Evaluation 1 draft

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

The title the magazine:The masthead is bold and fills most of the space in the first quarter of the cover, it is also white which stands out against the dark contrasting background behind the masthead.  

The layout:The layout of the magazine is simplistic and minimalist. This keeps the magazine uncluttered and easy to pick up and read, making it more accessible. The text on the cover is kept to the first and last quarter of the page, making them more visible and drawing more attention. It also keeps the cover simplistic and not over complicated. The use of white text on the darker background in the first quarter of the cover helps to make it stand out The props, Iconography and images:The cover image costume is simplistic using only grey, this contracts well with the pink used in the background of the cover.  All the images are loud, dramatic images that draw attention to them selves. The cover is an extreme close up while the other images are medium shots. 
Genre and style throughout the magazine: Minimal and clear style throughout the magazine suggests the music within the magazine is in the indie genre. The artist featuring on the cover is shown to be mysterious and obscure which draws attention to fans of the indie genre. The color scheme:The color schemes used throughout clash magazines always draw attention to the featured artists, putting an emphasis on the music in the magazine and making it the most important thing. The title of my magazine is 'Maverick' which I thought was appropriate for the genre of music in the magazine and the magazines target audience. It connotes to the audience the magazine is a bit different and not conventional. This is represented in the music and genre featured in the magazine, which is indie music. I felt that this title would appeal to the type of audience that would be interested in the genre of music the magazine represents and is promoting. The masthead of the magazine follows the forms and conventions of well established music magazines such as Clash and Wire and elements from these magazines are featured throughout my own. The masthead of my magazine is black and bold. I choose this so it would stand out well against lighter background behind it at the top of the cover. The font is used for the masthead is also used throughout the rest of the magazine giving the magazine it's own house style which makes it look professionally produced. The size of my masthead is also similar to current magazines such as Clash, this is because it draws in the reader with it's striking size and font. 

Throughout my magazine I have decided to only use three font types. I did this in order to retain the professionalism and theme without the magazine. The fonts is chose were 'Helvetica', 'Courier New', 'Superclarendon' and 'Kremlin'. I used Helvetica for the text in the contents page and the body in the double page spread. I chose this font because I thought it was clear and easy on the eye, allowing the reader to enjoy the text in the magazine without feeling strained.  I chose ‘ Courier New’ to use as my headlines, running head and subhead because it stood out from my other fonts while still being similar to the font used for my main body of text. I used the font ‘Superclarendon’ for my masthead, pullout quote and headline. I did this because it is easy to read while still being bold and drawing attention from the reader. I also used a downloaded font ‘Kremlin’ for the name of the featured artist on the double page spread, I also added a red line above and bellow the header to make it more thematic and seem more ‘soviet’. I decided to do this because the font is in a soviet style and this adds to the soviet theme running throughout the article. This adds novelty to the article and makes it thematic, increasing the readers enjoyment of the article and giving the issue a unique style relevant to the feature artist. I made sure the masthead was the biggest piece of text on my cover to draw attention to the magazine, this will make it easy to distinguish from other publications. I left a large gap between the masthead and the cover lines in order to add more significance to both while also making the image on the cover the center of visual interest. I used the color white for my cover lines in order to draw more attention to them and help them stand out and contrast against the darker background. On both my contents page and double page spread I used red in my fonts to draw more attention to the subheadings while also maintaing  the soviet theme running through the issue. I decided to make the barcode small in order to keep it from distracting from the main content of the cover. I used a red border around the photos featured on my contents page in order to further add to the soviet theme running throughout the issue. I took stylistic inspiration from magazines such as Wire and Clash as well as inspiration from the streamlined look of Fantastic Man.  My model on my cover ‘Fin Quinlan’ was dressed in the same style and fashion as people that would enjoy the indie genre of music and bands that are featured in the magazine. This was done to attract the attention of the magazines target audience and appeal to them. I chose a fairly simplistic outfit for him to wear in order to keep the cover easy on the eye while also still appealing to the magazines target audience. It draws in the magazines target audience because he is dressed in an outfit they would consider cool and appealing and seems intriguing. This helps the magazine hold it’s audience because the featured artist on the cover doesn’t look out of place. I used these same ideas and concepts I used in the creation of my cover image to guide me in the creation of the image on the double page spread, which follows the same conventions and ideas I used for the cover to create continuity without the magazine. I slightly increased the amount of red in the cover image to make it redden. I did this to create continuity between the cover and the colors and soviet theme running throughout the magazine.  

 I used a range of medium, close-up and long shots in my magazine to give my magazine a variety of images that appeal to my target audience. I focused on the image they presented. I wanted the cover to look intriguing to attract my target audience’s attention, I wanted the images on my contents page to carry over the intrigue of the cover to encourage further reading of the magazine while also adding in a upbeat but relaxed element. Finally, I wanted the image on my double page spread to be relaxed and connoting a chilled out feeling to the reader. This was done to increase the readers enjoyment of the magazine, making the magazine memorable and stand out from other similar magazines that already exist while also making it more likely that they’ll buy the next issue. The article in my magazine is dramatic and relatable to my target audience while still being a traditional l interview. This was done to draw in my target audience and catch their attention.  I used the traditional conventions of laying out a interview because they are easy and familiar to readers, making it easy for them to access the magazine and it’s content. I used the stylistic approach of Clash by having a single image on one side of the double page spread and the main article on the other. I did this to follow the same forms and conventions as clash magazine because of the success Clash have found in their design. However my magazine is still set apart from Clash because it covers different genre of music, meaning there is still a gap in the market. In the design of my magazine I have used the same forms and design conventions and other indie music magazines such as loud and quiet while also using successful design conventions from magazines such as Wire and Clash. This combination of styles draws in my target demographic with it’s already established successful design conventions. I also added in a theme relating to the featured artist throughout the magazine. This theme dictates color scheme and some small aspects of the layout, making this issue of my magazine seem thematic and appealing to my target audience. However the magazine still retains it’s own house style similar to Clash or Wire.