Final Evaluation

Foundation Portfolio Unit G321
Evaluation

For our AS media studies coursework, we were given a task to complete; we were given a brief which explained the tasks we had to do. Our preliminary task was using DTP and an image manipulation programme; produce the front page of a new school/college magazine, featuring a photograph of a student in medium close-up plus some appropriately laid out text and a masthead. Additionally you must produce a mock up of the layout of the contents page to demonstrate the grasp of DTP.
Our main task was to complete a front page, a contents page and a double page spread of a new music magazine, the genre was left for us to decide but we had to include a minimum of four images all in which are original along with the text.
To present our research, planning and completed tasks we had to use blogger, which is similar to an online diary were we could post our work on.

Before creating our final products, we had to spend some time researching other magazines to give us a good understanding and a clear explanation to what our magazines were to look like according to the genre of the magazine, the content, the audience. We had to think very closely when it came to thinking of our own ideas for our own magazine such as the location of were our images were going to be taken, the choice of model we used, also the costume of what our models were wearing and lastly if they were going to have props such as guitars. For example guitars would not be a convention of pop music therefore we had to think carefully on which genre our magazine was going to be and our chosen model for our magazine. Not thinking stereotypically but you wouldn’t see a male who liked heavy metal music that dressed all in black on the front cover of a pop magazine therefore I had to think carefully who my model was going to be for my images which would represent a pop artist.
We also had to use digital technology or ICT in the presentation of research and planning; I used ICT for my research and planning but digital technology and ICT in the process of making my final copies of my front page, double page spread, and contents page. All my images I used are original and all taken personally by me. Also, for my research we were to analyse three front covers, three double page spread’s and three contents pages all from existing music magazine which therefore helped us have an understanding of how the layout is and how the media conventions are used. We also had to research many existing magazine’s to help us with the conventions of our own magazine.
The conventions of a music magazine front cover are, a masthead which is the magazine’s magazine name and is usually displayed in the left corner, a price which is normally underneath the masthead along with the issue number which is the tally of magazines and the date which shows weather the magazine’s are weekly or monthly. Also other conventions are having a barcode on the magazine, a teaser which is a one word/phrase that acts as an attention grabber, a main feature or a headline which is a phrase that may summaries the main point of the main feature. Other conventions are large print, different styles, bold colours which are in order to catch the attention of the reader. The connotations of the bright colours I have decided to use are girly and also attract the correct audience. They also use subtitles which are smaller headlines that may summarize the feature, smaller features which features included in the magazine. Also images are conventional of music magazines they tend to range in size which can be close up to medium close up. They tend to Range from one main image to x amount featuring one main image and smaller images. Images make helps the front cover look more interesting. It can add understanding of a story and/or entice someone to read the magazine. The font style and size of type face is also important when designing a magazine; along with the colour, weather they are bold colours, bright or light, and weather they suit the genre of the magazine And also, offers/adverts.
My planning process consisted of me getting use to the programmes so I therefore had a few play around sessions trying to understand the programme Photoshop before I made my final decisions. My planning also consisted of doing hand drafts so I had an idea of what my final products were going to look like. I also did IT drafts so they could give me more ideas and time to think about how my final products were going to look. During my planning stage I still looked at existing magazines so I could get the hang of making my own due to having seeing real products myself. I believe this gave me huge help when making my own products; this is because I had taken the conventions into account which made it easier when designing my own products. Also, during my planning stage I completed a spider diagram to help me with the terms; language, institutions, ideology, audience and representation. This helped me a lot going into detail with what these media terms actually mean therefore I could link my product to the key terms. I also produced a mood board of several magazines which I could look at to help me. I also completed work sheets to help me understand the terms institutions and ideology which I wasn’t very clear on prior to developing the task.
For my task I used many programmes and technology; I used Microsoft Publisher and Adobe Photoshop to help me create my products. Creating my double page spread and front cover on Adobe Photoshop has given me a better understanding of using the programme therefore I will be able to create better products if I were to use this programme again. I used Adobe Photoshop to edit my photo for my contents page therefore I used both Adobe Photoshop and Microsoft Publisher to create my contents page. Using Microsoft Publisher was easy and simple to use which was better for me to create my text as it is much simpler than using Adobe Photoshop. I also used a digital camera to take my photos as my images had to my original and taken by me.

In conclusion, I believe I have met the criteria of my task and produced my products with careful thought to appeal to my target audience. I believe my media product has developed forms and conventions of real media products as I have included many forms and conventions for my front cover, double page spread and my contents page. I thought about these very carefully after analysing existing products which helped me greatly produce my final products; which I believe I have used carefully and with a lot of thought.
I believe my products represent many social groups such as young people who are why I decided to include a young pretty girl for my model which I believe would appeal to young people and people who enjoy pop music. I believe an existing institution would be most likely to sell my product are IPC media as they produce over 85 iconic media brands, as they appeal to a wide audience; almost two thirds of UK women and 44% of UK men – almost 27 million UK adults – while our online brands collectively reach 20 million users every month.
My target audience for my products would be 14-19 predominantly female and secondary males, they would tend to be working class as the price of my magazine is £1.85 therefore people from the working class will be able to afford this magazine.

I believe I have learnt quite a lot about the technology I have used mainly Adobe Photoshop as I had never used this programme before until I became an AS Media student therefore I have not used it for too long but after being set this task I believe I have managed to product my three products using this programme and believe I have been successful on completing the task therefore I believe Adobe Photoshop has helped me a lot. I would use this programme again in the future I believe it is a very skilled programme in which you can edit images and create the products I produced. I believe I have learnt how to use this programme on completing this task and I believe I have learnt much more about music magazines I didn’t know before. I have learnt about the conventions of magazines and have been able to produce my own music magazine front cover, contents page and double page spread. From creating the preliminary task to producing my final task I believe I have improved a lot by having a more developed understanding of the programme’s I have used. I also believe I had a batter understand of LIIAR when creating my final task.

some of my unused images

My final front cover

This is my magazine front cover in which i thought about making carefully due to looking at existing pop music magazines. I took into account the conventions of the magazines when coming to make mine. My music magazine genre is pop therefore i have called my music magazine 'pop' which is simple and gives the audience the knowledge that it is a pop music magazine hense the name. I decided to put my masthead at the in the top left corner which is conventional to magazines but instead of stereotypically horizonatally across the top of the magazine, i thought i would challenge the conventions and have my masthead in the top left corner but going vertical, i thoguht this would be a good idea as if my magazine was a real magazine to be sold in shops, the magzine would be on a shelf and therefore you would only see the left third; therefore i thoguht this would be a good idea to have my masthead vertically so when buying the magazine you well see the whole name of the magazine rather than just the 'P' of the masthead. I have also uncluded the issue number, date and price which is conventional to all magazines. I also decied to use a barcode which is also another convention of magazines. And lastly i decided to use a sell line which would grab the audience's attention. My decision on choosing a young girl as my model is she represnts pop stars as she is young, pretty and confident. You can tell she is confident by looking at the images as she is looking straight into the camera rather than looking away. I decided on the colours as pink and white are conventional to music magazines.

My final double page spread

For my double page spread, i researched quite a few other magazines to give me some ideas on what my double page spread should look like. I took into account the conventions of many double page spreads and used them to come up with my own ideas to create my own. I have used sevaral images; most of these images are taking up one of the pages of my double page spreads which is also convetnional for double page spreads as there is normally images on one side of the double page spread and an interview or an article on the other side. I have choosen to do an interview on my model; i asked questions similar to what would be asked to a celebrity/pop star in a pop music magazine as my magazine is a pop magazine aimed at young children. I also decided to used alternating font colours using pink as one of my colours. I decided to use pink as it is conventional colour for a pop music magazine. I also decided to use a pull quote, which is a quote that has been pulled out of the interview to make the readers notice this first; it is written in bigger font to the actual interview therefore the audience is more likely to read the pull quote before the actual interview. It is more likely to attract the audience to read the interview rather than just flick through the pages. I have also put my interview in collums which is also conventional for double page spreads.

My final contents page

This is my final version of my contents page. During researching very similar products i took the conventions into account when planning my own creation. I therefore then decided to use many of the conventions for my own magazine contents page. I have used the magazine logo for my contents page as when doing research, many of the contents pages featured the magazine logo and therefore i thought it would be conventional to include my magazine logo on my contents page. I also decided to include one main image is it is conventional for a contents page, as it not ment to be too overcrowded. Many magazines usually contain one main image or very few small images. I also included the page number, i thought carefully what my page number would be as the contents page always comes right at the beginning of the magazine therefore i decided my contents page would be on page2. I also included the issue number and the date which is also convetional for the contents page. Lastly, I obviously included the contents of the whole magazine and obviously the page numbers they are on.