Evaluation Question 1

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

3. Forms and Conventions used in my front
cover
• I used a bold and clear masthead as it was a clear convention of
music magazines.
• I made the main artists name stand out the most by having it in a
different font to the other cover lines and having a drop shadow.
This meant that it made it clear that it was the main feature of the
article.
• I used direct mode of address as it makes the magazine more
engaging and professional
• I placed the cover lines down the left side of the front cover as it was
a very successful convention that made my magazine look more
professional
• I used genre specific words, such as “gigs”, in order to attract my
target audience and appeal to them more.

4. Forms and Conventions developed and
challenged in my front cover
Forms and conventions I developed:
•I decided to only have cover lines on the left side of the front cover and leaving
the other side plan. This challenged the conventions of a music magazine as
most magazines have cover lines on either side. I decided to develop this in
order to add more focus onto my model.
•I also decided to have certain cover lines in boxes or images. I did this as it
created a pun with the puff about the Stone Roses, as it would appeal to my
target audience.
Forms and conventions I challenged:
•I used a female model on the front cover, which challenged the forms and
conventions of a music magazine. This is because most music magazines of the
indie genre feature a male model or a group that feature both males and females,
with very few magazine cover only having a female gender. For example the
NME and Q usually have men on their front cover. I also decided against
sexualising her which is normally done on magazines that feature females.
•I also used a font that did not remain on the base line, this gave it a more
distorted look, which relates to the genre of my music magazine

6. Forms and Conventions used on my contents
page
• By referring to the contents page as ‘this week’ I followed a
convention used by some magazines such as the NME.
• I also set out my contents page to have a minimalistic look. I
then found that this made my layout to be clearer and easier
to read.
• I also used minimal colours as it followed the conventions of
some magazines. It also related to the minimalistic stereotype
of the indie/alternative culture
• I also placed the page numbers on the pictures as I found it to
be a very useful way to layout my magazine
• I also featured a section on subscribing

7. Forms and Conventions developed and
challenged on my contents page
Forms and conventions I developed:
•Conventionally contents pages only feature male artists as their
main. I developed this convention by have a as the main image
and then featuring men in the smaller images
Forms and conventions I challenged:
•I also challenged the convention by having social media links
clearly shown on the contents page. I did this to increase use of the
new media platforms and increase publicity for my magazine as my
target audience would have a large online presence.
•I also challenged the convention of having a male dominated
magazine contents page. I did this to engage more female readers.

9. Forms and Conventions used in my double
page spread
• I followed the convention of having an image on
one side of the page because I believed that this
would make my magazine look aesthetically
pleasing as well as professional
• I also followed a similar layout to Q and NME, to
ensure that my magazine had a suitable layout
• I used a bold title as it clearly showed the focus of
my article and made it look more professional.

10. Forms and conventions I developed:
•I decided to use the masthead font in the article. I did this as a
method to enforce brand identity and create a house style.
Forms and conventions I challenged:
•I challenged the convention of having no pull quotes to break up the
text but keeping the text as two columns. I did this to keep the
same minimalistic theme I had on my front cover and contents
page. I believed that this would create a house style.
Forms and Conventions developed and
challenged on my double page spread

11. Why is it important to use some
conventions:
• In order to create a realistic and professional
looking product
• To use as guidelines that can be adapt to best
appeal to my target audience
• The conventions are used because they work
therefore by using them I would be creating a
successful product