1. DRAFT EVALUATION QUESTION 1
1. In what ways doesyour media product use,developor challenge formsand conventionsof
real mediaproducts?
Overview
My musicmagazine conformstomostof the conventionsof analternativegenre magazine,however
breaksthe stereotypical elementsinamixture of areassuch as the photographyandpage layout.I
thinkto some extentitisinitself analternativelayoutof amagazine,asitdoesnot follow the
general formatof typical musicmagazines.Ihadsetout to produce an alternative magazine,a
rather broadgenre,howevergoingfurtherintoproducingmymagazine,throughthe photography
and articlesIdevelopedIdecidedtoinsteadattemptanindie alternative genre,allowingmy
magazine tobreakthe boundariesof astereotypical alternative magazine.Thisgave me botha
mixture of freedomandconstraintinmystyle,photographyandcoloursIcoulduse throughoutthe
magazine. Inan alternative magazine,youwouldexpectdarkercolours,stayingawayfromthe
neon’sof popmusic,but notedgingintothe grunge andblacks of metal androck, therefore indie
and alternative coloursprovedthe hardesttoselectandtheme throughoutmymagazine. Lookingat
the final productof my magazine,Ibelievethatthe picturesIhave chosenchallenge the alternative
indie stereotype the most,asIhad my modelsinverydiverseposes,andbroke the genderbarriers
by havingthe male andfemale rolesswitchedaround. Myfrontcoverhoweverstickstothe male
genderrolesasboththe modelsare lookingstraightdownthe camera,furthermoreattemptingto
conveythe alternative genrethroughtheirposture,eye contactandclothing.
Colours
Priorto the creationof “Flipside”,Istudiedintocolourpsychology,tosee whichcolourswouldbest
sendoutthe message Iaimedfor.I devisedafew setsof 3 coloursthat I couldpotentiallyuse inmy
magazine.Whencomparingthese coloursagainst eachother,the burgundycolourIfeltwasthe
best.The colourpsychologybehindredalsoinfluencedmydecision,asredisshowntocatch the
attentionandportraya mixture of strongemotions.Also,white andblackare typicallyseenasquite
alternative colours,throughtheiruse inindie andalternativealbumcovers,ithasbeenmedialised
to become a “cool”thing.For example youwouldn’tsee apopularpopartisthavinga moodylooking
picture of themin blackand white,butyouwouldlikelyseeanedgyoff camerashot of a new band
inblack andwhite inNME; Therefore makingmycolourschosenadhere tothe alternative music
conventionsbothpsychologically andaesthetically,withthe addedbonusof beinggenderneutral.
Style
I alsohad to considerthe style inwhichIlaidthe pages,to catch the reader’sattention.Myfront
coverand contentspage bothheavilyfeature the darkredburgundycolour,tobuildupthe brand
identity,sothatwhenpeople seeburgundyandblack,averycommoncombination, theyassociate
flipsidemagazine tothese highlyseencolours.Iusedavariedstyle of layoutsthroughmypages,
rangingfrompicture dominatingarticlestobalancedratioof texttopicture.Since mymainaudience
were of the 15-21 range,I consideredI couldkeepaslightlyheaviertexttopicture ratio,astheir
intellectual readingandfocusshouldbe fairlyhigh.Analternativemagazine suchasNME isoften
quite variedintheirtexttopicture balance,andwill swapbetweenhavingalarge picture focal page,
witha longerarticle,withsimplebox outtextandminute picturestosupportit.Idecidedtobreak
the genericlookof a contentspage,byhavingthe word contentssplitinto2sides,a subtle linkto
Flipside,dividingwordsontodifferentsidesof the page.Inbreakingthese conventionsyouare
essentiallyadheringtoageneral alternativeconvention.SoalthoughImayhave brokenthe generic
2. contentspage and article layout,Iam looselystickingtothe ideaof an alternative magazine beingall
aboutbreakingthe norm.
Front Cover
My frontcoverdesignsticksquite closelytoanalternative magazine,throughitsphotographyand
colourscheme used. Analternativemusicmagazine suchasNME oftenfeature aclose upof an artist
or band lookingstraightdownthe camera,asmy magazine does.Iconsideredplacingthe frontcover
inblack andwhite,howeverdecidedthe colourswere darkenoughtoconveyalternative andnot
edge intoR&B or indie. The sell linesIchoose reinforcesthe genre of the magazine,through
buzzwordssuchas “gig” as opposedtoa pop magazine thatmayuse “concert” or tour”. I featured
“Elusive Dreams”the bandI had featuredinthe central feature articlesof the magazine onthe front
cover.I Photoshoppedthe image inorder tosticktothe conventionsof all magazines,butstayed
away fromthe typical airbrushedperfectlook,because thisdoesnotfitwiththe alternativegenre.
My audience wouldmostlikelynotidentifywithaperfectairbrushedpicture,yetastriking
enhancedpicture waslikelytofitbetterwith the audience.Iincludedtypical selllinesmade todraw
the attentionof the readersuch as “exclusive”andthe use of numbersprovidedavariedvibe tothe
cover. I alsoincludedabannerat the bottom, withthe type of thingsreaderscanexpecttosee
inside the magazine. Overallmymagazine frontcoverstickstothe conventions,Ididthis
purposefully,asafrontcover iswhatpeople judge the magazine on,tobe tooradical can lose you
the interestof readers.
Masthead
The mastheadof my magazine isalsoincrediblyimportantinboththe psychological conventionsand
vibe itportrays.I choose the word“Flipside”because itisanevenamountof letters,meaningitcan
be spiltinto2 sides,allowingfora two tonedeffecttobe used.Inreference tomusic,the word
flipsidereferstothe oppositeside of the disc/vinyl,whichisperfectforalternative music.Itisthe
lesserknownsongsthatare placedon the flipside,andthe musicIfeature inmymagazine isless
widelyknown,meaningFlipsidewasthe mostapplicable title formymagazine.Iplayedaroundwith
a lot of fonts,buteventuallydecidedonthe fontwiththe wetpainteffect,because itwasclearand
easyto read.I thinkthe mastheadwill pleasemyaudience as vinyl are becomingincreasingly
popularinthe indie alternative genre,andthereforehavingaflipside totheirmusicathome will
remindthemof the magazine.
Extras
I includedthe date andissue numberonthe contentspage of mymagazine, veryfittingtoall
conventionsof magazines.Ididthistoestablishthe magazine wasanongoingthingandto buildto
identityandbrandof flipside.A barcode wasalsoaddedto give itthe more professional look,as
thoughit couldbe sold.My target audience wasABC1,mostlystudentsof the age 15-21, however
those above 21 withaninterestinalternative musicmaylike some of the artistsfeatured. Students
are the type of age where a “teenage rebellion”mayhappen,meaningtheyare lookingtobreakthe
boundariesandstereotypesof the oldergeneration.Therefore analternative magazinewill appeal
to a vast audience atstudentlevel.
ContentsPage
My contentspage wasone wayI whichI broke the conventionsof amusicmagazine.Itconveysan
edgyand alternative vibe tofitwithmygenre; throughitsbrokenwordingof CONTENTSand the
manydifferenttonesandcoloursfeaturedthe contentspage providesa parallel betweenalternative
3. and indie. Ichoose tostickto some conventionsbyincludingheadingssuchas“Features”and
“Regulars”,howeverwentoutside the box whencreatingaQR code inthe contentspage,linking
readersto exclusive contentandaddinga digital elementtomymagazine. Itriedto keepthe textto
picture ratiomoderatelybalanced,andusedstatementpicturestolinktothe articles.The people
featuredinthe feature articlesgainapicture inthe contentspage,althoughItriedto make sure
theyweren’tall juststudioshots.Hence whyIaddeda few extrasincludingthe albumcovers. Itried
to make the contentspage as easyto read as possible,Ididthisbyhavinga clear headingof the type
of article itwas,followedbya small brief storyline. Iincludedpage numbersbothonthe pictures
and on the righthand side of the article,allowingreaderstoeasilynavigate tothe page theywant.
Feature Articles
My feature article wasfocussedaroundthe band“Elusive Dreams”.Ichangedupthe colourshere,
bringingoutmore vibrancyandnewlife,torepresentanew andexcitingtype of music/artist.The
colourred wasusedto grab attention,whilegreenprovidedthe safetypsychologically,whilststill
beingeye catchingandaesthetic.Ichose to doa Q&A style article because there was2 people tobe
interviewed,itwaseasiertolabel whowastalkingasopposedtoattemptinga3rd
personstyle of
article.Whichiswhythe letter“Z”and “H” were usedIthe article to highlightwhoitwasthatwas
talking.Tomake thisevenmore simple toreadI changedthe coloursof the initial.The stucktothe
alternative picture conventions,byhavingmyimage inblackandwhite itreallyreinforcedthe edgy
cool grunge vibe of the band, whichisperfectformytarget audience.Ialsofeaturedthe bands
albuminthe top right handcorner,withdetailsonhow to getit.This sticksto the promotional side
of magazines,byadvertisingalbumsthe readersmaybe interestedin.Ichoose afairlystandard
layout,witha blocktextcomplimentingthe picture,thiswastomake the article easytoread; butI
alsouseda Q&A style sothat if the readersdidn’thave muchtime,theycouldreadjustthe
questionsthatinterestedthem,includingthe use of box outtext.Ibroke the conventionswiththe
photo,byhavingthe male lookingcheekyandsmiley,andthe girl lookingmore serious.Ididthisto
showthe relationshipbetweenthe twowasclose,asnormallymalesare seenasdominantand
controlling,butbyplacingthe female behindandabove the male itchallengedthisstereotypical
genderrole.However,incompensationforchangingthe normof my picture,Iput itin blackand
white asto fitwiththe genre of music,it alsosavedhavingtoeditthe picture as much.
My secondfeature article focussed on“Ingrid”,whowasfeaturedonboththe contentspage and
the front cover.Forthisfeature article Idecidedtomake the picture a focal point,andhave a fairly
small article sothat the magazine wasnot tootextheavy.Ithinkinterms of conformity thatthis
feature article isveryirregulartosee ina musicmagazine.Inorderto reinforce thatthismagazine
was aboutmusic,I addedanotheralbumpromotioninthe centre of the page.I laidthe article outin
3 paragraphsand decidedinsteadof Q&A, togofor a narrative style,againtovary my magazine
fromearlierarticles.Ichose a colourscheme tomatch the picture usedinthe article,the colour
providesarichertone to the magazine.Butstickingwiththe alternativegenre Imade sure itwas
dark and notoverpowering. Ikepta purple striprunningdownthe edge of the article matchingthe
bannerto give ita smoothlook.
Carryingon fromthe firstfeature article onElusive Dreams,Icreateda secondastheywere the
frontcover,conventionally theywouldhave more thanone page abouttheminthe magazine. This
page I decidedtolayoutina symmetrical form, withanequal balance of texttopictures.Thispage
wouldhave drawninmy targetaudience foritsdark spaceyeye catchingbackground.The symmetry
usedalsomakesreadingthe article alot easierandmore aestheticallypleasing. The coloursonthis
page are verygenericandafterquite loudcoloursinthe previousarticle,theyprovide asofter
balance.The redis usedtoshowdifference betweenthe answersandthe question.
4. My final page wasthe social mediapage,toallow readerstogetlinkedtoFlipsideMagazine.Italso
broughtin more digital technologyuse throughoutthe magazine.Thispage challengesthe
alternative conventionsby beingbrightandvibrant.However,the blockcoloursare aesthetically
pleasingandworkwell together. Thispage givesthe viewersalinktoothertypesof mediathe
magazine canbe foundon,a type of digital synergy. Ichoose brightcolourstogive the magazine a
bitof a lift.The lastpage roundsup the magazine nicelyandgivesita finishedfeel.
