Evaluation Complete

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

The Front Cover!

Masthead

Cover lines

Lead Line

Banner

Vital Informatio

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Th

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Con

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Title

Feature Stories

Regulars

Editors note

Images

Masthead

Th

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Pag

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Sp

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TitleStand

first

Lead

Image

Drop

CapPull quote

My magazine uses forms from current media, I have done this by including basic conventions such as:

The Masthead

Cover Lines

Lead Line

Cover Image(MediumClose Up)

These are all the features on the front page which are very similar to other magazines, I based my design on different magazines which I researched in order to plan a design for my own magazine. One of these magazines was ‘VIBE’ because the genre of music I wanted to base my magazine on, was very similar. I have also used similar colour schemes, and similar text throughout the magazine to retain ‘House Style’ which is often found in other magazines. On the front cover I used a lead line and a lead image that are related to each other as it is the main article within my magazine. Lead lines are also used as another way to draw in readers, I have used coloured boxes around the writing as it gives a more upbeat, exciting look.

Although, because my magazine is a new product, I have done some things differently and challenged the conventions, I have done this by using the colour Orange which is not very often found on magazines of this genre because it can be bright. I have also changed the lead image to black and white as magazines often have coloured photos.

Front Cover ComparisonWhen looking for magazine design, I mainly used ideas from some of these front covers. As you can see I have mixed up many of the ideas to create my layout/design.

Here I have used the idea of a black and white photograph which connotes seriousness, because the lead line talks about having a challenge.

I used a very similar design for my cover lines as Rap Up’s because I thought they were fun and funky. It also helped me because I didn’t want my magazine to be too serious and boring.

My overall layout is very similar to this front cover because of the positioning on the main image and the cover lines. It also follows a strict colour scheme much like my magazine.


Title

Feature Stories

Regulars

Editors Note

These are all the features I believe are conventional to a magazine. I have kept the colour scheme of the magazine very well as it has maintained the house style, I have also used the same font as the front page and throughout the contents page. Although, for the editors not I have used a ‘Script’ font because this often seen in magazines because it wants to feel like the editor has handwritten their message.

I have also included the page numbers and a short introduction to the features, because these are exclusive therefore their importance needs to be emphasised. I have also placed the regulars on the other side of the contents page, but these have less emphasis because people who often buy the magazine know they are there anyway.

Contents Page ComparisonThe colour scheme, I believe

is very similar to the We Love Pop magazine because of the bright colours.

My title for my contents I believe is very similar to the contents title in rap up. This shows that I have used current magazine conventions.

When I was looking at ideas for a contents page, I have done the same as I did for my front cover and used many different design ideas from similar magazines to create a unique design.


Stand first

Pull Quote

Lead Image

Drop Cap

These are all the features on my Double Page Spread that I believe are conventional to magazines. I have tried to keep with my house style by using very similar colours. Although to add a bit of variety I use light blue for my columns to make the article stand out on the page. I have also put a border around the lead image to make it more fun and upbeat, which goes well with the rest of the magazine. I have also included a pull quote, which is very common in magazines and if the pull quote is interesting enough it will draw the audience in and they will want to read the entire article. At the beginning of the article I used a drop cap to put emphasis on the beginning of the article. To introduce the article, I used a standfirst which gives the reader a brief introduction into what the text is about, it also let’s the reader decide weather or not they wish to read the article/interview.

Although, I have also made my own features such as the ‘Did you know’ boxes because this will make the reader believe they know more about the person featured. Therefore it’s more personal.

Double Page Spread Comparison

Columns are very conventional within all magazines, therefore I decided to use them to create a more professional look to the DPS. The colour scheme and way the page is laid out is slightly similar to Rap up.

My double page spread was hard to design as not many of the magazines I analysed had design features which stood out for me.

How does your magazine represent different social groups?

To me the image of my artist is very important and I wanted her to represented in a way which is appealing for the target audience. On the main page she is in black and white and looking serious, this links in with her lead line ‘Miss M’s hard climb to fame’. The black and white is quite a dull, but strong contrast between the other bright colours on the page, this makes her stand out in a way. Her serious emotion connotes her as being hard working and serious about her work, which could make her a decent role model for readers. On her DPS, the picture is in colour and her expression and pose is much happier, this tells the reader that something good has happened, and links in with the whole idea of her reaching her goal after a long fight to get a record deal.

The target audience of my magazine is mainly female, and therefore seeing a strong independent female featured in the magazine may help them to relate to her, or look up to her. This tells the audience that women are becoming stronger within the music industry and in many other areas. It also represents young women, as my magazine average reader age would be 17 and over, this means they can relate to the artist because she is of a similar age.

How does your magazine represent different social groups?

Here we have the artist looking pleased as she has got where she wanted in her career. This shows us that she isn’t scared to celebrate her success. Which tells the reader she is confident, and may lead to her fans feeling the same way. It also represents her as being a fun loving person, instead of just serious, which is stereotypical of young women.

The pull quote ‘I was told to change my genre choice’ shows that she has been through a tough time, and has to put up with people criticizing her, and her choices. Although, the article shows she was strong enough to overcome these boundaries.

What kind of media intuitions might distribute your magazine?

I believe my magazine could be distributed by Bauer media, because they associated with women's gossip magazines, as my magazine is mainly gossip, but within music, it would be very similar.

Bauer media magazines include: MoreHeatGRAZIAPop

They may want to distribute my magazine because it is also a gossip magazine, but because it is a music magazine also, they might draw in even more consumers as they currently don’t sell any music magazines aimed at women.

I also found the media group IPC, although I don’t believe my magazine would be distributed by them as they distribute magazines such as; Uncut and NME which are very different from my type of magazine. Although they also distribute gossip magazines which are similar to my magazine type.

Who would be the audience for your magazine?

My target audience is women aged from 17 and over.

They would be into fashion, mainstream music and celebrity

gossip.

This is my reader profile

They also love to party and go out, wear makeup and dye their hair. Typical girly

girls.

I don’t believe men would buy or read my magazine as it is brightly coloured, and

often men read car magazines or music magazines such as kerrang and NME.

I think my Double Page Spread would appeal to my target audeience as it is the gossip about a famous celebrity, and my target audience would be into gossip. I think the ‘Did you Know’ boxes would appeal to the audience because they have interesting, small facts about the artist which people often like to read as they can find it interesting and makes the artist seem more real.

The front cover is the most important element which should attract the audience, as it is the first thing they see. I believe the bright colours and the ‘Famous’ face on the front of the magazine would appeal to my target audience. Also, the cover lines which are quotes from other famous people may draw in the audience as they may want to read more. I believe I could have attracted the audience more by using a broader range of colours like more pinks because thy would attract more women.

Survey ResponsesI conducted a survey on

www.surveymonkey.com so that I could find out what people thought about my

magazine and what I could do to improve next time, overall I only managed to get 14 responses. Although, some of the responses we’re detailed enough so that enabled me to

understand what I need to improve.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/

Readership…The highest amount of people that reviewed my magazine were between the ages of 17 and 20. This is very similar to the readership I was aiming my magazine at.

50% of people are male and the other 50% are female. Although, this magazine is mainly aimed at females. I believe it is good that also Males have taken an interest.

Readership…

I also asked what other sort of magazines people read, according to my survey the most popular was the high end fashion magazine; Vogue at 44.4%. Which is good, because on my reader profile I said people who read my magazine are into fashion.

Magazine Evaluation…

I found out people thought my magazine was fun, bright, colourful, interesting and pretty. I believe this is a good response, because I wanted my magazine to be eye catching and if they believe it is colourful and fun, then it will be very eye catching and interesting to look at. No negative responses we’re given, so I don’t believe I need to change the general look of my magazine.


I also was interested to know what peoples favourite page of the magazine would be. The result shows that people thought my Double Page Spread was the best. Although, I thought my contents page was my best design. This therefore means next time I should try to improve the design of my contents.


To find out what people thought in more detail, I asked them to say what they liked about my magazine, and gave them a comment box to type their response. This has helped me to understand what the readership like about my magazine.

Some responses such as ‘I think the colour scheme is spot on’ tells me if I was going to do this again, I wouldn’t need to rethink the colours I used.


For some helpful criticism I asked for people to comment on what they dislike most about my magazine. Luckily I received some helpful, detailed feedback.

People have commented on the facial expression of my lead image on the front cover as being too serious. This means I could improve by having a model with a happier expression to keep in style of the rest of the magazine as it is meant to be upbeat.


As well as asking people what they dislike, I also ask them to comment what I could do to improve the overall look of my magazine so they would like it more. Again, I have gained some good advice. Such as; You could use more photos. I agreed with the comment as I believe my magazine lacks variety of photos.

What have I learnt about technologies?

Photoshop

I used Photoshop to design and make my magazine. I already had a good understanding of Photoshop, but I also learnt new things.

I learnt how to use a grid so that I could align all my elements on my page to make it look more neat. Although, if I wanted something in a specific place I could press Ctrl whilst moving the object which makes it ignore the grid and gives me more freedom of choice about where to put the object.

I made a skills development Journal to show in depth what I Have learnt on Photoshop.

http://emmarobinsonmediastudies1.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/skills-development-journal.html



Blog

To upload my work I used a blog so that my work could be displayed electronically, which made it easier than printing everything out.

I had never used BlogSpot before so I learnt how to use it. I learnt how to insert photos into a post, change text, change the theme of my blog, and the colours on my blog. I found this useful because I can now upload my work easily.

For my survey questions I made a post which included all y magazine and a link to my survey monkey which I then posted on Facebook for people to complete. I did this because the majority of my ‘Friends’ are the right age for my target audience.

Overall I think my magazine was successful, but I believe there are areas in which I could improve such as using more photos and taking more time on the overall layout of the magazine. I

could do this by taking more time on Photoshop, and concentrate less on the content and more on what people see. I would also take more time to research other magazines which

would be similar to mine. Again, I think I have kept the conventions of Professional

magazines by using different elements, and creating my own, new, unique magazine.

News & Politics

Evaluation Complete