Media Evaluation Question 1

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

My MagazineMy music magazine

both develops and challenges the

conventions for magazines. My music magazine started off

as a mixed genre magazine, but I now think that it is more

for indie artists.

Professional Magazines

These are some of the magazines I used to get the

look of mine, and to look at the

conventions that they use.

Conventions - PugsI have followed the convention of

using pugs.On my magazine I have a pug at

the top of my magazine. Pugs are ‘the ears’ of the magazine and are

used to attract the readers attention. These pugs allow the

readers to see what articles are in the magazine. With mine, I have made it stand out by using bright colours. My pug may also slightly challenged the convention as it

only says “Never before interview”, where many others go ingot more detail about the article

(such as the one on the right).

Conventions - Plugs

Plugs are a form of promotion to try and gain interest of their

audience. With magazines, they tend to

use competitions for their plugs, to try and

get more people to buy the magazine. I followed this

convention and added a competition onto my

magazine which features on the front page and on

the contents page.

Conventions - MastheadsWhen I researched mastheads used on

music magazines, I saw a running theme with what characteristics they have.

When I looked at them all I noticed that they all were in bold, clear texts in either black or in some bold colour. They do this

to make it stand out and attract the audience. They also do this so the

masthead is noticeable, when all the magazines are stacked on a shelf.

Again, I followed and challenged this convention. With mine, I made it bold

and in colour, to make it stand out. However, I made the text lay on its side. The main reason I did this is because it

didn’t work sitting upwards, as it covered the models face. I could have changed

the photo, but I felt like that one was the only one that looked right sitting on the

front.

Conventions - Numbers/ ImagesMagazines also have images

and numbers on their contents page.

Magazines do this to show the readers what is inside the

magazines. It shows what the articles are about, and also

directs the reader to the page they would need for that

article. I have followed this convention by putting in images and page

numbers in for my articles.

Conventions–Double Page ImageWhen I looked at magazines double pages, I notices that most of them had one page with just a picture o the artist/celebrity, and the interview on the other side. I think that they do this to make it look more clear, instead of having a load of text working it way around a image, with can make it look cluttered.

I even saw that some of the magazines

having multiple double pages as

they are normally long

interviews, so I also did this.

Conventions - Introductions

When I was looking at double page spreads, I noticed the introduction to the interview was on many different magazines. Because of this,

I tried to include this in my own magazine. Just under the headline is where the

introductions were mainly placed. Magazines do this so that the reader can have a brief introduction to the article, and find out a

little more o what it will be about.

Conventions - Quotes

Many magazine interviews also include quotes from the person who they are interviewing. These statements are usually made out of context to make it looks like a shocking statement. Magazines usually do this to catch peoples eyes, and pull them into the article as they want to know what they are talking about. I used this technique in my magazine on my front cover, and double page spreads.