media evaluation question 1

1. Evaluation Question 1:
'In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real
media products?'
The mastheadthat I have usedformy magazine,'GENERATION',Ihave usedthe font'Impact' which
isa fontstyle thatis currentlyinstalledonthe Photoshopsoftware thatIhave usedtomake the
magazine pages.Ichose to use thisparticularfontfor the mastheadbecause itislarge,featuresbold
letteringandislegible andeye catchingtothe reader.The fontstandsout amongstthe rest of the
magazine toincrease the chance of grabbingthe attentionof the reader.Thisisa typical convention
because thisfontissimilartomagazinesthatmaybe soldonhighlypopulatedstreetstomaximise
the chance of the magazine beingnoticedbypotentialreaders.Inmyopinion,'GENERATION'isa
recognisable brandname.Ithinkthisbecause thistitlecouldbe used tosymboliseanew breedof
magazine anda newbeginning.Thisismeaningful asmymagazine isunique andisa new additionto
indie/alternative musicmagazineindustry.Ithinkthe title willimpactonmytarget audience
because theymayhave alreadyreadothereditionsandbrandsof indie/alternative magazines,somy
magazine wouldbe able tocontinue withthistrendbyproducingthe latestnewssurroundingthe
genre whichothermagazinesmaynotprovide.The fontstyle usedforthe mastheadonthe cover
page is similartootherpopularmusicmagazinessuchasLoud AndQuietandNME. The mastheadis
similartothese particularbrandsbecause the fontstyle isboldandeye catchingforthe reader.I
have alsofollowedthe commontrendof placingthe mastheadatthe topof the magazine andisalso
centred.Ihave implementedthisontomymagazine because thisiscommonlyusedoncurrent
magazinesandthat iswhere a majorityof the audience wouldlookif theywere tryingtoidentifythe
brand of a magazine onsale.The mastheadispositionedinfrontof awhite backgroundandabove
the cover image,thisistomake the textstrikingandlegible tothe reader,therefore allowingthe
presentationof thistobe effective andnoticeable tothe reader.
Above showsthe comparisonof fontstyle forthe mastheadswithmymagazine 'GENERATION',Loud
AndQuietandNME.
The graphologyof the front coverfor mymagazine issimple.Toensure thatthe coverissimple,I
ensuredthatthe coveris cleananddoesnot containtoo muchinformation.Iusedthe fonts'Impact'
and 'BabesNeue'onthe cover page,as these are similarbecause theyare strikingandlegible.Ihave
usedmonotone coloursforthe textforthe mastheadandthe captionsasthis isto allow the text to
standout amongstthe other aspectsof the aspectsof the cover.To allow the possibilityof potential
readersto see the product,I ensuredthatthe textislegiblesowheneverIhave a white background,
the textcolourusedwill be blacksothat it can be easilyreadbythe readerandif the backgroundis
blackor darkened,Iuse a white fontcolourfor the same purpose.Bymakingthe textlegibletothe
reader,itincreasesthe chance of promotingthe brandname and targetinga wideraudience range.
One of mycover lineswhichfeaturesarticlesthatare includedinthe issue isanimportantaspectof

2. the magazine,soto make itstand out andengage withthe reader,Icolouredthe textlayerblackso
that the texton the page is legibleandeye catching.Mymaincover line,concerningthe mainstory,
iscolouredinwhite textbecause thisparticularcolourstandsoutamongstthe darkercolourof the
coverimage as thisis inblackand white.The colourforthe textof 'DannyMorrison' and 'Support
frommy fanshas helpedme throughthis'now standsoutamongstthe coverimage.
A white colourbackgroundforthe mastheadonthe cover page isa powerful andessentialaspectof
the magazine as thisparticularlayerattractsthe attentionof the audience due tothe colour
variationsused.The size of the textonthe coverdependsontheirimportance andwhatshouldbe
seenat firstglance.Forexample,Iintendedonmymastheadtobe noticedfirst,soI made the size of
thistextverylarge,then'DannyMorrison' and 'Supportfrommy fanshas helpedme throughthis'
witha slightlysmallertext,the otherarticlesincludedwithasmallertextandlastlythe issue
number,date andprice have the smallestsize textbecause these are the leastimportantand
engagingwiththe audience.The page layoutforthe coverpage can be interpretedwiththe
conventionof 'Loudand Quiet'magazine asI thinkthatthe title andinformationonthe coverimage
share similarities.However,thisconventionwasdevelopedonmymagazine asI have placeda bar
code and price on mymagazine,whereas'LoudandQuiet'whodo nothave a price on their
products.I have positionedthe barcode towardsthe top rightcorner of the coverimage because
thisthendoesnotdraw attentionawayfromthe coverimage and otherinformationonthe page.I
have sizedthe bar code to be reasonablysmall andstockysothat it can be fittedslightlyunderthe
top of the image as I intendedittobe.Similarcharacteristicsbetweenmymagazine and'Loudand
Quiet'include the mastheadbeingpositionedatthe topof the page and isthe largestsizedtext,so
that itis engagingwithpotentialaudienceswhilstensuringthe textisboldtofurtherincrease this
potential.Like 'LoudandQuite'Ihave alsoopteda simplisticstyle onthe coverpage toensure that
the cover page isnot clutteredanddoesnotcontainan overloadof information.Ihave decidedto
onlyinclude asmall amountof informationthatthe audience wouldbe interestedin,asthese
factors will allow forasimple andcleanapproachto the coverpage.
The cover model 'DannyMorrison'was styledusingclothingthatcanbe perceivedas
indie/alternative clothingduringthe photoshootsforthe pagesof the magazine.Although,the

3. clothingthatthe model iswearingisthe same on the page that includedanimage of him.The
clothingthatthe model waswearingfeaturedalongsleevedbuttonedtopwithadark greenand
blue checkedpattern.The clothingimpactsthe model astheylookfairlymainstreambutalsodoes
standout amongstothersas these particularstylesof clothingusuallyfeaturedbrightcolours
whereasthe clothingusedonthe model isdarkenedandmysterious.The clothingcanbe purchased
at commonstoresand couldimpact the audience because theymaydressina similarstyle,soa
relationbetweenthe readerandthe model canbe metthroughthe style of clothingimplemented.
Throughmy researchintoclothingrelatedtothe indie/alternative genre,Ihave discoveredthat
trendisreasonablymainstreambutstandsoutamongstthe rest.Thistherefore showsthatthe
target audience canbe inspiredmycovermodel because if theywearsimilarclothing,the model can
be an inspirational figure thatthe readercanrelate to.I have styledmymodel tolooklike atypical
mainstreamteenage figure withfashionableclothingthatisrelatable andsoI thinkitstandsout
amongstthe genre.It maynot be differentorunique,butthe mainstreamapproachismore
inspirationalandrelatable.Conventionsof real mediaproductshave beenimplementedonmy
magazine asinclude the maincoverartistwearingindie/alternativeormainstreamclothingsothatit
fitsthe genre anddoesnot appearas a cheapcopyof a genre magazine.Byunderstanding the genre
further,IunderstoodthatI mustkeepthe same style frommycover page and implementitonmy
contentspage and double page spread.Thisstyle iskeepingacontinuousmonotone andsimple
layoutthroughoutthe magazine process.Byminimisingthe use of colouracrossall of my pages,I
have ensuredthatthe blackand white fontcolourscheme ismade simple andclearlystandsouton
a white or blackbackground.Thisscheme isimplementedonasmanypagesas possible onmy
magazine.

4. The contentspage doesfitsome conventionsasbecause itisprintedasA4, liststhe storiesthatare
includedinthe magazine andcontainsimagesfromthose articles.The informationforthe stories
are alignedandspacedoutevenlytoensure that the presentationlooksreasonablyformal.Some A4
contentspageshave alreadybeencreatedbycurrentmediabrands.Ihave chosento presentmy
contentspage inthisformat because Ifeltthatthere isonlya certainamountof informationneeded
for a contentspage,soI have restrictedmypage to onlycontainnecessarydetailsthatshouldbe
included.Anotherreasonastowhy I have chosentoapplyan A4 page forthe contentsisso that I
couldcontinue toapplya simple theme whilststylingitsothatthe necessaryinformationis
displayed.
The coloursthat are usedvary as I didnotcontinue toapplya blackand white approachasthiscan
be viewedasboringanddull to the reader.Inresponse,Ihave keptthe colourof some of the images
takenfrommy photoshoot.Thisis sothat a brighterapproachcan come from the contentspage
and providesaninterestingandappealinglooktothe contentspage.The colourscan draw the
audience'sattentionawayfromthe standardblackandwhite text,asthiscan be viewedas
intriguingandinteresting.The layoutforthe contentspage didnotfollow aparticularstyle asI did
not applyanyinspirationintothe appearance of thispage.InsteadIappliedmyownlayoutusingthe
functionsavailable onthe Photoshopsoftware.There are existingmediaproductsthatfeature a
variationof coloursto attract an audience towardsimagesratherthanthe text.
The photosusedon the contentspage do follow conventionsastheyappearinboxesandvary in
sizes.Also these are positionednexttothe textwhichagainfollowsconventions.However,thisdoes
challenge some conventionsasonlyasingle image canbe includedandbe viewedasthe main
contentsimage,due toitbeingable tofill the entire page.Below shows examplesof currentmedia
productsthat my magazine challenges:

5. I thinkthat mydouble page spreaddoesfollow conventionsasmypage consistsof a mainimage on
one withthe story contentonthe other.Thismeansthat whenthe page is folded,the information
and mainphotowill be onseparate pages.Thisisa commonstyle of layoutfor some media
magazines,suchas'Q' magazine and'NME'.
Due to the mainimage andcontentbeingonseparate pages,mydouble page spreaddoeschallenge
conventionsasa majorityof double page spreadsconsistof asingle image thatfillsbothpagesand
leaksontothe secondpage.By challengingthisconvention, Ifeelthatthe audience canengage with
the article ina differentwaytothe commonconventionbecause thisway,the audience cantake in

6. the informationformthe article andthenrevertbackto the cover image orvice versa.Additionally,
my page challengesthe conventionastextforthe mainarticle isstructuredin columnsratherthan
beinglayeredsothatitfollowsthe shape of the model.Ihave chosentoapplythisstyle because it
ensuresthatthe magazinesretainsitsformalityandmaturitybystructuringitincolumnsratherthan
surroundingthe model asthiscouldinterpretthe magazine tobe informal.The inclusionof adrop
capital on the firstline of the article complieswithconventionsbecause mostmagazinesbegintheir
articlesbyincludingthistoengage the readerwiththe article aswell asproducinganinteresting
outwardappearance.
In conclusion,mymagazine doeschallenge mostconventionsof atypical musicmagazine because
theyare typicallyfilledwithinformationandfollowastrictcolourscheme,comparedtomy
magazine 'GENERATION'whichfollowsarelativelysimple andstylisedlayoutthatisinterestingto
lookat. I thinkthatmy magazine issimilarinstyle tocurrentmediaproductssuchas Crack, The Wire
and Clash.