Preliminary Task

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

Masthead
Consistent
Colour scheme
Main image
(MCU)
Barcode
Cover lines
Sans Serif fonts
Dateline
Rule of thirds
Text anchors image
Areas of interest
Price
I have followed the convention of using a medium close up which is similar with GQ. Both GQ and
my preliminary task have the mast head in the top left corner. To add to this I have applied a
consistent colour scheme (purple and green) and similarly GQ (black and orange). On the other
hand I have applied a variation between Sans Serif and Serif fonts for the cover lines whereas GQ
has only applied Sans Serif this is because the Serif fonts follow the genre and theme of the
magazine which is a more technology based college magazine whereas GQ has the genre of
Mens Lifestyle thus needs to have a serious aesthetic. My magazine uses anchorage text to grab
the attention of readers similarly with GQ. The Rule of Thirds have been applied on both magazines
in the hot spot areas the magazine focuses on the face of person in the main image to give direct
address to the audience rather than the people in the main image looking away which would
detract readers. In my particular main image the face hits the upper hotspots whereas GQ focuses
on the face the reason why they are not similar is because my magazine is to fit the prop of iMac as
it is to follow the idea of mise-en-scene as the target audience would be appealed to the theme of
the magazine. Plus, in the other areas of hotspots I have my main cover line thus following the
codes and conventions of a magazine as the readers would focus on this area and thus be drawn
towards the topic mentioned and thus pick up the magazine the main cover line also follows
convention as it is bold and a bigger text thus people would know that this is a key article in the
magazine since it is purple in text whereas the rest of the cover lines are in green GQ also follows
this since their main cover line is in orange and is larger than the rest. GQ reasoning behind
focusing the main image on James Francos face is because he is a celebrity and well known male
figure thus their target audience of successful stylish men would be drawn to understanding his
lifestyle to better their own or become closer to James Francos way of living. GQ has also applied
an empty background as it is typical convetion for a lifestyle magazine whereas I have purposely
chosen a background so it follows the theme of my magazine and it is college magazine thus I
want to directly address the magazine by using a familiar location through mise-en-scene. I have
also applied the areas of interest to make it clear to the readers what the themes of the magazine
is which follows general codes and conventions of magazine whereas GQ has not applied the areas
of interest this may because of GQ being a well known global image thus people may already be
aware.
Masthead

Title

Colour scheme
Page numbers
Quote
Description
Social networks
Dateline
Categories
Images
Rule of Thirds
(three columns)
The contents page for my preliminary task follows areas of codes and conventions to magazine but
has some differences from GQ. The similarity includes using a consistent colour scheme I have used
purple and green and GQ has used blacks. Also, I have applied the masthead next to the title of
contents page which GQ has also applied this is to follow the convention as readers would know that
it is the contents page and the masthead makes the page look organised. Another similarity is that
there are three columns in both magazine this allows the rule of thirds to be applied easier
particularly in my magazine I have my images in the central hotspot areas and quotes in the upper
and lower hotspots thus it intrigues the reader into picking up the magazine and looking at those
particular articles. On the other hand GQ only applies one image and that is the front cover and its
main article this may be because it is to give a formal aesthetic to its target audience whereas my
target audience is students therefore does not need to follow this convention. Another difference
would include that GQ has used categorized sections for the magazine whereas I have not this is
because the areas of interest for my magazine are very close together in content and doesnt have a
huge variation for example sport and finance thus I have slightly bent convention. I have followed
convention by applying the page numbers for each article which has also been applied to GQ this is
because if the page numbers were not there the readers would be confused on where the article is
and thus leave the magazine. I have again followed convention by adding the social networks this to
add direct address to the target audience as the particular target audience of the student magazine
would be 16-18 year olds thus be up to date with modern technology thus be able to contact the
magazine easily whereas GQ has not applied their social networks on their contents page this may
be because the age of the target audience for GQ may be older and thus be more suited to e-mailing
or manual mail. GQ has used a variation in font the subheadings have a bolder sans serif fonts and
for descriptions in standard sans serif fonts so it is clear for readers and to make the aesthetic of the
magazine look professional whereas I have broken from convention by using a Serif font for the
subheadings with no description this is because I needed a direct approach for students as they
would be in college may not want to read descriptions of articles they would rather pick it up and
move straight to an article theyre interested in. My magazine has also applied a quote instead of a
description this is because it is a short enticement rather than giving a brief summary hence readers
may agree or disagree with the statement but still may read the article as there are intrigued.