Evaluation 1: In what ways does your media products use, dvevelop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Because of my previous production at AS level, I decided to try to be creative as I enjoyed changing and challenging conventions of current magazines. However, because this production was a newspaper I had to try to keep it as conventional as possible whilst also making it original.

Because my target audience was the younger generation of early 20 year olds/late teenagers aed between 16 and 26, I felt it was necessary for my newspaper to stand out to them as something which they would like to read. For this reason I chose to make my masthead in a rounded font which would appear more youthful than most other newspapers. This is similar, however to the Metro newspaper which I researched. This newspaper is free in most places and is aimed at readers who are on the go, which is similar to my target audience. I chose the logo of a ship because I wanted it to remain a local newspaper whilst still appealing to my target audience. The ship references the waterfront in the centre of Bristol. This is also a place which is familiar to young people as there are many bars and social areas on the waterfront.

My house style is black and red because I felt that these are dynamic, modern colours which aren’t too loud but challenge the conventions of most newspapers as most use colours such as blues, greens and whites which are more subtle. I chose to do the ‘24’ in red because it makes my newspaper appear more edgy and emphasises the fact that it is fast news, up to date everyday, which is what my target audience are looking for.

The main picture on my front cover uses the conventions of most local newspapers. It matches the main story on the front cover and is the largest image. From my research I found that most main pictures are of a scene if the article is about a place. The newspapers I researched were The Evening Post, The Metro and The Mercury. I chose not to use a picture of people because it may have given the reader the wrong impression of the story.

The layout of my front cover was chosen as I wanted readers to recognise its house style as a local newspaper through the conventions I used.