Evaluation Question 7

Research & Construction

Research and Planning

Since beginning to create my magazine, I feel that my skills have developed a lot in the way that I think about what I am going to do before I make something. For example I imagine how the colour scheme or photograph will work with the layout of a page. I think that this has impacted my work since it makes my product look more professional and I can say how and why it will appeal to my target audience.

Since I have a more detailed understanding about professional practice about real magazines, I think that my work has a lot more in common with professional products since I am able to identify what conventions are effective and whether it would appeal to my audience or not. I think that I have managed my time slightly better than in the previous project because I knew how much work I had to put into my product. I made sure to plan how I wanted my magazine to look because it was most important to get my target audience to like it and want to read it. I also learnt how to compose a photograph when taking photos in for my recent work. I took the time to consider lighting and framing, as well as how the pose that my model did would affect the atmosphere of a photo and page.

Construction

My skills of using software such as Photoshop and InDesign have improved greatly. This is because on my first project, I was new to these tools and I decided to have fun with them and experiment with what would work and what wouldn’t. Because of this, I think my first project looked quite unprofessional and messy because I didn’t really know what effects and font I was going to use etc. The composition of the main cover is the most obvious, since within my first project the page composition is quite random, and I put text wherever I thought looked empty. In my most recent work, I made sure not to leave any gaps, but to only place sell lines where I thought it looked effective and realistic.

The alignment lines on InDesign helped me to create an effective contents page and double page spread, and helped me to make sure that it was all symmetrical. The use of fonts within my work has changed a lot also. In my first project, I used simple fonts that came with Word and didn’t think about downloading a more appropriate font that would match the theme of my magazine more, but with my newest work I downloaded multiple different fonts to test which ones looked the most effective. I think that my choice of models was chosen well on both occasions, because I intended for them to look as if they were normal teenagers, which I aimed to have as my target audience. The costumes used within the photographs helped with the theme of my magazine as well as fitting with a certain group of people. Finally, their poses were natural on both pieces of work because I believe that it looks the most effective and would appeal to a teenage audience more because if they like the person, they are more likely to buy the magazine. The content of my first magazine was strictly for college students, so I had to make sure that it would appeal to both genders as well as the age group. I included articles about college life and events.

With my most recent work I chose to aim for teenage girls to read my magazine and this was because I knew what would appeal to them and the articles I chose were music based, and since they weren’t too stereotypical, they would appeal to most if not completely all of my target audience. My photos were much more professional this time, as I used a studio to take photos of my models, whereas for my previous photoshoot I used a brick wall backdrop. The layout for my magazines, past and present, were quite simple because I wanted it to be easy for my readers to navigate. Also, I think magazines look a lot better when they are set out into squares etc.

Prelim Product Final Product

In my prelim product, the fonts that I used were a lot more basic than the ones that I used in my final product. This is because, for my final product, I downloaded specific fonts to suit my genre and to fit the conventions of professional products.

There is a lot of empty space on the front cover of my prelim product. Improving my research skills allowed me to understand how to place my sell lines on my front cover, and to not make it look too full or too empty. By doing this it will make my product look unprofessional. When I studied professional products I realised that when the sell lines obscure the models’ face it looks ineffective, and so avoided this when creating my final product.

The masthead on my prelim product takes up a lot of space and doesn’t fit the colour scheme. The difference between this and the masthead on my final product is that I placed the main image in front but still made it visible and readable for my target audience. I learnt how to do this by experimenting with different Photoshop tools that were available. In this case, I used the lassoo tool.

My main image was taken using a professional camera in a photostudio. In my prelim product I used a professional camera but I took my photos outside. This means that the lighting was not effective, unlike the ones that I took for my final product.

The colour scheme that I used for my prelim product is quite mismatched and I changed them as I went along. This is obvious when looking at my product. On the other hand, I researched the effect of different colours when creating my final product, and I created a pallete of the ones I would use. I also experimented to see which ones worked best and I think it paid off because the colours I used look very professional.

Prelim Product Final ProductMy list of stories within my magazine on my prelim product are placed quite far apart, leaving a lot of empty white space which looks unappealing. When I researched existing products I understood how to set out a professional looking contents page, and applied this to my own work. I used the layout lines on InDesign to ensure that everything was aligned and looked neat.

The header at the top of the contents page of my prelim product takes up a lot of space and looks quite tacky. The yellow stands out too much in a bad way. My final product’s header is more professional looking and the colours contrast but match with the rest of my contents page. This was a technique I learnt when experimenting with colours and fonts as well as the layout of my page.

The fonts that I used in my final product are varied but simple, as to not draw too much attention away from the images since they are the most important stories. I used the same two fonts for this page to keep continuity. However, for my prelim product I used the same font and also a mix of colours that don’t look good together.

I chose to use social networking sites to promote my magazine. I researched my target audience to see what they found interesting, and what their hobbies were. All of them said that they spend a lot of time on Twitter and Facebook, so I included these links on my contents page.

I only used one image for my prelim product contents page which took up a lot of space. The photo doesn’t include a lot of information about the article inside, and doesn’t fit well with the theme of the magazine. The camera was a good quality but I didn’t use a photostudio. When taking the photos for my final product, I booked a time to take photos of my models and select the relevant pose that would suit my magazine. I have learnt a lot about placement and how to communicate properly with the people I am working with to achieve a effective photograph.