EVALUATION QUESTION 1 In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

WHAT IS A MAGAZINE?

A magazine is a publication which is normally based on a certain subject and aimed at a niche market/specific readership. It includes articles and images and usually uses typical conventions to make clear what the category the magazine fits in to.

MY MAGAZINE

The colours of the background in the way it has been edited compliment the colours on his shirt.

The Masthead is placed conventionally as it would be expected to be seen in a hip hop magazine in the top left hand corner.

Medium close up has been used which is conventional.

Model is showing direct gaze which is conventional.

There are connotations behind the colours used which relate to the word French.

The cover lines have been placed unconventionally at the bottom of the page when usually they start on the left hand third.

The barcode & price have been placed on the bottom right hand sign which can be seen as conventional.

The extra cover lines show the reader they’re getting content for their money.

The main cover line is big and bold which is conventional in fashion as it is presented in the same way it would be in a hip hop magazine.

Masthead My masthead is unconventional as in many music magazines and in hip hop ones especially the image is brought in front of the masthead to give more emphasis on the image. They can do this because they have a good brand name which can be recognised even if it cannot be read meaning they appeal especially to loyal customers who know what the name of the magazine is and in general they don't need to have it on show.

I deliberately chose to put my masthead in front of the image and to be unconventional as I want it to be clear that my magazine is unique and not like the other hip hop magazine which gives me a unique selling point. by going against the conventions it breaks the common design of a magazine and makes it stand out because it doesn't blend in amongst the others.

Also The other magazines use different colours and conventionally mastheads are quite bright and eye catching whereas when creating mine I thought that I didn't want to have a bright coloured masthead as I felt the magazine was very multicoloured as it was - you can have too much of a good thing.

The masthead has been placed in the left third in the top hand corner which is conventional and can be seen on most other magazines, also it is big and bold which I think is important so the magazine can be identified

I also can see that the font I used is quite unconventional as capitalised clear fonts are commonly used for hip hop magazines giving them a clean look whereas the font i’ve used is quite raw and scruffy giving it a unique look which is what I was going for when I was constructing the front cover.

ImageThe main image is quite conventional as image used is a medium close up which is a general convention for most magazines including hip hop. in doing this you can concentrate on the model and show a focus on something specific, for example the image shows emphasis on the model and not on the van behind because it’s a medium close up instead of a wider shot.

Another way in which the image follows the convention of a hip hop magazine is that the model is displaying direct gaze which is used to engage the reader with the model and makes them feel as if they are being looked at directly. This is a good way to communicate with the reader on a more personal level through the image used on the front cover.

The model is also a male which is typical for most hip hop magazines as a majority use male artist and rarely female ones.

The model is also dressed appropriately for the shoot with a snapback on which is commonly seen worn by rappers and also by wearing a big jacket and having a unique sense of style which is now becoming the fashion in modern day hip hop as you can see in the XXL image which shows lil wayne wearing a winter hat and in the Mixmag image which shows the guy again wearing a unique item of headwear and sporting a unique fashion.

My magazine also has been edited in a way which can be seen s conventional as the background has been changed in a way which compliments the colours on the models t shirt which makes the front cover fits together better without any part of the image looking like it doesn’t look visually appealing with it’s surroundings.

The image is also unconventional as it wasn’t taken in a studio which most hip hip magazine front cover images are but again I think this represents the unique nature of the magazine.

Main CoverlineIn order to show a clear difference between the main cover line and the rest I decided to use a different typeface, a variety of colours and a larger size for the font as it’s important to show very clearly the main cover line which represents what is on the double page spread of the magazine. This is the conventional way of presenting a cover line by using a large capitalised bold font.My magazine challenges the conventions of a hip hop magazine as the main cover line isn’t relevant to what i’ve done my double page spread on however this was necessary as from my research I found a majority of the readers wanted to read an interview and many wanted to hear about new and upcoming artists. I decided the main cover line could be reduced t one page as it isn’t a hot topic however the image stood out from the photoshoot so I chose to use that image/story.The font used could be seen as unconventional as its not a plain font it’s a unique interesting font which is what I wanted on my magazine to attract a certain type of audience who have an eye for great typography which is different, this is why I challenged the convention.

CoverlinesMy cover lines have followed the basic conventions of a hip hop magazine as they start in the left third and finish in the right third however on most hip hop magazines the cover lines will continue on the top of the upper third not the bottom. I’ve also used language that is familiar to the reader by typing “kendrick on why he don’t smoke” which is a lyric of one of his songs this makes the reader feel more in touch with the magazine which is something that can be commonly see as conventional as it occurs on many other hip hop magazines.I’ve also followed the convention associated with most music magazines which involves putting a list of many celebrities associated with the genre as if they see many of their artists they will be more inclined to pick up the magazine.

Buzz/Puffers/BarcodeThe magazines that I analysed didn’t use any of these features so I thought it would be conventional to follow them in design. I decided to stay conventional as from researching various hip hop magazines i’ve realised that the readers are less enthusiastic to enter competitions or something similar that would be found in the form of a puffer as a majority of the readers will be adults who are 18 or over and probably have a job and not enough time. Through further research I found that most hip hop magazines keep their barcode up horizontally and also they change the placement depending on where the main cover line is so my barcodes placement can be seen as conventional as they are commonly seen on the left/right third.

FontMany of the magazines I analysed used capitalised sans serif fonts as they’re clear to read and are effective for representing the cover lines. I used Verdana as this font was the most similar and has proved to be very conventional as the fonts are almost identical. I chose to use a conventional font as it is universal and can be easily read by almost anyone as the cover lines are important for advertising the contents of the magazine think it’s important that they be clear.

MY CONTENTS PAGE

HeaderThe header is conventional as it follows the same idea and has a hidden connotation behind the words “west side” which refers to a place where rap descended from.It also uses more than 1 colour to keep it visually interesting for the reader. I also chose to stick to the typical bold capitalised font as it is essential that the header is big and bold so it can be easily read.

Contents The arrangement of the contents is conventional as I've separated the featured contents and the others.Ive also used numbers to show where to find each content which is something thats seen in most magazines.

Social media buttons

To my surprise social media buttons are not a typical convention of a hip hop magazine but I chose to include them as it’s a great way of promotion.

ImagesThe images i’ve used challenge the typical conventions of a contents page image on a hip hop magazine as they don’t show direct gaze or a medium close up.I’ve also used a black and white image which again challenges the conventions as full colour images are usually used.I’ve also followed the conventions in some ways as I've used multiple images similarly to XXL magazine as I felt it was

MY DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

The imageThe image isn't very conventional as it is in black and white whereas full colour images are usually used how ever I didn't want the reader to judge the artist on the image as the article is all about getting to know him for who he really is. By using an image that is less appealing this increases the chances that the reader will read the article to find out more.The clothes the model is wearing are very conventional and stereotypical for a hip hop image as he is wearing a hoody.

TextThe font used for the text is quite conventional and could be seen as almost identical as the one used for XXL magazine as I felt it was important to use a universal font which is easily readable. The text has also been lined up into columns which is a basic convention of most magazines.I also followed the idea of using language the readers will understand as I feel this makes the readers feel more familiar when reading.

Stand first & Byline

I’ve used many conventions of a hip hop magazine like including a stand first and byline to introduce the article and to give credit to the author.