Evaluation - Task 1 - Conventions

Front Cover of Band Solo and Kerrang! in terms of Convention.

Other conventional features of a music magazine is the way the talent in the full-bleed image is usually overlaying the masthead of the magazine. My magazine employs this technique to show that the artists are important. And it is conventional to have the cover story towards the middle of the page. Along with the cover-line to give an idea of what the article is about.

Contents Page of Band Solo and Kerrang! in terms of Convention.

Conventions of contents from Jordan Saward

Double Page Spread of Band Solo and Kerrang! in terms of Convention.

In my designing of a double-page spread I made sure I was following convention. As much as I didn't want to, I had to. So there was features of convention that I needed to put in my magazine. Looking back at it now, it looks better with the conventions of form. It gives the page a professional look and would suit the decided target audience. Techniques I used within my piece consisted of various conventional layouts and imagery.

From the top to the bottom, the most striking thing from this page is the image spreading across both pages. A lot of magazine designers use this image orientation for larger bands where the field of view requires it so it was conventional. I decided to use it for a 4 person band. Putting depth in the scene, the members were placed in a z fashion and the focus was just right for the whole band to get in view without blur. With the band looking in different directions it complied with other magazine's vision of indie or rock and the mise-en-scene used in other magazines and an implied suggestion that the band has some sort of conflict. To get the people to look 'indie' I asked the members to wear the most indie clothes they had. To get the participants looking more like a real band besides the clothes I managed to adapt and photoshop various rock representation conventions such as large beards and abnormal haircuts. Done well, these edits made the page look more genuine and made the mise-en-scene as best as it could be with what I had. Other conventions I made use of in the double-page spread was making the photograph black and white, a feature employed by many other magazines.

Towards the top of the page you can notice that the house style is clearly adapted into the page, this is conventional because it shows the magazine can consistently follow with similar colours on the same pages. And the words 'exclusive' show that this is an band only featured in this magazine, so its also conventional. Further down the page is