EvaluationNicole Frankel

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

media products?

Front Cover

MastheadFig 1 Fig 2 Fig 3

When it came to the Masthead (Fig 1), I wanted to create something that would stand out and attract the audience, like Fig 2 (‘Q’) and Fig 3 (‘We Love Pop’). I chose purple because it is a bold colour like the red in Fig 2 and the pink in Fig 3, and has not been used by any other music magazines that I have studied. I made the Masthead something short and snappy, so it would be easily memorable; I also positioned it on the left hand side similar to the other magazines because it would still be seen when stacked on a shelf.

The tagline underneath the Masthead helps to attract the audience as it makes the magazine stand out and seem more exclusive, which similarly has been done by Fig 3.

I have used a medium shot on the front cover (Fig 1) which is similar to music magazines such as Fig 2 (‘Q’) and Fig 3 (‘We Love Pop’), as it makes the face the main focal point but it is not too close up. I have used a female on the front cover because it appeals to a female audience; they can aspire to be like them. It also fits into the Laura Mulvey’s theory of the Male Gaze (she believes that women are presented in the media to provide visual pleasure to men) as the men will be attracted to the woman on the front cover. I took some of the orange hue from it, so I made the colour more neutral because in Fig 2 and Fig 3 the colour is more balanced. I made sure that my model had lots of make-up and had her hair styled, because the women on the front of these two magazines appear very glamorous; making her appear more attractive to both males and females.

I developed the eye line of the artist, she is looking straight into the camera. This is as the two female artists do in the other magazines; it feels as though they are making direct eye contact with the reader who becomes drawn into the magazine and feels more persuaded to buy it.

Main ImageFig 1 Fig 2 Fig 3

Coverlines

My layout (Fig 1) is similar to Fig 2 (‘Q’) in that the coverlines follow down the left outline of the image (the image is more right justified). However, Fig 2 shows the coverlines over the top of the image, whilst I made them follow the outline of the artist because I think that it looks neater and I did not want the artist to be covered by the writing. I challenged this convention again when it came to Fig 3 (‘We Love Pop’) because they have chosen to put the coverlines over the artist, but I wanted a tidier layout and wanted to make sure that both the image and the writing stood out. I have developed these coverlines by using the buzz word ‘exclusive’ because it immediately draws the eye; it persuades the reader to purchase my magazine to see what is not available elsewhere.

Fig 1 Fig 2 Fig 3

Colour Scheme

For the colour scheme I have chosen to use one staple colour (purple), then have the neutral colours black, white and grey. This is similar to Fig 2 (‘Q’) and ensures that the magazine does not look too messy and chaotic. I have used purple as it is the same colour as the Masthead so it remains consistent , reinforcing the brand identity, and again it is bold and bright; this follows the conventions of the other examples.

I have chosen to use a plain white background like the other two magazines because it looks more professional then having a clashing coloured background which relates more to the genre of rock, not chart. This ensures that it does not draw attention away from the text or images.

Fig 1 Fig 2 Fig 3

Banner

I have a banner along the bottom of my magazine (Fig 1) which is similar to Fig 2 (‘We Love Pop’) that shows the posters offered inside; this attracts the audience by using freebies and using famous artists.

I have chosen to make my posters bigger because I think that they are a very important selling point, especially as my research showed that one of the main factors in choosing a music magazine is the posters and freebies. I have chosen to show fewer posters than in Fig 2 as I wanted to highlight the ones that are the most exciting to the audience , ensuring that they buy the magazine to see what the rest of the posters look like.

Fig 1 Fig 2

Barcode

I have placed the barcode in the bottom right hand corner of the magazine because I wanted it to be the last thing that the browser would see; by this time they would have already been persuaded to buy the magazine after seeing the coverlines and images. This would follow the theory of the Z-reading pattern and develops the style of Fig 3 (‘We Love Pop’), which has also chosen to place the barcode in the bottom right corner.

However, Fig 2 (‘Q’) has chosen to place the barcode in the bottom left corner, but I wanted mine to completely follow the Z- Reading pattern; so the bottom right was the best place. The barcode follows the conventions of the other magazines by including the date, price and website.

Fig 1

Fig 2

Fig 3

Contents Page

Masthead, Headline, Issue Number and Date

Fig 1 Fig 2 Fig 3

I decided to use the name of the magazine on the contents page, similar to Fig 2 (‘Q’) but unlike Fig 3 (‘Rolling Stone’) because I wanted to keep the audience aware of the brand that they are buying; I chose to put it in the top left hand corner because it is the first thing that the reader sees.

I used the colour white for the headline ‘Contents‘ (Fig 1) as it stands out more then the colour black against a coloured background, so it is clearer to the audience that this is the page with the exciting features. I have used a simple font for the headline which stands out and is easily readable, but I used the purple background to make it still fun. This use of colours is similar to Fig 2 and Fig 3, they both used a white font with a coloured background.

I also made sure that I added the issue number and date so that collectors will be able to see that they have bought every issue available; the date tells the browser that they are buying the most up to date edition. Fig 2 and Fig 3 have not shown their issue number and date in the header, but I challenged this because I think it is an important convention of a magazine (it encourages people to collect the magazines), therefore it should go at the top.

Images

I made the images quite large (Fig 1) because I wanted to show that these artists are the most important and are the main reason to buy the magazine; I believe that my teenage target audience are more likely to look at the images then the text. I used a mix of different images using different shots and angles (as Fig 2, ‘Q’ and Fig 3, ‘Rolling Stone’) to show a range of different artists and locations, so to appeal to a grass roots audience; it also makes the artists look more exciting because they aren’t just in studio locations. I put the bottom image at a canted angle challenging the other magazines because it breaks up the page and adds movement and excitement, appealing to a younger target audience. The mise-en-scene of the images is bright and colourful, compared to the darker images of Fig 2: this relates to the usually upbeat chart songs.

One of the images is canted which more appealing to a teenage audience then a rigid structure as it mirrors their rebellious nature; this challenges the layout of the images on other magazines because they have an older target market. Overall though it still appears quite a neat layout, which is very important for the readability of the important contents list.

Fig 1

Fig 2

Fig 3

Fig 3

Layout

Fig 1 Fig 2 Fig 3

Fig 3 (‘Rolling Stone’) uses a column layout with an equal ratio of text to images, but I decided to use a greater ratio of images to text. This is because I think the pictures will be more attractive to my target audience as they will not want to read so many words, as would the older target audience of Fig 3. Although this has challenged the format of Rolling Stone magazine, it has followed the conventions that are laid out by Fig 2 (‘Q’) because they have used more images then text, which I think is effective at allowing the browser to quickly see the most important articles in the magazine. I have chosen to put the images on the left because human eyes read from left to right, so they will see the images first; both Fig 2 and Fig 3 have done the same.

Page Numbers and Fonts

I made the page numbers beside the pictures (Fig 1) quite big to make it easier for the reader to flick straight to the article that they want to read; this develops the techniques used by the other two magazines, who opted for similar sized fonts. I used the same the font as the Masthead font, because it reinforces the identity of the magazine and continually reminds the reader of the brand. I also chose to add the purple box behind it so the writing would stand out against the sometimes busy background, but made it slightly transparent so that it would not appear like a harsh block colour.

I chose to use a simple block sans serif font for the writing in the column because I did not want to use too many different fonts on the page, avoiding a cluttered and untidy appearance. I used sans serif because serif fonts are associated with formality, and a generally older audience; connotations that I wanted to avoid. I made the main headline of each feature in bold so it was clear what was the main feature, similar to both Fig 2 (‘Q’) and Fig 3 (‘Rolling Stone’).

Fig 1 Fig 2 Fig 3

Double Page Spread

HeadlineFig 1 Fig 2 Fig 3

I decided to put my headline at the top of the page (Fig 1) as I thought this would be the first place that the audience’s eyes would be drawn to; this is similar to Fig 2 (‘We Love Pop’) as they have also chosen to place the headline at the top. This challenges Fig 3 (‘Rolling Stone’) who have decided to put the headline in the middle of the article, but this does not stand out as much and it is not as obvious that it is the headline.

I incorporated the artist’s name to make it obvious to anyone flicking through the magazine what the article is about, which is what Fig 2 has done with the word ‘Murs’. Fig 3 hasn’t used the artist’s name in the headline, but I wanted to make it really obvious that this famous artist is being interviewed. The use of colour in Fig 1 and Fig 2 makes the headline stand out even more and will attract a younger audience; whereas Fig 3 uses no colour at all which I believe lacks impact and does not look as effective.

Layout

For the layout, I wanted a pretty much equal amount of text to images. The full A4 sized image on the right (Fig 1) also acts as a pull out poster; I developed this because posters are very important when it comes to the sale of music magazines according to the people I surveyed.

However it was also stated that one of the main drivers for the purchase of a music magazine is the people interviewed, so I made sure that there was enough text (but not too much) to make the reader feel they had their money’s worth. This layout is similar to the magazines shown above as they both have an image on the right hand side with the main text on the left.

I have challenged the conventions in both magazines by using fewer images than in Fig 2 (‘We Love Pop’), but more images then in Fig 3 (‘Rolling Stone’). My target audience is in the middle of the two magazines therefore I wanted a ratio of text to images inbetween the two magazines. I also decided to break the text up in my article with a close up picture of the artist, to avoid having a big block of text for the audience to read. Fig 3 has done similar with a sub-heading about Katy Perry, but there is too much text on one page for a music magazine aimed at teenagers.

Fig 1 Fig 2 Fig 3

Images

The main image in the article was taken in front of a brick wall, as this is typical of the Pop and Indie genre that are both popular in the charts currently. I decided to use a long shot which challenges the conventions used in Fig 3 (‘We Love Pop’) and Fig 4 (‘Rolling Stone’) as they have used medium and medium long shots, but I wanted to focus on the whole artist. The conventions of Fig 3 and Fig 4 are developed because they have also used an image to cover the full page.

The image in Fig 4 is highly sexualised, however I chose not to sexualise the photo because I wanted him to look accessible to the target audience. The boys will want to look like him whereas the girls can imagine meeting boys just like him at college. The casual dress reinforces this: his style is attainable to teenagers. He is not looking at the camera, as the models are in Fig 3 and Fig 4 because it relates to album covers where artists often do not look straight ahead; this appears more natural and more appealing to the audience.

I chose to use a close up on the page with the text, because it’s a different type of shot that adds more variety and excitement for the audience; he has his hood up because it gives the shot a more urban look.

Fig 1 Fig 2 Fig 3 Fig 4

Colour Scheme

With regard to the colour scheme for the double page spread, I decided to keep it consistent with the rest of the magazine by using the staple colour purple and then using black and white for the text and background. I chose to use a white background because I did not want a different colour which would detract from the text and make it difficult to read. Here I have followed the conventions of similar music magazines in Fig 2 (‘We Love Pop’) and Fig 3 (Rolling Stone’) who have used the same white background colour.

The colours used on my magazine appear halfway between those used in these two magazines: I wanted it to be a little less brash than Fig 2 which is aimed at a younger audience, but have slightly more colour then Fig 3 which has a much more sophisticated target audience. The purple behind the headline adds impact, attracting the reader straight away, but the white and black keeps it looking neat and legible.

Fig 1 Fig 2 Fig 3

Writing StyleFig 1 Fig 2

I opted for a casual writing style in my magazine (Fig 1) because it is aimed at 16-19 year olds, who will not want to read a lot of very formal text. Teenagers speak informally to their friends, therefore the magazine will be more relatable to them if it addresses them in the same way.

The questions posed to the artist talk about singles and festivals, which is what would be expected from a music magazine. The interview also talks about break-ups which a lot of young people will be able to relate to, and it will give them more self confidence to realise that even their idols have problems.

The writing style is slightly less formal then Fig 3 (‘Rolling Stone’) which is aimed at an older target audience, but slightly more formal then Fig 2 (‘We Love Pop’) which is aimed at a slightly younger target audience.

Fig 3