evaluation question 1

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

2. Magazine Conventions
• Magazines have many conventions in all aspects of their creation; camerawork, mise-en-scene,
layout, images, language, fonts, etc.
• I chose to do a magazine about the Yorkshire Dales so I have studied and used conventions of
magazines for the Yorkshire Dales as a base for my media text.
• I also used the websites of these magazines as a base for my website pages, using their
conventions and applying them accordingly to my website.
• I also analysed billboard advertisements for magazines (unfortunately I couldn’t find any for
magazines about the Yorkshire Dales so I used just general magazine billboards) and used their
conventions in the creation of my billboard advertisement.

3. Magazine

4. My magazine
One convention of magazines is the masthead and it’s positioning. I noticed that
nearly all magazines have their masthead across the top of the front cover. This
makes the masthead clear to see and therefore makes the magazine easy to
recognise and identify. This means the reader doesn’t struggle to find it and the
magazine can have a good readership. It also displays very clearly what magazine
it is and what the magazine is about. I decided after finding this convention I would
also put the masthead of my magazine along the top of the front cover meaning my
magazine in this aspect conforms to magazine conventions. Along with the
masthead there is a tagline outlining information about the magazine. This gives the
audience a bit more information on what the magazine is about. This tagline is
placed next to the masthead because the masthead is normally what the audience’s
eye goes to first so they will also get this bit of information with the masthead
increasing their interest in the magazine. I, therefore, put a tagline under the
masthead of my magazine to conform to the conventions of magazines and make
my magazine more appealing to the audience.
Another convention I noticed was that the date and price of the
magazine are next to the masthead along with the tagline. This
information is placed here because the audiences eye lands on the
masthead first so including the price and date here will inform them
more of the magazine and help them decide if they want to buy the
magazine. I decided I would go against this convention because I
want my audience to decide on whether they like the content of the
magazine before they see the price and decide because they
don’t/do like the price.

5. Whilst analysing magazines I noticed that they all have a barcode if they need to be purchased (free magazines do
not have barcodes), This makes it possible to buy the magazine in store making it easy and simple for the audience
to get the magazine. This is a practical convention of magazines because without it the audience would not be able
to purchase the magazine and therefore the magazine will not get a readership. On my magazine front cover I
included a barcode because my magazine costs £3.50 so it needs a barcode to make it possible for the audience to
purchase the magazine.
My magazine
A convention of magazines is to have a large cover story; this will be the main feature of the magazine. This is cover story takes up the main space on
the cover so the audience sees it first. The size shows that it is the main feature of the magazine and that the editor wants the audience to see that
cover line first. I conformed to this convention by putting a large cover line for the main feature of the magazine. This means the audience will
understand that this is the main topic/feature of the magazine and if they are interested in this topic they will be more likely to buy and read the
magazine.

6. One thing I noticed whilst looking at magazines
for the Yorkshire Dales is that they don’t have a
top bar however from looking at other magazines I
noticed they do include a top bar on the front
cover. This shows that a top bar is not a
convention of Yorkshire Dales magazines but it is
of general magazines (eg music, fashion, gossip).
I decided to go against the convention of not
having a top bar on Yorkshire Dales magazines
and include a top bar. I think top bars give you
more space to include information and helps
separate the information up. The black
background I used contrasts to the light colours
of the main image meaning the audience will be
drawn to look at the top bar and take in the
information there.
A convention of magazines is that on the front cover
there are cover lines along the side of the cover
outlining other features in the magazine. This is to
show the audience what some of the articles are in
the magazine and helps them decide whether they
want to read these articles and therefore the
magazine. Normally the most interesting/largest
articles are used as cover lines as these are what the
editor feels the audience will enjoy the most and
what will encourage the audience to read the
magazine. Therefore I included 4 cover lines on my
magazine cover showing what is in my magazine. I
chose topics that I think the audience will enjoy/be
interested in the most.

7. Whilst analysing Yorkshire Dales magazines I
noticed that a convention of front covers is
that the main image are of nature. This fits
with the region of the magazines (The
Yorkshire Dales) because the Yorkshire Dales
is known for nature and beautiful views. These
images help the audience understand where
this magazine is for and what it is about
because the cover image reflects what type
of place the magazine is about and reflects
the things the topics will be about in the
magazine. Therefore I decided I would also
have a view for the cover image that reflects
the main story of the magazine to follow the
convention. The daffodils in the image reflect
spring linking the main cover line to the cover
image helping the audience make a link
between the cover line and the image.

8. One convention I noticed was that the
fonts on the cover are serif. I decided to
go against this convention and use sans
serif fonts instead of serif fonts. I did this
because I wanted a modern and simple
feel to my magazine and I believed this
was best achieved with a sans serif
font. I also saw that the mastheads are
in colours like yellow and gold, and the
coverlines are in white. I decided I
would go against this also and have my
masthead as black and my coverlines
(excluding the cover story and top bar
cover lines) as black. I made the cover
story as white because it would make
the text stand out to the audience and
make it more visible compared to the
other cover lines.

9. Contents Page

10. One convention of the contents page is that
there is a title showing that it is the contents
page. This shows the audience that this page is
the contents page and this means they know
that this page is where they can find out what is
in the magazine and what page it is on. I
decided to follow this convention so the
audience know what is on the page and know
that this page is what they can use to navigate
the magazine. However, instead of using a
calligraphy style font I used a simple sans serif
font to in keep with the simple, modern style of
the magazine.
My magazine
A convention of magazine contents pages is that the contents lists are split into sections
titled ‘features’ and ‘regulars’. This outlines what the contents are so the audience know
whether the article is special to just this edition of the magazine or whether it is a reoccurring
article in the magazine. This means if the reader enjoys a certain regular article they can
easily locate it on the contents page and therefore find out what page it is on. This
separation also means that the audience does not get confused over whether the article is a
feature or a regular article. I decided to use this convention on my magazine page because
I believe it is very helpful to the reader because it helps them know what it only in this issue
of the magazine or not.

11. A convention of magazine contents pages is that they include
images relating to certain articles listed on the contents page.
These are here so certain articles of the magazine are visually
shown to the audience. This is done so the audience can see
what the article is about and decide whether they want to read
the article. I decided to follow this convention because I
believed it would much more aesthetically pleasing to the
audience to include images. It would also mean there is less
white space on the page, making the magazine seem more full
and interesting. Another convention I noticed is that the
pictures either have the page number of the article in the
corner of the image to show the audience what article the
image is for and what page it is on; or the image is next to the
article listing it is for so the audience can know which article
the image is for and where to find it. I decided to put the page
number in the corner of the image because the images are not
necessarily next to it’s article listing so the number on the
image indicates what article the image is for. I also noticed that
a convention is to have the images on the contents page as
squares/rectangles. I decided to go against this convention by
putting the images in circles instead of squares/rectangles. I
decided to do this as I felt it gave a more relaxed and less
hard look to the page and therefore made the page look more
approachable.

12. A convention of all magazines is to have
the contents listed with the article’s page
number next to it. This is so the audience
knows what’s in the magazine and where
you find the articles included. I followed
this convention because I felt it was
important to have a list of the contents so
the audience knows whats in the magazine
and what page they can find it on.
Another convention of all magazines is to have the page number in the corner of
the page. This is there so the audience knows what page they are on and
therefore they can navigate the magazine easily and quickly. It means they can
locate the page they want to go to just by looking at the corner of the pages.
The audience can look at the contents page for the page number of the article
they want to read and then use the page numbers in the corner of the pages to
find that article. I conformed to this convention because, again, I felt it was
necessary to do so because the audience needs a way navigate the magazine.

13. Double Page Spread

14. The double page spreads I analysed did not have titles for the
article but from my experience of reading magazines I know a
convention of magazines is to have a title for the article so the
audience knows what the article is and what it is about. Therefore I
included a title for both articles of my double page spread so the
audience knows what the article is and what is in it.
A convention of articles is that they have images to accompany the article. These are here to visually
show what the article is talking about and to split up the article so it is not just fully text. If the page
just consists of text it will look very unattractive to the audience so they won’t want to read the article
because it appears to be too much text to read and appears boring. The images therefore add
interest to the article and therefore will encourage the audience to read the magazine. I decided to
include images to show the reader what the text is describing and to give the reader something to
look at not just text to read.

15. A convention of magazine articles is to have text in columns. This is so the text is not just one big paragraph. If
the text is one big paragraph it would make the page look unappealing because it was just a block of text and
therefore the audience won’t read it. I decided to go against this convention slightly by only have small
paragraphs for each topic on the page to give a small outline of what the topic is (eg a walk or cottage). I
decided to do this because I felt it wouldn’t be suitable or interesting to have long pieces of text describing
something that can be described in an interesting way with a small paragraph.

16. Billboard

17. A convention of magazine billboards is that the name of
the magazine is the largest on the advertisement. This
is because the magazine wants the audience to see the
name first so the know what magazine this
advertisement is for. I conformed to this convention as I
felt it was necessary to have the name of the magazine
the most visible to the audience so if they are passing
the billboard quickly they will at least get the name of
the magazine. Another convention is that the names are
all in the same font as the mastheads o the magazine.
This creates a visual link between the magazine and
billboard. I also used this convention as it helps the
reader understand what magazine the billboard is for.
Another convention of magazine billboards is they include an image of the front
cover of the magazine. This is so the audience will recognise and/or remember the
magazine through appearance if they were to see it on a shop shelf. This means
they are more likely to purchase the magazine if the billboard interested them. I
decided to conform to this convention because I want the audience to know what the
magazine looks like so they will recognise and purchase it if they see it in a shop.

18. One thing I included on my website that
isn’t a convention of billboards is the
price of the magazine. I did this
because I believed the price of my
magazine will encourage people to
purchase the magazine because it is an
affordable price for people and
therefore people will be more likely to
buy the magazine after seeing this
price. The buzz word ‘only’ makes the
price seem better than it already is
making the audience believe this is a
good price for my magazine.
A convention of billboards is that they use buzz words like ‘exclusive’. They use this because it makes the
content seem much more special to the audience because this content is only available in this specific
magazine. This will encourage the audience to buy the magazine, especially if they are very interested in
the topic the ‘exclusive’ content is about, because they can only find this content in this magazine; there is
no other way to get it. I developed this convention by including the buzz word ‘exclusive’ but adding
‘interviews and features’ to it. This gives more information to the audience and helps them to understand
what is exclusive in the magazine but doesn’t give specifics away creating more intrigue and interest.
Another convention of magazine billboards is that they include the website address of the magazines
website. This is included on the billboard so if the audience wants to find out more information on the
magazine issues or just the magazine in general they know where to go online. This will increase traffic
to the website and therefore more interest. I have used this convention because I want my audience to
know where they can find more information on the magazine.

19. Website Pages

20. One convention of magazine websites is that they
have the magazine name in the top left corner of
the webpage. This is so the audience knows what
magazine this website is for and therefore so they
know what the website is about. Another
convention is that the names are all in the same
font as the magazine mast head creating a visual
link between the magazine and the website. I
decided to use both these conventions because I
thought it was useful to the audience and would
help them.
Another convention of magazine websites is to have tabs along the top in a bar like manner with each tab
taking the audience to a different section of the website which is stated on the tab. Tabs are used so the
audience knows what is on the website and so they can easily access this topic just by clicking on the
tab. This makes the website easy to understand and navigate. I used this convention because of these
reasons as I wanted my audience to be able to understand and manoeuvre my website easily and simply.
Another convention of magazine websites is that they have
links to the magazines social networking sites at the top of the
webpage. These are there so the audience knows the
magazine has these accounts, they can access them easily,
and they have more ways to interact with the magazine. I
used this convention on my magazine’s website because I
felt that social media accounts are needed on today’s society
if you want your product to do well due to the rise in the use
of the internet and sites such as Twitter and Facebook.

21. A convention of magazine websites is that they
have an option to log in to an account the audience
has made on the website and the option to make
an account. This is here so the audience can
interact more with the website and therefore the
magazine. It would give them benefits and make
them feel more in touch with what’s going on with
the magazine. I included this convention because I
felt the audience will be able to interact more with
my website and magazine.
Another convention of magazine websites is
that they have a slideshow of some of the
features included on the website. This is
here so the audience can see the main
features of the website and the features the
magazine wants them to see. The use of a
slideshow means less space is used up on
the page and makes the page more
interactive. I used this convention because I
wanted to keep my website simple and not
cramped with features.
Another convention of magazine
websites is an advertisement for a
subscription deal. These are on websites
to increase the amount of readers the
magazine has and therefore how much
money the magazine gets. I used these
conventions because I want my
magazine to have regular readers and
for it to make money.