Evaluation- 1) In what ways does your music magazine use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real music magazines?

I have used many key conventions in my music magazine. I followed regular key conventions of magazine front covers and I also challenged some. 

Key Conventions of Front Pages:

Front Cover• On my front cover, I followed some of these

key conventions, for example, my main image was overlapping the masthead which many music magazines that I researched also did.

• I also used the Z formation so display important items of information that were spread out across my front cover.

• Another key convention I followed was the masthead being in the top left corner, I did this because all the magazines I had researched followed the same convention, and when I asked my target market, they said that was the area they were most drawn to.

• A key convention that I challenged was the use of 3 complimentary colours. Most music magazine front covers that I researched use 3 key colours that complimented each other. However, to fit the specific style of my magazine music genre, I kept the colour scheme simple. I used mainly black for the text because it stands out against the off white background. I had the model wear a colour that didn't stand out too much unlike most magazine covers, because I didn't want too much vibrant colours on the cover, only a subtle hint of colour which I used in the bottom right corner. This also allows more attention to be drawn to that area, where there is most colour. 

Key Conventions of Contents Pages:

Contents Page• The key conventions that I followed were having the title 'CONTENTS' running across the top of the page, I found this made it stand out most, and balanced out the page. • I also noticed that during my research, most music magazines use the same colours from their front cover on their contents page. I did this by using the same blue green colour from my cover, as the font colour and line colour on my contents. I found that this helps continue the brand identity from the cover of the magazine, on through the rest of the magazine. • The key conventions that I developed were having the text left aligned in a column. Most magazines I researched had the titles and informative text on the left side of the page, however I challenged and developed this by splitting the text into two columns and having one on the right and one on the left. This split up the page and balanced it. • Another convention that I challenged was the placing of the page numbers. The contents pages that I reviewed often had the number before the text, however I placed it after the text, and I felt that made the information more informal and ordered. 

Key Conventions of Double Page Spreads:

Double Page Spread• The key conventions that I followed were having the title ‘ACOUSTICALLY ACCLAIMED’ running from the left to right of the page, which I found most double page spreads in a music magazine did. However I developed this convention by taking the second half of the title and putting it across the page on the right side.• I followed another convention which is the use of a drop cap. I made the F a large font to draw the readers in, and make the text look more creative. Most double page spreads did this. • I also used 2 pull out quotes because the magazine double page spreads I researched had an average of this many. I saw that they made the quote marks a large font to draw the eye in to that area and attract the readers attention, I followed this convention. • I kept the colour scheme very similar to the contents page to keep the sense of brand identity running through my pages. Every music magazine I researched kept a colour scheme constant, so I followed this convention to make the magazine seem more professional. I also made sure the colours were soft, and not too vibrant to appeal to the target market and suit the genre of music.