1. EVALUATION: QUESTION 1
IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP
OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA
PRODUCTS?

2. I compared my product with another professional published magazine: „Mixmag‟. As there are no recent
disco magazines in the current market, I had to resort to the closest genre around: dance.
I will use this to show how my product relates to and challenges the conventions of a product of a similar
media product.

3. House style colours -
Bold, contrasting colours –
orange and black
Bold main image –
Dark features/hair/clothes –
ties in with house style
Medium close up
Bold masthead –
Stand out – memorable
Puff –
„Free Mix CD‟ – draws
audience in
„Free Armand Van Helden
CD‟ top left corner – stands
out next to masthead
URL –
Online presence – modern
Smaller image –
Makes reader want to know
what else is inside
Coverlines –
Both sides of the page
Subheadings – bold &
orange
Information – smaller & white
Key words – highlighted
Main story coverline –
In big bold letters – tells
audience that it is the main
story
Tagline –
Sells the magazine „world‟s
biggest dance magazine‟
Price: UK and overseas –
International/global product =
success

4. House style colours –
Bold, contrasting colours –
Pink and black
Bold main image –
Clear.
Clothing – hint at genre
Masthead –
Bold – house style colours
Font – convention of disco
Puff –
Top left hand corner. Eye
catching next to the masthead
The buzzwords: „win‟ and „free‟
entice the audience
URL, Facebook and Twitter –
This gives the magazine an
online presence
Extra modern – social networks
Smaller image –
Inside into what else is inside,
encourages reader to buy the
product.
Coverlines –
Subheadings – Big font & pink
Info – smaller font & black
Key words highlighted
Converline – album cover –
Acts as puff and draws audience
in especially if particular album
appeals to them.
Main story coverline –
„Exclusive‟ bold font – important
„Patsy May‟ white on black writing
– stand out – audience knows it‟s
a key story
Tagline –
Sells the magazine, and usually

5. In all magazines I researched – both Disco and Dance – the colours used were mainly bright contrasting colours, for
example black and orange. I used this for the inspiration of my house style: pink and black.
The models (or celebrities) used for the main images were dressed in bright, extravagant clothing, which are all
conventions of the electronic genres and were very popular in the disco era. This is why I decided to dress my model in a
dress with psychedelic colours, which was typically worn at the time.
On the cover of most dance magazines, the key words and subheadings of the coverlines were in a blood font with a
colour that contrasts and stands out; usually cooperating with the house style. This explains why the key words and
subheadings on my produce are in a larger font and written in a bright pink font.
Disco magazines were often seen as quirky as they sometimes use odd shapes on their front cover. To incorporate this
quirkiness, I inserted the puff inside a misshapen circle. I also put the background squares behind the album cover, and
the photos of „Disco Jack‟, at an odd angle.
The fonts used are typical of fonts associated with disco and the electronic genre, with the expection of the font used for
„Patsy May‟ and the URL address. These fonts, instead, have a feminine appearance.
By looking at magazines from the dance genre, I was able to bring my magazine up to date, and modernise it, while still
containing the conventions of disco.
Taglines are on the cover to sell the product, as well as to explain, in further depth, the genre of the magazine and why
the reader should buy it. For dance magazine „Mixmag‟, their tagline is “World‟s biggest dance music and clubbing
magazine”, implying it is popular and has credibility so the reader feels it is a good buy. For „Groove‟, my tagline is
“Bringing Disco Back”, this is to inform the audience that it is a disco magazine and that I am aiming to modernise it by
„bringing it back‟.
Looking at „Mixmag‟, I could see they also had bright, contrasting colours, and often had a quote from an interview within
their cover. This is what gave me the idea of the cover line quote “Disco Isn‟t Dead”, to act as a „sneak peak‟ into the
interview.
Additionally, „Mixmag‟ has an internet appearance, so I put an URL address on the botton of the front cover, along with a
Facebook and Twitter search name, to create a web appearance and modernise the conventions of disco.

6. Masthead –
Repeated – recognisable
Black and white –
Contrasting – stands out
House style of particular
issue?
Main image –
Main story
Action shot – no connection
between reader and model
Drawn more to white t-shirt.
Pink/purple elements –
Contrast to black and white
Stand out
Playful
Buzzwords –
„VIP‟, „free‟
Giving something back to the
reader – drawing them in
Contents features –
Vague, minimal – not much
included?
Smaller image –
Less important story
Intrigue audience into what else
is included
Variation of fonts –
Interesting
Different things to look at
Album information

7. House style –
Followed on from front cover
Pink and black
Masthead –
Same font as front cover –
recognisable
Font –
Contents font – same as
coverlines
Underneath contents font –
also used on front cover
Variation of fonts –
Interesting
More to look at
Main image –
Main story
Model looking into camera,
allows connection between
model and reader
Smaller images –
Adds other visual elements
Insight into what else is included
Letter from the editor –
Sometimes only on the first issue
Personal element
Buzzwords –
„Exclusive‟, „Win‟
Disco ball –
Top left hand corner.
Also used on front cover by
„Disco Isn‟t Dead‟

8. The majority of magazines have a house style that continues throughout the magazine, which is an idea I stuck
to. My house style, pink and black, is continued in the contents page.
I added the disco ball symbol in the top left hand corner as part of the house style; again adding to the genre.
A same, or similar, font is used to those on the front cover; all following a disco theme. The masthead is also
written in the same font as the masthead on the cover, making it recognisable.
However, as there are more than one type of font used on the contents, it makes the page more interesting, rather
than one-dimensional. This is often done on professional media magazines, including „Mixmag‟.
The main image is the largest image on the page, implying that it is the main story. The model is looking into the
camera which allows a connection between the reader and the model.
Like on most magazines, I added smaller images also. These give additional visual elements to the page, while
giving the reader an insight into what else is in the magazine.
A letter from the editor is not common in all magazines, and is not often in dance or disco magazines, however
this letter gives the page a personal touch, like it is directed at them personally.
All magazines contain various buzzwords. I used the words „win‟ and „exclusive‟ on this page to entice the reader.

9. Main image –
Large image
Serious pose – sense of personality?
House style –
Particular issue – red and black
Dramatic colours – dramatic story
Lots of information –
Reader able to get to know artist
Smaller image –
Polaroid photo style
Popular
Vintage – aspect of retro/disco?
Caption –
Quote
Insight into the interview and to the artist‟s
view

10. House style –
Continued throughout product
Pink – feminine
Reflects personality of artist
Disco ball –
Top left hand corner – used
continuously through produce –
house style?
Main image –
Smiling – reader can connect
Retro – reflects genre
Masthead/title –
Same as „Patsy May‟ written on the
front cover – girly
Smaller images –
Polaroid – retro – reflects genre
Fact file –
Audience get to
know Patsy
quickly
Quote –
Insight into
interview and
artist‟s view

11. Again, I have followed the house style on to the double page spread, including the disco ball symbol.
On some professional magazines, the double page spread helps reflect the subject‟s personality. This
is what I aimed to do in my product. The house style reflects the girly element of her personality; and
the quirky shapes and contrasting patterns reflect her quirky style; while the main image shows her
bubbly personality as she is smiling at the audience.
Additionally, the fact that she is smiling helps the audience connect with her.
Smaller images are often added to a double page spread, giving the reader more to look at. This was
done in the DPS of the „Mixmag‟ issue, where they put in a smaller image, which had a polaroid style;
making it appear retro. I put in 2 smaller images with a polaroid style, supporting the disco era and
genre.
There is a large amount of text in my double page spread, which follows conventions of most double
page spreads. This enables the reader to receive a lot of information, therefore they are learning a lot
about the artist or the subject of the text.
There are often quotes to the interview; either by the main image or by the text in bold font. These give
an insight into what is included in the interview, and/or an insight into the view of the artist. This was
used both in my product, and the „Mixmag‟ issue.