MAGAZINE EVALUATIONBy Stephen Woodley

IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

There are multiple ways in which my magazine uses, develops and challenges forms and conventions of real media products, for example: My magazine has the main image of the front cover slightly covers the masthead and strapline. Also, I feel that the main image is very similar to one you could find on the front cover

of a magazine. Furthermore inside, on the contents page, I have split the page into the main article with it’s picture on the left of the page, and the other things in the magazine on the right, following another convention of design. Also, the design of my main article is part of a convention that the picture is of the band together with text over it.

HOW DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT REPRESENT PARTICULAR SOCIAL GROUPS?

I feel that my media product represents people in the age range of 15–21in a very positive light. I used Electronic Music as my genre of choice as it is a genre I enjoy and it has little to no negative connotations in the media. Combining this with the main interview where the band, who were in the age range of 15 – 21, behaved like adults and were overall generally polite. I feel that this gives a fairly large boost to the representation of young people in the media.

WHAT KIND OF MEDIA INSTITUTION MIGHT DISTRIBUTE YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT AND WHY?

I believe that media institutions that are more directed towards people between the ages of 15 and 21 would distribute my media product, furthermore my magazine could be distributed online to turn over a greater profit, also this would give readers more ability to come up with ideas for articles, questions for band members or even get in touch with members of these bands. For example Bauer, the publishers of Kerrang magazine or possibly IPC Media due to the wide variety of other magazines under their belt.

WHO WOULD BE THE IDEAL AUDIENCE FOR YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT?

The ideal audience for my media product would be people between the ages 15 and 21 who enjoy Electronic music, or at least enjoy the music of bands such as Daft Punk or Justice. Furthermore members of my ideal audience would be those that enjoy geeky music (i.e. Jonathan Coulton or Paul and Storm)

HOW DID YOU ATTRACT/ADDRESS YOUR AUDIENCE?

I attracted the audience through featuring a well known band as the main article in my magazine as well as using a distinctive and eye-catching colour scheme, this helped to bring in fans of the bands featured in the main article as well as those who picked it up because it looked interesting.

I addressed my audience through having a question as an article title so as to make my audience think about the subject, furthermore I told my audience where they could catch the main article band as well as when their new album would be released. I also addressed them with inside information referring to a major music festival related to their interests.

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT ABOUT TECHNOLOGIES FROM THE PROCESS OF CONSTRUCTING THIS PRODUCT?

Through the process of constructing my magazine, I have learned how to use the extract tool to remove the background from photos. (for example see the next slide), furthermore, I also learned how to make better use of space in publisher, rather than putting everything in boxes, I had everything placed without borders this makes the cover less clunky and more pleasing to the eye.

BEFORE AND AFTER EXTRACT TOOL

Before extract tool After extract tool

LOOKING BACK AT YOUR PRELIMINARY TASK, WHAT DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE LEARNT IN THE PROGRESSION FROM IT TO THE FULL PRODUCT?

Looking back, I feel I have learned greater competence with the photo editing tools, publisher itself, and also gained more confidence to try things differently.

Furthermore, I feel I can now utilise backgrounds much better and to greater effect in relation to the pictures in the foreground.

In order to gauge whether or not my magazine would be a success I carried out some audience feedback, asking my peers exactly what they thought was successful about my magazine. 78% said that the thought the tagline was

inventive and caught the eye well. 65% felt the pictures looked professional and

were what would make my magazine successful.

80% of my peers said they would purchase my magazine if they saw it on sale.

92% felt that my magazine was successful in it’s representation of my target audience.

CONCLUSIONTo sum up.

COMPARISON OF FIRST DRAFT TO MOCK UP

Mock up First draft

COMPARISON OF FIRST DRAFT TO MOCK UP

Mock up First draft

COMPARISON OF FIRST DRAFT TO MOCK UP

Mock up First draft

CONCLUSION

As you can see, the first draft is vastly superior to the early permutations of the magazine, this is due to changes made to make it’s design more aesthetically pleasing, as well as making it more streamlined.