Evaluation Q.1

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

My media product is like other media products in the way that:

• ...It follows the main concepts of the dominant layout structure for magazine genres like mine. For example, from my further research, I found that many Indie/Rock genres such as mine consisted of a huge, catchy masthead on top of a filled in border. Also, there always seemed to be a huge subscription sign on the bottom of the contents pages, with black and white writing, and a print screen of one of the issue's covers next to it.
• I also picked a genre which is rather independent regarding looks and style, but the genre itself is mainstream, because so many people are part of it. Rock is a leading genre which so many people listen to, respect and live by. I wanted to express this is my front cover, by having an image of someone holding a guitar in a state of importance, as though the guitar was a statue of something extremely significant.
• I also made my magazine's textual language relate to what other music magazines of the same rock genre would write in the style of. I wanted to write of the same themes and topics too and also use informal language, just as other magazines and media products of the rock and indie genres do, because this helps get across to the young target audience of this genre type.
• I also kept to the same basic conventions of what is expected on the front cover, regarding mastheads, screamers, skylines, bar codes, subheads, puff, strapline etc.
• In the magazine itself, I kept to the expected conventions of using titles, subtitles, headings, columns, grids, images etc.
• I also made the font be SANS-SERIF, because this is what is for youths, as it is more reader friendly and appears less formal.
  
• Another aspect which I kept to following the forms and conventions was the use of colour. For the rock genre in particular, I used specific colours of red, black, white and orange to help connote my specific colour of rock. However, it is almost an unwritten rule that I was to use all of the colours which are in a printer, consisting of cyan, magenta, yellow and black - C, M, Y, K.

Photoshop Colour Coding:
Red = RGS Spec: 25500 | Hex Spec: #FFoooo
Black = RGS Spec: ooo | Hex Spec: #oooooo
White = RGS Spec: 255255255 | Hex Spec: #FFFFFF
Orange = RGS Spec: 2551650 | Hex Spec: #FFA500

Cyan = RGS Spec: 0255255 | Hex Spec: #ooFFFF
Magenta = RGS Spec: 2550255 | Hex Spec: #FFooFF
Yellow = RGS Spec: 2552550 | Hex Spec: #FFFFoo
Black = RGS Spec: ooo | Hex Spec: #oooooo

My media product is not like other media products in the way that:

• It challenges dominant ideology in order to keep to the "indie" lifestyle that rock-followers lead. For example, I featured the 'bad attitude' that rock stars can have, as said on the front - "Hell yeah, I'm a rock star."
• I also decided to change the dominative way in which many music magazines just focus on only one artist for each particular issue, featuring in a huge article. I decided to make it clear that in my contents page, I had enough room to speak about many artists; as I decided that the audience would find this more interesting - because it gives a wider range of option and taste regarding the variety of rock artists that are out there.
• I have also made my media product represent teenagers are aspiring young people, due to the fact that one of my features is about unsigned bands becoming signed. My article that I wrote was to show the life of a typical band which is trying to get signed, with methods and insight in how to do so.

Here, I have challenged the conventions of a typical magazine, to make it more original to my target audience. The way my audience dress and live, is all based around the element of freedom; therefore I planned to make all of my models in them magazine dress down and give off the "I don't care" vibe. I feel like I achieved this successfully.