This document evaluates how a student magazine project uses, develops, or challenges conventions of real media products. It finds the project draws from several real magazines in its layout of covers, contents pages, and double-page spreads, implementing many standard elements like mastheads, cover images, and interviews. However, it also makes some differentiating changes like alternate fonts, added social media details, and modified visuals. Overall, the document concludes the project successfully mimics real magazines but could have pushed further to challenge conventions.

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

2. My Front cover

3. Magazine front cover.

4. Similarities and differences.
• The pictures on both magazines take up the • Rollingstones cover has a line of writing
majority of the page, above the masthead, which is another
• The picture from the Rollingstone cover is in coverline, however I decided not to but that
black and white focusing more on picture in on my cover because I did not want to make
general and like mine. it overcrowded
• The masthead is at the top of the cover • Billboards masthead had five different
spread across the head of the model, the colours in it, and Rollingstone masthead is
mastheads are related to the music industry, yellow and outlined in another colour. My
‘Rollingstone’ is the name of a band, masthead is just one colour, I wanted to
‘Billboard’ is an advertising board where keep it simple.
music related things are placed on them, • The main colours on my magazine cover
specially in New York and my magazine is were blue, white and black. With my black
called unplugged. Like unplugging an amp and white image it made my cover quite
or a microphone. dark whereas Billboard have white as there
• The name of the singer on the front is stated main colour and they have a coloured
near the bottom of the cover in large letters. picture, making the cover look bright.
The Rollingstone cover has overlapped there • I have used different font on my magazine,
letters like I have. just to make it a little bit different.
• Billboards magazine had the coverlines • I have added in the web address of my
down the left hand side of the magazine magazine at the bottom of my cover.
• Rollingstone had a puff that overlaps the
masthead with another coverline inside
• Billboard has a barcode/date/price at the
bottom of the cover.

5. My contents

6. Magazine
contents.

7. Similarities and differences
• My magazine and the real one both have a • Q magazine features the colour red.
large main picture on the right hand side. • Q magazines main picture is slightly more of
• A small box with a magazine page number a close up of the face and only shows a bit of
and title in it on top of the main picture. the body where as my picture shows more of
• Large title saying ‘contents’ on top of a the body.
coloured box, with the date situated on the • Q magazine has the website written at the
right. top on the right.
• At the bottom there Is another picture with • The bottom small picture has two boys in it
a box on top of it and next to that is more where as my only has one girl.
pages from the magazine. • The numbers on Q magazine contents are
• On the left hand side it shows most of the red and mine are black.
contents pages, there are different coloured • Next to the contents number is a line to
boxes with sub headings and situated separate the number and the little title.
underneath is are the page titles. • Q magazine contents shows it has more
• The numbers are different colours to the pages than what mine does
page titles.
• The coloured sub titles are situated on top of
a different block of colour.
• The title of the pages have a line of bold
capital writing stating what the page is
about then two lines underneath in normal
font which mentions a bit about the page .
• Using the colour grey.

8. My double page spread

9. Magazine double page spread.

10. Similarities and differences
• The magazines double page spread has • Half way down the magazine there is
a full picture on the right side of the an ‘A’ in larger font, however I have
page, I have chosen to do this with my put one at the top instead
magazine as well because it shows my • At the bottom of my magazine I have
photography. included a page number
• At the top of the magazine it had the • On the right side of my double page
name of the Singer in-between to black spread I have added in my singers
lines, I have done this on my magazine twitter name. I have done this because
as well. when I looked at other magazines
• The magazine starts off with an social networking seams to be a main
interview on Katy Perry, in the middle aspect, so I thought I would put it in.
there is a pull quote in larger font then • I have added a caption which is
bellow that it goes back into the situated on the right page, it says a bit
interview, I have laid mine out in the about what the model is wearing.
same way making my double page • the models in the pictures are wearing
spread look more like a real magazine. different clothes

11. Conclusion
In conclusion I think my product is very similar to a real media
products. I based my contents, front cover and double page spread
on other pages from Q, Billboard and rollingstone magazines. I
took elements from each magazine but changed bits making sure
my work looked like the magazine but a bit different.
I pushed my worked to the maximum to try and get it to look like
real media products, I used most of the elements, developed some
of them to make them my own however I think I could of
challenged the forms and conventions of a real media product abit
further.