1) The document evaluates how a music magazine product challenges conventions through its simplistic and modern design. While most magazines use colorful headlines and clustered layouts, this magazine uses plain colors, a double page front cover photo, and separates sections on the contents page for easier reading. 2) A typical magazine contents page shows pictures and page numbers in a clustered format, but this magazine keeps the contents page simple and laid out in sections with a rectangular picture and page number above each section. 3) The goal was to create a contemporary and simplistic design that stood out from other similar magazines by taking a different approach, such as using a large double page front cover photo.

1. Evaluation
By Michael Gray

2. In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge
forms and conventions of real media products?
 The conventions of a music magazine always consists of the headline, cover
lines and many factors trying to lure in the reader. However my magazine
goes totally against the normal rules. From the very start I have aimed to
keep my magazine simplistic and modern. Using other magazines such ‘indie’
and ‘Victory’ have helped me be inspired by these design. My design consists
of a simplistic design so no colourful cover lines. I have stuck to plain colours
for text, this gives the magazine a more mature feel. The front cover normally
has a high quality photo at the front this is the key ingredient to attract
readers. My front cover has this and to other magazine I have gone with a
double page picture and made it into my front cover. The picture fills the
whole page and only has a few cover lines in plain white. Normally the usual
magazine layout would be colour clustered covers however my cover goes
against this.

3.  A typical contents page always shows what is inside the magazine, the
contents page will always show pictures and the page number. For example
contents pages from magazines such as NME and Porter differ incredibly.
The layout for NME is more clustered and colourful, they have everything
onto one page and it seems hard to read. Whereas Porter has a neater
layout, less cluster and more contemporary appearance. The contents
would normally be separated into sections, this can make the reader feel
less intimidated by the clustered layout. The layout of which I would be
inspired to. Double page spreads also change in design, a typical layout
would be a double page picture with text on one side. The picture would be
a interesting image to really tell the persons story well. The double page can
be a interview style, an article written by the person or even a review.

4.  However my contents page, is yet again the opposite of the typical clustered
layout. I have chosen to keep it simple and laid out in sections. I chose a
white background to blend with the simplistic layout. The sections are
illustrated with a rectangular picture and with the page number on top of
the picture. Then underneath shows the sections with the according page
number.

5. Different approach
 Throughout the whole process of making a music magazine I wanted to be
different. I would see endless similarity of each magazine I would see and
sometimes I would see a different type of layout. These layouts inspired me
to aim for a contemporary and simplistic layout. All three of my magazines
designs I have made a different layout of each one. The front cover is very
simplistic and only has a few cover lines. However what I think draws the
audiences attention is the colourful photo, the photo opens up to become a
double page image. This also creates a different approach to the magazine
industry. I want to make my magazine stand out and make people think this
is very unique and different.