7 evaluation questions

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

Title - Following forms and conventions I made my title big and bold in order to stand out.

Colours - I also had to look at the colours carefully so as they mixed together better and I found out that yellow and white went together well with the background because it made it stand out more against it.

Contents page - I also set the contents page out as a real life magazine by setting it out in columns and putting page numbers next to the titles etc.

Main double page spread - I also edited pictures using Photoshop, and made my magazine using InDesign which followed how real magazine companies make and produce magazines.

2) How does your media product represent particular social groups?

I think that my media product represents a more upper class audience, who are mainly women. The reason for this being that the front cover is fairly elegant and I think that the fact a lot of women spend time outdoors, and because the picture is outside, it looks quite like a country magazine and this may attract to women more than men. I think that the model looks very fashionable, and someone who likes to keep up with the latest trends etc.

3) What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

A production company is a company responsible for the development and physical production of new media, performing arts, film, radio or a television programme. The company may also be directly responsible for the raising of funding for the production or may do through an intermediary.

A distributor is a device in the ignition system of an internal combustion engine that routes high voltage from the ignition coil to the spark plugs in the correct firing order.

I would want a large media industry to distribute my media product because then it would be popular with people and more people would be able to see it. I think a company such as IPC media would be a good company to distribute my product because they are the second largest UK consumer publisher with 22% of the market. They are also in the lead with women's weekly magazines and as my magazine is aimed at women this would be very helpful to advertise my product.

4) Who would be the audience for your media product?

Kelly is a 24 year old graduate who has an interest in country music, as well as wanting to hear about the latest concerts and news etc. Kelly’s look is quite plain and simple but also stylish and feminine at the same time.

Kelly comes from a well educated family, however her main focus is on music, as she loves to perform at her local bar and talent shows. One day she hopes to become a star. Her favourite music is country; however she also enjoys Indie and Pop music.

Along with music, she also likes going to gigs to get inspiration, and also listen to the competition. She also enjoys reading and watching shows such as X factor.

I think that Kelly would enjoy reading this magazine because she is an ordinary teenager who is into the latest fashion and music. I think this would also be a good magazine for her because it introduces upcoming artists just like her.

5) How did you attract/address your audience?

In order to attract the audience I had to get lots of audience research, in order to understand how to make my magazine eye catching. After getting my research and viewing the comments people had said, I managed to take this into account and make sure my magazine was attracting to the eye and included articles on fairly recent news. Also in a lot of the feedback I got, it said that it was good because I used bold colours and text, and this helped the magazine to be more eye catching and would stand out better in a shop.

Comments I got included:

• Page is set out well as it is clear
• Good idea to put the page numbers on the photos
• The boldness attracts the reader to the page
• I find your magazine name is really affective as it is short and its font catches your attention

In order to attract my audience I had to make sure that firstly my front cover was eye catching and the main picture drew them in. Most people buy magazines because of what is on the front cover and therefore that was the most important part of my project. I used a fairly simple yet elegant looking picture and I also followed this onto the text by using quite an old fashioned style of writing. I also decided to advertise a competition on the front because this usually attracts the audience’s attention as well.

I also had to make sure I came up with a good main story. I decided on the London Fashion Week because this is a huge event that happens every year with lots of celebrities attending it, and it gets lots of coverage. The fact that the article was also on an ‘upcoming’ artist may attract people because it gives other young artists the confidence to try and go further with their own musical talents.

I also used a title that had two different meanings. ‘Here’ as in the fashion is here, and ‘Here’ also meaning ‘hear’ as in hear the music. I think as it’s a simple and short title this also makes the magazine stand out.

I tried to match the colours by matching the yellow writing with the colours in the background etc. I think this made it look more deliberate and professional looking, rather than using lots of different colours all over the place. I also used the same fonts on the front cover, making some of them bolder and putting shadows on them to make the writing stand out more.

Furthermore the articles I have written about on the front cover are fairly up to date and therefore may interest readers more, and as they are famous people, it may attract the audience’s attention.

6) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Firstly I have learnt a lot about Mac computers during this project. I used the Macs when putting together my project and also writing up the article and editing pictures etc. I learnt how to find different programs and also how to transfer files through ‘Adobe Bridge’ etc.

I also used Photoshop a lot to edit my pictures after taking them. I had never used this programme before and learnt a lot e.g. how to use the spot healing tool on the model and how to make their eyes brighter etc.

I also used Google and Youtube while researching ideas for my magazine, such as pictures of models/celebrities so I got a rough idea of what I wanted on the front cover. I also looked at some Youtube tutorials to help me use Photoshop and also to get the best shots of my model.

I also used InDesign a lot because this is where I put together my double page spread and contents page. I leant some skills on this programme too which will probably help me in the future with other projects etc.

I also used the SLR camera to take all of my shots for my main project.

Lastly I used Blogspot to document all of my work and post my planning and research etc.

7) Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression of it to the full product?

For my preliminary task I had to create a school magazine front cover, and also a contents page. This helped us feel comfortable with using programs such as Photoshop etc and also helped us improve our photography skills before doing our actual project.

I took lots of different shots for my preliminary task, including pictures inside, and also pictures outside using natural light. Doing this helped me get an idea of what look I wanted to achieve for my final project. Also when editing my preliminary task photo’s I was able to pick up a lot of skills that I then used to help me with my main project.

Looking back at my preliminary task, it helped me to use the SLR camera properly before going out and doing my main project. It also helped me decide which angles were best to use and which types of shots e.g. I found that I didn’t like using close up shots because I preferred being able to see the whole person including some background.

Overall I think having to do a preliminary task before my main task was very helpful because it allowed me time to gain more knowledge and skills of certain programmes, instead of just having to go out there and learn it all for myself straight away. I also think that because I did the preliminary task, it meant that the outcome of my final task was a lot better.

My own evaluation

Preliminary:

Starting with the front cover of my preliminary, I think I produced a fairly good quality piece of work. I like the colours used on the front cover, and I also like the font style as it is bold and eye-catching. In addition, I like the white space at the top of the page, because it makes it look more creative, although I have left too much space between the title of the magazine and the writing which says ‘Your weekly school magazine’. However the picture, when resized, did go a bit miss-shaped because I didn’t keep to the original constriction of the image. Therefore if I were to do it again, I would make sure I resized my picture correctly.

Overall I am quite disappointed with the contents page. I didn’t give myself enough time to make it look more professional. If I were to start the contents page again, I would add some more writing and also more pictures. I would also change the colour scheme to make it stand out more as it looks quite plain.

Main:

Starting with the front cover, I am quite proud with the work I produced. I think the picture, and the setting is high-quality so it makes it look more professional and quite high-class.

I matched the writing colour to the background picture so it made it all fit together better. Some writing was in a golden yellow colour to match the building in the background. This colour also fitted very well because I wanted it to feel like a spring/summer magazine. I then used the colour white again because it stood out from the background better and matched her dress. I also like the font style I used as she looks quite aristocratic in the picture, and I think the fonts used reflect this.

I think if I were to redo my front cover, I would have her standing differently though. Because I don’t like the way she’s standing upright with her hands in front of her. I would also change the white circle, advertising something to win, since it just looks like it has been placed there without any thought going into it.

When designing my contents page I didn’t want it to look plain so I used different colours on the background. I chose pink because it matched the colours on the models dress on the front cover and double page spread. I then chose the light grey as it matched quite well with the light pink. I wanted to use quite bold font to make the topics stand out. I also only chose to have 3 pictures on my contents page because I didn’t want to overcrowd it.
I quite like my contents page, but I would have liked to add more pictures to it, and take out some of the writing because although it doesn’t look overcrowded, I think there is too much writing on it which makes it a little tedious.

Next, I completed my double page spread. Once again I am pleased with the picture I captured to use on one side of the double page spread. However there are a few problems I have with it, now I’ve looked back at it. I think it would look better if I had used a different setting/different outfit, because she is wearing the same as on the front cover, and she is also outside in both. The pose wasn’t how I wanted it either. It was a dull day, and therefore not very nice for being outside, so I didn’t manage to try for a long period of time to capture the picture I wanted.
Nevertheless I am very pleased with the double page spread. I am happy with the layout I have used, and the different fonts. I think the only things I would change, would be the red shape with writing in it, because it didn’t give the effect I was hoping it would. I would also add something at the bottom because there is quite a lot of yellow space not filled.