Evaluation

Carla Sharpe

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

When I created my front cover I took ideas from different magazines. From these two magazine I took the idea of having only one image on the page and to let that dominate. Another idea I took was to add small articles around the page.

Front cover

I did consider having the main picture over the image but, having three people instead of one, it covered up most of the masthead.

Originally I did have the masthead bold and overlapping, but I thought that It didn’t fit in with the rest of my magazine. Although my title is the same colour I think that it would still attract the reader.

I decided put a banner at the bottom of my page to give a sneak peak of what’s to come within the magazine. I did consider putting a smaller banner or a sticker of some sort on what is being advertised.

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

When creating my contents page I took some ideas from some magazines. Originally I had a completely different style of contents page, until I found a style that I liked from the cosmopolitan magazine.

I chose this style because separating it into sections made it easier to find the articles also by putting a picture of the front cover on the contents to show the different articles that are in the magazine.

I took the idea of having only a couple of images from this contents page, because I wanted the articles to stand out as well as the images.

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

page

Originally I had decided to have the image on one side of the page and the writing on the other , but I wanted to presents it as they were telling you how they feel, sort of like an interview .I then decided to have them placed around the page but then I was left with blank spaces and there wasn't enough information.

I then decided to add another person into the spread telling us how she feels being able to work with the group.

These are some of the magazines that I looked at!

ContentsFront cover Double Page Spread

These are some of the magazines which I looked at to get ideas for my magazine. Each of them are different because I wanted to get different styles and different genres, to give me a more wider range of magazine.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My Product has a particular age group, these being teenagers who take an interest in music and love to know the everything about what’s going on. My product would be mainly aimed at girls rather than boys, but each issue could be aimed at the different genders. The colours used in my magazine would be suitable from both males and females, most people see blue as more of a masculine colour but by using different shades of blue it creates a more even range throughout the genders. The fonts used are more feminine because of the curls on the letters, but I have tried to even it out by using a basic font on the articles also it makes it easier to read. The articles in the magazine would be more aimed at females because they are more ‘gossipy’ and females would enjoy reading it more. My magazine would be brought by working class family, due to it being affordable and contains gossip.The genre in which I have chosen is pop, because I found that more teenagers listen to pop music therefore it would appeal to a wider audience.The photos used are all girls because I thought that it would appeal to both genders, I do think that more teenage girls would buy it rather that boys because of the articles within the magazine.

What kind of media institutions might distribute your media product and why?

I think that the kind of media institutions that might distribute my media product would be Music Mags or Factory Media. I believe that my product would attract buyers because there is sections of gossip and real time celebrities. I think that my magazine is different from other magazines because its not specific and doesn't aim at a small audience, it would attract mainly teenage girls, but also boys. I think that some of the gossip would also attract an older audience. Due to the wider range of audiences the magazine would make a bigger profit than a magazine that is aimed at one type of audience.

I have print screened Music Mags to show the range of magazines they publish. I think that the main distributer would be Music Mags because they publish different types of magazines.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

When I researched the different types of magazines, mainly the genre and style that would appeal to a wider range of audiences. I was aiming for a mass audience for example ‘Q’ which is a mass audience magazine, this meaning that it appeals to a bigger audience.The main audience for my media product would be teenagers, and by the style and photos used I think that it would appeal to teenage girls this is also due to the articles but as well as attracting teenagers I also think that it would attract an older audience, due to the gossip within the magazine.By using the band name ‘3 of a kind’ I think that it creates a more hip hop and up to date magazine, and the photo that is also used is similar top the name of the band because they are alike, and know each other.By using the colours Black, White and different shades of blue appeals to the male audience because they are more masculine colours but also the different shades of blue appeal to the female audience.

How did you attract/address your audience?

By using my research I was able to see what would attract and address the audience. By using the font and colour of my title people would be able to see what genre my magazine is. Also by the picture that is used I think that people would be able to see what type of magazine I have gone for.

I would get the attention of my audience my advertising it on TV or on the internet, by doing this I think that it would attract and address different types of audiences.The audience that I wanted to attract were teenagers, most of them would be girls but it also could attract boys as well .

The language used in my magazine isn’t slang but also its not formal. By using slang I think that it creates a niche audience because not everyone would like slang or be able to read it, but by using too formal language it wouldn’t attract many teenagers because they would find it too posh, therefore by keeping the language simple it creates a mass audience.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process if constructing this product?Front cover

I felt that I have learnt different technologies from this process. To create my magazine I used Microsoft Fireworks, I have only used this briefly before, but this time I began to develop my skills. This is some of the skills that I learnt whilst doing my front cover.

I used this tool to cut out the unwanted space in my photos, I thought this was a good tool to use because I found it easier that using the rubber, and by using the rubber it was time consuming.

I used this tool to draw some of the different shapes on my front cover . I found this useful because I was able to draw different shapes easier and accurately.

I used this tool to perfect the colour scheme and make all the shade of colour the same, I found this useful because it was easier than finding the colour each time.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process if constructing this product?Contents

I felt that I have learnt different technologies from this process. To create my magazine I used Microsoft Fireworks, I have only used this briefly before, but this time I began to develop my skills. This is some of the skills that I learnt whilst doing my contents.

This is one of the tools which I used to create my background for my contents page, I found this tool useful because it enabled me to create a different style background than just one plain block colour.

I used this tool to create different effects on my pictures, to adjust the colour, and to sharpen the pictures.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process if constructing this product?Double

page

I felt that I have learnt different technologies from this process. To create my magazine I used Microsoft Fireworks, I have only used this briefly before, but this time I began to develop my skills. This is some of the skills that I learnt whilst doing my double page spread.

For my double page spread I basically used the same tools which I used on my contents and front cover.

This tool was used to rotate the word in the background of my double page .I also used this tool to fade the writing in the background. I found this useful because I was able to put writing in the background without it covering any pictures or covering the main writing.

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

I think that I have learnt a lot more doing my Music magazine, from doing my preliminary, I feel though that I could of done more planning for my preliminary than I did. I feel that I could of done a better job when preparing for my preliminary.For my preliminary I drafted up different front covers and a contents pages and chose the one that I wanted. I now wish that I had thought a bit more about what I wanted, instead of going straight in and making it. From doing my preliminary I feel that I have learnt a lot and that my skill have developed. I also feel that I know what the audiences want in a magazine and about what different styles and genres there are out there. When I took the photos for my music magazine I looked at some professional quality photos and then decided what style I wanted, I felt that I did better research on my photos before taking them on my music magazine, than I did on my preliminary, because I just went out and took some photos and then just chose the best ones.When doing my preliminary I always struggled when writing my magazine, but since I have researched about writing articles and what to put in them I found that when doing my music magazine I knew what to write about.I also found that when writing about my preliminary I found it hard to know what to write and just seeing a page full of text bored me so by putting images on and breaking the text down I found it easier to read.