Seans Evaluation

Evaluation

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

Masthead - On all of my pages I have put a mast head at the top of the page stating what page it is. I have done this by using the artistic text tool which allows me to insert some writing of my choice in one of the many fonts provided by serif. The font that I have chosen is Davida Bd BT; I have chosen this because I think that it is very unusual and looks completely different to any other magazines I have seen, but also it is bold and it will attract someone to buy the magazine. The masthead on my contents page and double page spread didn’t stand out much from the other writing on the page, so I have created a bold outline around the text to make it stand out. Also I have added a few monochrome images behind my mast head because in my research this makes the mast head stand out. The colour of my masthead is white because it stands out from the background.

Puffs – In my research I found that the puffs are placed around the background picture, so I have placed my puffs in places where you can see the picture in the background and can also see the writing clearly, I think this technique works very well. In my puffs I have put written things like exclusive interview because in my research I found out that a lot of people read magazines just for the interviews that are inside the magazine.

Photographs – The photograph I chose for my background is of 3 people sitting on the stairs, I have edited my picture in serif by using the instant artist tool, which I used to make my photo black and white. The shot of my picture is a medium front shot.

Barcode – I have chosen to put a barcode in my magazine because in my research on every magazine had a barcode on it with its own individual number, so I made my own barcode in serif using the line tool and the artistic text tool.

Price – The price of my magazine is £3.00, but in all my research on other magazines I found that their prices were around £4.00 and over, so I decided to make my magazine a bit cheaper because it makes my magazine more competitive to others and will also make my magazine sell better than the rest. I have targeted my magazine on EMAP. In my research the price range of EMAP magazines was around £3.50 so I have lowered my price below this price to be more competitive with the company.

Date – When I did my research on all different magazines I found that every different magazine had its own style of writing for their date and also they were all in different places. The date of a magazine is there to help the customer know what issue they are buying, because no one is going to buy July issue then buy a June issue are they. So my magazine is easily recognised what issue it is because it is clearly

Page numbers – In my research I have found that most of the professional magazines page numbers are at the bottom right hand corner of the page, so I have put mine in the same place on every page so that when my reader is looking what page it is they know where to look. Also I have put the page number in my magazines font to make it stand out from other magazines.

Double page spread – My double page spread is there to tell people about the bands personal life because on this page it has an interview with band. This page also has continuous fonts from my other pages which make my magazine look more professional to its reader.

Contents page – My contents page is there to help my readers find their way around my magazine, for example if they wanted to find out some gossip on one of the bands they would only have to look at the contents page and look for its page number.


How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My magazine is aimed at teenagers, both male and female. So because I have aimed my magazine at both sexes I deliberately chose softer colours like blue to attract males and females to read my magazine. The band that I have used is of both sexes which mean my magazine will attract both female and male attention.

The type of music the band plays in my magazine is indie, so I wouldn’t expect my magazine to get a lot of colour readers because most coloured people like other types of music.

In my research I found that most professional magazines are around £4.50, so I would class this as being a magazine for middle class people. I have decided to price my magazine at £3.00 which makes my magazine affordable to most people and will also make my magazine sell better in shops because it is cheaper.

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

A magazine institution is a company that makes and publishes lots of different types of magazines.

There are three different types of media institutions and they are IPC media, EMAP and BBC, these are different media institutions which do completely different things.

I aimed my magazine to be part of the EMAP institution because my magazine is like the magazines empire and smash hits; also they are both aimed at the same age group. Smash Hits and Empire are both aimed at the teenage audience which is why I have aimed my magazine at EMAP. My magazine and Smash Hits magazine are both very similar because they both have interviews and competitions in the magazine; also on the front cover they both have a young band which attracts young readers.

EMAP is a British media company that specialises in the production of business to business magazines and the organisation of business events.
Who would be the audience for your media product?

After analysing my audience research I decided that the audience I wanted to target my magazine at was teenagers between the ages of 14 to 21. I have chosen this age group because I have found out in my research that teenagers like to listen to indie music more than people 30+. In my research I have also found out that teenagers are more likely to buy cheaper magazines, which means that my magazine is best suited for teenagers because my magazine is cheaper than most others.


How did you attract / address your audience?

In my research I have found out that people are more attracted to big bright mast heads and big pictures, so for my front page I have created a really bright mast head that stands out to the audience and also I have got a big picture as the background. I have used different competitions and interviews to try and attract younger readers, also I used a young band to try and attract young people to come and read my magazine.

I addressed the audience also by the price of my magazine; this was at a low £3.00 to address younger readers. I have used design elements that are more masculine and feminine elements, for example; I have used a pale blue which is more predominant to males, but I have used some micro elements that are more feminine and also the style of writing in the mast head is in a feminine style.

Most people like to know where everything is in a magazine so on my contents page I have clearly labelled where everything is with big bold page numbers next to the writing that tells them what in the magazine.

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

While doing this magazine I have learnt how to layout a music magazine and why music magazines are created. In the process of doing this I have learned about the different camera angles and what effects different angles have on the layout of the magazine, for example; if you have a close up shot on your contents page then the reader instantly knows that there is going to be something about specifically about him in the magazine.

I have also learnt how to take the background out of a picture using the magic wand tool in the paint.net program. Also doing this you can insert a different background behind the picture by using different layers.

Chroma Key – chroma key technology is a modern package which helps photo manipulation. It can be used to extract backgrounds of certain images which help to create photos of a professional quality to be used in a variety of ways.

I have used the chroma key technique to extract the background out of my pictures so that I can insert different backgrounds into my pictures. I deleted the green background from the picture by using the magic wand tool in paint.net.

I have used serif photo plus to manipulate one of my picture to black and white by using the instant artist tool. I have also used serif to get rid of my spot on my cheeks; the tool I used was the blemish tool.

I have also learnt how to use DTP. The skills I have learnt are, cutting the green background out of pictures, I had to use the magic wand tool on all the background and then use a rubber to get rid of all the left over parts of the background. I have also learned how to insert a picture into a shape for example, I had to insert a picture into serif draw a circle onto the part I want in the shape, then press Ctrl+C than Ctrl+V which will open up a new layer with your shape in it.

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

I feel that to improve my product I would have to:

• Try some different ideas with my picture, for example different lighting and different angles. I need to change the lighting and angles because I have used too many of the same styles of lighting.
• Do some more research on different magazines so that I would have more knowledge on what the public wants to see in a music magazine?
• Write more description about what’s in my magazine on my contents page and try and write less about what is inside on the front cover.
• Change the design around and see if I can make the magazine look more professional.
  Do more research on fonts and try to find a better font for indie music.
• I should use my research more closely to make my magazine better.
• On my contents page I could have written more about the contents of my magazine and been a lot more specific to where and what everything is in my magazine.
• In my double page spread I should have written more questions to the band to give the public more information about the band.
  

I have used a PowerPoint presentation in class discussing of my finished product. Doing this has helped me to consider the skills I have learnt through this unit.