This is slideshare presentation is part of my evaluation for my AS Media Coursework.

1. AS Media Studies- Music Magazine Evaluation - By Jess Gordon
In what ways does your media
produce use, develop or challenge
forms and conventions of real
media products?

3. Masthead
The masthead of my magazine has the generic top, centre positioning. By positioning the
masthead here, it allows the audience to see and read it clearly and easily, which is vital
as this is a new magazine which I want people to become familiar with and hopefully
purchase each edition. The title dominates almost the whole width of the total magazine,
allowing definite identification with the audience as they can see the entire name of the
magazine. It is a prominent convention as it is not covered by the image of the featured
artist, something which many of the well-known magazine brands tend to do. The process
of choosing the title of the magazine was extremely hard and time consuming, however I
needed to prevent myself from over-complicating the name and instead made it as simple
as possible. 'Soul Nation', the word 'Soul' in it therefore there will be no confusion of the
genre and the reader will have expectations as to what should be included in the
magazine.
I have followed the design of the masthead on the right but have challenged this
convention by ensuring that my magazine masthead was following the classic
monochrome colours of black and white which supports the idea of it being a soul
magazine, personally I think that my masthead looks more professional and definitely
represents the genre of Soul well.

4. Tagline
The tag line on my magazine is also simplistic and effective, it gives a brief outline of what
the music magazine provides to the reader as a whole, avoiding confusion. On top of this,
the wording of the tag line itself is much more formal, targeting my ideal market perfectly. I
personally think that my tag line is more approachable to Soul music lovers who I would
imagine would listen to to radio stations such as SmoothFM, unlike the other magazine
presented below which I do not believe will attract the correct audience for this particular
genre as it is very informal. To add to this, the font styles are completely and utterly
different, following what I have previously said, the formal approach from my font style is
illustrated through the elegant look, whereas the other font style is sharp ad edgy, and
could very much be described as funky- not the approach I would take with my target
audience.

5. Central Image
The central image has the ability to catch the reader's eye before they even have the
opportunity to look at thee printed text. The image uses direct address as the featured
artist is looking directly into the camera lens, something in which the audience will
definitely notice. The image on the left- hand side does not us direct address, however it
is a photograph of Stevie Wonder, a famous musician who is actually blind. As well as
this, the photograph of Stevie is in fact a close up shot which really captivates the
audience's attention, unlike my photograph which is a long shot. Supporting this, the
expression of the model on the left is one of enjoyment, this would also reel in readers,
however my model is quite moody, possibly making the audience feel as though the
magazine could be unapproachable.

6. Puffs
There are no puffs on the front cover of the magazine, however there is one on the
contents page which promotes a different element which is included on the double page
spread- an exclusive interview. On the front page of 'Clash' magazine, which says “Clash
is monthly”, this is obviously going to catch the reader's attention however, I don't think it
is an important piece of information to put on a puff, unlike on top of my puff which reads
“exclusive interview”, I think this is definitely something which will make the readers want
to purchase the magazine. The problematic thing with my magazine is that the puff is on
the contents page, meaning the audience won't see it until they physically open up the
page whereas the puff is on the front cover on 'Clash' Magazine.

7. Puffs
There are no puffs on the front cover of the magazine, however there is one on the
contents page which promotes a different element which is included on the double page
spread- an exclusive interview. On the front page of 'Clash' magazine, which says “Clash
is monthly”, this is obviously going to catch the reader's attention however, I don't think it
is an important piece of information to put on a puff, unlike on top of my puff which reads
“exclusive interview”, I think this is definitely something which will make the readers want
to purchase the magazine. The problematic thing with my magazine is that the puff is on
the contents page, meaning the audience won't see it until they physically open up the
page whereas the puff is on the front cover on 'Clash' Magazine.