The first question in my evaluation of my media product for my Foundation Portfolio in Media Studies.

2. 1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge
forms and conventions in real media products?
Masthead- model in front
Masthead- model in front
Medium close up of model
looking at the camera
Medium close
up of model
looking at the
camera
Pull quote
Feature
Headline
Promotion/freebie
/competiton
Cover lines
Barcode
Date & price
Promotion
Feature Headline
Pull quote
Cover lines
Barcode, date and price

3. 1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge
forms and conventions in real media products?
The first convention that I used in my media product is the masthead. Most existing products use a bold, capital font
masthead that is a different colour to the background of the front cover. I found in my research that a lot of existing media
products started the masthead in the left hand corner of the cover as people read from left to right so it is more aesthetically
pleasing so I followed this in order for my magazine to be as easy to read as possible. I also found that existing magazines
used just 1 colour for the masthead which then compliments the colour scheme of the cover. I decided to use this and go
with bright orange as I have not seen it used as much on existing products and I feel it stands out well and is vibrant without
being gender restricting. The same orange is then incorporated into the colour scheme of the rest of my magazine. I also
followed the convention of having the model on my cover overlapping the masthead due to the fact that she is the main
focus.

4. 1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge
forms and conventions in real media products?
In my analysis, a common convention I found was the use of pull quotes throughout
media texts. I used a pull quote on my cover in order to entice the reader and make
them want to read the article so therefore, buy the magazine. I highlighted the pull
quote in a different colour to the following cover lines in order to make it stand out
and the colour sticks to my colour scheme whilst standing out.
Cover lines were a convention I saw on most of the covers that I
researched. In some ways I may have challenged this convention as
the layout on my cover is fairly simplistic so I have not used as many
cover lines as I did not want my cover to be too text heavy as I want
it to be as easy to read as possible however, I used them with my
pull quote and across the bottom of my cover in order to show the
variety of content within the magazine and therefore appealing to
the widest audience.

5. 1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge
forms and conventions in real media products?
I found that many magazine covers advertised a special promotion or competition on
the cover so I decided to mimic this and advertise a competition to win festival tickets.
I did this in order to encourage the reader to buy my media product as they feel they
are getting something back by buying the magazine. I chose festival tickets as my
research into my target audience showed that going to festivals was a key interest.
For my main image, I decided to use a medium close up of my model looking at the
camera, which is a convention I found in many other media texts. The fact she is
looking at the camera is effective as it creates a connection with the reader and the
model and therefore increases the chance of the reader choosing this magazine
from a stand.
Another common convention I found on magazine covers was to have a
feature headline. I decided to use this as it compliments my main image and
advertises the featured content of my media text. I chose a short, catchy
phrase and highlighted it in orange over a black background to stand out and
grab the reader’s attention. The facial expression and overall aesthetic of my
model links clearly to the headline enabling the reader to understand that she
is the subject of the article.

6. 1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge
forms and conventions in real media products?
One of the main conventions of contents pages is to organise it in columns. I chose to have 3
columns because I included a wide range of content, due to it being a monthly magazine. I
decided to keep everything in line with the columns as I feel it is easier to read and more
aesthetically pleasing. It also compliments the simplistic, clean layout that I tried to achieve.
I decided to have an orange E in the same font as my mast head in order to make my
magazine more cohesive and identifiable as the layout of each page will be slightly
different but this helps to show the house style.
I decided to follow the convention of having images on contents pages as I feel that it helps to
break up the texts. I used images of different sizes in order for it to look more appealing. I
used page numbers in the bottom corner of the image in order to show which article it
correlates with.
Another common convention used on contents pages is a clear link to the colour scheme. I
may have challenged the usual use of colour as the background of my page is bright orange
then used white and black for the content. I decided to do this because I used the use of
orange fonts a lot on my front cover so decided to change it on my contents page in order to
ensure that every page is different but shares the clear house colour scheme of orange, black
and white.
I followed the convention of putting the
title and page number of the article in a
different colour the small detail
underneath. I used the directly contrasting
colours black and white in order for the
title and page number to stand out more
which makes it easier to skim read and
find an article quickly.

7. 1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge
forms and conventions in real media products?
My Interview follows the usual
conventions of a question and
answer format. I highlighted
the question and speaker in a
different colour to the answer
in order for it to be easier to
read and if the reader wants to
read the answer to a specific
question- for example the one
relating to the pull quote- it
stands out so they will be able
to skim read and find what the
are looking for.
A common convention used in double page spreads is to organise the texts into columns. I developed this convention by choosing a
three column layout but having my subjects back to back across the middle of the page, effectively meaning that they represent two of
the columns. I decided to have an orange background to the columns in order to make them stand out but still link with the house colour
scheme.
I also may have challenged the
conventions of fonts within an
article. Serif fonts are commonly
used in articles as it helps the
article to flow better as the text
may be easier to read however I
used a sans-serif font. I used this
because I felt that it looked
cleaner than a sans-serif font and
adheres to my simplistic,
structured, modern layout. I
followed the convention of having
a drop cap in order to signal the
beginning of the article.
I followed the convention of
having a pull quote. I made it
go across the columns in
order for it to entice the
reader to read the article and
get the full story.
I created a graphic for my
double page spread as it is part
of a regular monthly feature so
it helps the reader to identify
the content. This was a
common convention I found in
magazine which I followed.
I followed the convention of having a main headline
with a small strapline underneath. I chose a font
that I haven’t used before in grey colour in order to
represent the genre and aesthetic of the band.