Evaluation 1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

I looked at Q magazine and at Mojo magazine to learn about the conventions of Rock and alternative music. The layout and design of Q magazine was the most inspiring part of my case study, as my magazine shares a similar demographic.

Font

As shown in Q and Mojo the font used is usually very simple, without any drop shadows or effects. I followed this simple theme throughout my whole magazine, using only simple fonts. While Mojo and Q magazine both used a serif font for the masthead, I chose to use sans-serif fonts for both masthead and teasers, as I focus on a slightly younger audience, and pure Rock/alternative Rock/Indie magazine, while Q magazine also includes some Pop artists. This difference in the genre of the magazines influenced the decision of the masthead. Layout: I closely followed the conventions of the layout of a music magazine, mainly referring to Q magazine. Such conventions include the use of the left third for the teasers.

FONT

example of Q magazine: . The teasers are usually placed on the left side of a magazine; however it is placed on the right-hand side on this cover. In stores magazines are usually stacked on top of each other, therefore only a small section of the magazine is visible. This is why the teasers are placed at the left-hand side. This is all the audience is able to see in the store. The teasers’ function is to draw the reader’s attention to the magazine, so that he/she will pick up the magazine. This is when the main image and cover come into operation. They should catch the reader’s interest so he/she decides to buy the magazine.The teasers section starts with a very large font at the top part of the magazine, and is decreasing in size as it goes down. This is also connected with the importance of the articles; the most important/interesting features are bigger.

FONT

There are also two faces of the featured artist cut out and pasted next to the teasers. The images are rather funny, which gives the reader a clue of the content of the article, and makes it more interesting to look at. The teasers also do not interfere with the main image, which makes the image stronger.The 3-colour scheme is reduced to black and white font, with highlighted parts in red or gold. This keeps the magazine simple and professional. Too many colours would be too irritating for the reader, however colours are still very important as they draw the attention of the audience to the magazine.

FONT

My magazine: I followed the magazine conventions for the placement of the teasers, as they are all on the left third of the magazine. In stores magazines are usually stacked on top of each other, therefore only the left third is visible. The teasers are in bold, red font which draws the attention of the reader to this magazine.

MASTHEAD

It is difficult to find a set convention for mastheads, as they need to be unique for every magazine. One convention that can be followed is large, bold font for Rock magazines, such as Kerrang. This convention was followed for the masthead; however the conventions were also challenged in the sense that the font is rather unusual, because of the shape of the R. The letter was manipulated in Illustrator to give it something unique and make the magazine stand out from other magazine. Another convention that was challenged is the placement of the masthead. The masthead is usually either in front of the image or behind the artist. In my case the main masthead in in front of the image, but the line “saying more music for you” is behind the model. This way the artist on the front cover is dominant and the most important part of the cover, however the masthead is still fully visible, which is important since it is a new magazine, and most people won’t know or recognise it if it was covered.

PHOTOGRAPHY

Images on the front cover of magazines are usually close ups or medium close-ups. I followed this convention by using a close-up of a model looking directly at the camera. In most cases the image is taken straight from the front; however in my case I directed the model to move her head slightly to the side while still looking at the camera, which allowed a more natural pose and outcome.

PHOTOGRAPHY

Images for the contents page are usually portraits or group shots of musicians and bands. However, I used several pictures of instruments only. Playing instruments and writing the song themselves is that kind of authenticity that is very important in the Rock and Indie genre, as opposed to other genres. The images are linked to stories where the musician is not necessary the most important factor, which shows why I chose instruments only.

The contents page is like in other magazines very packed. There are many regulars, images supporting the features and a large section dedicated to the main cover story. It is very important to follow this convention of a busy contents page as this is usually what the reader looks at after picking up the magazine. Therefore, the contents page needs to be filled with images and text to convince the reader that there is good value for money.

LAYOUT

JOURNALISM

In both my case studies, MOJO and Q, they used high journalism and high lexis. I chose to use slightly simpler journalism as my target audience is slightly younger, however I kept the writing professional and did not use any slang or swear words, as they are not often used in Rock magazines. It might occur in the answers of musicians in interviews but the journalist usually avoids such language.

DPS

It is very common to use at least 2 double page spreads for the main cover story, where the entire first double page spread is a single image of the artist. I used the same principle, but I also added a short introduction of the article to the enlarged image.

COLOUR SCHEME

For the colour scheme I have decided to follow the convention of a 3-colour scheme. Fewer colours do not make the page interesting and outstanding enough, more colours would make it look unprofessional and maybe even too confusing. Therefore I followed the convention, as it is the best way of designing a magazine like mine.