Evaluation question 1

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (i.e. of music magazines)

The masthead of my magazine is big and bold. The font that I used for my magazine front cover called ‘Passion’ was Grenoble SF. This font is similar to the magazine ‘Q’. I got this font of Photoshop which is where I made my magazine. This font is a big font and bold, this allows it to stand out to the audience and it will catch their eye. As the font is big and bold it is a typical convention for many magazines that are on the shelves already. Therefore I used this idea on my magazine. I called my magazine ‘Passion’ as I am aiming this music magazine at an audience in which they are passionate about music. This also makes the magazine seem very happy and cheerful. It then allows the audience to be interested and they will then want to read it. I also felt that this could also give the audience a message that being passionate about music will allow them to feel happy and want to listen to music. This would also allow the reader to feel passionate towards indie/alternative music. My masthead for my magazine is still similar to many other magazines that are on the magazine market. For example ‘I-D’

and ‘Clash’. These

magazines are also very eye catching as they are large texts and they are also very bold so that they stand out to the audience. Therefore I developed there idea as my

magazine name is longer than the other magazines. I also placed the mast head of my magazine at the top in the middle. I got this idea from ‘Clash’ magazine. I used this idea as I think that it makes the magazine look cleaner and it also allowed the magazine to look simplistic. I also used this idea as the writing slightly goes over the models head, this happens a lot in Clash magazines.

The graphology of my magazine is very simple and plain. This is because I was inspired by many magazines that are simplistic and do not have much going on. One of these magazines is ‘Fader,’ this is because it only has a mast head and a cover line. Therefore I developed this idea as I also used a main cover line and then a few smaller cover lines. The small cove5r lines do not stand out as much but it does still give the magazine a simplistic style. I also looked at ‘Faders’ magazine to use the format and layout of the fonts on the front cover. They put the mast head at the top and then the cover line is always in different places. But I chose to put my cover line at the bottom as it allowed the magazine to have a cleaner feel. This shows that I have developed the idea of the cover line so that it looks best on my magazine. The colours that I used for my mast head and small cover lines are monochrome colours. The mast head is black and the cover lines are white. I used these colours so that the magazine looks simplistic, therefore I used this idea from Clash magazine as they often just use monochrome colours for there front cover. Then the main cover line was in mustard yellow. I got this idea from the ‘I-D’ magazine. This is because they follow bright colour schemes, so I used their idea for my magazine. I was originally going to use pastel colours but I preferred this idea as it allowed the writing to be eye catching as it was the brightest colour on the page, it also allowed me to follow a colour scheme. For the yellow cover line and the mast head I used the font called ‘Grenoble SF’. Then for the smaller cover lines I used ‘Perpetua titling’. I used this font for the smaller cover lines so that they were not as bold as the bright yellow cover line. This then allowed the front cover to not look as simplistic as the magazine ‘Fader’, which meant that I developed Faders idea. The cover lines that were in white were all of the different bands/artists. This will then mean that the audience will want to read more about these bands and artists. I also used the yellow colour for the issue number and the month it was published. I challenged this convention as this made my magazine much more unique and there are not many magazines with this convention. I looked at the magazine ‘Loud and quiet’ for ideas where to put the bands and artists. I then followed there format and put them at the side, I used a few of their conventions but I developed there idea as I put a barcode on to my magazine as you would have to pay for my magazine. But for ‘Loud and quiet’ it does not cost. I got the dimensions of my barcode from ‘Clash’ magazine. I measured the size of the barcode and I then used it on my magazine. For the heading on my contents page I also used the same font as my mast head, this then allowed the font to run through the magazine and so that they all fit together. I used this as this is a main convention of a magazine; this is used in a ‘Clash’ magazine, so I used Clash’s idea. My contents page layout is very plain and simplistic. I used this idea because ‘Fader’ does this and it allows the contents to look neat and professional, therefore I used Faders idea. On my double page spread I used two images, a mast head, a quote and an interview. This page had a lot on it and it was very busy. I placed the heading at the top of the first page so that the audience would be able to see the heading of the interview first, this would then catch their eye and they would want to read it and then buy it. I put the quote at the end of the interview so that it stood out as it was bigger than the interview writing. I challenged my idea for my double page spread, as most double page spreads are very plain and do not fill the whole page.

My model is wearing a very plain outfit, there are no patterns and the clothing is also very dark dull colours. I used this idea as I was inspired by ‘fader’ as they tend to use very plain outfits. But sometimes they do have colorful shirts on. I used this idea as I think the image then look professional and it does not look too bright, this also allows the magazine to not have much going on. For my magazine I did try put many different outfits for the model so that I was able to see which outfit worked best. Most of the clothing was plain apart from one item which was a striped shirt; you may have been able to find this in a vintage shop, this then allowed my model to look indie. On my contents page I have three different models, these are all wearing black clothes, they have no

writing or logos on,

and therefore they look

simplistic. On my double page spread my main model is wearing similar clothes to the front cover, but it is much clearer to see what she is wearing as they are long shots.

For my magazine I used many different camera shots, on my front cover I used a close up. This was so that you could clearly see the main image of my model. With it just being a close up it meant that it was also very plain as you are not able to see much of the background. I used this idea from the ‘Fader’ magazine. They usually use close ups for their front cover. But I have developed this idea as they usually have the model facing them straight onto the camera, but my model has her body twisted but her face facing straight on to the camera. I was going to use a long shot in my magazine front cover as this is used in a lot of Loud and Quiet magazines. I used the rule of thirds when taking my pictures and in my front cover my model is in two thirds of the image. With the image being a close up it allows the audience to take full notice of the image as it is big and takes up most of the page. On my contents page I have used two mid shots and a close up, this show that I’m varying the shots that I used. I used this idea because in the magazine ‘surface’

they have different photos varying the camera shots, I also developed there idea as they usually have a few more pictures on their contents page. On my double page spread I used a mid-shot and a long shot. I made sure that I varied my shots as I was inspired by ‘Q’ magazine. Therefore I used this idea on my magazine so that there are many different images.

For my double page spread I used a big bold heading above the interview. This was so that it stood out to the audience. I used the font Bebas for the title of my double page spread. This is similar to the font that is used in the ‘Loud and Quiet’ magazine, therefore I developed there idea and used a font that made my magazine look unique. For my interview I used very small writing so that I could fill my page.

Throughout my magazine I used a colour scheme. This was a mustard yellow colour. Originally in my research I was going to use monochrome and pastel colours, but I found this yellow colour in one of my images and I thought that it made my magazine stand out and it looked much more professional. I was also inspired by this bright colour from ‘I-D.’ They use many bright colours for their magazine; therefore I used it on my magazine. On my front cover I used the yellow on my cover line and date line. Then on my contents page I used the yellow for some page numbers and the headings for the contents. On my double page spread I used yellow for some of the answers that ‘Skye Baxter’ said. There is also yellow in the background of my image on the double page spread. I was inspired of the idea of using a different colour for cover line by ‘Q’ magazine. This is because they do this and it stands out, therefore I used this idea. My magazine has conventions of an indie magazine because of the poses that my model is doing throughout the magazine. She does sassy poses which makes her look cool and different. She also looks very serious and moody which makes her seem cool and edgy. My magazine also fits the conventions of an indie magazine because it is very simplistic, this is just like the magazine ‘Clash.’ therefore I

have used these ideas and put them onto my magazine. All of my models on my contents page also look indie as they are all still serious. The male is also wearing a hat which gives him an indie fashion.