Evaluation

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

Before creating my magazine, I analysed some examples of other student magazines, this allowed me to have an idea to what sort of things a magazine would need to include. I realized when looking at other magazines there are basic ingredients to a student magazine, the masthead is the largest text on the front and the most eye-catching. I also noticed the colour theme on student magazines aren’t boring colours but also aren’t too eye-catching. Another thing I realized was the language used wasn’t too serious and the language used was formal but not too formal to engage with the targeted audience. I have used all of these conventions to make my student magazine look realistic and professional. I only had a central image for the cover of my magazine to draw the audience in and not to overwhelm them with too many images on the cover.  To make this issue interesting and exiting I have included features to interest both genders. I have included features like ‘Clubbing’ and ‘Money Tips’ to show the readers that the magazine isn’t going to be filled with things about inside college but outside out college as well. These features were included on my front cover and my contents page. I evened out the images and text on my contents page because I didn’t want my contents page with just text and by using images it enables the reader to see what is featured in the magazine.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My magazine is aimed at students so I took photographs that represented student life. For my front cover I took a mid-close up of a student against a white wall holding a sign saying ‘Talk Student’. By using this picture it gave my magazine have a young feel to it. The reason behind the sign saying ‘Talk Student’ was to show the audience that the magazine was based for students and to show the language inside isn’t formal and dull. My images I used in my contents page referred to what is featured in my magazine. The text I used on the cover lines were short and simple so it didn’t over power the central image. I didn’t include too much text on the front cover and focused more on the central image so the front cover didn’t look too overcrowded.  The taglines are in the same colour as the title to draw the reader’s attention into the most interesting features inside the magazine.

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

My magazine is student specific so it would be distributed in the college. My magazine is for free so as the magazine is distributed in college students will be more willing to read the magazine. My magazine would be made in the college so students will easily access the magazine. My magazine could be distributed to other local colleges in the area to get more readers interested and to make my magazine more popular and well known.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience for my media product is aimed for 16-18 year olds college students, my magazine is for both genders allowing to have more range of readers.

How did you attract/address your audience?

I attracted my audience through my front cover, I made my front cover look new, fresh and exciting to appeal to my audience. The colours I used were fresh and exciting, I stayed away from bright tacky colours because I didn’t want my magazine to look unprofessional and cheap. I used light blues and greens to attract both genders and by using light colours it gave my magazine a young feel to it. The colour black was used to highlight the most exciting features in the magazine. I edited my central image to look brighter and modern, I did this to make the students know this magazine is aimed at them. I used tag lines based on student life such as ‘Clubbing’, ‘Fashion’, Film Reviews, etc to interest the audience. The design on my contents page used the same colour scheme as the front cover to make the magazine piece all together. I chose the name ‘Out Spoken’ for the title for my magazine, I feel it’s short and simple but easily memorable.

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

When creating my magazine I was introduced to a new software called InDesign. I found this new software difficult at the start to use, but using it more has gained my confidence in using this software with other projects. I used this software to design the layout of my magazine and I found it easier to use the more I went on the software. I used software called Photoshop which I have used before and found useful to edit my images before I used them in the magazine. I used a digital camera to take my photographs, I found it exciting to make a photo shoot and take pictures of my friends for my magazine. I had never created a blog before so I have enjoyed this experience on how to create a blog and what to put into a blog.