Evaluation

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

• There are multiple conventions of magazines present in all the pieces I analysed, and as a result, these appear in my own media product.

• There are multiple things to be said about the Masthead. – The masthead is predominantly placed in the upper left corner of a magazine. This is

convenient when it comes to stacking different magazines in shops, as the upper left corner will always be on show. Putting the Masthead on the right of the magazine would hide the logo should it be stacked amongst others on a shelf, which is counterproductive. Consequently I have placed my Masthead in the upperleft corner, following the conventions of British Music Magazines.

– If there is some overlapping of the splash image, the model should always be placed on top of the masthead. This is something present in the majority of magazines, and almost acts as a confessional; it’s the magazine saying, “hey, this/these guy(s) are bigger than us”. The masthead should therefore have something about it that allows potential buyers to be able to recognise the logo even if it is partially covered. In this case, Q is a giant red box with ‘Q’ and the tagline are in white. If anybody were to see even the slightest portion of that logo/masthead, they would automatically be able to associate it with the magazine. I have made my ‘T.I.M’ logo/masthead so recognisable by places the dots about mid-height, so that they look like eyes. The ‘2 lines’ font is also very distinctive, so that if people were to see just ‘T.’, or even just the ‘eyes’, they should be able to make the link between the logo and my magazine.

– The Masthead is almost always accompanied by some sort of tagline or ‘slogan’. Q has ‘Discover New Music’ or ‘Britain’s Biggest Music Magazine’; Kerrang has ‘Life is Loud!’ and NME, like my own magazine, has a slogan using the initials of the magazine (obviously as the magazine’s title is an abbreviation; New Musical Express. This is a convention I chose to follow, but in the footsteps of NME rather than use an unrelated slogan like Q or Kerrang.

– The Masthead, or at least part of it, quite often acts as a logo for the majority of music magazines; one that appears multiple times throughout the magazine. I followed this convention in my own magazine, using ‘T.I.M’ in the upper left part of my contents page, and placing ‘the eyes’ in there also.

Masthead

Issue Number

It is conventional to put an issue number on the front (or in the contents page) of a magazine. It is not often a prominent feature in the majority of magazines, at least in regular issues. It often uses a small typeface. They are useful for organising issues and keeping track of the quantity of releases. They also appeal collectors. More prominent issue numbers on covers are often an indication of value and exclusivity, implying the issue is a collectable. Q magazine backs up this convention by specifically saying ‘15th Anniversary Collector’s Edition’. I have decided to use this in my own magazine; I’ve placed the issue number in large in the upper-righthand corner. This is similar to a comic-book format, appealing to collectors. I’ve used this as I want my magazine to look like it is worth collecting, and the placement of the issue number bodes well for organising issues and flicking through a pile of issues to find a specific.

It is also conventional to date the issue, as I have done.

BarcodePlacement of the barcode is important as it is often (but not always) the location of the price. It is also a requirement when it comes to purchasing, so needs to be visible. At the same time, nobody wants the barcode to ruin the mise en scene of the cover and cause a distraction, so it is important that it is placed out of the way. It is predominantly placed in one of the lower corners of the magazine, as it is in the Q magazine and my own here.

It is conventional to put the issue number with the barcode, but I have purposeful refrained from doing so. This is because I want to set my magazine apart from other music magazines by making it appear more exclusive and collectable by placing the issue no. in the top corner.

The price is still with the barcode however, as it isn’t a particular appealing feature of the magazine. I have tactically grouped the equally ‘attractive’ elements together in that bottom left corner. Conveniently, the buzz word ‘PLUS!’ draws attention away from it further.

Menu Strip

Menu strips are a conventional way of promoting other artists and features covered, clearly and concisely without taking up space with more cover lines. Kerrang have crammed a large amount, making the most of the busy format of the cover; this isn’t appropriate for my own magazine, so I’ve kept my menu strip simple and included just a few ‘big’ artists.

Kerrang! Have also included a promotional banner along the top of their cover – a feature often seen on covers that are incredibly cluttered and desperate to grab the readers attention. I have refrained from using such; my reason being - I want my magazine to look clean, professional and like it doesn’t have to (regardless whether it does have to or not) attract gossip girls and hyperactive teenagers. The lack of a promotional strip on the top of my magazine defies the convention of that type of music magazine, whilst adhering to the conventions of more sophisticated magazines with an already established following.

Cover Lines

Cover lines are usually placed on at-least on side of a magazine cover. This is so they are easily legible, and so that they can take up empty space at the sides of splash images whilst acting as advertisement for key stories in the magazine.

I have placed my cover lines – the subheadings with their sub-tags – on the left hand side of my splash image. This is me following a convention of music magazine covers. The lack of overlapping helps ensure clarity on the page.

Splash image

• It is a general convention to have a main image on the cover page. Evidently, there are those that defy this, but splash images are useful as they allow for notorious artists and celebrities to add to the magazine’s status and notoriety, allowing for the use (and abuse) of the male gaze, whilst making the magazine itself more attractive. I have followed this convention by using an edited photo on the front of my magazine to make the most of this.

HeadingsSubheadings on a contents page are a consistent, persistent and convenient feature . They allow readers to quickly find what they’re looking for due to categorisation. Essentially every magazine does this, be it a music magazine, photography magazine etc etc. I have used larger font sizes to distinguish between sub-headers and the ‘sub-sub’ page headers. All magazines have some way of making these two distinguishable, whether it’s a change in font colour, typeface or even just placement.In the case of Q, they have placed a red block behind their subheadings.

QR CodesQR Codes are conventional when it comes to any media product or business wanting to move along with the technological revolution. The promote the idea of making the most of your ‘high-tech’ device’s features on the move. QR codes require you to use your mobile phone’s camera to be sent to a webpage. It’s convenient in that it requires no typing or reliance on spelling to reach the page you’re interested in.

I have included one on my page to link readers to the magazine’s website. This is me following the upcoming convention of the use of QR codes.

Contents Page ‘Sub-Images’The use of images on a contents page is conventional in that pretty much every single magazine does this. It gives visual representations and ‘snippets’ of what readers can expect in the magazine; it acts as advertisement and promotion of articles within the magazine; it allows for making the most of the ‘male gaze’, including attractive artists and celebrities to make the magazine itself look more appealing; and it helps add to the colour scheme.

I have used far less images in my own contents page compared to the likes of Kerrang (pictured)

Conventions of double page spreadsThere are multiple conventions of a double page spread. Images usually take up at least one A4 page’s worth, whether it is ‘littered’ with text or not. Key quotes from the text are often repeated, taken out of context and enlarged in order to draw the attention of ‘flickers’ and ‘skim-reader’. The image is always one that could easily by ripped or cut-out and used as a poster.

On a main, interviewed double-page spread, there is always some sort of indication as to who’s who. In my own, I have used speech marks to separate my own words from E.D’s account. In this example, the interviewer’s questions are highlighted.

Text on double page spread• I refrained from making my input as

obviously separate from the interviewee as the other example for a few reasons. – My magazine has a higher Text-Picture

ratio– I only asked E.D Boon one qualitative

question, designed to induce a large answer. Whilst the other had multiple smaller questions.

It is conventional to introduce the subject (or interviewee) before their account starts, as both myself and the Interviewer for Kerrang has here.