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

My front cover fits with the codes and conventions of real media products as it has a large masthead which is aligned to the left and is the main focus of the page. Below that i also have the tagline 'It's off the hook' this once again uses the codes and conventions. Also my main image has the artist has eye contact with the camera which is also the case in many successful music magazines. My sell lines are all relevant and aligned down each side of the page which is seen other media products. However i challenged the codes and conventions by adding only one thumbnail image when other magazines will see more than one because it draws more attention to the cover. Also the main image in some way challenges the codes and conventions as normally with a single artist on the page you would expect it to be moer of a close up however i decided on a mid/long-shot as it seemed easier to fit the sell lines around without covering some of the models face.

My contents page also uses the codes and conventions yet in some ways challenges them also. I used sub-headings in which i listed my features underneath, you will see this in many other music magazines. Along with this i also made sure i had large page numbers so the reader could see them clearly, this is also used in many other magazines of this sort. By using an editors letter and photo it also uses the codes and conventions of other media products. I developed the idea of placing the images down the middle and the text on either side when i saw it done in only a few other magazines and in all others it seemed that the text was kept down one side and all images lined up down another side. Another part of my contents page which i haven't seen done in many others and would therefore be seen as challenging the codes and conventions is the fact that i have added blue shading behind my texts to make it stand out, this is something i did not identify as a typical code or convention of a music magazine. 

 Above is my double page spread which uses the codes and conventions of other media prouducts in the way that all the text is layed out into columns and also that what is said by the interviewer is in a different colour to the answer the artist gives so that they can be easily read and understood. Another way in which i used the codes and conventions of other media products is by having a large, exciting masthead which is in this case 'exclusive interview!' which will draw the reader in. Also by making the artists name bold in order for it to stand out. However i challenged the codes and conventions by only using two images, normally you would expect to see a wide variety of images of the artist and sometimes even images of them just carrying out day to day tasks. I developed the idea of using a wide range of shots on my double page spread by including a mid shot and a long shot to make it more vairied and interesting for the reader.

Construction - Final Draft of Double Page Spread



Above i have inserted the final draft of my double page spread and circled the changes that i made to it. The content of my interview has been altered to a more light-hearted tone which will make it more appealing to the teenage audience, i also used language that they can relate to. At the end of my double page spread i identified the price of the artists new single which previously i priced at '£11.99' however after doing some research and looking in to the price of single sales i dropped the price to a more realistic price of '£6.99'. Also in an answer given by the artist she stated that she was approached by two young girls who had purchased a hard copy of her single, however after looking into todays music revenue i found that the younger generation are more likely to download the music onto an MP3 therefore i changed the wording to fit today's favoured way of consuming music.

Construction - Final Draft of Contents Page

This is the final draft of my contents page there have been a few aspects changed in order to improve it. To begin with i enlarged the page numbers for each feature which will allow then to be easily identified which will make it much easier for the reader to naviagte to the page they want. I also added some light blue shading behind the text for each feature, this meant that the page was no longer just a plain white page with images and text, By putting it behind the text it allows the text to stand out and become more dominant on the page which will encourage it to be read. Lastly i slightly changed the language used in my editors letter to make it more exciting for the audience. To do this i added in phrases such as 'reveals all'  and 'exclusive interview' which make the reader feel that by reading this magazine they will find out something that others won't. It adds a sense of mystery and draws them in.

Construction - Final Draft of Front Cover

Here is the final draft of my front cover. I made several adjustments to the layout of the oage which i have circled above. Firstly i changed the shape in he top right corner from a circle to a more interesting shape which will stand out more for the reader and emphasis the price. I then changed the colour of the number '20' from a darker blue colour to a red in order to ensure that it could be seen clearly as it blended in slightly with the jacket the model is wearing which is of a similar colour. I also aligned the text to the side of the page which makes the layout look significantly neater and more professional which would encourage more music fans to purchase it. I also added in the official 'T4' logo which is advertising a feature for a live event. By using the official logo it makes the magazine seem more professional and the target audience would be more inclined to buy it and with my target audience being keen live music fans it would appeal to them and they would recognise the logo. Lastly i changed the font of the artists name to a different font from all the others and i also changed it to a darker red colour which i had not used before, this means that it is now more eye catching and as she is the artist pictured on the front it will draw more attention to her. I also changed the text surrounding the feature of the main artist from 'we catch up with indie star sadie-leigh to celebrate the success of her new single Unspoken' to 'We celebrate success with Sadie-Leigh'. This is much more approapriate as it is short and sharp and the use of the plural pronoun 'we' involves the reader and makes them feel as though they are personally a part of it.