Evaluation q1

Evaluation q1

• 1.
  Evaluation - Q1.In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
• 2.
  In what waysdoes your media product Use forms and conventions of a real media product? Front CoverI have placed a block of black behind my Masthead to make it stand out and catch the eye, this is what kerrang has done but they have used a white background as their masthead is black so it would stand out on top of white easily. I chose black because any type of colour can stand out on it, and also because my masthead colours contrast a lot together so it would stand out even more.I followed the convention of Kerrang as I decided to add a black strip at the top of the page to promote artists in the magazine, I have also placed it in white font like Kerrang.By following music magazine conventions, I have noticed that most magazines have used images to go with some of there cover stories. I added on image and I didn’t want the cover to look cluttered and you can clearly see which article it is related to as it’s underneath the cover story which is the normal placing for a image related to a supporting cover story.Both magazines feature the background image in relation to the main headline. The background for a music magazine would normally feature a band, band member or a live because this is also in relation to the music magazine concept.On both pages, the main story of the magazine, it has been presented in red and white font. I decided to use red and white font as the White is very eye catching on backgrounds like mine and red Is very alarming colour which can also easily attract the reader and interest them. I also had the name ‘Josh Farro’ bigger than the article name and the readers can automatically read who this article involves.
• 3.
  In what waysdoes your media product Use forms and conventions of a real media product?Contents PageTo design my contents page, I was inspired by the Kerrang’s contents page. I split the page in half according to Text and images. At the top, I have placed a self taken image of a live gig which acts at the background. This is also what kerrang does. On the top half I have added ‘Contents’ and the issue date which is also apart of the conventions and forms for kerrang. An editors note is included in kerrang and most magazines. I decided to add an editors note to give the contents page as well as the magazine a personal and inviting feel from the team who produce the magazine. To create the division of the page between text and image I placed a black strip to underneath the picture. I also used this strip to show the bottom half is about what is happening this week in the magazine as I’ve written in white to make it stand out and also I've used the original masthead for the magazine.Within the bottom half, the majority of the content is mostly text. It is laid out in columns which is what Kerrang has done. This is a good way to lay out the contents as it doesn’t look messy and may be easier to read to the readers. I have highlighted the topics in sea green and placed the font white so it can be eye-catching and bold.Like Kerrang, I have house colours which all look good together so it doesn’t give the messy feel. Kerrang have a messy house colour but it can represent the magazine as free. My house colours consist of grey, black and sea green.In the top half of the contents page, I have added a reference feature in the magazine and I have also made sure it is something in relation with the image acting as the background. ‘p14 Gigs for 2011’.
• 4.
  In what waysdoes your media product Use forms and conventions of a real media product?Double Page SpreadThe most popular aspect in a double page spread is the Title, it needs to be big, bold and bright for it to stand out on the page, so if a reader is casually flicking through the magazine, the double page spread will catch there eye with the boldness and colour.Most double page spreads have strap lines. This gives the reader an insight into what the article is about. Magazines use this because readers may not be interested in the title so they may read the strap line and feel interested. Double page spreads always follow the conventions and forms of having pull quotes within their article. This is to show maybe an interesting part of the article which will lure the reader into reading the feature.Images are used to attract the reader into the article, especially images which use direct address. They also make the double page spread more attractive as it would be very boring with just text.Captions are used among the pictures just to show what the picture is and how it may be related to the article. Captions normally involve humour or facts etc..The initial layout for a double page spread may be that one half is text and the other half is images. I have used this as it looks more well presented instead of images being dotted around everywhere.
• 5.
  In what waysdoes your media product develop forms and conventions of real media products?Front Cover The masthead use on my front cover was originally a blue colour, you can see this from my masthead developments. I developed it into a Christmas style masthead by using the colour of Red and Green which are well known for Christmas colours.
• 6.
  I have addedan advertisement puff onto my magazine which are most known to draw people due to there advertisement of competitions etc...It is a development because many advertisement puffs would use bold and strict colours such as red to make it stand out, by I used a creamy colour which basic black font so it would stand out on the background image.
• 7.
  My house coloursare based purely on the background image as there would be a lot of colour clashes if say blue was one of my house colours. I went for the basic black, red and white for my house colours as they are both very contrasting together and can stand out on anything.
• 8.
  The font Ihave used does not include ‘Serif’ font like usual magazines would. I have chosen to go along with sans serif as it looks more younger and targeting for my audience.
• 9.
  I have made all of the headlines white considering the all of the colours within the background image. White was the best colour as it can be easy to read, I also made the intensity of the boldness higher so it would be easier to read.In what ways does your media product develop forms and conventions of real media products?Contents pageThe house colours used are different on this page from the front cover because the front cover is using an image with a mix of bright colours so the house used for this page are grey, white and sea green, these wouldn’t of been able to be used on the cover as they would clash and not look as appealing.
• 10.
  The columns havebeen but into 3 and each column has been split in half to show the different topics and what is happening this week.
• 11.
  I have developedmy image to be the background of the contents page at the top, this works well as the colours are not to overwhelming and can flow within the contents page.
• 12.
  In thetop half of the contents page, ‘Contents’ has been developed into a bigger font than what it was in the draft. It is appealing because it clearly states this page is a contents page and it states the date.
• 13.
  A section hasbeen added to the contents page which is called ‘top picks’. This has been developed from initial ideas from a few magazines that have used this sort of technique.In what ways does your media product develop forms and conventions of real media products?Double Page SpreadI have developed a strap line to draw more readers in and make them interested. I used ‘WOB’ white on black as its standard for catching the eye and doesn’t need to be experiments with when debating if it goes with a particular colour scheme.
• 14.
  I have laidout my double page spread in the normal way, in columns. I have placed my article in columns and have also added pull quotes within the article.
• 15.
  At first theybackground I used was plain white, but I have now developed it with a cream coloured background because it works well with the title colours and the images.
• 16.
  The masthead isin Purple/Pink which relates to the article as the article is about a girl, the colour is feminine, but the other half if black which cant target both genders.
• 17.
  I have addedpictures which relate to the article, I have 3 main pictures, one is a cut out picture ( no background to it). This is a successful development as I feel it I didn’t cut away the background from the image it would make the page look very cluttered and it would overlap the other images.In what ways does your media product Challenge forms and conventions of real media products?I have challenged the forms and conventions of a front cover by having a very unusual masthead. I used this masthead in relation to my issue I was creating. My magazine issue I was designing was a Christmas theme. I didn’t want to go over the top and make everything Christmas related so I decided to have the masthead green and red as they are the known colours for Christmas. I have put a black colour strip behind the masthead so it stands out and doesn’t look bad with the overall image being used for the background.By having my main headline Red on top of an image with many colours, it may be challenging to read. But, I have changed the font and intensity from my last draft and made the red bolder with a bolder black outline. It is challenging because red is normally used on more bold and restrictive colours such as black. I think it stands out well with the white beside it and the black outline within it.I have challenged the forms and conventions of a contents page by adding a section which magazines don’t usually have. The section is called ‘Top Picks’. This consists of people who would be part of the making of the magazine have there say in what is the best thing is the magazine this week! Its challenging because it may not appeal to people as they may just want to read the magazine and not bother reading this section. But, it can also be a good strategy to advertise features which may not stand out to a reader on the contents.