In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms

and conventions of real media products?

Evaluation

Definition:the ‘rules’ that are generally understood and accepted when producing a media text in a particular genre.

Already existing products: for example for my genre Vibe

Here are a few features of a magazine which most magazines will contain. These features and the way they are presented and layed out determine what type or genre the magazine is:

•Masthead•Style of photography• Fonts• Colour scheme•Writing style•Cover lines•Page numbers•Barcode

MastheadExisting product

A dominating title horizontal at the top of the page is featured in both magazines. The bold and large structure drew attention and allowed a identification to the magazine so in future the magazine will be recognized. Each letter is presented as capitals to add power and represent the culture. The gradient red and black colour is themed for the existing magazine, so I chose a colour to suit my magazine which connoted strength and the genre.

Using Photoshop and more specific the lasso magnetic tool meant that I could cut my models head out and paste it again to be in front of the title this technique was used a lot in the existing products I saw and I was inspired and wanted to interpret this idea within mine. I felt this tool made my magazine look more professional better quality.

The small text either above or beneath the title states the date and issue/volume number. This is found on many magazines and is an extra helpful detail. Although this text is small and subtle, the colour of it allows it to bounce and contrast against the background.

My version

A mention of some artists or popular features within the magazine interests the viewer and encourages artists existing fans to purchase the product. However, the mentioning on the existing product goes over the title which i felt created distraction from the title and lost in strength so I didn't interpret this within my product.

Photography

This picture as well as being the background is also the main focus. The image above looks to be taken within a studio and is very structured. For a contents page I felt this was my preferred option in a studio, a more photo shoot approach with lighting and positioning.

The images above were produced to be a feature of the contents page but not the main focus so I reduced the size of each one down, this was so the contents on the left stood out and the reader would be clear as to exactly what was in the magazine and with the page numbers would find it easily enough. However, the images being vertical looked tedious so I angled each photo to add creativity.

For my genre I had to have a specific character that was suitable. My idea of a petite but tall women with an amount of body showing, with long hair, showing abit of attitude came from existing products, as the regular occurrence of this description became apparent in vibe magazine. The location of the images were against a plainbackround with light bouncing on the background making the figure look bright. This idea was constructed by experimenting with a number of Nicky Minaj photos in series, each were different which looked imaginative. I reconstructed these images with my own model posing in unusual ways. The stance and positions were strong which was noticeable in the existing product to the left. A strong stance with arm action and facial expressions full of attitude.

Existing productExisting product

Fonts Existing productsThe font of the title of each magazine is extremely large and bold. This allows people to pay attention to the title and begin to recognise the magazine. Also, the title are in capitals and one colour emphasising greatly the importance of it.

The mention of the front cover artist is a feature that is visible on many magazines. For example Lil Wayne featured on the existing products magazine. This text is a bold font however, usually a smaller size than the title so confusion is not made as to what is the title. I chose a font from the internet website DAFONT to present my featuring artist. This allowed me to download fonts that were specific to my genre. The font I chose was sharp and clean to represent the culture.

Again for headlines I used DAFONT, this meant my headlines were simple but stood out. Like the existing product my text was again in capitals to emphasis the features. I felt the fonts I used for the front cover were modern and stylish, which is what most magazines aim to achieve.

My contents page font was clear and easy to read. The sub heading text was larger than the description of what's in the magazine. This was so the writing was effectively presented. However, the existing product was relatively similar with a simple font so the text was legible with sub heading that stand out more. I feel mine looks more quirky with contrasting colours to show more important sections instead of just black and white that could come across slightly tedious.

Beginning with the font of the introduction and its bold structure presents a visibly striking and noticeable sentence. Followed by the article in a sharp font to be read with ease. The existing products font shows many comparisons. Such as the article font being neat and easily visible. The important and bold writing presented in the middle is like the introduction of my magazine. The boldness shows the relevance of the quote and draws attention. Both magazine font is in black so the text stands our and bounces of the pale coloured background.

Colour SchemeBoth contents pages have a colour scheme representing what I thought looked classy and suave like. The dark and slightly gradiented background is more subtle on my magazine however, I feel like both backgrounds highlight the images and writing on top. The golden colour of my images connotes a stylish look and adds quality to the page. The red, white and black text are block colours that worked well and looked striking on the page this differed from the existing product as that just had black text which I found to plain for mine but suited the existing product. Toward the beginning of the process we collaged

pictures that represented our genre when looking at the whole image I saw many vibrant colours. These colours were from graffiti and artistic looking photographs. For my double page I wanted to interpret many colours. So within my photography I found a location with colourful graffiti. It made my page look artistic and bright. The for the larger writing I used a sharp red to state the writing and connote passion for the genre. This technique of bright colours was used for the front cover aswell.

Existing product

Writing Style

Both of the articles were fairly long with writing styles which are similar. They both include slightly informal quotes from the artist to connote a stereotypical hip hop artist and attracts younger age audience who understand the slang. However, both articles are constructed using the third person referring to the artist as his name or ‘he’. This makes the article slightly more formal and detailed so more information is in a short space.

The existing products quotation is a relatively long and detailed one which was unusual to see as other existing products keep there quotations short and snappy. Contrasting against this I chose to keep my quotation sharp and memorable. Also, the majority of hip hop artists quotations are snappy to feel realistic, also they seem to be very passionately expressed to represent the way they feel about their music.

Existing product

Existing product

Cover LinesFew word cover lines allow the readers to have a brief insight to the contents of the magazine. The more intriguing the cover line the more your pulled into the magazine. The cover lines are normally a smaller size text that the masthead and add information or detail to the magazine. They tend to still stand out by using capitals and a contrasting colour to the background. I chose to capitalise my words as well for them to be eye catching. Also, they looked better in capitals when an outer glow setting was added.

A cover line of the artists name is featured in both these cases horizontal across the page and creates a professional look. They are suddenly noticed and can be very catchy. The existing products cover line involve two contrasting colours which has a 2d effect to add to the impact. Whereas my cover line has a drop shadow with some depth behind it to bounce of the page and look 3d.

A single line across the top of the page with a mentioning of artists or events is a regular occurrence on many music magazines. Normally the actual text is a different colour to the background and is subtle but effective. I interpreted this technique within mine to comment on a range of artists to attract a bigger audience.

Existing product

After previously saying bar codes on the front page looked tacky when analysing existing products I was still hesitant to put one on however, I began to feel it looked in place when vertical on my magazine. As I saws this technique on a existing xxl magazine. I placed it in the bottom right corner to fill space and not interrupt the rest of the magazine. I also reduced the size of it as much as I could, so it did its job but wasn’t noticeable and overcrowding at all.

Page numbers are a good guidance to the pages featured in the contents. There understandable in the existing product however, have to be searched for as the font lacks size and could be unclear to some readers. However, the page references are bold and therefore stand out from the rest of the writing. My product was slightly different with the page numbers at the end of the stories, this was where there was more space to have the writing extra large and emphasised greatly so there was no mistake or confusion. Also, page numbers were in white to allow it to add to the drama and be highlighted.

Bar Code and Page Numbers

Existing product

Existing product