IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP

OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA

PRODUCTS? AS Media - Evaluation

Existing Product Summary - CoversUsing Information from Magazine Analysis

A medium close-up photograph of an artist featured in a key article within the magazine. They are usually making eye contact with the camera, making the magazine feel more personal. In addition to this, they are usually represented in a way which may suggest they have characteristics which readers may aspire to have themselves. The colour scheme used on the page is usually related to this musician (ie: natural colours for indie music).

The music genre is conveyed to readers in some way. This could be through the use of imagery, such as images of well known musicians or instruments, or through the use of language frequently linked with the music genre, such as “rock ‘n’ roll” or the names of popular artists.

The masthead of the magazine is usually placed in the top third of the page as this is where the attention falls first. Cover-lines are usually used in the left and/or right thirds of the page, providing a list of intriguing articles which can be found within the magazine. Often, different colours and fonts are used to help readers differentiate between different articles. Circular “puffs” are also used to represent an exciting feature within the magazine.

The barcode, issue number/month and price are usually found alongside each-other in either the bottom-left or bottom-right corners.

From my research into existing music magazines, I discovered many key conventions found frequently on front covers. These conventions included:

Existing Product Summary - ContentsUsing Information from Magazine Analysis

The folios and articles found within the magazine are usually divided into sections, depending on the scale/length of the article. These sections are usually titled “Features” and “Regulars”.

Similarly to the cover page, the largest image on the page is usually related to an important article within the magazine. This usually covers at least half of the page and is sometimes used as a background.

Depending on the length of the magazine, a flannel-panel is usually found beside the folios and article titles, and this is usually a letter from the editor-in-chief, introducing readers to the magazine and summarising the contents of the issue.

A smaller version of the magazine’s masthead or logo is usually found in the top-left corner and is often accompanied by the word “Contents”.

From my research into existing music magazines, I discovered many key conventions found frequently on contents pages. These conventions included:

Existing Product Summary - DPSUsing Information from Magazine Analysis

The design elements of the page, such as the colour-scheme and fonts used, usually represent the musician or genre through the use of connotations and associations (ie: black and green/blue for Green Day = punk rock).

For articles which continue after the first DPS, the first DPS serves as an introduction to the article, usually featuring a large medium close-up image of the artist. Unlike on the cover-page, they are not necessarily making eye-contact with the camera.

The name of the musician or band often serves as the title of the article and is written in very large text across at least on of the pages.

A strapline can usually be found either above or below the title, providing a concise description of what the topic of the article is.

A by-line is usually placed above or below the title, telling readers who the article was written by.

An intriguing pull-quote is often located on the first page to entice readers.

From my research into existing music magazines, I discovered many key conventions found frequently in DPS articles. These conventions included:

My Product - CoverOn my front cover, I used conventions of real music magazines in a number of ways:

The “Playlist” masthead is located in the centre of the top third of the page, making it easy to quickly know the title of the magazine.

A strapline is located above the masthead, introducing the unique selling point of the magazine to readers.

The music genre is represented and conveyed to readers through the use of a guitar as a prop and the listing of popular independent musicians. In addition to this, the title “Playlist” is frequently associated with music.

A medium close-up photograph of an artist referenced largely inside the magazine has been used, and the musician is making eye-contact with readers, making the magazine personal. This image is accompanied by a large coverline in a different font, representing the scale and importance of this article to the magazine.

If these conventions were not present on my front cover, it may be difficult for my audience to associate my magazine with the music genre.

However, I did develop and challenge conventions in the following ways:

The information about the issue number/month and price are located under the masthead at the top of the page, rather than at the bottom of the page, next to the barcode. I made this decision because the price of a magazine often influences the purchasing decisions of my audience, so by placing it in this location, readers can quickly find all of the information they need in order to make a decision on if they want to purchase the magazine.

My Product - ContentsOn my contents page, I used conventions of real music magazines in a number of ways:

The articles listed on the page are accompanied by folios and are divided into “Regulars” and “Features” making the magazine easy to navigate.

Each listed article is accompanied by a short description of what readers can expect to find in it.

Multiple images relevant to articles listed on the page are present, and the largest image on the page is related to a key article within the magazine.

The logo/masthead of the magazine is placed in the top-left corner of the page and it followed by a flannel-panel in which readers are welcomed to the magazine by the editor-in-chief.

A “credits” section in placed below the flannel panel and provides the names of all of the people who have worked on the magazine in some way.

However, I did develop and challenge conventions in the following ways:

Whilst the word “contents” is present on the page, it is only written in very small text in the top-middle of each page. I made the decision to do this because the page would become too cluttered if it was any bigger, and there are already a large number of contents page conventions on this page, making it recognisable as a contents page.

A large amount of white-space has been used on this page. This links with the positive and refreshing identity of my magazine and also provides a visually clean and concise design.

My Product - DPSOn my DPS, I used conventions of real music magazines in a number of ways:

A pull-quote is present on the page, featuring a quote from the article to intrigue readers so that they read the article.

The name of the artist serves as the title of the article and is written in the largest font size found on the page.

A by-line and a brief introduction can be found below the title. A medium close-up image of the subject of the article covers half

of the DPS and this image is linked to the article by using similar colours.

The first DPS serves as an introduction to the article. The visual style of the page matches the representation of the

artist himself (fresh, natural, clean).However, I did develop and challenge conventions in the following ways:

Whilst this DPS does serve as the introduction to a longer article, it does contain a lot more body text than you would usually find on this style of page. I did this because it fits in with the concise Q&A style of the article and the questions featured on the page also serve as an introduction to the musician.