Sian Martin

MEDIA EVALUATION

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

My media product uses conventions of a real media product. The mast head is Adobe

Garamond Pro font, with serif and red lettering. This is similar to TIME magazine’s mast head

as it has serif font and red lettering to show sophistication and class.

Similar to real products, featured articles of my magazine are sub-headed on the front cover,

aligned to the far left or far right. This convention can be seen in real magazine products

such as GQ and ELLE. The language and style of these sub-headings are also similar to real

products as they are informal, bold and colourful with the use of exclamation marks, to

appear exciting to the reader.

The image of a young girl addressing the reader with direct eye contact follows the

convention of direct address seen in magazines such as VOGUE, LOOK and HELLO!. The girl is

taking up most of the cover which is another generic convention of magazine covers.

However, my product does challenge conventions as the young girl is not a well- known

celebrity, which is unusual for a magazine cover as most use celebrities in hope of increasing

readers.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My media product represents a niche market, being college students. Within this niche

market may exist smaller social groups. The look of my magazine is likely to attract ordinary,

female students as the colours are more feminine and the image represents females.

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

The product could be distributed through retail shops, such as WHSmiths as they specialise

in a very wide range of products for niche markets from fishing to model making. A college is

another way my product could be distributed as it is constantly surrounded by my target

audience being college students. An online version of my product is a popular way of

distribution as young people consume media in different ways, in particular online.

Who would be the audience for your media product? (Refer to your research)

Sian Martin

The audience for my media product would be college students as the articles are based

around college life and events relating to students. The language is formal and fun so that a

student can be engaged and not get bored.

How did you attract/address your audience? The use of direct address attracted target audience as it makes the reader feel involved and

as if they know the student on the cover. The warm colours set a relaxed tone to the

magazine and give the connotations of friendliness. The sub-headings of the articles are

short and precise, whilst giving some clues into the story but not revealing all so that the

reader would want to turn over the front page to read more. The use of bright coloured

letters makes the magazine seem light and informal, whilst the exclamation marks give the

connotation of excitement.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? To conclude, I have learnt that it is easy to produce a product similar to real products by researching, observing and producing the same conventions. The image needs to be engaging and dominating across the cover, so that the reader is intrigued. The masthead should be bold and short but catchy so that the magazine is easily remembered. The articles need to give insight into the magazine yet leave enough mystery so that the reader will want to read on. The contents page needs to be simple and easy to understand so that the magazine does not bore the reader.