Q1 Evaluation: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
While making my front cover, contents page and double page spread, I had to keep in mind that my magazine follows if not all, most of the codes and conventions of a music magazine. I used my magazine textual analyses to help me identify these conventions and also the results I gathered from my audience research I carried out when i handed questionnaires out to the audience my magazine is targeting.
This Diagram shows conventions I used for my music magazine front cover:
The most common convention of many music magazines is a
main image which is usually a medium close up shot. My magazine consists of this convention as it is a typical music magazine convention. My front cover also has a large
masthead which is behind the model I used for my main image. I chose to do this as to illustrate that my magazine is serious about it's music and to show the artists that produce music from the genre the magazine mainly targets are important to the magazine.
Another convention of a music magazine that I used for my magazine is the main coverline. It's large and stands out compared to the rest of the coverlines. I chose to include it because it promotes my artist as current and allows the audience to see which artist and story is the main feature in that issue published. I also made sure my magazine has coverlines pasted over the main image because it makes the audience aware of the top stories that are featured in the issue.
My magazine also uses the convention of a
barcode,
website link and dateline. I used the dateline as to make sure my audience are aware of the date (month) the issue their about to purchase is from. The website link is so that even if my audience do not buy my magazine they can still see the website and hopefully remember it and later on go on it, however for those who buy the magazine so they hopefully remember or have a rough idea of what the website is. This is all because they can go on the website link and either subscribe to the following issue/s and also get the latest news about certain artists that get featured in my magazine.
A convention that I felt was not really that necessary to include in my music magazine was a selling line on the front cover. This is because I think it makes my magazine unique and not too typical.
This Diagram shows conventions I used for my music magazine contents page:
One convention i made sure my Magazine contents page has is a title, this is because many music contents pages include titles. This is helpful because the title of the magazine will always be there for the reader to remind them of the magazine they are reading. Having the issue date is also there to make the audience aware of which monthly subscription they are reading. Including titles such as the contact info and web address are also good as the readers will always know what page to go to if they want to visit the music magazine's web page or even contact the team. A subscription is also another thing that comes under the 'title' convention, i decided to include this so that the readers will always have a chance to subscribe to any monthly issues when ever they may be busy or feel like they do not want to physically go to the shop and purchase the upcoming issues.
Another convention i included in my music magazine is an editor's letter, this is because i felt as if the readers will always feel a part of the team as the editor of the magazine will be keeping them up to date with anything regarding the published issues, readers of the magazine or even just simple messages to the readers. My contents page also has text boxes and sub-lines, this is also a typical music magazine convention. I used these because I wanted to make sure the audience are intrigued by the boldness of the titles and the sub-lines that accompany them. The sub-lines are also a good thing to include as it gives the readers a taster about what that certain article is about. As to catch my reader's attention, I made sure my magazine consists of different fonts and sizes. Even though there was a consistency in the type of font I used (sans serif), the texts and sizes as well as the use of different images also help to make the pages look more interesting to look at and read.
I also used a variety of text boxes with a few words that i felt would help me intrigue the reader. I felt the convention of a colour scheme was important as to make my music magazine one of a kind in terms of the colour scee i decided to give it. I also made sure that the colour scheme i used matched the front covers' colour scheme as to keep the colour consistency through my music magazine. A few number of Coloumns, usually 3/4 is also another convention i included in my music magazine, this is becuase it makes the page look much neat and organised. Within my coloumns i also made sure that i included regular categories as this is also a typical music magazine convention,
My music magazine contents page goes against a few music magaine conventions, these include a white background, competition and photography credit. I chose not to include these conventions mainly because i did not feel that it was necessary for my music magazine contents page to consist of them.
This Diagram shows conventions I used for my music magazine Double Page Spread:
My double page spread has a few things that challenge music magazine conventions. For instance it does not have a drop capital, this is mainly because the article is structured as a interview therefore I did not see the need of including it.
It does however include columns (three), of which is one of the conventions of a music magazine. I decided to include this in my magazine as it creates a neat layout, making it easier to read for the audience. The headline is also another convention of a music magazine, I made sure that my headlines were large and eye catching as to draw the reader in.
I alsoecided to include a large image on the left hand side of my double poage spread because having one large image is one of the most important conventions of a double page spread. This is good as to allows the audience to have an idea of who the main artist the article is on just by looking at that main large image.
I also followed the convention of a by-line in my double page spread, this is because it allows the readers to see who the writter of that particular article is. This is good as some readers may have favourite journalists, therefore this way they can keep a track of their favourite journalist's articles.
Another music magazine double page spread typical convention i followed is a quote. I decided to include this mainly because many magazines i have come across have a quote and it sometimes helps to attract readers as it stands out in the article. The stand-first is also another music magazine convention i decided to include in my magazine, this is because it is an introduction paragraph to accompany an article.
Another convention i included in my music magazine is a headline, this is because a magazine page with no headline would look and give an incomplete feel. This could mainly be because it usually helps to draw the reader in as it is often placed across the top of either one or both pages.
Lastly one convention of music magazines that I made sure my magazine followed was having a colour scheme. This is because I did not want my magazine to have no sense of direction; instead I made sure it follows a simple colour scheme as to help create a modern and contemporary look due to the minimum use of colours i used.
Looking back at my publishing company case study, Condé Nast might consider distributing my magazine as they do not distribute music magazines. This would be beneficial to their publishing company as it would have quite a number of advantages for them.
