Evaluation - Conventions

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

When doing research for my magazine I looked at other magazines which had a similar target audience and genre to what I wanted mine to be. This enabled me to see what the typical look and style of the magazines were. I looked at how I could take into consideration their typical conventions, coulour schemes, fonts and layout etc. I wanted to produce an r and b, pop magazine which mainly featured female artists. Therefore I chose to research and look at magazines which predominantly looked at this same genre of music so it gave me a suitable idea on how to make my product appeal to my target audience. I looked at the conventions each magazine used to attract their audience so it gave me an insight on how to create mine. From investigating this research on similar products I discovered  that there were various conventions each magazine followed. These conventions were different for the the front cover, contents page and double page spread

 The typical conventions of an R and B and Pop music magazine cover are 

• Large mast head at the top of the page
• The layout is ordered
• The cover lines are spaced out  
• The convention of the route of the eye is used including the main cover lines directly through it
• An image of an artist featured in the magazine along route of the eye or in the hot spots
• A colour scheme involving two bright colours, usually with black and or white 
•   Relevant cover lines
• Use of pugs

 

In my front cover I ensured that all aspects and conventions of a typical pop and r and b music magazine were used. For example I ensured that the title of the magazine was in a large, bold, different font. This allowed it to stand out the most on the whole magazine grabbing the audiences attention. Using a different font to the rest of the text on the front cover makes it really stand out making it really noticeable. I put the title of the magazine at the top of the page in the masthead so it created an ordered look. I continued the ordered look to the magazine by ensuring that the text was spread out and didn't become too cluttered. The cover lines on the cover were spaced out making it easier for the audience to read. Each cover line was in a different colour which made it easy for the audience to define each one. The whole front cover follows the magazine convention of the route of the eye. I used this convention as it appears on all magazines and it allowed me to lay out the cover lines with the most important ones standing out the most. The title is along the route of the eye which means the audience will easily spot it and know straight away what the magazine is about. Also, the 'special edition' caption is in the route of the eye which is an important piece of information. This will stand out to the reader. The image is the main focus on the cover which is in the middle of the route of the eye. Therefore I made the image look professional and appealing to the target audience as it stands out. 'Free downloads' is along the bottom of the page meaning it is in the route of the eye. This cover line will appeal to the audience as it involves them getting free music. The use of it being in the route of the eye is good as the  audience will be more inclined to buy the magazine. All the main cover lines which would appeal the most to the audience are also in the route of the eye so people would be more interested in the magazine. Another example is that I used a suitable colour scheme that would appeal to people that enjoy this genre of music. Also, my target audience is predominantly females and the colour scheme is more feminine than masculine. The colours I used were typical of this sort of magazine as I used to bright colours which worked well together as well as black. I also used grey on the front cover as I thought it looked more appealing and would attract my target audience more. This colour scheme looks quite professional and looks appealing on the front cover as it is eye catching and stands out. I used relevant cover lines on the front cover which would appeal to my specific target audience as it is of interest to them. For example one cover line talks about V festival which stages many popular artists, so the chance for readers to win tickets would obviously appeal to them. 

The typical conventions of an R and B and Pop music magazine contents are

• The page is ordered with the articles organised in columns 
• The colour scheme is the same as the one used on the front cover
• A plain background, usually white 
• A sub heading for 'on the cover' and 'regulars'
• A message from the magazine editor
• Main image

In my contents page I made sure that all aspects and conventions of a typical pop and r and b music magazine were used. For example, I organised my contents page so that it looked ordered and professional. I did this by putting the articles and their page numbers in columns which created an easy to ready page. With an easy to read contents page it makes the magazine easy to navigate around as the reader can refer back to the contents page. Therefore having an ordered structure is very suitable and would appeal to the audience. The columns are also separated by a dashed line which ensures that the page doesn't become confusing. Another example is that I used the same colour scheme to that of the one I used on the front cover. This is a typical convention of any music magazine so I needed to include it in my product to make it look more professional. This gives the magazine a theme and is easy on the eye which will attract the audience. The colours are very bold too, so they will keep the reader interested. I used a plain white background on the contents page as it looks more effective and is typical of a pop music magazine. The background is also similar to that of the one on the front cover so it carries on the theme. Having a white background is very simple yet effective as it ensures the text is easy to read and that the magazine doesn't look too busy or cluttered but instead ordered. The ordered layout will appeal to the reader more. From research I found out that most music magazine contents pages of my genre had sub headings for 'regulars' and 'on the cover'. Therefore I included these on my contents page so it would appeal to my specific target audience. This convention allows the audience to know what to look for. The favourite pages of the magazine will be featured in the regular section which will appeal to the reader. This is because these articles will be easy to find. These headings needed to be clear to the reader so I put them in a bold, bright font making them stand out. Usually on the contents page of a magazine there is a message from the editor. This feature is very conventional of a music magazine.  I added this message to ensure the audience could relate to the magazine. This message makes the audience feel like the editor is talking to them individually, involving the audience in the magazine. Therefore I made the message quite attention grabbing and made the magazine sound exciting as this is the first thing the audience reads. I put this at the top of the page to the right of the main image in a simple font so it's easy to read. The black font colour stands out on the white background making it clearly visible. I used a main image on the contents page to the left hand side. This photo stands out and would appeal to the audience as it allows them to see what is inside the magazine. However, this feature is not typical of every music magazine, as some feature a few smaller pictures.

The typical conventions of an R and B and Pop music magazine double page spread are

• Simple background
• An image of the artist
• Different style and font to the cover and contents
• Questions in a bold and or different colour
• An in depth article with many questions and answers
• Pull quotes

In my double page spread I made sure that all aspects and conventions of a typical pop and r and b music magazine were used. For example, I used a simple background. I included this convention as it mad the article text stand out and was clear and simple to read. This would attract the audience as it is easy on the eye and looks more appealing. The white background I used is suitable for the colour of the text on the spread as they compliment each other well. The black writing works well with white and the bold pink colour is very bright which would stand out and appeal to my specific target audience. I used a photograph of the artist being interviewed on the double page spread so it would attract the audience as it makes the page look more appealing and suitable to the genre. The image used is also suitable for the specific target audience as the artists fits in with the genre well. The image looks professional too, which would attract the readers as it looks like a typical magazine. This convention is used in most music magazine so it works well with the rest of my product. Also, the image used is similar to that of the one on the front cover as it is an interview with the cover artist. The artist is wearing the same clothes which is a good convention as it allows the audience to easily recognise the artist. The font used on this spread is different to those on the front cover and contents page as to make it more individual and separate from them. I also followed the convention of using few fonts on the spread to make it more appealing to read. In the article i used a serif font so the text was easy to read which would attract the reader. By doing this it makes the pages look more professional by  creating a simple and clear article. For the title of the spread I used a different font highlighted in black which stands out on the spread. However, I used the same colour as on the front cover as it relates to the artist and the reader would associate the colour with that artist. Another convention which I followed was that the questions were in a bold and different colour to the answers. This separates the two and makes it easy to distinguish between the two. The reader would then find this easier to read as it is simple to follow. My article is in depth and has many questions and answers which would appeal to my audience as they would want to know about the artist and what they are like. The language used in my article is typical of teenagers so the audience can relate to the artist too. This is typical of a pop music magazine. Also it makes the magazine seem more realistic. The interview is very relaxed and not very serious so it is more fun to read. The interview is chatty which allows the audience to relate to it. A lot of slang language is used by both the interviewer and the artist and they both are very friendly which makes it easy to read. For example, some quotes in the interview that show this are 'Hey Katy', 'I know right, it has been pretty crazy!' and 'other than being forever tired'. The interview includes personal things about the artist so the reader is kept interested. Also, as the magazine is about music much music related conversation is used to keep the audience interested too. I used pull quotes which is another typical convention. This broke up the text to make it look more interesting and less intimidating to read because it would look too much if the pages were just text. The pull quote font was bolder than the article and was in a different colour which made it stand out. I ensured that I used an interesting quote from the article so it appealed to the audience.