Evaluation

Comparing the conventions of my magazine to a real magazine. I chose a magazine of very similar colour to compare mine to because of the way they have used all the pink on the page as well. I think my magazine (on the right) has a better masthead than the Rolling stone magazine because mine is much clearer where as the magazine on the left pretty much has no masthead as the image is covering a lot of it up. I don’t think this is a good idea to attract new customers to the magazine because if someone has never seen It before, they wont know what the magazine is called. Looking at the cover lines, there is a lot packed in to the one on the left, this makes me think I should have moved everything up and tried to fit in some more information and cover lines on the cover as there are a few gaps.

Both magazine covers do have a variety of pinks on the page so it doesn’t look flat and boring. Both of them also have only used three colours. Even though the magazine on the left has a lot more writing on than mine, I think its quite difficult to read being that size. Also because of the quite messy font I have used, I needed to keep my writing quite big so its still readable. I have put the most interesting cover lines on the left of my page because if it was on a magazine rack, these would help to lure the customer in. Also when they have picked the magazine up, I have used a badge to promote a competition that the customer could get involved in. Whereas on the magazine on the left, the only clear lure on the page is the fact that ‘Lady Gaga’ is in it, however it does not say why. I also have information at the bottom of my magazine for the customer to contact my magazine where as the Rolling stone magazine doesn’t have anything like that. I cant see a variety of fonts on the Rolling stone magazine, which I purposely tried to incorporate into mine so it does not look boring and too organised. I also made some words bold and highlighted the word freebie, because even though you can deny it, everybody loves a freebie. My magazine also has a price and barcode on the front, which the Rollingstone magazine doesn’t. Overall I think my magazine does have all the conventions of a normal magazine and a few added like the tagline at the bottom. I tried to keep the badge I added, looking 3D so my magazine will stand out and jump of the page at the viewer than being flat, I think it was worked well. I was worried that my black and white image would not work at the beginning but once I had done some research about other magazines with black and white images, I gave it the pink hue to make it more interesting and less flat and I think this worked well.

• The normal forms and conventions of a magazine is, the masthead very large at the top, lost of cover lines on the left because of the placing on a magazine rack in a store and sometimes cover lines on the right as well. The image would usually be placed down the middle and be well thought about including, colour, clothes, hair, the model, and posing position. As all these things must go with the genre of the magazine. Also the fonts, sizes and designs of them. I think my magazine portrays these well as I have thought about all of these things.

Even though this is not a music magazine, I decided to include it because it also has very spaced out cover lines as my front cover does. This one also has the barcode and price unlike the Rolling stone one. This one also has a lot of the masthead covered up, which as I said I don’t like as its not easy to attract new customers by doing this. I have made the models head on my front cover interact with the masthead/logo of my magazine but not cover it up as the main image of my magazine is not as relevant as the masthead. Because my magazine would be much less known than the examples I have used, I think I did the right thing not having the main image cover the masthead. Not all magazines have logos but they do all have mastheads. I wanted to challenge this by using my masthead as my logo as well, I have also used the heart logo for page numbers on my other two pages. I think my magazine does connote pop music very well as it is aimed at teenage girls and this is obvious, and teenage girls are known for listening to pop music. Although the stereotypical girls pop magazine would have a lot of pictures of boys for example ‘One Direction’ I have also challenged this by making mine about a successful new singer Frankie jones, who appears on the front cover and on the double page spread. To create some variety in my magazine I died my hair purple for the contents picture to look like someone else. This is because a normal magazine would not be all about one person.

My contents page is on the right, I will be comparing it to the one on the left from vibe magazine. The background on the left has black and grey saturation as there isn’t much on the page, I feel the page needs the background to be interesting. My page has no background as there is a lot of colour and things going on in the foreground. Compared to the vibe contents, I think I could make my writing much smaller, and add some more information on the page, this is because once it has been printed off a4, I think the text may look too big. I think my image is not as interesting as the image on the vibe contents as there is less to look at. Although I think the amount of colour I have used, balances it out, as it is unusual to have purple hair and a heart in your eye. I used the heart in the eye because it is the same as my page number theme, I think this helps to link all the pages together

because this page is purple and looks different to my other two pages, therefore I used the hearts to help link them together. I used music notes down the side instead of page numbers or bullet points because without them, the page did not connote that it was from a music magazine, whereas if the page was to be seen on its own, the viewer would know its from a music magazine. I also used three colours as I did in my front cover, but with purple. I used black boxes to highlight important words that I think my audience would most like to read about, for example ‘gossip’ and ‘Exclusive’ interview. I also highlighted the website for my magazine, which is in the same place as the website is on my front cover. I have only used one font on this page, but I have tried to vary my text by using capitals, changing colour and highlighting. In comparison to the vibe contents, I think my page is much more fitting to my audience, and the vibe page must be aimed at an older audience due to the sophisticated colours and fonts. Also due to what the model in the image is wearing. I like the disjointed title on the vibe contents page, I think I could have used this in my page, and not having it overlapping the models head. Although I still think it looks good, I could have experimented further.

Most magazines split there pages in half, for their double page spreads having writing on one side and a large image on the other. Even though this must work, I decided to challenge this

method by using two small images, on each side, shaping round my text.I used a whole photo-shoot I did and put all the images onto a film background . This is because I think it helps to show the fun personality of ‘Frankie Jones’ who is the new pop star my magazine is about. I also used a slightly bigger, full body image, of Frankie Jones. I dressed the model in a pink skirt to match the colour scheme of my magazine. Also like the opposite DPS page. I used a lure in my page, which is the large quotation in the middle, from the text of the interview. This is very commonly used in magazines. The viewer will read this first and if its interesting, it will make them want to read the whole article. I took inspiration from other DPS while making mine. For example the pink shapes around the page, help to give it splashes of colour and help to make the page interesting. I got this idea from another DPS page, I have put on my blog. I have yet again used the heart with the page number, to help link my three pages together. I have also used the font on my contents and cover, for the title of my DPS. I have personalised the interview, by using a posh handwriting font almost as if Frankie Jones has signed the page. I think this is a good quality that the other DPS page does not have. I also think the other DPS could look boring to some people as the only colour on the page is the girls sunglasses and the matching blue question mark. In my opinion, I would therefore say, my page is more successful for my target audience. I have also used the large first letter technique that all magazines use for their DPS. I think this attracts attention to the first paragraph of the article. I have exadurate this on my page by highlighting it with a pink box.

Masthead and Logo.

Cover lines.

3d lure.

Banner to show web address.

Different colour text and fonts.

Banner at the top evens out the page and lure.

Smaller image, showing content and variety of shots.

Main image, black and white.

Price and bar code.

Variety of pinks, so the page isn’t flat.

Using capitals and highlighting to makes words stand out.

Saturation causes image to blend with the background.

Black skirt to balance out the black masthead.

Masthead

Bullet points as music notes.

Page number shaped as a heart like front cover logo/ masthead.

Heart to carry on the theme of hearts through the image.

Purple hair matching the purple writing.

Banner with webpage on it like front cover

Highlighted important words.

Alternating colour of text, more variety on the page.

Striking image.

Pink masthead, matching theme of page.

Pink splashes of colour to make the page interesting.

Signed by Frankie to personalise the page.

Larger, full body shot of Frankie Jones.

Alternating the colour of the questions and answers for variety.

Page number to match the heart theme of the other pages.

Large quote from text to lure the audience.

Film strip of smaller images to connect with the audience.

Large first letter of the writing.

Outfit to match the page.

Question two.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

I have constructed the representation of social groups in my magazine by using images of the same person that my magazine would be aimed for and that could represent my target audience. Which is teenage girls, I thought I could reach a connecting with them well, through my magazine as I am a teenage girl myself. Representation means, the view of something made by a certain person, as different people will represent things differently. In my magazine, I am representing, teenage girls, from lower to upper class. The class, does not really matter, with my magazine, because all teenage girls are the same, for example, most like pop/ dance music that is in the charts, they all try to be different and individual, but really they all like a good girly gossip magazine to read. Therefore, this is what I have tried to provide. I think I am slightly stereotyping teenage girls because of my experiences, therefore, this is my representation of them. I have included fashionable clothes with a slight indie look, with the buttoned up shirt on the front cover, then girly fashion in my double page spread.

I have also tried to reach out to those that are slightly different, by have an image in my contents, where the model has purple hair, which is different and eye catching to anyone as this is unusual. I also included a small film reel of a photo shoot I did, with a variety of slightly different shots of the model, but pulling faces, to show the fun side of her. Even though the leather jacket he is wearing could connote a harder look, she is still fun and blonde. The jacket has knitted sleeves, therefore I think this tones down the biker look.

• As most teenage girls will take pictures off themselves for social networking sites etc., by doing the same with the star of my magazine ‘Frankie Jones’ I think this helps to show, that the audience is not that different, and it helps Frankie to connect with the audience so they can relate. This will create more interest in the interview by the viewer, even though they may not know it. I have also used colloquial language to connect with my audience, for example ‘Juicy gossip on the hottest celebs!’ I did this, because girls love to know about celebrities and the music industry, therefore they like to get all the gossip about it. I think by using language like this, it helps to lure them in. My magazine is not aimed at anyone of any particular race. Although my images are all of white people, this is because of the resources and people I could get hold of. As I live in a very rural area, it is not very multicultural and therefore would not have been able to use anyone of culture to feature in my magazine. This does not mean this is stopping cultured people from buying my magazine, as predominantly white people live in the UK, it would be usual for other types of people to see white people a lot. I do not have any props or backgrounds in my magazine, therefore I am not representing social groups using mise en scene. I think the only way I would have been able to do this, is make a stage set up and take a shot of ‘Frankie Jones’ singing or even in a recording studio. As this would have been very difficult to do without it looking cheesy, fake or very unprofessional, I chose to not use any backgrounds at all and cut all my images out.

Question three.

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

Below is a comic strip I made to show the production process I went through to make my

magazine.

• Comag is the distributor I have found that I think would sell my magazine.• http://www.comag.co.uk/consumerhome.htm Here I have included a link to the page explaining

what they do. Other magazines they distribute, are Cosmopolitan, Glamour, vogue, ect. I think these are of a very similar style to my magazine. This is because, they are aimed at women, the content of them is very much, celebrity orientated. These quality's are very similar to my magazine. Below, is a screen shot from their website of some other music magazines Comag distribute. I think they would distribute my magazine, because they have a large variety of magazines they already have, including, Sports, art, buying and

• Selling, fashion, holiday and travel, Children’s, boating, fishing, modelling, Music, and many more. I think the company Comag, knows all their target audiences very well for each magazine they distribute. They have had over 30 years

• Of experience working with global trades. It was • Formed in 1977 and is owned by two major magazine• publishers, The national magazine company, and • Conde nast publications. They are the UK’s largest and • Influential third party distributor. The advantage of • Knowing the target audiences well, is that they will • Know what shops to sell what magazines to, and also • In what areas of the world. For example, small • Newsagents may just want to sell, the main magazines of • Each genre, as people are more likely to buy them, • Therefore they will make more money.

• I think my product is very similar to some of the magazines Comag distribute. I do think its slightly different because it was made by a teenage girl that this magazine is aimed at, this could be a good thing because I know what I would buy and it puts a young opinion on things. This could also be a bad thing though, as because I made a magazine I would buy, it could be very personalised and not to every teenage girls taste. I think the company Comag has a very good reputation because of the amount of magazines they distribute, also, the bigger the names they distribute, the more other magazines will trust them and see the company as reliable as much larger magazines use them. It is important to have a good reputation because the company may get recommended to others, and this creates more business for them. I now think my product is more of a Niche product due to my target audience of girly girls. I think this will affect the company that works with it, as niche magazines will not sell as much or as well as mainstream products. Bigger companies will be able to afford to distribute niche products like my magazine but smaller ones may not be able to take the risk, if it does not sell well enough. My magazine could be advertised online at first, as the company that distributes it may not want to put a lot of money on the line, making an advert, if it does not sell well. Therefore I think online advertising would be the first thing to do. I think my magazine would only sell well in certain areas, for example, middle class areas, that have the time and money to be spending it on magazines about celebrities that you don’t get on the television. I don’t think lower class people would be so interested. I also think my magazine could do well, in big cities like London, because there are more people interested in music and celebrities as a lot of celebs live in London. And the people of London may want to know more about people they may come across. Also there would be a larger group of girly girls that live in London, rather than here in Devon. People to also get my magazine, by subscribing online and having posted to them on a monthly basis.

Question four.

• Who would be the audience for your media product?

Audience research.• I tried to involve my audience as much as possible while getting feedback and their opinions.

Here I have included a few screen shots, of the questionnaire I did, the rest of the questionnaire is at the planning stages on my blog.

I have also done a customer profile that is also on my blog, here is a link to the page you will find it. http://elliemediablog.blogspot.co.uk/search?updated-max=2011-12-08T06:54:00-08:00&max-results=7&start=14&by-date=false Above it is also my editorial profile I did, directly addressing my audience.

• I also included a video from YouTube, this is the sort of music I would imagine my target audience to be listening to, I thought this would give an idea to the viewer of my blog of the type of music magazine I will be making and what music has helped to influence me into creating my media product. Here I have included a link to the blog page with the video on it, and a link to the YouTube page with the video on.

• http://elliemediablog.blogspot.co.uk/search?updated-max=2011-12-08T06:54:00-08:00&max-results=7&start=14&by-date=false – Blog

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlyXNRrsk4A&ob=av2e - YouTube

Question fiveHow did you attract/address your audience?

• To find out the kind of thing my audience would like to see and what they think would look good on my magazine, I asked my classmates to do peer assessments of each page I did, to see what I needed to change. These have been uploaded to my blog as I went along. I did a lot of market research on other magazines that would attract the same target audience as I was going for. I did this at the beginning of my planning stages. I tried to use similar page designs to the professional magazines I researched into, as these techniques obviously work. However, I wanted my work to be original and different to what is on the market already, therefore I chose my own fonts, colours, models and costumes that they wore. I tried to do things on my pages a bit differently, but still appealing to my audience, for example, the page layout of my DPS, is not the typical design of a DPS, as it is not just split into two, I was therefore challenging this theory of the typical DPS design, by incorporating my own ideas into it. I think it turned out well and I really like the page I created.

Comparing my initial plans to my final product.

As you can see, I changed a lot throughout making my magazine as my final product looks very different to my flat plan. I changed the masthead first because ‘Boombox’ sounded like a Dj type magazine and I didn’t think it fitted in with my genre. I therefore went back to my questionnaire and chose the next favourite masthead. I thought this one fitted much better. The cover lines are pretty much the same as this is all magazines have cover lines in the same area of the page. I do also have banners on the top and bottom of my page as I planned. The pose of my model is very similar, but my final piece has a close up shot and it’s a mid-shot because the model is leaning forward. I kept the same colour scheme as my initial design. As I was making my magazine, I also added things like the badge which is my lure. The logo/masthead being one thing, the font of my text and the extra picture at the top left corner for a variety of more shots on the cover, so there is more to look at, as my main image is black and white. I also had to get rid of my balloon idea as the masthead had changed.

I also changed my contents page a lot from my original plan. I changed the type of shot I was going to use as it was originally going to be a full length shot, and decided on a very close up shot of half a face. I think this shot works well with the page. I also changed the sides of which my writing and picture was going to be on. I did this because I preferred this side of the image, as it looked better than the other half of the face. I could not continue with my balloon idea as I changed the masthead. Therefore I used music notes as bullet points instead of the bows. As all this came to place, I decided I needed a proper title rather than the faint title in the background. I used bold colours to match the editing I did of the image as it is very bright and I needed the text to match or it could have taken the attention away from the information. I also added a banner at the bottom and a page number to complete it.

I was very stuck when planning my double page spread, this is because I didn’t know how much text I would have, or what the content of it would be. I therefore just did a quick design of the images I Thought I wanted. I was going to use a range of different poses in different outfits to show all the personalities of this person. I thought this was a good idea untill I had to try and take the shots myself, and this wasn’t working out. I also didn’t think this was a strong enough design and looked too simple. I therefore did more market research for my DPS when it came to making it because I had some failed designs. I therefore took inspiration from other double page spreads that are aimed at my target audience. I changed everything about this design as this also was not a strong enough page design for my magazine. Getting inspiration from other magazines defiantly helped me, I put these on my blog to show where I got my ideas from and why I used them. Overall, I think this is good design for my DPS and I am very pleased with how it has turned out because of the trouble I was having at the beginning with it. I also added colour to my page, which my flat plan does not show. I did use fashionable and two different outfits in the images I used on the page, which I think is enough to show the personalities of Frankie Jones, and I think it didn’t need all the different outfits along the top, as the interview will show her personality and what she is like anyway.

I made a quick questionnaire for my finished product and asked people the questions, I have made some animations of what they said.

http://goanimate.com/videos/0Xgud_DysYKQ?utm_source=linkshare

-Derek

http://goanimate.com/videos/0IDUPVUNwrHs?utm_source=linkshare

-Beth

http://goanimate.com/videos/0KaYlZ0DxkME?utm_source=linkshare

-Charlotte

Question six

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

• In the process of making my magazine, I have used technology such as; Apple macs, windows machine (my laptop) and a camera.

I found the apple macs very difficult to use, certain websites like slide share would not work on them, therefore I had to put a lot of my work onto a memory stick and put it in slide share using my laptop, this was very time consuming. Also photo shop on the macs were very slow and took a long time to load, it was hard to be patient with them as there was a lot of work to do and the laptop was slowing me down. I therefore had to download a much older version of photo shop onto my laptop and teach myself how to use that, to help me get my work done faster, or I would have had to stay in school a very long time trying to finish my pieces. My windows machine was a lot faster and a lot easier to use than a mac.

• Here I have included some screen shots of the software I have been using to improve my blog.

This is slide share, I have included this as I have used it a lot. I made slides in power point, and uploaded it through slide share as one blog post. This gets a lot of information to the viewer, without very long blog posts that take up a lot of room.

To the right is a screen shot of photo bucket, I used this to upload my photo shoots for my DPS, I did this as there were quite a few pictures, and it made my blog look more tidy and organised that a long line of pictures going down my blog.

Here is another screen shot of pixton.com. I used this to make my comic strip in question three. I decided to include this, as it is a more interesting way of displaying things rather than just pages of writing.

The screen shot on the right is of my webcam settings. I chose to include this, as this is the software I used to record my video when telling the viewer about my ideas and progress to far. This was very useful to have, otherwise I would have had to record it using a camera, phone, film camera, this would have taken much longer to do.

I have also included a link to an animation I have made about the software I have been using.

http://goanimate.com/videos/0l3JZ6Hw7ovM?utm_source=linkshare

Question sevenLooking back at your prelim task, what do you feel you have learnt from the progression from it to full product?

• Here is a mind map I have created online about the skills I have learnt at www.bubbl.us

To the left is my prelim task.