Evaluation: Question One

Q1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

My media product sticks to the majority of magazine conventions such as a masthead and pug whilst not sticking to the conventions of them. To give a example; this is a usual magazine pug



A circle with some kind of offer/advertisement on the front page. This one happens to be positioned out of the way of the main focal point of the front page and is fairly small.




Whereas my pug is on the contents page - instantly breaking the common rule of it being on the frontpage. It is not a circle with a small amount of words, instead it is written as a personal note from someone to the editor slapped on afterwards to remind him to talk about the new merch. So it's less of a 'billboard' style advertising and more of a suttle approach. It's also not positioned right next to the main focus-pulling object of the page, since the pug itself is bright compared to it's surroundings it is in a great place to stand out. Other ways my front cover keeps with conventions yet develops them futher would be the slanted banner running across the bottom of my front page, just not at the completel buttom like most magazines. Mine is slightly high off the bottom of the page so i can add in more bands that are included in this magazine. Whilst this does make the magazine look somewhat odd, it fits in well since this issue of the magazine is about finding new bands, new genres, new...things - such as the colour, the choice of colour of my magazine is also relatively new. With the possible expection of the 'Revolver' front page that i anaylsed, no other magazine uses a completely dark and mysterious colour scheme such as mine. Sure 'Revolver' is dark as well but it's not completely dark, the picture of the band frontman in the middle of the others wears a white shirt, making him and everything around him the focus pull of the magazine where as mine is dressed in dark clothes as well. He does blend into the background somewhat but not enough for him to completely disappear, this could appeal to peoples sense of curiousity if they don't completely see him at first glance. Anyway, due my model being partly unseen and all the objects/text around him standing out, this makes my magazine work really effectively at challanging conventions and making it work.

The effect of these new ideas for the rules that magazines stick to make out my magazine to be something different in every form, not just what it in includes. If all magazines on a shop's shelf look the same since they all keep to conventions, customers will caught a glimpse of this magazine and instantly be curious about the contents since it's so unique.