Media evaluation - Conventions

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

For my research and planning I analysed music magazines similar to mine in terms of their conventions and layout etc. I first wanted to produce and indie pop magazine so I chose to analyse three that follow that genre to give me the best idea of how to appeal to my target audience and see what conventions they use to do that. From my research into this I found several important conventions that were different for the contents page, front cover and double page spread:

CONVENTIONS – Front cover;

• an ordered layout with not too many cover lines
• a list of band names in one of the bottom corners of the magazine
• an image of a band member/ singer with the head in the hotspots
• a colour scheme of black white and 1 to 2 other  bright colours.
• Use of pugs and relevant cover lines
• All important info in the route of eye
• Large masthead at top of page

In my front cover I made sure that I used all the important conventions of an indie pop music magazine because this is how I am best going to appeal to my target audience and make it look realistic. I placed the masthead in the biggest size of the page at the top which is stereotypical of all magazines. While keeping and ordered layout with relevant and appealing cover lines, I made sure there wasn’t any big gaps that look bad. I chose not to use many cover lines on my cover because most indie music magazines don’t use many to keep the focus on the image and the main article. It also keeps it from looking too cluttered and childish as indie music magazines use an ordered and mature layout. This is to best appeal to the target audience. I also made sure that I used the classic convention of indie music magazines, a list of band names in the corner out of the way yet still an important part of route of eye. My main picture was shot against a rustic background to keep it fresh while using fashionable but not to intimidating clothes that the audience can still relate to her. These were kept black and white as most conventional indie magazines do to fit the colour scheme and keep the focus on the person, not what they are wearing. Other than my main picture, I chose to use a few as a cover lines advertising free posters. This is so I can use artists that people know to draw in my target audience and appeal to them. However in some ways I have developed the conventions of indie pop music magazines as mine has those genres but also has popular mainstream music to keep fresh and up to date. This means that I had to make sure that I used these conventions for indie magazines in a way that best appealed to my target audience and fits the genre of my magazine. For example, my magazine is aimed at girls while most indie music magazine are aimed at boys. Therefore I used a girly colour scheme or pink  that I kept quirky and fresh with a bright orange. I did this while still sticking to the idea of black, white and a few colours used to appeal to the specific audience. Also challenging the convention of a simple background for photos, I chose to take mine against rustic and natural locations to make it look different and therefore stand out against other magazines. Although it means you have to work harder to get the cover lines to stand out, I think it’s a very effective look.  

CONVENTIONS – Contents page;

• An ordered layout (columns for articles)
• Same colour scheme as the front cover
• A few photos to keep it uncluttered            
• A simple background (usually white)
• Main heading for contents page are reviews, regulars and features

My contents page also used all the main conventions of an indie magazine while obviously using stereotypical conventions of magazines in general. These would be a title at the top of the page of contents and rows of article names. An indie music magazine convention that I followed was to use an ordered layout with those three important headings. The ordered layout was done by have two columns of articles to look uncluttered and mature therefore appealing to my target audience. I used the three heading of features, regulars and reviews that are used in nearly all indie pop magazines. This is because it’s the easiest way to clearly separate all the articles and is appealing to the audience because of that. It also connotes an indie music magazine because it is used so frequent in them, therefore reminds the audience of the genre. However due to my magazine being directed at girls rather than boys I had to make my cover lines girly and include ones about fashion and gossip to best appeal to them while sticking to the conventions of the typical indie magazine. I also chose to keep to my colour and font scheme that I used on my front cover to follow that convention and also because it just makes sense to. It looks much more mature and appeals to the audience just like it did on the front cover. I challenged conventions a bit when I chose to put a bar down the side on the contents page because not many indie pop magazines do it. However I think it looks fresh and interesting plus the note from the editor and a picture of them makes it so they’re speaking directly to the person reading it. This makes it more appealing to them. I also chose to use a picture of the front cover on the contents page bar to remind the readers of it. The image I used of my main article was in relation to the double page spread so it gives you a little sneak peek by showing you London in the background of the photo. This kind of image is conventionally used because it makes the double page spread more appealing and in your face as references to it are on the front cover and contents page.

CONVENTIONS – Double page spread;

• Simple background (usually white)
• A main image of the artist and a few others
• Different fonts and colours to the front cover and contents
• A stand first with a kicker then an ordered article
• Questions in bold or a different colour
• An in-depth personal article

In my double page spread i have also used all the main indie conventions to best appeal to my audience and interest them. I used an ordered layout and placed my article in columns to make it clear to read while making the questions in bold. This separates out the text and makes it easier to read. I placed all the important information in the route of eye, the title and kicker, the image, the text, the pull quote and the image in the text. I also made sure to keep the background simple like indie magazines do to keep the focus on the artist and the text. Once again I have challenged conventions with my images as I have included backgrounds on them even though most indie magazines use images with plain backgrounds. Even though this keeps the focus on the artist, I used a background as an iconic image to interest the readers and allow them to relate to the artist through the setting. It also relates to the British theme of the article which makes it conventional to keep the same theme throughout. I followed a consistent colour and font scheme which was different to my front cover. I also followed the convention of only using a few fonts and the one in the article being serif yet easy to read. This makes it look more professional yet basic and clear. For the title I used the same font as on the front cover because that way it relates to the artist and the reader would associate that font with the artist, which is also very conventional of indie music magazines. I used the pull quote and second image as a way to break up the text which makes it look more interesting and less intimidating, also a common convention of indie music magazines. I also made sure that the pull quote size of text was large and an interesting quote from the article to draw the audience in and appeal to them. My article was in-depth and interesting just as an indie magazine or any magazines article should be. I also made sure that I used the kind of language that would be used in indie magazine and by young people to appeal to my audience and make it realistic. I kept it very relaxed and not too serious, with both the interviewer and artist being very friendly and using lots of slang. It’s a very chatty interview making it very relatable and easy to read, just like is conventional. For example, some quotes that show this are; ‘Nahh i just go with the flow’, ‘whether we’re out for a meal or playing stupid board games’ and ‘if you want it you gotta get up and go for it!’. Also due to it being a music magazine, while asking about the artists personal life and things like that, there is a lot of music related conversation to keep the reader interested. For example: ‘Calvin Harris created disco’, ‘I did a gig the other night at 3.a.m then went straight to signing autographs’ and ‘is there any artists you would love to collaborate with?’.

COMPARISONS – Front cover;

As you can see, the two look very different and this is mainly because mine is mainly aimed at girls and has also been changed to mainstream music including indie and pop rather than just indie as this professional magazine does. However they both use a bold masthead at the top and a pug in the primary optical area to best appeal to the audience. They also both have a list of various bands and artists in the bottom corner but in the route of eye to show that it is still important. The coverlines are fairly similar, with both being relevant to the specific genre and aimed at a specific artist. They also both use a colour scheme of black white and two colours, with both of these colours being relevant and appealing contrasting the basic black and white. This makes them look professional and mature. Another convention both of these follow is a separate font on the front cover used just for the artist to associate it with that particular artist. All these things are what make up and indie music magazine however I had to develop and slightly change some of these conventions to fit the target audience and slight different genre.

COMPARISIONS – Contents page;

My contents page takes a very different style to the professional magazines contents page. This is partly because of the different genre of music and specific target audience, but also because all indie magazines contain slightly different contents pages to keep them looking different and unique:

However both these contents pages are just one page and have the iconic ‘contents’ title in a large bold font at the top of the page. If you look closely you can also see that the professional magazines articles are also split into the conventional three sections that indie magazines tend to use; features, regulars and reviews. While the professional contents page uses one big image to advertise a main feature different to that of the front cover, I have stuck to the same image which is more conventional. I’ve also used a few other images to make it look more appealing and interesting.  As you can see, I have challenged conventions of the indie music magazine by having the column down the side of the contents while it is not conventional. I chose to do this because I think it breaks up the text and altogether makes the contents page look more interesting, and it also appeals better to my target audience of girls because it appears more in fashion/gossip magazines.

COMPARISONS – Double page spread;

My double page spread is fairly similar to that of a professional indie music magazine mainly because they follow the same basic conventions. The slight differences would mainly be due to a different target audience and slightly different genre of music. Also, in most professional magazines, the double page spread would have about 6 pages in the article as opposed to my two explaining why this one does not have a title or stand first. However, despite this they still both use the route of eye effectively to show the main things being the kicker, image, article, pull quote and image in text. Mine just also shows the title in the route of eye. The position of the image in text and pull quote are relatively similar, being opposite each other and used to break up the text making it look more appealing. The positioning of the main image being different would also be due to the main article of the ‘uncut’ magazine being more pages long so they have to place the images in different places on each page. I chose to put mine taking up one whole page because it’s typically more conventional of fashion/gossip magazines, therefore I have used this to my advantage to appeal better to my target audience of girls.