1. Evaluation

2. 1. In what ways does your media product use, develop
or challenge conventions of real media products?
My media product is an alternative rock magazine. I feel that I have used the
conventions of other rock music magazines that are out there such real media products
like NME or Q. Areas I feel that I have followed the conventions of these magazines are
within the house colour scheme I have used. I have used red white and black mainly,
which is a convention of NME and Q, so it follows with the trend and the rock genre.
This means when people see these colours on my product without knowing anything
about it they may be able to work out that it is a rock magazine and choose to get it or
not based on this.
The masthead of my product is a convention of real media products as it is up in the top
left corner of the magazine, this is so when the magazine is stacked in shops the
customer can see the logo clearly because of how magazines are stacked.
I have also included a plug on the front of my magazine, this follows real media
products conventions as a lot of magazines plugs to attract the reader to buy the
product, as it usually offers exclusive prizes that people who buy that magazine could
win.

3. A way my product has used the conventions of real media products is on the contents page and the double page spread I have
made it a columnar layout, I have done this as I believe it makes it look neat and well thought out. I have also included on my
contents page an index for the magazine to tell the reader where everything is in the magazine to make things easier to find and
sticks with the conventions of real media products.
My double page spread follows the conventions of real media products such as Kerrang and Q as on the left half of the double
page spread there is a splash image, the person the double page spread is about, and then on the right side there are columns of
text.

4. Another convention of real media products which I have used are cover lines that I have
included on the front cover. I used them as it gives the potential reader or current reader a
snippet of what is going to be included inside the magazine as this may attract new readers to
buy the magazine. I have placed the cover lines around the subject of the magazine and not
covered his face. I have placed them in areas of white space as this makes the aesthetics of
the magazine more visually engaging the front cover.
Another convention I have used is a direct address from the main subject in the splash image.
As this helps the audience connect with the subject in the splash image. It also may make the
customers want to buy the product more as a direct address where you can see the subjects
eyes is more welcoming than if they were wearing glasses or not looking at you or you could
not see their eyes.

5. Ways in which my media product challenges real media products conventions is in the masthead font. In a lot of other masthead
fonts the text seems to go behind the subject on the fronts head. In my media product the masthead goes over the top of the
subjects head, but not so much as to draw attention away from the subject on the front. I have done this so that the first thing
people see on the magazine is the masthead font and then they can see the subject on the front after.
Another way I have challenged the conventions of real media products is the pictures that I have used on the double page
spread. I have done this as because this is an alternative rock magazine I want to make he subjects of the magazine pretty
alternatives themselves. I have done this by having my model put a light bulb in their mouth and hold a brightly coloured
umbrella. I used the umbrella as in usual photo-shoots you wouldn’t necessarily see the subject actually doing something
interesting, its usually just standing seriously looking at the camera. I feel that the umbrella shows the child like nature of
the artist as if he is unwilling to grow old and boring. I feel like the double page spread image is meant to show the
personality of the artist.

6. I haven't challenged or developed that many things in my magazine as it was
meant to be heavily based on already existing media products, as because
these magazines are doing well I got inspiration from these as I feel that it
would possibly make my magazine do well as the products I have based it off
are all doing well.