Evaluation Question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
A music magazine is a magazine which is dedicated to music and music culture. A magazine can include things like music news, interviews, photoshoots, gig reviews etc.
In order to make the magazine appeal to my target audience I have both conformed to and challenged conventions. This has helped me make my product look more realistic.
Different codes and conventions are used to make a product informative and appealing. Codes can be divided into two categories – technical and symbolic. Elements like this are used to attract a reader but to also make it gender specific.
I think it is important to conform to codes and conventions for a magazine to be recognizable, however I think it’s also important to challenge some to make each magazine look different from one another. This way, each magazine caters for a different audience and genre.
Some of the things that I have picked out are typically conventional or unconventional features found in music magazines.
Main Cover Line
Date
Medium Close Up
Barcode
Puff Issue Number
Font
Masthead Positioning
Direct Gaze
Masthead Style – From my research and from analysing two music magazines I have realised that mastheads are typically a very bold part of the front cover which usually consists of a simple font which creates a memorable brand identity. For my magazine I have created a very bold yet simple masthead, which stands out on the page. As my magazine is general I wanted to create something neutral and modern which would appeal to my target audience and be suited to a variety of genres. I think the masthead would be visible from newsstands, too. Masthead Positioning - Typically, mastheads are placed in the top third of the front cover. Placing it anywhere else is considered unconventional and at the same unusual. This is because of the way magazines are stacked, sometimes only the left hand side or top third are visible so a masthead should be eyecatching in order to attract people. Colour Scheme - I have decided to use an image with a very bright background to entice an audience in a conventional way, which most magazines do. Both of the magazines that I have analysed use gender neutral colours such as white in order to interest the widest audience span, I really liked that idea so I incorporated it into my magazine and as a house style. Although my magazine is aimed mostly at females, the genres will vary which is why I think not using stereotypically female or male colours will be a much better idea.
Main Image -
Medium to close up shots are the most common types of photographs used on magazine covers. This is because there is enough space around the artist for conventions such as cover lines, masthead etc and at the same time a medium close up shot allows enough detail given of a model. The image I have decided to use is slightly further away than the one we can see in ‘Louder Than War’ this is because I wanted my models pose to be visible, her pose is very much about her, her music and her personality.
Puff – A puff or a buzz is a great feature for advertisement. It contains just enough information to grab someone’s attention and entice them into reading the magazine. I have included a puff in Complex to make my page appeal to the target audience, to break the page up from writing. Font- I have used a few fonts throughout my magazine which I have kept the same and will keep for further house style. These fonts include a mixture of serif and sans serif this is because I think serif is seen as more traditional and gives a nice touch where as serif is used on more modern publications. I think these are connotations of youth and I think it would therefore appeal to my target audience. The fact that my main cover line is the same font as some of the other text makes it conventional, both magazines I have analysed do this in order to keep the same style.
Some of the things that I have picked out are typically conventional or unconventional features found in music magazines.
Images with folios
Title
Date
Note from the editor
House style
Regulars and features
Folios in chronological order
Chronological Folios – Most magazines, not just those about music have chronologically ordered articles within their categories. This is to make sure the magazine is well organised and ordered. I have decided to convey to this convention in my magazine because I want my magazine to appear as realistic and professional as it possibly can. Also, inverting this feature could look to some as lack of knowledge or laziness. Images – On the contents page I have used 2 images altogether. It’s clear that ‘Q’ magazine have a template of three columns, I decided to use similar concept by setting my page out to be in 3 columns which gave me a lot of guidance in order to make my page look smart. I have placed two images on the contents page with folios, which by means conforms to the usual concepts both magazines that I have analysed show.
House style – I have kept a consistant house style throughout my magazine. I have done this through the consistent use of the same colour scheme, fonts such as Franklin Gothic, Nirmala Ui and Nirmala Pro, setting, style of image. I think all of these elements help to consolidate all of my pages into one publication. All magazines use this feature, in order for their magazines to look professional, nice and recognisable.
Some of the things that I have picked out are typically conventional or unconventional features found in music magazines. Drop Caps
Pull Quote
Standfirst Introduction Folios
Drop Cap – A drop caps is a first letter of a paragraph that’s of much bigger size than text around it. The formatting drops down, in order to cover a few lines. This is a typical convention that many magazines use on double page spreads as it is a clear indication on where to start reading and it usually brings the whole magazine together for example, by using a house style font and colour, these elements make a magazine look more professional. Columns – Many magazines use columns that organise their pages and make them look tidier. Although some are less structured than others they guide the reader through the text. I have decided to include columns into my double page spread because from my preliminary task I have learnt that the page I created did not look flattering, it had no real structure to it and everything was placed in a busy and cluttered manner. In my music magazine I have used columns on the front page, contents and dps in order to achieve a professional look. Main Image – The images used on a double page spread vary a lot, they vary according to how the producer wants their artist, genre and magazine to be represented. I have decided to use a long shot image of my artist, but I zoomed in slightly in InDesign. That way the image will differ from the one on the front cover and contents page making it more interesting for the reader, as they were all shot in the same location. I think that in this picture especially I have represented my model in a very unusual way, she looks like a strong and confident female artist. Sometimes women are portrayed in a sexual or vulnerable manner and I wanted to break this stereotype through the character of Paula and specifically through her body language , infectious smile, clothing and age.
These are the two magazines that I have analysed and compared my magazine to.