Evaluation

Question 1. – In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products

Masthead My magazine is called Melodi, when researching for a, I looked for key words that associate with music so it matches the theme of my magazine. I choose Melodi because the melody of a song is what sticks in a person head and I would like to convey this meaning and use it for my media product so that that the audience has my magazine stuck in their head. Both the masthead “Melodi” and “Billboard” are conventional because they both link to music, mine being linked through a song and Billboard being the name of the charts. I took inspiration from Billboard with the colored in areas as I think it makes it stand out and attract more attention, however I used my own style font and thinness of the masthead to create the right tone for my magazine. To add originality and uniqueness I changed the ‘Y’ in Melody to an ‘I’ which gives it a younger, fresher feel to the magazine which will apply to my target audience of teens and young adults, similarly to the audience of billboard which bring to top chart music, as my magazine is of a similar style.

Mise En SceneFor my main image on the front cover I decided to take a medium shot as most successful music magazines use medium or close up shots, this will help to show more emotion giving the target audience a feel of the magazine and its articles. I used this by making my model smile lightly and looks more normal and down to earth rather than fully posing so that the readers can tell that it is going to be a more natural and laid back interview with the artist. I took inspiration from many magazines such as Q, vibe and NME and saw that most the images used on the front cover are all staring directly at the audience, therefore I also copied this method as it involves the reader more and engages them so that they feel more apart and

I used Photoshop to edit my image to make it brighter with more contrast and added more vibrance to the image so that it isn't as dull and bland. However I agree that better lighting would have made these photos much better for my magazine. I choose a top that I think shows the pop nature of my magazine yet still something anyone would wear to keep the the tone of a normality.

People In my magazine I have used a range of artists such as Ed Sheeran, Clean Bandit, Bruno Mars and Taylor Swift. I have used these artists because they are well known by my target audience as their music is aimed for the same age range as well as my secondary audience. By including artists that have a very similar demographic it will appeal more to the people I want it to. The people I have included have also had major hits in the last few months therefore is relevant now which will entice more readers to buy magazine as it is the latest news. I have included both male and female artists so that it will apply to both genders which is my target audience. Also they are all quite young musicians which will also help in getting the right people to buy my magazine as it is of a similar age range. The genre these all have in common is pop music which is the main genre of my magazine as it focus’s more on the charts which is full of pop/indie song right now.

Title, Font and styles

For my magazine I decided to use a range of different fonts to give some variety and professionalism to it, even though I’ve used these fonts I have also kept consistency throughout my magazine by re-using the font again. For example, to keep the tone of the magazine I have used the title font for the contents page title as well, giving it so familiarity. On the front cover I tried to keep the font in a certain style to the the artist or theme that goes with it. My contents page age have mainly used just one font as it is all one piece and should go together as one. My double page spread is also mainly one font for the article but the font change for the title and pull quote which makes it stand out more and more important. I got many of my fonts from dafont.co.uk which allowed me to use more exciting and bolder fonts.

This font displays my title and contents page, it demonstrates the initial idea of the magazine therefore I wanted it to stand out. I colored in the spaces to add more excitement to it.

This is the font I used for my double page title, I wanted it youthful and new which reflects the artist.

I used this font on my front cover to represent Taylor Swift because I think that it is a very classy yet young style.

Copy/Written ContentIn my magazine I have used language that I think is appropriate and appeals to my target audience. I have used exclamation marks, for example “up and coming artist!” which gives more emphasis and excitement making it look more important and loud which will attract the reader as they will want to be apart of it. I have also used ellipsis “the next big thing...” which tells the reader that there is more about this headline within the magazine and add more mystery too it by stringing along the sentence with an ellipsis. “brining you the biggest and best” has the personal pronoun “you” which makes the reader feel more involved and like your directly talking to that person specifically, it seems more welcoming and friendly.

How is genre reflected? to reflect the genre I used a range of different things. One thing was the people I included in my magazine, people like Take that, Olly Murs, Ed sheeran, Taylor Swift, George Ezra. These artists all have the same genre which is reflect in my magazine by including them in it. This will attract the right audience I wanted for my magazine and will clearly show the genre.

Another way I reflected the genre is through colours. My colour scheme was red, blue and green, this was to keep it gender neutral and colorful and also reflects the genre. The research I’ve found shows that these colours are used in similar magazines and the ones that I have taken inspiration from.

I also tried to find fonts that would suit the genre style and poses for the model to do that would go well with it. The clothes she is wearing also reflects the genre as its to a modern style and a pop kind of look that is in at the minute.

Layout of Front Cover, Contents Page and

Double Page Spread

Front Cover

For my front cover I have chosen a typical pop/chart music style to suit my genre so it would appeal more to my target audience. I have taken inspiration from magazines such as Billboard and Vibe. And tried to use a similar layout so it would attract the right audience but also tried to add some uniqueness adding in my own fonts and styles.

I put the models name and sub heading across the bottom of the page and in bold so that it stands out as the main headline and links to the photo used.

Contents Page

I have followed the conventions of a of a typical music magazine as I have kept the same or similar colours through out it. My contents page displays the colours from my masthead on the front cover as red and blue. This gives it familiarity making it seem like more of a professional magazine.

My contents page is styles in a well known way to most magazines in a column style with images supporting the articles included.

i have also used an advertisement for the magazine as I have seen many magazines do this such as NME and Q.

Double Page Spread

I have tried to follow a similar layout to previous music magazines by using columns for my interview article layout and different colours for the questions and answers, still keeping my original colours throughout my double page.

I have included an image to show the artist being interview like most magazines along with a pull quote. This demonstrates my knowledge of other magazines in my research as I have applied their main styles to mine as well.