1. 1. In what ways does your media
product use, develop or challenge
forms and conventions of real media
products? (i.e. of music magazines)
Final Evaluation.

2. Front Cover
• Although I didn't use a Music Magazine in order to advise
myself on magazine design, I used one which follows all the
typical conventions. I chose to adopt the ideas used on the
cover of Fantastic Man for my own front cover.

3. Contents Page
• Secondly for the Contents I used two different
magazines in order to create my own Contents
Page. I used both The FADER and Esquire.

4. The Title of the Magazine
• For the Masthead of my magazine I decided to use a clear and
elegant font called 'Perpetua Tiling', making sure not only did my
title stand out, but that it was easy to read instantly. It is a very
similar font to the Cover of Fantastic Man, with pointed edges.
Whilst it is also all in Capital Letters making it clear and again
following another convention of an already existing magazine.
Furthermore I felt the clean font gave a relaxed element to the
somewhat punchy word "DECK". I chose to put the Masthead in
Black, so it didn't clash with the Colour Cover Image and to
maintain the clean feel of the magazine. Unlike on the Fantastic
Man Cover where colour is used, with a black and white image, I
simply alternated the convention. Although it might not stand out
as much among other bolder/chunkier mastheads, I feel it's relaxed
style will make it clearer to read, as opposed to just standing out.

5. Graphology/Page Layouts
• I aimed to keep the Layout of my magazine simple, but effective,
with the style of graphology being maintained consistently
throughout my magazine, to create high levels of continuity
following typical magazine conventions. I tried to ensure this by
using the same font and colours throughout, ensuring consistency
and making the magazine look professional. As with the Fonts and
Colours I decided to use the same effects upon the images I used
throughout, such as slightly increasing the brightness in order to
provide a laid back feel to the images. I also added exposure to the
images, enabling the hair to become more prominent, as well as
Red lips and nails. Overall I wanted each page to follow the same
conventions, unlike in some commercial magazines where each
page is altered to suit the subject, which often leads to a loss of
continuity.

6. • Therefore overall the layout used the typical
conventions of magazines by keeping the
same base font and editing images to suit the
genre (e.g. Darkened Images for Rock). Whilst
I attempted to keep my magazine simple but
stylish, developing ideas from more simplistic
music magazines, drifting away from the
conventions of busy music magazines such as
Kerrang.

7. • Firstly the Front Cover of my magazine is based on Fantastic Man, which I
used as a model to design my Front Cover.
• The first thing I did was to position my masthead centrally at the top of my
front cover and to use a classy, stylish and clean font. Making the
magazine cover easy to read and clear to view. I chose to put it in black as I
wanted to use a coloured image. This is the opposite to the David
Beckham example, but the principle remains the same, as to not overload
with the colour. Because this would make the cover over complicated and
messy, losing the stylish feel. I believe this follows magazine conventions
as it makes the masthead clear and prominent, but it's style doesn't
detract from the more important cover image.

8. • The second thing I did was to place the image in the centre of the
magazines cover and enclose it with a border. Although the border doesn't
feature on my style model, I felt it looked good and also it fitted the 'do it
yourself style' as it looked like a man made photo album/frame. I chose to
have the image in colour, as I wanted it to stand out, which was important
as it didn't fill the whole of the cover. Finally I enhanced the images
brightness to make the red hair stand out, as well as the green watch and
contrast between the white shirt and black camera. This technique of
bordering the image moves away from typical magazines where the image
would fill the whole of the Front Cover, with text overlapping. Or when an
image would at least reach the pages margins. Therefore normal magazine
conventions have been ignored to create a unique style, whereby giving
my magazine an identity, providing it credibility.

9. • In addition I chose to put "DRONE PIXIES" underneath the picture and not
over the top of it, as I wanted the picture not be encroached. I also
wanted to use coloured text therefore it wouldn't be clear over the
coloured image. This is why I haven't followed my inspiration, as on there
it worked due to the black and white image. The reason I put the text in
colour was because it wasn't as big as the masthead but I still wanted it to
stand out. I chose the strong Red as it was the same colour as the varnish
on the cover stars nails, so it created continuity. But also on the white
background it isn't glaring and therefore can be read easily. I feel this
works well. This is both conventional and not so. Often the main Cover
Line, is placed upon the image to avoid confusion with other sections of
text. However because of my tidier layout I didn't do this, creating a
neater and less crowded cover. Although Having the main Cover Line at
the bottom is not entirely new, having it more central would have been far
more conventional, but I didn't want to detract from the image, or cause
confusion with the Masthead, due to the difference in colour.

10. • I chose to put the other text body below the main text, as I felt this space
could be used to success. I reverted to black text, as to not overkill with
colour and being smaller it stood out so can be read easily in black. As well
because the image is separate from the rest of the cover I was able to
include more text in the other space than on normal magazines, without
the cover looking crowded. I kept the text simple, just to the names of
artists featured in the magazine, which are separated by full stops. Whilst I
also put this text in two justified lines with the first slightly longer to make
the magazine tidier and more professional, as well as centralising the
texts, leaving even amounts of space at the end of each line. I put the text
into Italics as well to differentiate it from the rest of the text. This kept it
simple and minimalistic but I also felt was stylish. This positioning of text is
not entirely conventional and doesn't feature on music magazines such as
Kerrang, Q and NME, however similar ideas are used on Bullet and Huck,
as well as Fantastic Man. Whereby text can be grouped together neatly,
without proving to be heavy reading. Though by reverting back from the
red to the black colour on the text I followed magazine conventions
whereby the main Cover Line, maintains its own individual colour.

11. • I placed the barcode on the left hand side, rotated vertically
length-ways as on my style model, feeling this made the
most of the covers space outside the image. I then also
rotated the price, issue number (these two were larger as
they are more important and prominent to the magazines
sale), web address, twitter name and photography credits.
I did this to effectively use the space and also as I felt it
looked stylish, as well as being a technique which had
worked well on my inspiration. Again this is both
conventional on some magazines and not on others, as
often the Barcode's position will be altered issue by issue to
suit the rest of the Front Cover's Layout. Due to it not being
a priority for the reader, but only a legal necessity.

12. Secondly the Contents Page of my
magazine is designed by using ideas
and inspiartion from both esquire and
The FADER.

13. Esquire
• I used a couple of features from the contents page of Esquire in my own piece
as I felt they fitted well and added to the aesthetics of my page, but didn't
copy many conventional magazines. The first of these was to adopt the rotated
contents feature on the right hand side of the contents page. I used this as I
felt it added a different dimension to the contents page, and the different style
set it apart from a more conventional Contents Page. Although many contents
pages do have the word "Contents" reading vertically in order to get the
reader to read downwards, aiding their own navigation of the page.
• I also used the idea of adopting two colours in this section, using the black and
the red, like the black and red used in esquire. I however used mine on the
word "CONTENTS" unlike on the date as Esquire had. I also included more
information, such as the issue number, website, Twitter name and
photography details, all in order to add as much credibility to my magazine as
possible. Like with Esquire I kept the font simple and clear to read, which is
important as being rotated you wouldn't want to add another effect as this
would over complicate the feature. Again these features are quite
conventional such as highlighting the word "CONTENTS", simply to make it
stand out and make clear the subject of the page. Whilst the use of the colours
Red, White and Black, is highly conventional, being the most commonly used
colour pallet on magazines due to their clear and contrasting effect when
used together.

14. • The other feature I adopted was to position and style my
image similarly as to esquire. I put the image to the left of
the page, filling the majority of one half of the page. I felt
this made the image prominent but not so much so that it
dominated the page detracting from the text within the
page. I also feel the image being placed here attracts
attention first and then the text takes over, this way
everything is focused on equally, so the audience misses
nothing and their is no feature of the Contents Page that is
unnoticed/useless. In some senses this in conventional as
an image often takes prominence, however quite often in
a Contents Page the text comes first due to it's importance
in this section. Although I reversed this convention as it
better suited my magazines layout.
• In addition I put the caption for the image half way up the
image, as to not clash with the image, as opposed to the
bottom left corner in Esquire. I did this as it suited my
image as their was space in the image here and because it
was clear her, not going unnoticed. As well I kept the same
font to create continuity in my magazine, whilst used a
black font continuing this, but also it stood out clearly but
didn't detract attention from other more important
features. Both of these are typical of all magazines, the use
of a caption is simply a reader friendly device, whilst
keeping the same font just continues the magazines
continuity.

15. The FADER
I again used two features from the Contents Page of The FADER in my own, as
I felt they both suited the genre, as well as the minimalistic but stylish style
that I wanted my magazine to convey. Firstly I admired the way the image on
the Contents Page was in a black frame and would have used this feature,
however it was too similar to my (Fantastic Man impression) Front Cover. It
could be argued doing this would create continuity, but at the same time
variety is needed and it would have looked desperately similar and devoid of
ideas. Therefore I kept the idea of using a black frame, but only displayed half
of the frame. Therefore resulting in continuity being restored, but a varied
style was also offered. I also feel the frame offered minimalism but also kept
the Contents Page structured, a bit like a border, making it clear and easy to
navigate for the audience. Also the picture frame kept in with my Indie Genre.
It also kept up with the 'do it yourself' Indie style, so suited my genre and
didn't just look stylish otherwise it wouldn't have been included. Obviously
this idea follows the conventions of The FADER, but the same can't be said for
many other magazines. The image is normally separated by an alteration in
colour, or even a change in background colour to back text on the Contents
Page.

16. • Secondly I took the idea of having the main text body in columns as is done in The
FADER Contents. I felt this made the page look organised and tidy. The columns
also meant that no lines had to be included to divide sections of text, as were used
on the Esquire contents. which could have made the contents page appear far
more cluttered and busy. This would of removed the minimalistic feel of the
magazine and the continuity would have been ruined. Furthermore I certain items
of text in the contents, such as the page numbers and the headings in bold to
make them stand out more. With the further explanation below without the bold
effect. This is the same as in The FADER Contents and without changing colour yiu
can still differentiate the different sections through the bold text. Unlike in Esquire
when a colour change is used to do this. The only time I did use colour on the
magazine contents text was to highlight "DRONE PIXIES" and "YASMIN". I did this
as it continued on from the style on the front cover and was something I also did
on the Double Page Spread in order to create continuity and identity. I also felt it
was essential it stood out as it was the main article, which is why I also underlined
the word "EXCLUSIVE" afterwards to further emphasise its importance. Again this
follows the convetions of The FADER, but many music magazines just have one
collum of text and the other text supports image(s) on the other half of the page.
So from this respect I have challenged magazine conventions upon Contents
Page's, by altering my page quite drastically in terms of it's layout.

17. Double Page Spread
• Finally the Double Page Spread of my magazine was not speifically based
on any particular magazine, as the other elements have been.
• I used the same font for my headings on the Spread to continue this
continuity and similarly used the red colour on "DRONE PIXES" to create
continuity. I felt this created authenticity and made the magazine look
professional rather than being mismatched, with sections looking out of
place and not fitting the publication. The use of the same font throughout
is conventional in many magazines, however on a lot of Double Page
Spreads the font may be altered to suit the genre more specifically or even
the artists own font/style. Whilst the continuation of the Red, White and
Black fonts, is again following the conventional magazine Colour Pallet.
However often colours are changed on Double Page Spreads, to represent
the Genre/Artist, or to just emphasise the sections importance. Therefore
for this I have challenged typical magazine conventions.

18. • In addition I just tried to keep the continuity going with
the article, although I did change the font to create
some differentiation and to make the text clear as it was
quite small which was intentional considering it was an
article. I also put a bold effect on the questions in the
article to make them clear and to put more emphasis
upon them, as I had done on the main text in the
contents. Consequently I further established continuity.
Meanwhile I enlarged quotes within my article to attract
the reader and entice them to go into deeper reading.
All of these graph logical choices are very typical of
magazines. Often fonts used for headings have to be
altered as they aren't as clear when reduced in size for
articles, whilst putting questions in bold makes the
article much easier to read. Although in some
magazines a change of colour is used for this, so here
the convention has been slightly altered/developed. In
addition the enlargement of quotes is very conventional
in Double Page Spreads, as a way of drawing in the
reader. I also changed the colours on these, as done in
some magazines, but not others. Whilst often a quote
may be used as the heading, however I chose not to do
this and created my own Heading/Subheading.
Therefore here I followed some conventions whilst
others I didn't adopt, as using them all would over
complicate a simplistic magazine.

19. • The final feature on the Double Page Spread is of course the Image.
For this I decided it would cover half of the page, with the text on
the other. Therefore neither element could detract or ruin the
other. Meanwhile as it covers half the page, it means that when the
pages are folded it is only the non-important arm in the image
which is affected. Having the image placed in conjunction with the
text like this is conventional and often forms the layouts of Double
Page Spreads.
• As well I increased both the brightness and the exposure of the
Image, the result of this was a brighter m,ore relaxed feel to the
magazine. Whilst it also enhanced the hair, which I felt was
important due to the role that fashion and music have together in
influencing society. This again is conventional in terms of editing the
image, making it brighter especially so for this genre, to give off a
relaxed vibe.

20. Costumes, props, iconography used to
reflect genre
• My chosen Genre was of Indie therefore with
the target market being aged between 16-30,
they would often consider style over
substance when buying a magazine, as well as
any other product. Therefore I had to keep
this in mind at all times when considering the
above. Meanwhile with Indie being a unique
Genre not many conventions were followed.

21. • Firstly it is worth noting that I kept the costume the same on my Cover Artist
throughout in order to create continuity as much as anything, but to also maintain
her own unique style. The shirt she is wearing is buttoned up to the top something
commonly associated with the Indie Genre and a style of my target age group.
Whilst the clear black buttons on the shirt clearly emphasise this, reflecting my
genre. As well I kept the collar down on the shirt as I was going for a clean cut feel,
often related to Indie so wanted to represent this accurately, as a collar up would
lean more towards rock. Additionally the sleeves of the shirt feature a netted style,
which adorns Aztec style patterns, something strongly associated with the Indie
and a style many people of my target age group adopt. The design also makes the
shirt more interesting and stylish, but it still looks neat, rather than over
extravagant and flashy. The subdued feel fits the genre ideally I believe, as
something too over the top would lean towards pop. Also the necklace gives the
shirt a bit more emphasis, but again as it is silver and elegant, it doesn't appear to
flashy or glary. Therefore representing the genre well, as it doesn't try to much to
make an effort, but still has impact. Moving onto the facial makeup, I chose to keep
this minimalistic fitting my magazines style, but also representing the genre. Too
much makeup would make the artist appear cheap and more 'Poppy'. Whilst just
the light makeup used suits the relaxed, chilled out genre. As for example dark eye
makeup would lean towards Rock.

22. • My artist also wore red nail varnish, as not only did this follow the
magazines colour pallet, but it was also punchy, without being garish or
even too punk-like. The punchy element suits the stand out Indie genre, as
willing to do something different, whilst still remaining cool and not
seeming to show off. My cover artist is that she has a nose ring, which
until recently would have been associated with Punk or Rock. However
recently many people trying to attract the Indie tag have adopted this
style and it has become quite popular. Here it does not appear Punky or
Rocky and fits the genre ideally, again having that element of trying
something different but remaining cool, stylish and understated. The last
thing of note for my cover artist is that she has Dark Red hair which is
dyed, although has the effect of being natural. Until recently dying your
hair this colour would have been seen as uncool, although recently this
has changed, especially in Indie groups. Also the effect of it being natural
suits the trying something different element of Indie, but also maintains
the effect of not seemingly trying hard, looking stylish, without showing
off. As this would more that definitely push the genre over to Pop.

23. • Secondly the artist on my Contents Page has a much
more subdued and relaxed style. Her dress is a rich
dark purple, a colour very popular with Indie among
both genders. So here the choice of colour represents
the genre accurately, whilst yet again it is far from
garish or flashy, maintaining the laid back feel. It to
adorns mazy Aztec style patterns, which I have already
explained is very popular among Indie followers. The
dress also remains elegant, whilst functional with the
sleeves, fitting the go out and get it feel created by the
indie genre. It is neither low cut so remains classy and
neat, further representing the genre ideally. Again with
the makeup

24. • Moving onto the facial makeup, I chose to keep this minamilistic fitting my
magazines style, but also representing the genre. Too much makeup would
make the artist appear cheap and more 'Poppy'. Whilst just the light
makeup used suits the relaxed, laid back genre, further supported by the
artists cool smile. As for example dark eye makeup would lean towards
Rock. As well the artist is wearing light red lipstick, again not appearing
majorly glary and exposing the lips to much, but maintaining a stylish vibe
and neat style. The red also fits the magazines own color pallet, so yet
more continuity. Finally the hair is both curly and free, representing the
genre well. It looks effortless and again is dyed. However although it is
dyed blonde it does not appear cheap and looks both stylish, whilst
remaining laid back. The curly style also shows how the Indie genre
embraces many different styles of hair.
• Both of my artists are not conventional of many music magazines. they do
not have make up caked on their faces, nor are they dressed extravgantly.
However they are stylish and understated, suiting my genre and
challenging typical magazine conventions.

25. • No props are used on any of the images within my publication for a
number of reasons. First of all the use of an item such as a
microphone can make the image look a big cliché and also gives the
effect the photo was greatly staged. As well it makes the artist
appear manufactured as if they are forced to hold a prop, whilst
having my artists individual nature shine through better represents
indie. Whilst if they appear manufactured this totally contradicts
the unique 'Do it yourself' Indie genre. Furthermore with my
photo's taken in a studio any props would make them appear even
more staged. Also the use of a prop could have made the artist feel
uncomfortable and therefore not at all suit the relaxed Indie Genre.
• It is not often props are used in music magazines, as it is made to be
all about the artist, so here I have followed magazine conventions.
If however I had done a rock magazine props would have been
conventional such as a guitar, but with Indie this was not necessary.

26. • Iconography is a difficult one with the Indie genre, as Indie
is all about being independent and doing it yourself.
However if there is any iconography it is with my cover
artist. Who with the dark red hair and subdued make up
has similarities to Florence and the Machine. Especially in
the two images below where Florence is wearing simple,
but stylish and elegant white tops. Also in the second image
like my artist she is wearing a neat silver necklace. Although
Florence is wearing more jewellery and eye makeup, some
levels of Iconography are represented which is to be
expected even in Indie, as some conventions have to be
copied otherwise Indie would be impossible to define at all.
However the diffentiations show how Indie is a genre that
lets you be yourself, therefore explaining how Iconography
enables Indie to be accurately represented in my magazine.

27. • In conventional music magazines Iconography is
far more common, it is all about following the
latest styles and who can be the same, if not
better than so and so. However I went against
this convention and went for limited Iconography,
as Indie is about being yourself and
Independence, therefore lots of Iconography
would have contradicted this and lost my
magazines audience.

28. Camerawork and framing of images
• All of the camera shots used in my magazine are straight on shots, with
the cover artist being featured in two midshots and the contents image
being a close up. I used a mid-shot on the Front Cover, as it fitted my
layout well and I felt it was important to show as much of my artist as
possible. This way it showed my magazine was both open and informative,
subconsciously represented through the image. This in conventional as
lots of magazines feature mid-shots on their covers, showing their
openness. But some do use Close-ups, though I didn't feel it fitted my
genre. With the contents page I used a close up, to emphasise how this
was the page to get stuck into and find out where to go. Also a smaller
image was needed so the close up fitted ideally. This again is conventional
as smaller images are used on Contents Pages. Finally for the Double Page
Spread I used a slightly closer mid-shot, once again establsihing both the
artists and the magazines openess with this being an interview. This is
partly conventional, but normally a close up is used, to show the personal
and close relationship between artist and reader a Double Page Spread
offers.

29. • I framed the images on the Front Cover and the Contents Page to
keep them ordered, something that is conventional for the contents
page for certain, as these can often become cluttered and busy,
therefore segregation is needed. Though for the cover this only
matches the conventions of Fantastic Man, Bullet and Huck,
therefore challenging typical magazine conventions. Meanwhile I
chose not to frame my Double Page Spread Image as this would
make the article seem closed and stand offish to the reader, whilst I
wanted to create a relaxed open vibe. This matches the conventions
of the majority of magazines whereby the image on the Double
Page Spread is not framed.

30. Colour scheme
• I feel I can categorically say that the Colour Scheme is by far
the most conventional element of my whole magazine. The
use of Red, White and Black is the most commonly used
colour scheme. The white and black offer the colours of
traditional print, so give my magazine the clean cut feel (of
Indie) whilst the red makes things stand out and is used for
emphasis. Meanwhile if say yellow had been used with the
other colours a Rock genre would be felt, whilst blue/pink
could of created a Pop genre. Therefore by using the
conventional colours it suited my Indie genre. The
magazines below such as NME, Bullett and Q represent this
how this neutral colour scheme is very conventional.