AS Media - Evaluation

Q1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or change forms and conventions of a real media product?

I have used a lot of the conventions of a Rock magazine. By doing lots of research into different magazines in the genre of Rock, I noticed there were a lot of things that you can see in all of the magazines and there are different aspects of a magazine that make you think of that certain genre. For my magazine I wanted to use these conventions so the reader could tell what genre it was but I also wanted to change some conventions to make my magazine stand out from the rest. For example, I have used large text to stand out to the reader. I have used brighter bold fonts as well, this will jump out more and help the reader notice the magazine more and to help the cover stay with you. The cover is busy, to show the magazine is fun, less serious and mature and appeal to the younger audience. Dark, bold, contrasting imagery helps show the rock style of the magazine and represent the genre. I used a large masthead to catch the attention of the buyer. I have included the necessary information on the front cover with the barcode in the bottom left corner. The main image is bold and eye-catching to appeal to the buyer. Also, the main sell-line is big and position near the centre of the magazine cover and it is the biggest and boldest text on the cover, besides the masthead. This helps it to draw the eye into the centre of the page. There is also a sub-head right below the main sell-line, to go more in detail. The cover is dark with a bit of bright colours to make sure the cover is still bold and eye-catching. A lot of the rock magazines only use images of the band/singer on the cover. I  however, have introduced art and illustration into the cover to show mixed media and also to make my magazine stand out from the crowd. This hasn't been done before and it gives my magazine an edge, this will help it stand out in a market.

In the contents page, I have used a lot of conventions for the genre and I have used ideas from other existing magazines.  For example,  I have used a main image in the top half of the page. This is the cover story and it is found on most magazine contents pages. I have also added text over the top of this, talking about what the article is. I have used large page numbers for the contents and then smaller text beside them. This is because the page number needs to be clear and memorable for the reader. I have added a section for the editors notes, again, often found in a contents page. I have used sub images to guide yor eyes around the page and to catch attention. 

The double page spread is also conventional. I have used one large image to the left side of the page and the rest is on the right. I have used a bold title to catch the attention of the reader. It is simple and powerful to pull the reader in. I have changed the conventions slightly by only using two columns, although this isn't a huge change, it still gives the magazine a unique look. I have used illustration again in the magazine and photography, this ,however, is changing the conventions.