Evaluation Question 1

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

These are my final products and they have been inspired by Kerrang! and the first convention in which I had noticed during my textual research is that Kerrang! uses the main colours red, black, white and often shades of grey. At first I tried to challenge this convention by using red, yellow and black for my front cover but I found that this didn't look professional and it looked too busy. Yet I then just used this colour convention to my strength and to make it look professional, I then used the three colour choice Red, Black and White. I used these colours for the front cover and the contents page and also on the double page spread so that all the magazine co-ordinated well together. Also during the research of Kerrang!, NME, Revolver and Rolling Stones; I had noticed further features in which all of the magazine had in common. There were banners, freebies of posters, and other similar features all on the magazines I looked at so I decided to use this on both my Front Cover and DPS, this meant that it looked more professional when I used these conventions.

Once again I had used the inspiration from magazines of the same genre to created my masthead but I had also challenged this convention. I had challenged this by making mine look a bit more plain but also edgy at the same time. Here is an example of what I mean:

This shows that my magazine had challenged the conventions by making it so that the models full head is over the name of the magazine but also it challenges the convention by using colour for the masthead instead of black to make it more attention grabbing. I chose this font because it resembles the Kerrang! font and is easy to read, but mainly because I think it is well suited to the genre of the magazine. The name of the magazine 'Riot' shows the genre clearly and is clearly signifying rock as it is easy to remember and it is used in a lot of songs by bands like the blackout.

Also in my initial research I had realised all the photography used in rock music magazines use artists in which are performing or simply singing and therefore this had influenced my decision. I had challenged this convention by using a model in which is well suited to the genre but is using an unusual prop just to make it a bit more interesting. Images in magazines always look like they have emotion and personality in them so I tried to portray this in my shots too by using the pose and lighting as aspects. The costume shows this as my main models are casually dressed but one has piercings, this shows that the models are just like anybody else and also it was easy to do in terms of photography and making them look alternative by the use of make-up etc.

I tried to follow the convention of the layout of the Kerrang! magazine mainly because it is well related to my target audience and it is a popular magazine. I used this mainly because there is a lot on the pages but it doesn't look too overcrowded and always looks neat in terms of layout. Here is the Kerrang! product I looked closely at: 

I had tried following the basic layout of both of these in my products by using the front cover banner across the bottom of the page, with a free poster special. I think that by doing my products like this it resembles actual products and I had took some content from kerrang! and based my product around them and I think this has made my layout look neat. The costume and props were also based around artists in which are seen in both Rolling Stones and Kerrang! as it is casual clothing which makes it look like the model is neat in their own body and this therefore would allow the reader to connect with them as they are similar. The two pictures below show the clothing and how they are similar.

The only convention in which I challenged was the use of props, I did this so it looks rebellious like she is about to put out a fire and I think this worked well and effectively signifies the target audience. I used this prop instead of the usual musical instrument and I think that this has made my magazine stand out more and it just overall fits well on the page, but some people may not understand where the idea is coming from.

The written content of the DPS I made was also based on Kerrang! as I read the magazine a lot and this was easy to base my writing around as I knew what forms of language they use as well as what they may contain in an article. However, my article was an interview of a singer of a band. But I am happy with how the layout and the article both played out and this is how they look in comparison with one another.

I chose once again to stick to the three colours. Overall throughout my product I think I have followed the conventions rather than challenging them because this is what my target audience had wanted me to do, as I found out when I asked around. I used the three column and the banner convention on my DPS as well so that it doesn't look as plain but it is tidy and easy to read on the page. I think that the three columns is used throughout kerrang! and works well in the magazine. I used the conventions as they are well liked in existing magazines and I think if I challenged them and tried to use them then this would have ruined my product so I am happy with my overall completed product.