1. Evaluation of
‘GBM’ Magazine
Question One

2. How does your media
product use, develop
or challenge forms
and conventions of
real media products?

3. Front Cover
Masthead
The masthead is white text written in a bold red box in the top left corner of the page so
the target audience will read and therefore recognise the brand first. The masthead in a
red box is a convention of not only music magazines but across various genres of printed
publications (for example, The Sun newspaper, Hello and OK! Celebrity gossip magazines)
and in the last few months, NME have also adopted the masthead style. This establishes
the traditional, conventional element to the media product and is relatively genre-neutral.
A conventional masthead allows the cover to include multiple genres rather than
appealing to a niche target audience.
The main image is superimposed in front of the
masthead so the top of the image overlaps the red box
slightly. This is conventional of a music magazine as it
creates an interesting layered effect and shows the
masthead to be recognisable even if it is partly
concealed. However, the majority of the GBM masthead
is visible to emphasize the brand’s importance.

4. Front Cover
Main image
The main image is a medium
close-up of the featured artist’s
head and shoulders. This fits
with the conventions of Q
magazine covers - the close up
image creates a sense of
intimacy with the reader and
implies that their interview will
offer exclusive information to
fans. The main image is striking
and the artist is making a strong
direct mode of address by
staring straight into the camera
lens. The bright lighting and
high contrast colour and tone
follows the conventions of
established music magazines
(e.g. Q and RollingStone) as the
main image looks striking and
professional

5. Front Cover
Main image
The use of ivy as iconography is
a convention of both Q and
NME used to convey messages
about the featured artist to the
audience. (e.g. Este Haim
holding a retro camera
reinforces the band’s cool,
carefree and fun-loving image.
Alex Turner holding a record in
a powerful stance presents him
as a knowledgeable and
influential figure in the music
industry.) Ivy Jones surrounded
by Ivy acts as obvious visual
anchorage to her name in text
and also suggests the theme of
the album she is promoting on
the double page spread.

6. Front Cover
Cover lines
NME
GBM
I used similar typography
to conventional music
magazines –
contemporary sans serif
fonts following a colour
scheme of red, black and
gold. Like Q and NME, the
typography matched with
the colour palette of the
main image so the cover
looks professional and
structured.
Similarly to NME’s cover lines, my product has
names of featured bands across from the
masthead in small bars of text. Although my
cover lines and NME’s are visually similar, NME
use them to appeal to fans of a wide range of
genres (e.g. Lily Allen is a mainstream pop artist
whereas Yeah Yeah Yeahs are more edgy).Unlike
NME, I have mentioned names of bands with
more niche fan bases. As bands like Loom aren’t
often featured in mainstream publications,
their fans will be enticed by the mention of
their name without the need of puffs to boast
the magazine’s content or inform readers why
they are featured.
Q magazine
GBM
The names of more established bands are displayed in a
larger font in both Q magazine and my own product (Motley
Crue and Arcade Fire). This is so the cover line appeals to
the mass market as well as the niche audiences for less well
known bands featured in smaller cover lines. My own cover
lines conform to the music magazine conventions of listing
buzz words that will attract the audience’s attention e.g.
‘alter egos and clandestine cabarets’ make the feature on
Arcade Fire sound unusual and surprising. Similarly to
Motley Crue’s ‘heroin, hookers and hair metal,’ the
coverlines boast a performers’ lifestyle which is a common
convention in music magazines of all genres.

7. Front Cover
Cover lines
The main cover line fits the codes and conventions of music magazines
as the name of the artist is the largest and clearest piece of text on the
page, so it acts as anchorage text for the main image.
The pun ‘a new leaf’ plays on the name of the artist and also suggests
Ivy Jones is re-inventing herself. The use of puns is a common
convention in music magazines aimed at a younger audience such as
NME (e.g. ‘Peace at last’) because it implies the magazine’s informal
and witty house style.
I have challenged the codes and conventions of cover lines about
female artists as they usually contain an emotive of personal quotation,
such as Florence ‘I feel so alone’. I challenged this convention as the
artist Ivy Jones is supposed to challenge the media’s expectations of a
female artist. Including a personal or emotive quotation in the main
cover line would suggest Ivy Jones’ interview wouldn’t be entirely music
focused; I wanted to imply the article will be about Ivy’s music journey
as GBM is very music focused.
Q magazine cover lines for
female solo artists
Pun in NME’s cover line

8. Contents Page
Layout
The layout of my contents page
follows the conventions of Q
magazine and NME with a
structural columned appearance.
The featured artist’s image takes
up a large section of the page and
maintains a direct mode of
address through I contact with the
camera.
The informative text is kept
to the conventional left
column so that it can be
read easily and mimics the
style of a newspaper,
reinforcing GBM’s brand
identity of being a respected
publication.
The colour scheme of mainly
white with red and black fits
the conventions of a music
magazine so that the layout
appears timeless.
Enlarged page numbers are used to anchor the images and
highlight the main areas of interest for the target audience. The
image of Ivy Jones playing the harp is rather striking and
challenges the conventions of a structured contents page. This
makes the page more interesting without distracting the
audience too much from the information.

9. Contents Page
Cross-media platforms
The hashtag by the main image is a subtle way of
increasing interactivity between GBM and its readers.
Hashtags are increasingly being used across multiple media
platforms with no context or mention of any social
networking institutions as a way of pointing out or
advertising a certain discussion point. This feature is less
common in music magazines so by including a hashtag I
have followed a zeitgeist media convention that isn’t as
prominent in the music press yet.
A section of the contents page advertising the GBM brand on
other platforms was added to cater to:
1. A younger target audience (as typically young adults will
be more likely to use social networking and keep track of
music blogs or e-zines)
2. The increasing demand for music magazines having an
online presence. It is now an expectation of a music
magazine to have a website because the role of the
institution has changed so that music magazines are
viewed as a brand in its own right. Increasing GBM’s
presence across media platforms makes the brand as a
whole more powerful and influential.
Instead of just advertising
subscriptions to print editions on
the contents page like NME, I have
used the contents page to advertise
GBM on various media platforms

10. Double Page Spread
Layout
The colour scheme of the DPS is
unconventional, as highbrow music magazine
interviews are usually against a white
background. The background is a light
turquoise to tie in with the decorative title
typography and the illustrative ivy to create
an artistic and slightly antique aesthetic.
Similarly to Q’s layout, here is very little
presence of the brand on the DPS. This was
deliberate as I wanted the layout of the pages
to represent the image of the artist rather
than the magazine’s brand identity.
In some aspects, the layout of the GBM double page spread
fits the conventions of music magazines that focus on
interviews. Like Q and Mojo, the Double Page spread has
the left a4 page taken up by one high quality studio shot
image of the artist. The large amount of plain text makes
the DPS look more highbrow than interviews of artists in
Kerrang! And NME which have busier page layouts.

11. Double Page Spread
Image and headings
Titles in Mojo interviews are more informative
The subtitle challenges the codes and conventions of a
music magazine interview because it is relatively brief
and acts as an enticement. Listing the interview topics
‘music molecules and misogyny’ sparks interest
because they are seemingly random and unconnected
which will intrigue the audience to read the interview. I
kept the titles vague to reinforce the artist’s mysterious
image yet I used sophisticated vocabulary to present
both the artist and the magazine as well-informed.
The main image fits the
conventions for an interview
image as it is used to connect
with the reader. The artist is
positioned to look more relaxed
than the cover image and
resting her head on her hands
makes her look less formal. This
is a common feature in Q (see
above) as they have a
reputation for publishing frank
and personal interviews.