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

2. Front Cover The subject in the main central image is using direct address. This makes the image more powerful, and is more likely the grab the reader’s attention. On my front cover I have used a buzz word(“EXCLUSIVE!”) to make people feel as it this is the only place to read that article I have used a main central image, which usually appears on the front covers of music magazines. The subject is using direct address, which grabs the reader’s attentions and makes them want to read on. Also the image fits in with ‘The Rule Of Thirds’. I have included a dateline on my front page, this is a popular convention for all music magazines, it shows the date and the issue number of each issue. The masthead includes the house colours of the magazine, and the font for it is a ‘rebellious’ font. The masthead that I created is quite recognisable, so if someone was looking for it on a shop shelf then they’d be able to find it easily. I have added a Lure/Boxout on this page, with an opportunity to win some VIP tickets to a festival. I made the word “WIN” bigger and bolder so it would catch the reader’s eye. I have included the slogan in the skyline of my front page. I feel my slogan fits well with this genre of magazine, because the genre’s of music represented are usually quite ‘loud’ genres of music. For the main coverline I used different colours and fonts to make it look interesting. I even added an effect on the Buzz word “EXCLUSIVE!” so it stands out more on the page. The barcode is usually included on the front cover in one of the bottom corners. This is where I have put the barcode on my front cover.

3. Contents Page The subject in the image is using direct address. This grabs the reader’s attention, and makes the page more informal. This font is the same font that is used in the Masthead, it helps give the magazine a brand identity. A popular convention of a contents page is having a pull quote. This gives the reader a sample of what they’re going to read in the article. I have included an editor’s letter, which is a popular convention of a contents page. It informs the reader what’s in the magazine, and makes it seem more personal. I have included the masthead on this page so it helps it give it more of a brand identity. I have written headings for each section of the magazine (like what they do in Kerrang! Magazine). This helps the reader find the page they’re looking for. I have used images of things that will appear later on in my music magazine. This is what most of the music magazines that I researched do on their contents pages. Also it is a convention of a contents page. Underneath each title I’ve written a little bit about each one; this tells the reader what to expect to read. I have noticed that Kerrang! Do this on their contents pages.

4. Features Page I downloaded a ‘blood splat’ paintbrush on Photoshop so I could create the effect that blood has been splashed all over the page. I think it gives it a ‘rebellious’ and ‘rough’ look. This would also appeal to the target market. Like in Kerrang! the main copy of text is organised into neat columns. The images all have a ‘vintage’ look; this fits in with the ‘rough’ and ‘rebellious’ look I was going for. This features page has two of the house colours of my magazine; red and black. This is normal for a features page; like in Rock Sound and Kerrang! In the folio for my features page I added in the masthead, this helps give the magazine brand identity. I have made the images have a ‘scrapbook effect’. I did this by placing the images at an angle, and I used a tape paintbrush to put the tape over the corner of the images to give the effect that they’d just been stuck there randomly. I have used pull quotes to pull the reader into the article. This is a very popular convention of a features page because it grabs the reader’s attention and makes them want to read more. There is quite a mix of fonts on the page; there’s about 4 different fonts. I think this gives it a really good effect, it kind of fits in with the ‘rough’ and ‘rebellious’ look. I found that Kerrang! tends to do this in their features pages.