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1. Media Evaluation

2. 1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of
real media products?
FRONT COVER:
When looking at the front covers of other music magazines I had to focus on specific conventions.
Some of the main conventions used in all magazines are: eye-flow, layout and editing.
I also had to look for key features actually in the magazine. For example, the masthead, barcode,
slug , editorial pillars, and page numbers etc.
I found that all the front covers I looked at shared similar features so I knew that I wanted my
magazine to follow these basic codes too, as I believe it makes it look more realistic thus, making it
more appealing to potential readers.
On the next three slides I am going to explain to you how these real life magazines follow or
challenge conventions and then compare them to my final front cover.

3. The first front cover I
chose to analyse for my
research:
• As you can see, this magazine shares a
lot of conventions with your average
magazine.
• There are multiple cover lines up and
down the left and right hand sides of the
page.
• There is an obvious colour scheme of red
white and blue.
• On the left hand side there is a kicker
that says “16-Page GIG blow-out!”. This
is effective at making one of the main
stories stand out.
• At the top of the front cover, towards
the left hand side there is a masthead
which is both the title of the magazine
being “Q”. However, this magazine does
not follow the typical convention of
putting the masthead directly across the
page, in the center, at the top. Their
masthead is slightly more to the left and
does not span across the whole page.
Instead, there is a’top line’ highlighting
one of the articles in the magazine.

4. The second front cover I
chose to analyse for my
research:
• Like, the previous magazine I analysed,
you can see that it shares some of the
same conventions as your average
magazine.
• For example, the masthead is is big and
eye catching which helps the magazine to
stand out to readers if they are looking
for it against all the other magazines.
• Also, the magazine has cover lines on
both sides of the front cover which is
typical of magazines.
• Like most magazines there is also a
colour scheme. The colour scheme for
this magazine is red and white against a
dark blue/navy background.
• One way this magazine breaks
conventions is because of its barcode.
• In most magazines if the barcode is on
the front page it is not overwhelmingly
big so it does not distract the readers
attention the main stories and cover
lines. However, this magazine has made it
larger than average and put it going up
half of the right hand side of the
magazine where more cover lines or
kickers would usually be.

5. The third front cover I
chose to analyse for my
research:
• Like the “VIBE” magazine this magazine
also follows convention by placing the
masthead of the magazine in the center
of the front cover but at the top.
• It is very common that the main image of
the magazine will be covering some of the
masthead like it is in this magazine.
• Similar to the average magazine, this
magazine has a kicker.
• A kicker is decided to make one of the
main articles/stories in the magazine
stand out. The kicker on this front cover is
on the bottom right hand corner.
• This magazine does not have a barcode.
However, this does not challenge
convention because not all magazines
place their barcodes on the front cover.
• This front cover follows code by using a
colour scheme. The colour scheme for this
front cover is pink and white, with a
splash of yellow in the ‘d’ of the
masthead.
• This is effective at making the mast head
stand out further.

6. My final front cover and
how it FOLLOWS
conventions:
• There are many ways in which my
magazine follows the conventions
of a normal, real life magazine.
• Firstly, my masthead is placed in
the same place most magazines
would put their masthead which is
in the center of the page at the
very top of the magazine.
• Also, my model’s head is covering
the masthead slightly which is
typical of both magazines and
follows the same conventions of
the second and third magazines I
chose to analyse.
• Another way my front cover
follows conventions is by having a
barcode and the price of the
magazine.
• On my front cover, there is also an
issue number and date which is
what highlights to readers when
the magazine was published and
what issue number it is.
• I have also used a puff in the
bottom right hand corner.

7. How my final front cover
CHALLENGES conventions:
• Although my magazine
predominantly follows media
conventions my magazine does also
challenge media conventions.
• For example, my colour scheme could
be blue and black with a pop of
yellow..
• However, it challenges normal
conventions because I chose to
incorporate three different colours of
blue as opposed to just one.
• The reason why I did this is because
before adding any colour my front
cover was quite monochrome in the
sense that it was just black and white
and the original colour of blue I
wanted to use didn’t show up against
some of the white so I decided to
tactfully place the different colour
blues in the places where I knew they
would stand out best.
• Another way my front cover could
challenge convention is because of
my main image.
• Unlike all the other magazines I
analysed the photo I chose to use is
not a close up but instead a medium
shot.

8. Double Page Spread:
When looking at the double page spreads I had to focus on the same things I did for the front
covers.
A reminder of the conventions are:
Some of the main conventions used in all magazines are: eye-flow, layout and editing.
I also had to look for key features in a double page spread, which are: Drop caps, gutters, main
image, pull quotes, and page numbers etc.
Out of my contents page, front cover and DPS, I think my Double Page Spread is the aspect of my
music magazine that challenges conventions the least.
In the next few slides I am going to be analysing two double page spreads and explaining how they
either conform or challenge media conventions and features:

9. This is the first DPS I chose
to analyse:
• This DPS has a large body text.
• This means that the DPS is content
heavy as the majority of the space is
filled up by writing.
• One of the ways it conforms to
convention is through its use of drop
caps.
• Lots of Double Page Spreads tend to
use drop caps to highlight to readers
the start of the article.
• Another way this magazine follows
conventions is by using pull quotes.
• This magazine’s pull quotes are right
in the center of the page which make
them stand out. Most pull quotes
tend to be in the middle of the main
body text or on the main image.
• The way this magazines ignores
convention is through the image.
• Because there is so much text the
image is significantly smaller than the
average DPS.
• However, they still follow convention
by having an image featured.

10. This is the second Double
Page Spread I chose to
analyse:
• This DPS follows the conventions of
the average DPS quite a lot.
• The first way it follows convention is
by having a huge main image taking
over not just one page but a section
of the other page too.
• Like the previous DPS, although this
one doesn’t have as many, it too
uses drop caps to signify the start of
the article
• The article is in the form of an
interview which is a very popular
layout for a magazine.
• One way this DPS does not follow
convention is because of the fact
that it does not have any pull
quotes.
• Most DPS’ do have pull quotes
which are used to draw attention
some of the best content within the
article.

11. My final Double Page Spread and how it FOLLOWS conventions:
• There are many ways my final DPS follows convention.
• Firstly, I have used two main pull quotes. The first pull quotes is positioned directly in the middle of
the text and the second pull quote is placed on my main image.
• Regarding my main image, like the second DPS I analysed it too goes across onto both pages. I chose
to do this because I wanted the image in my DPS to be the main focus.
• The layout of my magazine is in the form of an interview. This is a very popular way to layout a DPS
article.
• Like both real life examples of DPS, I have also used drop caps.
• Also, like both DPS I also have gutters which makes the columns in the article look more separated
and elegantly placed.

12. My final DPS and how it REJECTS conventions:
• Despite mostly following convention, my DPS does also ignore and reject conventions.
• The main way it does this is by having writing other than pull quotes on the main image.
• The main reason why I wrote ‘Phoebe C’ on the main image is because it follows on from the
‘Introducing…’ section which is actually the title of my article.
• The final way my DPS does not follow convention is by having more than one image. Although they
are not main images, there are three smaller images on the left hand side of my DPS. Usually, there
is only one main image however I wanted to add the three more in the form of polaroids because I
thought that they would tie in well with the theme of my DPS.

13. CONTENTS PAGE:
When looking at real life contents pages I had to focus on the conventions and codes as I did
when I was analysing front covers and Double Page Spreads.
These are:
Some of the main conventions used in all magazines are: eye-flow, layout and editing.
Some of the key features in a contents page are: subscritpion box, editorial pillars, leading text,
page numbers, and the issue date and number etc.
In the next few slides I will be analysing two contents pages and comparing to them mine.
I will also be talking about how my contents page follows and rejects mainstream
conventions/codes:

14. The first contents page I
analysed:
• There are many ways that this
contents page follows conventions.
• For example, down the right hand
side of the page you can see a
significant amount of editorial
pillars. Most contents pages in real
magazines will have editorial
pillars as they highlight to the
readers the main themes in the
magazines.
• Another way this magazine follows
conventions and features of the
average magazine is having a
subscription box.
• The subscription box in this
magazine is made clear because it
is the black box at the bottom of
the page with yellow writing which
stands out against the main colour
scheme of black, red and white.
• One way this magazine rejects
conventions is by having only one
main image on the contents page.
• Usually, in most magazines there
are a few different types of images
which are used to give sneak peeks
into some of the content of the
magazines.

15. The second contents page I
analysed to understand key
magazine features and
conventions:
• Unlike the other contents page, this
contents page does not follow many of
the average conventions.
• For example, there are minimal article
titles or pieces of leading text.
• In fact, there is minimal writing on this
page. However, this could be due to
the fact that some magazines have
two contents pages so the main text
could be on the second cover page.
• Another way this magazine rejects
convention is by having only one main
image. Especially one that takes up
the whole entire page and is the main
feature of the contents page.
• Like all other magazines, this contents
page follows conventions by having a
colour scheme of black and white.
• On the bottom of the page there is
also an issue date and number as well
as a page number which is a key
feature of a contents page.

16. My final contents page
and how it FOLLOWS
major conventions:
• Overall, I think that my contents
page does follow some of the main
conventions of a real magazine.
• As you can see, my contents page
follows one of the key features by
having an editors note. This is
placed at the top of the page
above all of my editorial pillars.
• Speaking of editorial pillars, my
magazine has loads which is quite
similar to the first contents page I
analysed.
• Another way my magazine follows
convention is by having page
numbers next to every single piece
of leading text on my page.
• Page numbers are effective at
showing the reader what number
page the articles are on.
• Another way that I followed
convention is by having a colour
scheme of blue, black and white.

17. My final contents page along
with some of the ways it
IGNORES convention:
• One of the main ways my contents
page challenges conventions is
having an above average number
of pictures on my contents page.
• The total number of pictures on
my contents page is 7. I have 4
main pictures down the right hand
side which are complemented with
captions stating the article they
belong to.
• Then the 3 smaller images are the
same images I used on my Double
Page Spread, linking to another
picture of Phoebe which highlights
they are apart of that article.
• I also have

18. Overall, why did you break convention on your
magazine?
• The main reason why I broke convention was simple.
• I wanted to make my magazine look as aesthetically pleasing as possible and sometimes that
is not possible if you choose to follow every single media convention/feature.
• The main piece of evidence for this is in my front cover and the fact that I did not choose a
main colour scheme but instead chose to have different shades of blue.
• The reason why I did this is because I thought the different shades of blue looked nice against
the white background of the brick wall and they also projected fantastically against the black
of Phoebe’s (my model) clothes.