Evaluation

In this evaluation, I will be answering many questions which show what I did for my magazine and how I did these things. I will answer each question by evaluating each one by showing what I did throughout the coursework and what I did well and not so well.

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

To complete my magazine I had to research real magazine examples on the internet to see how they are laid out and what they have included on each part of the magazine. I researched two front covers, two contents and two double-page spreads. I then analysed each part of the magazine. After analysing them, I used a similar layout to my research for my magazine. I did this because most of the examples of magazines had a similar layout with parts of it in the same spots.

My magazine front cover looks like a traditional music magazine front cover because it has a large title at the top, a main image which covers most of the page and some informative text below the image. I also found that the colours are similar throughout the magazine, so I tried to keep the same colours throughout my music magazine to keep it traditional. My contents also looked like a traditional contents because it had a large title at the top, a list of text of what is in the magazine and some images that relate to each part of the text. Finally my double-page spread looks traditional as it has a large title at the top, a main image which covers a large amount of the two pages and articles of text around the image relating to the image.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

For my preliminary task I had to create a sixth form magazine front cover. To represent a particular social group on the front cover, I had to have a representation of sixth form students. I did this because I took a picture of a sixth form student with the camera and placed it onto my sixth form magazine front cover. This made the front cover have a representation of sixth form students because I have used a real life student in my magazine. I also added text onto the front cover which are about sixth form students and some relates to the photo that I took. This also represents sixth form students because the text is about sixth form and the students and not just anything.

For my main task I had to create a front cover, contents and double-page spread for a music magazine. I had to have a representation of musicians/bands in the magazine. To do this I had took a photo with a camera of my friend who acted as a DJ. I got him to put some DJ headphones to make him look like a real DJ and made him do an action of what I researched a DJ would do. By doing this, I represented a musician in my magazine as the musician is a DJ. The text that I added onto the magazine was related to the DJ on my magazine and it all is about music and DJ’s. This means that I have represented a musician throughout my music magazine.

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

IPC would be the ideal magazine distributor for my music magazine as they are a very large company who are the leading magazine publisher in the UK. They would fit perfect for my magazine as they have already distributed music magazines before which have been very successful. IPC make similar products to mine such as home, men, women, cycling, sport and much more magazines. They produce a variety of magazines which have been successful. This is why I have chosen IPC to make my magazine. The main audience that they are aiming my music magazine at is the more male and female young adult audience because they have produced many other magazines which are aimed at this audience.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The main audience that my music magazine would be aimed at is the young adult/teenager audience. I would target this type of audience because I feel that the type of music that my magazine is representing fits this type of audience and the layout and colour scheme etc. also fits the young adult/teenager audience. I did some research on what audience music magazines target on the internet and I found that the type of music that I have chosen for my magazine which other magazines have used have targeted the more teenage audience.

Other magazines that represent a different type of music are more aimed at adults. But not many adults read the type of magazine that I have created, so I thought this would fit my magazine well. If I was concentrating on a different type of music such as classical, the magazine would appeal more to the old adult audience. My magazine is more of modern music and DJ mix tapes. This I think, appeals to teenagers more than any other audience.

How did you attract/address your audience?

Because my audience is directed to teenagers, I had to find out what sort of things they like in a magazine. So I did some research on some magazines that are also targeted at the teenage audience. I found that many magazines similar to mine had bright florescent colours with big bold text which catches the reader’s eye. I also found that there isn’t too much text in the magazine and that there are prizes to win and interviews with famous people. Overall, the magazines looked exiting to look at and there is a lot going on, on the page.

To attract my target audience, I have used many ideas from my ideas. One of these ideas is to have bright florescent colours on my magazine, so I put some of the main colours as florescent blue and green to catch the reader’s eye. I did this by putting the colours around the titles and images. The next idea I used from my research on my magazine is to have big bold exiting fonts for my text so it looks easier on the eye and makes the magazine look good. I chose an exiting font and used it throughout the magazine. I also added an interview with a famous DJ in my double-page spread because this is what I found that my target audience likes in a music magazine. I dedicated a whole double-page spread to this interview and I added little advertisements to win prizes on the page because this is also what my target audience likes.

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

The technologies that I have used to construct my product are:

· Camera – I used this to take the photographs of my friend for my famous DJ. From using the camera I learned how to operate a high quality camera and how to get the best picture.

· Adobe Photoshop – I used this to create the whole layout, background, colours, text etc. From using Adobe Photoshop I learned how to add affects onto images such as adding drop shadows and strokes.

· The internet – I used this to research real magazines and all my other research. From using the internet, I learned how to find examples of magazines to help with my research.

· Microsoft Word – I used this to create my plans for my front cover, contents and double-page spread. From using Microsoft word, I have learned how to create a series of boxes to make a plan and to create different shapes.

· Adobe indesign – I used this to create my double-page spread. From using adobe indesign I learned how to get the page to be a double page spread form and how to add different documents on to it.

What was easy to learn?

Throughout creating my product, I found taking photos and importing them onto the computer to add to my magazine was easy to learn because it was made easy to get the images straight from the camera to the computer. I also found creating a magazine to a teenage target audience as I am a teenager so I can relate to what is good and not good in a music magazine. I found creating titles, backgrounds and adding affects to the text and images on adobe Photoshop easy to pick up. I quickly found out what target audience I wanted my magazine to be aimed at and what type of music my magazine would be representing so I found this easy to learn.

What was hard to learn?

Throughout creating my product, I found getting used to adobe Photoshop was hard because I had never used it before and there are so many things that you can do with the software. It took me a while to be able to get everything on my magazine to look professional and all in the correct place. I also found it hard to fit all the text onto my double-page spread and I had to keep on changing font size to get it right. I found it hard to make the magazine look like a traditional music magazine that looks professional.

I have learnt many things during the construction of my product. The main things are that I have learned how to use adobe Photoshop correctly, how to take photos that look professional by using different lighting, I didn’t know how to use adobe indesign correctly and I now know how to edit images and text to make them look better for example adding a drop shadow and inner shadow. I have also learnt to add photos onto a magazine and edit them to get rid of the background and add another one.

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

I have had to make many steps for the production of preliminary task of making a sixth form magazine front cover. These are the steps I had to take to create it and what I have learned from each step:

Step 1 – Firstly, I had to research real life sixth form magazine front covers from the internet. I found two front covers and analysed them to see what ideas I could get for the creation of my front cover. The things that I learnt from this step is how a traditional magazine is laid out, what amount of text is used on a front cover and how many images are on a front cover of a sixth form magazine.

Step 2 – Secondly, I planned the front cover out on Microsoft word using the research of sixth form front cover magazine examples. I created many boxes which are labelled what each box represents. From this step, I learnt where to put each part of the front cover on the page and what layouts work and look best on the page.

Step 3 – The next step that I had to do in the construction process of my sixth form magazine front cover is to take a photo of a sixth form student which will be the main image on the front cover. I learnt from this step how to use a camera professionally and how to get the most out of a photo by using different lighting.

Step 4 – I then had to start producing the front cover on adobe Photoshop. I started with the basics by putting each part of the front cover on the page such as the background, a basic title and placing the image and text in the correct places. From this step, I learnt how to place a photograph onto adobe Photoshop and create text and titles on the page.

Step 5 – For step five, I had to edit all the text and images by adding colour and adding effects to each part such as a drop shadow on the title and creating a different background for the image to match the front. The things that I learnt from this step are how to edit different types of text and images.

Overall, I learnt many things during the preliminary task which later on helped me complete my main task. But the main thing that I have learnt is that the production process of creating a magazine is that it takes a very long time to construct and complete it.