Evaluation 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or

challenges forms and conventions or real media
products
The Title
The masthead of my magazine The HITS I used two fonts to mimic the
style of Smash Hits Magazine to create a retro feel to my magazine to
create a retro feel to my magazine. For The I use the font Free Style
Script which was already installed into the Photoshop software. The font
relates to traditional script handwriting which reinforces the idea of the
retro feel to my magazine. It is not bold however it still stands out against
the page due to the eye-catching colouring against the background. For
the HITS I used the font Myriad Pro with a white colouring as its base
and a darker pink, almost red as a drop shadow which created and
enhanced the idea of the retro feel I have tried to portray across my
magazine. Not only does this enhance this idea but it also makes this part
of the title stand out further, emphasising the idea of the magazine;
telling its audience about the hits today by popping out on the page. Due
to mimicking the idea of Smash Hits magazine my title was similar to
their product and hence I knew it would work and be eye-catching to
audiences I wanted to attract.
My Title layer sits behind my models head, this allows the model to be
main attention, however like commented on before, because if the fonts
and colouring use on the title it is still successfully eye-catching.
I chose to use the title The HITS as I felt it matched the genre of my
magazine well, like stated previously. It emphasises the idea that the
magazine is going to inform you about todays hits. I was also again
inspired to use it as it is similar to the title Smash Hits which is used for
layout cover inspiration hence I knew this title would work with the layout
of the page.

Evaluation 1

Costumes/Props/Iconography used to reflect genre

My artist
best suit
POP
music
huge

Erran was styled accordingly to what style I thought would

her and the magazine. I also wanted to contrast the typical
look. I used inspiration from existing artists within the
industry, for example the members of HAIM- they were a
inspiration. The HAIM inspiration is shown through the
styling of my artist.

HAIM as a band and individually are often seen wearing casual and laid back
clothing with minimal make up. I love this look as I believe it prevens a
distraction being caused away from their music. It also allows their audience to
connect with them more due to them relating to them being the same as the
genral audience. Hence this is why I wanted to use inspiration from HAIM and use
it on my artist Erran. I believe it works well as she too is naturally pretty and
allows the real her to be seen both in how she is styled along with the music she
makes- emphasising this idea.
Baring this in mind when styling my artist, I used minimal makeup on her and
dressed her I plain tops. I therefore think I was successful in what I was trying to
do, which is prevent creating a distraction to her music and in this case the
article, also allowing her to be who she really is. Which, again, I believe allows
her and her audience to connect even more through the audience being able
relate to her and therfiore liking her more meaning more people will be implied
to buy the magazine featuring her. Hence following the conventions of a
magazine in terms of how to attract a given audience to allow maximum sales.

The Graphology/Page Layout

The graphology of my cover is very simple due to only using two fonts; Free
Style Script and Myraid Pro on my mast head and four cover lines in the bottom
left hand corner. I used the same fonts for the main part of my mast head HITS
and the four cover lines, I thought by doing this it allowed a link to be made

Evaluation 1
across the cover so it all looking in sync rather than use random different fonts
for each, ruining the flow of the cover.
The colour scheme of my cover and magazine in general, is dark pink/red, white
and grey/blue. By using there I thought it allowed my cover to stand out more as
they all contrasted one another well. The Grey/Blue background allowed me to
avoid using a blank white background and also contributed with the retro theme I
have tried to create across the magazine by, in my opinion, bringing a dated look
to the magazine.
The white text used on the four cover lines I believe stood out on the background
well, with help from the dark pink/red enhancing the text further, also adding to
the chart feel of my magazine. The white colouring also used on the first part of
the mast head also stands out well on the background chosen as well it also links
to the second part of the mastheads main body, I feel this creates a link
between both parts of the title, linking them together, ensuring it is read clearly
as one.
The drop shadow of the second part of the mas head HITS stands out majorly
as the white used as the base contrasts extremely well with the dark pink/read
colour chosen which I think creates an elaborate eye-catching effect, pulling our
audience in.
The last cover line out of the four font was slightly smaller due to wanting the
alignment of each being the same however I think it works and it suggests the
emphasis on this story is not as significant as the others which would be realistic
to have in a magazine less important articles compared to others, hence works.

Double Page Spread

On my double page my model is seen wearing a similar outfit to the cover
however a pink opposed to grey top. She
also had minimal make up and the same,
natural hair. I believe this ,works due to me
wanting to challenge the conventions of
the typical POP look and hence by going
for a more simple styling and makeup look
I believe this works as generally pop artist
are seen to be pictured for magazines in a
stage outfit e.g. Katy Perry. However in my
opinion I believe this distracts the audience
from what is most important, which is the
artists music not her clothing and
therefore why I have chosen to keep it simple and also why I think the concept
works well.

The titles used on my double page spread are different to one another however
they still use the same. For SHES BACK I used myriad pro with the same drop
shadow effect as on the cover. I used the same affect to create link throughout
the magazine to allow it to flow from one page to the next, also ensuring the

Evaluation 1
same feel (retro) was being created on each page and all colours were
contrasting well with one another. However for AND RARING TO GO I did not
apply a drop shadow due to it only being a sub heading, acting as a follow on
from the main heading. I also think if I
used the drop shadow again it would
make the page look messy and would not
work. I also believe it would create a
distraction to the article which is the main
focus on this page.