINE AND BARCODE
The conventions of a barcode and date line are to be out of the way
and towards the edges of the magazine cover so that they don’t
take focus away from other features of the magazine, also they
normally include the month and year the magazine was released and
the price. Mine includes these aspects and so conforms to
conventions as shown here I have used a barcode but tried to make
it less obvious and put the date and price above in small font, it so its
still readable but not taking attention away from other aspects of the
magazine cover.
COVER IMAGE
The conventions of a cover image is normally to
have a mid shot or head shot of the cover artist, to
have them keeping direct eye contact with the
camera to create a personal connection with the
reader, to show part of their personality/ character
and to capture a good quality, not blurry image. My
cover image conforms to these conventions as it has
a good quality mid shot of Erin, with a leather jackets
and guitar to show both her indie and folk character.
She also keeps eye contact with the camera and
thus the readers can feel like they have a personal
connection with her as she is looking directly at
them, quite this is vogue cover with Lana Del-Rey.

6. Using Conventions- The Contents
One of the conventions
the readers expect is to
have a headline at the
top of the page so that
naturally this is the first
thing they see.
Another
convention is to
have columns
so this contents
page has one
main column
that holds all
the page
number sand
information the
target market
needs.
For there to be
numbers connected
with certain pages so
that readers can go
directly to desired
pages.
For there to be a smaller
version of the front
cover so the readers
can see the pages are
connected.
For there to be good
quality images of the
artists to give the readers
a sense of what is to
come.
For the numbers
on the images
to be
coincided with
the numbers in
the contents.
For there to be
contact details of
the magazine, in
smaller font but still
visible.
To include the date so the
cover can link with the
contents and so the readers
immediately know what
issue they’re looking at.

7. Using Conventions-The Contents
THE HEADLINE
Also another convention is for it to be the biggest piece of text on the page as
well as including the masthead from the cover to link the magazine together.
My headline also fulfils this as it includes the masthead (Soloists) from the front
page and is the biggest size font on the page. I got these ideas from a student
magazine I found and used the ideas of the graphics with the wide ribbons to
separate and make the headline stand out from the rest of the page.
Students Music
Magazine (2012)
Editors Letter
My editors letter uses conventions of
music magazines as it gives a brief
overview of what will be in the
magazine this month or general advice
to the readers or what the editor has
been up to over the month to prepare
for the magazine. I have used this editors
letter from the ‘Net-a-porter’ fashion
website magazine which gives the
readers a sense of what to look forward
to this month.
My contents page
uses conventions
through the
headline as the
reader expects for a
contents page that
the headline is at the
top of the page with
either a line or
graphic to separate
it from the rest of the
page which I have
done by putting the
headline into a wide
plum coloured
ribbon across the
page to define it
from the rets of the
page.

8. Using Conventions-The Contents
THE CONTENTS IMAGES
Student Magazine
2012
To use conventions in my contents page I tried to
make sure I included at least two images, so that
the contents page is more interesting and not too
cramped with writing, as magazines are meant
and expected to be very visual. So using inspiration
from a student magazine in 2012 I have taken the
idea to use these images to show the different
artists I have features about in this months
magazine.
Another convention I have used in my contents page
is to use, for my main featured artist, to have a slightly
bigger image so that the contents page an revolve
around and draw more attention to them, so more
people read the article about them.
CONTACT DETAILS
Another convention I have used in my magazine is
contact details, these are normally expected to be
somewhere in the magazine and I have decided to
put them on the contents page as it is easily
locatable, I developed this idea from one of ‘Q’
magazines contents page.

9. Using Conventions-The Contents
FEATURE & OTHER COLUMNS
The normal features of a contents page column
is for there to be one or several different
columns for different aspects of the magazine,
so for features there should be one column or
section and another for other aspects as shown
with my ‘plus’ section.
NUMBERS
Another important aspect that links the
conventions to the forms in my contents page is
numbers. The readers expect the numbers to
coincide with the different pages of the
magazine, so they can find the page they want
quickly.
Another convention to do with
numbers, links also with the
pictures on the contents page. So
sometimes the images on the
contents have numbers on them
to make finding the feature or
Q&A with the artists in the picture
even quicker to find. So here I
have shown that the numbers on
both my feature columns and
images are linked to make finding
the artist the readers want to read
about, quicker and more efficient.

10. Using Conventions- The Contents
SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
Readers may also expect there to be
an offer with subscription information
to make them more likely to subscribe
to the magazine, I got influence from
the rock magazine ‘Rock Sound’.

11. Using Conventions- My Article
The readers
expect to see the
headline to be big
and bold, so they
stand out as the
most prominent
part of the page.
Another
convention of
magazine articles
is for them to be
landscape and a
double page
spread, with a
gutter in the
centre of the
page.
Another
convention of my
article is for there
to be more than
one column on a
feature article, as
there is meant to
be a fair amount
of information
about the
musician or the
article topic, so
therefore more
column space is
needed.
There is also expected to be
a lead in, to be an
introduction to the article
and its expected to be
above or next the article so
that the target market can
read it easily to get a taste of
what the article will be about.
There is expected to be a cover
image that either covers half or more
of the page, it could be suggested
that this article is slightly
unconventional as the image covers
the whole double page spread and
the article is written over this.
It can also be
expected to have
page numbers
and by lines to
give extra
information and let
the readers find
the page easily as
it connects with
the contents
page.

12. Using Conventions- The Article
MAIN
ARTICLE
IMAGE
The main conventions that
this article image covers show
is the artists personality, so
here I have shown Erin’s love
of music but with a rustic, folk
style by using an older
wooden piano and including
the flowers to emphasize the
back to nature theme.
Another convention of this image is to cover about ½ to
the full page and so I have decided to cover the full
double page spread with my article image, so the
readers feel as if they are in the photo with the artist and
thus at the interview too. I mostly took influence from this
article by NME, they covered ¾ of the page with the
image so slightly unconventional, but I didn't’t think this
would fully work with my image and article type.
NME-
Alt-J
Article

13. Using Conventions- The Article
HEADLINE
A convention of the article headline is
to be the biggest piece of text at the
top of the page and stand out to the
readers as the first thing they see. I feel
like my article headline has conformed
to these conventions as my headline is
extremely bold and stands out on the
overall article.
Another convention of my article
headline is including the artists name.
Some readers expect to see the name
somewhere in the article and I felt the
need to include this in the headline like
this NME Kurt Cobain article as I feel like
it gets the readers involved with the
artist and article strait away.
PULL QUOTE
Another article convention is for there to be pull quote
included in the headline at the top of the page in
some way like this ‘Kerrang’ magazine article which
includes it actually in the main headline and although
I knew I wanted to include a pull quote I wanted it to
be less brash, so I put it just underneath the main
headline.

14. Using Conventions- The Article
MAIN BODY TEXT
A convention for the main body text is to be in
columns which my article is and to take up
around half of the double page spread which
again my text does.
Another convention of my magazine article is for
there to be a pull quote to be blown up and put
in a break in the main body text to break up the
article and to entice the readers to start reading
the article as they want to know what
happened before the quote and how the quote
even came about, why did the artist say this. It
creates a sense of urgency for the reader to find
out more about the event that caused the artists
to say this quote in an interview.
PULL QUOTE

15. Using Conventions- The Article
LEAD IN
Another convention of a magazine
article is the lead in which is
expected to be before the article to
ensure that the readers have some
background knowledge about the
artist they are reading about.
I have developed ideas from the
NME article about Alt-J as they too
had a lead in to conform to
conventions and they put it on the
main image to leave room for the
article and slightly stray away from
conventions, which I did also.
DATE AND PAGE NUMBER
Another convention is for the page number and
date to be at the bottom or the top of the page so
that readers can easily flick through and find the
article they want and I have placed mine at the top
but developed ideas from this NME article.
I have developed
ideas by placing the
date next to the page
number for ease and to
de-clutter the page.

16. Unconventional Aspects
I think this article may be seen as slightly
unconventional as the main body text
covers majority of the photo, however I feel
that this worked quite well and although
some of the photo may be lost in the gutter
its not a crucial part such as the artists
face.
Also the fact that my artists
hasn’t remained holding
eye contact in the contents
page and article may be
seen as again
unconventional but I feel it
creates a down to earth,
slightly indie personality for
my artist.
Other than these
aspects I don’t
really feel that my
magazine is very
unconventional as
it seems to keep
to the normal
conventions.