Evaluation - Question 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Print is a form of media and magazines are just one example of this. My task was to create a front cover, contents page and a double page spread for a music magazine, these are typical of this form of media. I found that some of the generic conventions of alternative rock magazines are: most of the magazines have one main image on the front cover that stand out to the audience making it eye catching; there’s a colour theme throughout the issue; the title of the magazine is put clearly on the front cover; the contents page will consist of images with the relevant page numbers; there will be a review of that issue; the image on the double spread is large making it eye-catching for the audience usually taking up more than one side of the page; typically on the front-cover there is a vague headline with a sentence underneath the headline explaining more about the story before reaching the article and a small logo/title of the magazine is put in the corner of each page to remind them of the magazine they are reading. When making my magazine I included some of these generic conventions. For example, on my front cover I have included the following typical conventions: I a colour theme of red, this is shown as the title of the magazine is written in a red box and any information I wanted to stand out to the audience was also written in red. I chose this colour because I think it appeals to both sexes without being specifically aimed at one gender. The colour red also has connotations of being fun and I think this is an accurate representation of how a music magazine should be. Another convention I included was one main image on the front cover. I decided on that particular picture because his facial expressions appear very natural, I think this has a positive reflection on the magazine as it suggests it will be a realistic overview on the artist. I also included the convention of having many article titles on the front cover, this gives the audience an insight to what the magazine contains and could persuade people to purchase it. On my contents page I have included the following typical conventions: putting the magazine title clearly at the top of the page, this reminds the audience what magazine they are reading, therefore if they like it they know to purchase it again. Another convention I included is different images with the relevant page numbers. I decided on adding this because I think it made the page much more appealing and eye-catching. Another convention I included was a review of the magazine. I think this makes the magazine much more personal to an audience as it quotes someone's opinions. For my double page spread, the conventions I included were: page numbers at the bottom of each page. This makes the magazine clear and organised to the audience giving them a sense of ease when reading it. I also included the convention of a vague headline with a sentence underneath. This entices the audience to find out more about the interview. Another convention I have included was highlighting the questions of the interview in a different colour (red). This clearly shows the audience the difference between the question and the answer from the artist. I decided to put the questions in red because this then relates to the colour theme that runs throughout my magazine. It also stands out as it is a much brighter colour compared to the answers (written in black).

I developed my media product from the typical conventions we might find in a stereo-typical alternative rock magazine through the layout of my images on the double page spread. For example: although having one main image is a typical convention of a double spread page, the three images laid out vertically isn’t. I decided to lay it out this way because I think the three vertical images look like the type you would find from a photo-booth. The fact each image shows a different facial expression portrays a relaxed feeling to the audience. I think this helped get the care-free message across to the audience immediately, without reading the interview. I believe the images play an important part in representing the artist in a fun way. I decided to use the film border around the images to help portray that photo-booth effect. The fact it is a film border suggests these images were taken over a length of time (just like a film would be), this suggests the artist’s character is genuinely like this, rather than it being a posed photo-shoot. I think this well help the audience appeal to the artist and they will be more likely to relate to him as he appears to be a genuine guy.