Evaluation Question 1

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

In my media product I have used many forms and conventions of real media products in order to attract audiences by the typical magazine style. I have followed the common conventions of music magazines but have also developed and challenged some other conventions.

An example would be that I have developed the convention of the masthead on my front cover. Looking back at my textual analysis of a music magazine front cover which is Q magazine, the masthead uses the convention of the left third. This makes the title easily recognisable in a display of dozens of competitors. Whereas, the masthead on my front cover stretches across at the top of the page like Vibe magazine, giving it that distinctive look.

I have also used the convention of my selling line by displaying it at the top of the page but slightly developed it because it is in a small font. Q magazine’s selling line is also found at the top of the page but it is very large and bold going across the page.

My selling line

Q magazine's selling line

It could be argued that I have developed the convention of the main coverline on my front cover. The main coverline is usually very large taking up almost a quarter of the magazine cover, but mine only takes up less than half of the page. I did this because I do not want it to interfere a lot with the main image. But, note that my main coverline comes in three layers, starting with a kicker, then an explanatory line which is a quote, followed by the main coverline promoting the artist’s name. I have applied the same style of Q magazine where the kicker and main coverline are in the same colour font, while the quote is in a different colour.

Another convention that I have developed is the main image. It is common to feature a medium close up in music magazines however I have featured a mid-shot image. I did this because Blender magazine usually does this too and often use females as their main image which is who I’ve used in my magazine. Also, using a model that is the same age as my target audience will interest potential buyers even more.

In addition, I have challenged the common convention of the dateline, price and website link being placed altogether on the barcode. I have done this by placing the dateline and website link away from the barcode but underneath the masthead.

Furthermore, I have used a banner at the top of page which reads “EXCLUSIVE! UPCOMING UK ARTISTS [P.99]”. This is a popular convention used in music magazines to persuade the audience further more into buying the magazine. An example of a real media product doing this is Blender magazine featuring Katy Perry on the front cover.

My banner

Blender magazine's banner

I have also used coverlines which are used in all magazine front covers regardless whether it is about music or not. This is to attract the audience’s attention by displaying the magazine’s content in brief, eye-catching, colourful texts. My coverlines are distributed around the main image in different colours, sizes and fonts to create a sense of variety.