Final Evaluation Question 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (i.e. of music magazines)

Before I began creating my magazine, I did some extensive research into various well-known magazines. First, I focused on annotating magazines unrelated to my chosen genre. This was at a point when I did not know what genre I would choose. My annotations analysed the conventions used in these magazines such as the layout and language used. It was here that I decided that it was the indie genre I found most intriguing so decided to move onto analysing certain aspects of magazines in the indie genre such as titles and chosen font styles. I mostly took inspiration from magazines such as Q, Rolling Stone, and The Fly. Here, I compare my own magazine to a 'Vibe' magazine since despite the genre difference, I felt they both had similar designs. Gaining a well-knowing of the conventions used in current popular magazines on the market was important for inspiration as the majority of large magazines do use the traditional magazine conventions. Other uses of research that I used would be a questionnaire taken by my class mates. This allowed me to see what people want in a magazine and what catches their attention.

My magazine matches indie genre conventions because of its unique feel. Rather than following the traditional magazine layout, I decided to change it slightly. Rather than having a large bold font for my masthead, I chose Birch as I felt it most suits the unique style I was aiming for in this magazine. Several lighting and editing techniques I used on the cover were also unusual. These would include the 'smart sharpen' and 'diffuse' tool I used on my main model image to take away the noise created as a result of poor lighting during the photoshoot. Other methods I used included changing the colour of the model's jacket to match the colour scheme and blurring the surroundings of the model so the image didn't look so sharp.

Another technique I used which doesn't suit traditional magazine conventions was my use of background. Usually, the background of a magazine will either be blocked into one cover, or it will have a subtle gradient. In order to produce a colour scheme though still allow the writing and image to be eye-catching to a reader, I added stripes in the background with strong colours that generate a colour scheme. In order for me to be able to use subtle pastel colours yet still allow the magazine cover to pop out to readers, I needed a white background to contrast against these colours. But this looked too plain and blank, so I added the stripes to make the magazine look more interesting.



Magazine Conventions from 999msvalkyrie