Evaluation

How does your magazine use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real magazines?

Whilst researching other magazine front covers I noticed that most of them included, bar codes, banners and puffs, I kept this in mind when creating the front cover of my magazine so it would look more like a real magazine. However my magazine challenged some conventions of real magazines, a lot of magazines have the person in their main image looking at the camera, but I had mine looking away from the camera as I felt this made the photo look more natural, which is what I had wanted.

My contents page is different to real magazines contents pages because I didn't want a lot of design on it, I felt that some of the contents pages I had looked at looked slightly cluttered and I wanted the main focus of the page to be the text.

The interview in my double page spread begins in drop capitals, this is the same with most magazine articles. Most magazine double page spreads have a few photos in them but I put one on because I wanted the interview itself to be the main focus of the page and I thought if I had more than one photo on then it would take attention away from the text.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

I would say my magazine represents teenagers with an interest in Indie music, I think this because the artists in my magazine would follow the latest trends in the Indie scene and the audience would want to follow these trends.

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

I think the Bauer Media Group-a large German publishing company privately owned by the Bauer family based in Hamburg would distribute my product because they already own successful music magazines such as, 'Q', 'Mojo' and 'Kerrang'. These magazines all attract the same audience as my magazine is aiming at. The Bauer Media Group would be beneficial as the distributors of my magazine because it operates in 15 countries worldwide and is the largest magazine publisher in Britain, this would make my magazine well-known.

Who would be the audience for your project?

The demographic for my magazine would be the fans of Indie music, this is because my magazine is of the Indie genre and features Indie artists, so the fans of this genre would want to read the articles on their favourite artists and find out what's new.

How did you attract/address your target audience?

I used puffs on my front cover to gain the audiences interest and make them want to read on, I also added an existing band on my front cover and in my contents page because I thought it would make it look more realistic if there was some bands mentioned that people recognised. In my contents page I tried not to give too much away, I wanted the audience to read it and want to find out more. My double page spread would appeal to the target audience because I have set it out as a question and answer interview, and when I read an interview I prefer to see who said what.

What have you learnt about technologies in the process of constructing your magazine?

Before I started this coursework I had never used Photoshop, and when I started making my magazines I struggled at first but then I got used to the software and was able to use it efficiently. I was able to upload photos onto the software and change the colour of the background to suit my needs. I learnt how to change coloured photos into black and white to get the effect I was hoping for, and I could put effects on the photos to make them look more professional.

What have you learnt in terms of progression from your preliminary task to the final product?

From my preliminary task to my final product I have learnt how to use Photoshop more competently and was able to, in my opinion make my end product look more professional than my preliminary task did.