1. Media
Evaluation
Question 1
In what ways does your
media product use,
challenge or challenge the
forms and conventions of
existing magazines?
By Daniel Rothery

2. The Front CoverThe masthead is the most
important convention of a
front cover. This is the title of
the magazine and it needs to
stand out, which is something
I believe I have done. The
colours are bright and they
also fit the house style of the
magazine. The style of the
font also makes the
magazine stand out because
of the rough edges, this
relates to the iconography of
rock being rough. The
masthead is similar to the
Kerrang masthead.
I chose the colours black and
res because of what the
represent; black represents
power, something that again
is linked to the genre of rock
and red represents danger
which the music sometimes
communicates in rock music.
The header or skyline is the another convention of
the front cover . Because of the way a person reads
a page, like a ‘Z’, this is one of the first things they
see and read. I have used this space to attract my
audience by adding a competition that relates to
the genre by having rock band Green Day tickets
the prize.
The main image I feel breaks the codes
and conventions of a rock magazine thus
developing them. Conventionally on a
rock magazine the model will be either of
an all male rock band or a male rock
artist. This image is of a female rock star
and the make up and the colours of her
costume really suite the house style.
The plug is another convention that I
have used from existing products,
although when I researched the
magazines, I found that they were
normally at the bottom left hand corner
of the front cover. This plug is another
way to attract the audience and by
advertising the new layout could attract
new audiences too, especially for a
weekly magazine.
The barcode is another one of the most
common features of a music
magazine, it is conventionally in the
bottom right hand corner of the
magazine along with the date and the
price. I don’t believe that I have
developed or challenged this
convention because it is hard to do so.
The tagline that I have used is
based on one of war poet Wilfred
Owen’s poems, ‘An Anthem for
Doomed Youth’. is tag line goes
quite well with the iconography
and ideology of rock; some of the
music is quite rebellious and to go
against it saying that you are
doomed could make audiences
feel brave and rebellious knowing
that listening to the music you are
"doomed".
For the sell-lines I took inspiration from the existing
magazines of ‘Q’ ad ‘NME’. One of there front
covers had the sell-line titles in blocks and I feel as
though it benefits my magazine. The sell lines also
are located in the ‘sweet spot’ of the magazine.
The part where the audience’s eyes are fixed
most.
The banner is a convention that most existing
magazines, when researching, didn’t really
have. I have used this to showcase my big
interview with the rock star ‘Melony Spikes ‘, my
main image model.

3. The Contents Page The date and the issue number
of the magazine are
conventionally part of the
contents page. I have decided
that the magazine should be
the 28th issue, this shows that
the magazine is in production
but is maybe still trying to find
the reader loyalty. I have also
used the ‘#’ instead of ‘issue
number’ because the hashtag
is used a lot with modern social
media and it also quite short
and snappy instead of writing
out the words.
Page number for the big
interview: when researching
existing magazines I found that
the main interview with the
front cover star is around the
end or the middle. This then
gives the reader the chance ti
read the whole magazine and
for it not to be over at the
beginning. During the process
of making the contents page I
had to change the number
around because I had totally
forgotten about the
convention and placed it at
page 9, but I altered that so it is
on page 37 instead.
Features and regulars:
This is the most important convention for a
double page spread. Ideas for features and
regulars based on other magazines:
Features
The main sell-line on my front cover is an interview
with my made up character Melony Spikes, so
this will be one of my features.
Interview with Nickelback, looking back at 19
years in the business and their 20 year anniversary
in 2015 (also there will be an interview with lead
vocalist Chad Kroeger)
50 new artists and bands touring in 2014 (list of
gigs)
Interview with Brian May on 'Dark Sided Freddie'
Interview with Green Day and how the audience
can win tickets to see them live at the O2.
QR code:
This was something that wasn’t on most
contents pages that I researched, but I
got the idea from previous students work
and decided that I should use it, this
develops the conventions of not only the
contents page, but the miniaturisation of
the whole magazine. This means that it is
more portable for the audience.
The Editors Words:
I found this in every magazine contents page that I researched, it allows the editor
the chance to express there thoughts on the issue. So this is a convention that I have
used and not developed or challenged. I have also added a CG signature to add to
the effect
The Subscription box is something that
entices reader loyalty. Conventionally this
is on the contents page because it
catches the readers eye with an offer for
a subscription. I have made the
subscription price affordable to my target
audience of 15-25. They are the people
that will be just starting to earn their own
money and wanting to buy their own
things and a cheaper subscription is a
good piece of marketing.
The main/biggest image on the
contents page is of the front cover
star. The bigger image shows its
importance for selling the magazine.
Again I have used direct mode of
address that is looking directly at the
audience. The colours of her costume
again suit the colours of a rock star
with the pink in there to show that she
is still feminine. The colours of the
headphones are foreshadowing some
of the content from the double page
spread interview.
The big bold writing stands out and is
easy for the audience to read.
I have decided to use a black
background for the numbers
because it fits the house style
of the magazine.

4. The Double Page Spread
This is my double page spread, I feel as though that it is the weakest out of the three and if I were to do it again I would change quite a few things and add some
things as well. Such as the justification of the columns, I tried to get them as justified as I could but it didn’t seem to work, probably because I had already written
the article and I didn’t want to write it out again. I would also add in some contact details at the bottom of the double page spread, this is something else that is
conventional.
Pull quotes:
These are very conventional
of a double page spread and
stand out to the reader. It
shows the most important bits
of the magazine.
The article itself
should be
justified into
equal columns
but as I stated
earlier I haven’t
done that
correctly and is
something that I
would change if I
were to do it
again.
The anchorage I have
used I was quite happy
with. I have used
‘Spiked: Melony has
broken onto the music
scene and is embarking
on a UK tour’. I have
used the word Spiked
as a play on words
between her name
‘Melony Spikes’ and the
word Spiked, meaning
to pierce or inhale using
a sharp point, this
meaning the music
scene.
The page
numbers are very
visible and easy
to read, this
allows the reader
to easily
navigate around
the magazine
I took inspiration for the title from an article in
‘Q’. In fact the whole double page spread is
inspired by that article. The whole DPS was
red and had a title just like that and I thought
that it really stood out and it appealed to
me. I also like the idea of the more simple
something is the more people will like it and
the more effective it becomes.
The star name of
‘Melony Spikes’ is bold
because it stands as a
sort of motif from the
whole magazine. It
was written in the
same font on the front
cover and becomes
recognisable with the
reader.The main image uses up a
whole page and when
researching existing
magazines I found that it
was very effective, it shows
that the whole article is
about this person and that
they are very dominant.
Dominance also is part of
the iconography of rock.