evaluation question 1

1. In What Ways those your Media
Product Develop or Challenge
forms and conventions of real
Media Products
Evaluation Question 1.
Seonaid Mackenzie

2. Front Cover- Conform
 My magazine’s front cover follows the codes and conventions of rock music magazines through the use
of dark colours like black and brown in contrast with a bright aggressive colour such as red, these
colours carry connotations of darkness, energy and are often used in rock music magazines such as
Kerrang!. My model in the main image is looking straight into the camera creating a direct address to
potential buyers, this follows conventions as it encourages audiences to buy the magazines, most
music magazines in general use direct address. My model is also posing in a stereotypical ‘rock out’
pose this would immediately be recognisable by rock music fans as that hand sign is a direct link to
rock music and thus possibly attract a niche market of rock music fans. In her pose my artists'
shoulders are back and head tilted up with a slight pout- this body language presents my model as
confident and serious, on most rock magazines such as Kerrang! the artists in the main cover image
will be posing in such a fashion to present an ‘aloof’ atmosphere . In my main cover image my artist is
holding a fender electric guitar, a denotation of musical instrument which will coincide with the codes of
Rock music magazines as electric guitars are often used in Rock music and will therefore immediately
be recognisable to my intended target audience- rock fans. My main image as been taken in front of a
plain white background, this is similar to most rock music magazines such as Kerrang! As it draws
more attention to the artist in the image, the photo is medium shot so that enough of the model is
viewable to display her body language, facial expression, clothing and props used in the photo- these
all have been specifically selected to appeal to the codes and conventions of rock music as they in
keep with the stereotypical ‘all leather’ image of the genre with my model wearing a leather skirt and
jacket and wearing dark makeup similar to the model on the Kerrang! Front cover. My masthead is
large in size and is in a unique, bold display font along the top of the magazine veering slightly to the
right to make it easier to find in a rack of other magazines, the type face has a slight eroded effect to
give off an edgy, distorted tone to the masthead- it is easily noticeable on the page similar to the
Kerrang! Logo to hopefully create a brand like effect for my magazine. My coverlines all go along the
page to the right so not to obscure the main image, the main coverline is significantly larger than the
other coverlines so to cause it to stand out as the main story, it comes with anchorage text to give the
main coverline meaning and link it with my main image, this is a technique conventionally used in many
music magazines.

3. Front Cover- Challenge
 I have challenged the conventions of rock music
magazine by having a single female artist as the main
image of my front cover, this is unlike other rock music
magazines such as Kerrang! As there is higher male to
female ratio of artists in the industry, Rock music
magazines are also conventionally targeted at a male
audience. I have also only used one image on the front
cover of my rock music magazine, magazines such as
Kerrang! Conventionally put multiple pictures of other
artists and bands which are often associated with
posters inside the magazine, the puffs, this would
increase their market range as each band or artist will
have it’s own niche market of fans that world potentially
buy the magazine to see them in it, I have done this to
put emphasis on the main image’s artist as she will be
appearing in my double page spread and I want t mark
her importance in the issue.

4. Comparison
Masthea
d
Skyline
Main Cover Image
+
Direct Address
Puffs
Barcode
Footer
Coverlines

5. Contents Page- Conform
 My masthead has been placed again on my contents page, this is because my
magazine is a new magazine and familiarising readers with the mast head may
create a brand out of my magazine, this is similar to the Kerrang! Magazine as
they also reuse their masthead on their contents page to create brand familiarity. I
have followed the codes and conventions of rock music magazines by keeping a
consistent house style on my magazine and have used the same colour scheme
of red, black and light brown, this reinforces familiarity amongst my readers as
well in keeps the colours which carry heavy rock connotations such as black
projecting the theme of darkness. The Kerrang! magazine also uses a consistent
house style and repeats their colour scheme of white, yellow and black. On my
contents page I have also created a letter from the editor which is similar to the
editorial letter on the Kerrang! contents page, this is a useful feature of the
magazine as it is an opportunity to experiment with mode of address when directly
addressing readers, the letter would use informal colloquial language when writing
straight to the leader which would give the magazine a welcoming, personal
atmosphere. Also like the Kerrang! Magazine I have sorted the contents page into
subheadings so that readers will find it easier to navigate the magazine by
category to find the content they want, along the contents page I have also
conventionally provided page numbers to further make the magazine easier to
read. On the contents page I have also used different images of variety of artists,
images are in size of importance with the main article, i,e. The double page
spread being the largest image and the others being significantly smaller and
organised in a neater fashion to prevent the conetns page from being too
crowded. I have also tried to use borders and rectangle shapes on my contents
page to create a framed look which is similar to the Kerrang! Magazine’s set up.

6. Comparison
Sub Headings
Masthead
Main Title
Advertisement
Page Numbers
Articles
Other Images

7. Double Page Spread-
Conform
 Similarly to the Kerrang! Double page spread one page is entirely taken up
by a very large single image of the focus of the article, this follows convention
as emphasises who the double page spread is going to be about, however
my image does not spread over two whole pages like the Kerrang magazine
spread. My title is a quotation in large bold white font with a sans-serif
typeface t give it a modern smooth appearance, this would make it incredibly
noticeable on the page which is conventional of music magazines, Kerrang!
Has also done this, by doing this readers are given a glimpse of the content
of the spread making them want to read the rest of the article. My article has
been written in the free flow format also like the Kerrang! Magazine, my
article has been organised into a 3-grid like boxes to make the page appear
neater and more organised. I have consistently used my masthead along the
bottom of the pages to in keep with the codes and conventions of magazine
so that a brand may also be further developed. There are also page numbers
on the bottom of the magazine to in keep with traditional magazine codes
and conventions.

8. Comparison