Media Evaluation

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of
real media products?
For my masthead, I came up with it by myself and did not aim to copy a magazines style of
masthead, such as complex as I wanted to offer something different to the magazines in my
category. The font that I was looking for was something which was different yet effective for
a magazine cover. I first started off by looking at cartoony fonts at www.dafont.com but I
thought it lost a bit of its formality to the magazine cover, so I scrapped that idea. After
researching a long time for a font, I thought I found the appropriate for my magazine as its
bold and usual for a font, but it works. After selecting the font I wanted to use, I then added
effects to the font on Adobe Photoshop CS5 by adding a drop shadow bevel and emboss and
stroke to make the text stand out from the white background. To grab the reader’s
attention, I also duplicated the text with the effects so that it gave the title more depth to it.

For my
front cover layout, the only thing that inspired me was Complex x Kid Cudi magazines layout
with the cover lines at the left of the page. I like how there is minimal detail, yet if you listen
to Kid Cudi, a few simple words would explain a lot to you. And if you didn’t understand it, it
makes you want to buy the magazine and read about it. I liked that simple concept, yet it
was effective to the audience so I tried to adapt to that minimal yet effective main cover
line. The image of the rapper from Arkane is also placed to the right, so that the cover lines
and main cover line can run smoothly to the left.

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For my contents page, the original idea was to copy the same layout as my magazine draft
contents page. But when looking through my final photos, I saw a landscape photo which
would be different for a contents page. So I reversed the image so that the models were on
the left instead of the right (need the contents page to be on the right page when opening
magazine) and created my own idea of a double page contents page, with the contents on
the right page. I also added columns such as Cover story, Features, Lifestyle and Reviews. I
have not seen a contents page like mine with the double page contents and the layout of it.
The text used has been copied from the front cover, but I dimed down the opacity to 70%,
so that it blends in with the picture and not to striking to the audience, but still grabs their
attention with the back shadow, which has been duplicated.

As the same as my contents page, my double page spread also followed the base the layout
around the photo. When I found my double page spread photo, I seen that there was a lot of
space at the top of page, but there was a lamp post in the way, so I had to Photoshop it out,
so there was only blue sky, suitable to put my article. The text that I have used was more
formal compared to the front cover and contents page, as I wanted a simple, yet effective
double page spread. The layout is simple, with a title, 3 columns and a quote. I feel that the
quote is effective in the centre of the double page spread, as it grabs the reader’s attention
with its bold lettering. As for the title, I have added a gradient background to the text, to
make it stand out a little bit more. I could not find another double page spread which looks
a-like. I believe that I have created something different, which has not been done yet (Main
image at the bottom, article at the top). Having the article at the top is really effective while
the models are at the bottom. I believe the double page spread layout is perfect. I have not
added page numbers at the bottom of the double page spread as I think it’s irrelevant, as it
would already have the page numbers the page before the double page spread and after it.
So the customer would know which page he is on. And I have also stated which page the
double page spread is on.

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For my magazine the costumes used I thought portrayed of what you would see in a MC/Rap
music magazine. I told my 2 models to bring 3 outfits, so I could get a variety of photos. All
the outfits were street clothing, the clothing would represent an MC or rapper as that is how
they dress. The impression the clothing gives, is a natural / casual look, while still looking
fresh. When taking my photos, I used no props but the surroundings off where I took my
photos. I didn’t intend to have a white background, so when taking pictures of the models, I
had to include some space to the sides for the cover lines and space at the top for a
masthead, if I was planning to use the photo for the cover page. The backdrop of my photos
is in the middle of Leicester. Mostly all MC’s and rappers are born in the city, so taking the
images in the middle of Leicester gave it more of a raw feeling and that the audience could
relate to it, being born in their city.

Here is the front cover of ‘Disappear Here’, they have also

used the background of their photo, instead of cutting the
model out and putting him on a plain background.

The photos which I took are very conventional to my

magazine. For my test shots I used a school digital camera,
as mine was in repair. I had an idea of how I wanted to take
the pictures, with enough room in the background to add
text. I left taking the test shots too late, so I asked a friend
of mine to help model, but as my magazine is mostly aimed
at males and she was a female, I had to hire a tri-pod and use myself. It was hard taking the
photos myself, but the use of using a self timer made it a tiny bit easier. But through the test
shots, I feel that I got my inspiration across, of what I wanted to do. I mostly took mid-
shots/long-shots, and a few close ups, but found that mid-shots were more effective. What I
learnt from my test shots was that I needed to get a variety of photos. So when taking my
final photos, I was taking pictures in different places, instead of once place, so that I could
mix it up. To make the photos look more authentic and real, I took photos of the models

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when they were not paying attention, and this made it look more natural. Having a natural
look was important to me as the genre, is not about posing or being fake, it’s about being
yourself, so I tried my best to get a natural look and not too posed.
For my masthead, I chose it from www.dafont.com, it appealed to me as I wanted a
comical/cartoony/informal font, and I felt it fitted perfectly for what I was looking for, as it’s
bold, informal and stands out. For the cover lines I still used the same font but a smaller font
size to show that they were cover lines. For the selling line I used a different font which is a
bit like Arial, but more informal, I think that this goes well underneath the masthead. For the
contents page I used the same informal font as the front cover as I thought it was effective
for the contents page to have big bold writing and that I wanted to keep it consistent from
that front cover to the contents page. For the double page spread I used formal writing as I
wanted to go for a simplistic theme and layout.

The genre of my magazine is represented clearly

through all different types of aspects, from the font,
images, layouts and vocabulary. The font is informal
which would attract my type of audience as not always
having to be smart/formal and being boring. The
images of the models also suggest the genre of my
magazine through their clothing, from wear snapbacks
to sneakers and wearing well known streetware brands,
which is the type of fashion my audience would dress
in. The rappers on the front cover and contents page
also suggests the genre of my magazine. The backdrop
of the images also helps indicate the genre of the
magazine, as it’s in the city, and that’s where most
rappers / MC’s are born. The vocabulary used includes swearing and slang, which is referred
to people from the city, mc’s /rappers, are closely linked to speaking slang and swearing.

The colour scheme used is very consistent throughout my magazine. The

Black/Green/Blue/White colour scheme works well together as the contrast of all my photos
have been changed to suite the colour scheme. It also works for my genre as they are not
bright colours like red or yellow, but still have a dark side to them with the black. I have
changed my colour scheme from my draft to my final as my colour scheme on my draft was
based on the graffiti wall backdrop. But now the colour scheme I have used for my final
magazine has been based on the clothing and the contrast of colours from editing.

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