Abigail Smith’s ‘Playit’ magazine

evaluation

1. In what ways does my magazine use, develop or challenge forms and conventions

or real media products?

•My initial genre idea for my magazine was ‘pop’ which I kept within the making of my magazine. I wanted to give it ‘girly appeal’ but also try not to fall into the trap of making it look too predictable and bland. •My magazine I feel looks different by the use of obscure photos: the girl in the bath and the 80’s style photo-shoot of ‘Lexie O’connor’ shot outside in the garden. This fresh look both appeals to my female audience but also fit’s into real society where magazine companies are constantly competing to look ‘better’ or appear more shocking than others. •When people think of a girly magazine they think: pink background and cute fury animals gracing the cover, I wanted my magazine to look edgy and not ‘too cute’. I used this element of the colour: pink to add a hint of feminity in the title and bold and florescent text on the front cover to catch the readers eye however added a more grown –up sex appeal look with the stern-looking model dressed in a mature fashion.

Audience feed-back• The audiences opinion is the one that matters most, my

1st initial front cover had to be drastically changed in order for my class-audience to appeal to as I had created a “poster” and not a typical front cover of a magazine.

Graphs to show Audience feedback after filling in a short questionaire: 16 people asked

1. Do you think my magazine looks genuine of a typical magazine?

yes

no

Audience feed-back2. After looking through

my magazine, which gender is my magazine aimed at?

male

female

3. Does my magazine article appear genuine in tone and style?

yesno

Audience feed-back4. Does the layout and

chosen images on my contents page help to make my magazine look different and provide the quirkiness intended?

yesno

5. Would you buy my magazine at £3?

yesno

Audience feed-back6. Does the front cover’s use

of language encourage you to read-on? yes

no

7. Are the choice of colours used throughout appealing to you?

yesno

2. How does my magazine represent particular social groups?

• Looking at most magazines successfully bought in shops, the majority are about the ‘celebrity world’ and all the gossip written by journalists clutching unappealing paparazzi pictures, therefore I wanted to add in this element within my magazine.

• Creating a band from nothing didn’t seem like the best way to portray my band, therefore I’ve written my article in a way that adds glamour and fame to my girl band and in a way which adds drama.

• The news of famous music bands ‘splitting-up’ is usually always in the public eye, with huge hype created, for exampe: ‘Take That’ and Robbie William’s exit, therefore I based my interview and whole piece on the splitting up of ‘Lexie O’connor’ from this massively famous band.

• As mentioned previous, my images I took to look striking and follow the conventions of the look and style of singers and pop stars today with the glittery ‘hot pants’ worn on the front cover, thus influencing it’s ‘celebrity’ appeal.

• To represent the singer in a different light which isn’t always achieved in most magazines I have changed the ‘sexy, nightclub’ look of the singer from the front page to a more natural and relatable 80’s look within the article. This shows the different characters of the singer and shows who she really is under all the stage make-up and glitz and glamour. Natural beauty is a theme talked about now in most femine magazines therefore my female audience will appreciate the more soft look of ‘Lexie O’connor’ and inspire to be natural beauties themselves setting a good example, especially to younger readers.

3 What kind of media institution might distribute my magazine and why?

Looking at magazines sold down the high-street, the genre ‘pop’ is displayed widely. Two publications stand out to me to portray a similar view and genre:

•‘Q’ magazine: Each monthly issue contains lots of reviews of albums and music-related movies, DVDs, and books as well as current download lists, and interviews. My ‘Playit’ magazine would appeal to this publisher as, typically looking at the theme, the proportion are quirky and fun, with bold and exaggerated colours. My magazine also provides lengthy information within the article, however the tone is humorous and controversial alike the tone printed in the Q publication.

•‘Blender’ magazine: a CD-ROM based publication in 1994 before re-organizing as a print magazine in 1999.My ‘Playit’ magazine would spark interest within this publication as most of the pictures printed within the magazines pose girls almost naked, focusing on the sex appeal. My model on the front page looks slightly revealing, however still keeps her dignity showing sex appeal in a more concealed way, thus to detach from unwanted male attention and attract the female attention, who my magazine is designed for.

4 Who would be the audience for my magazine?

• As specified earlier, my magazine is targeted for a female audience. Looking at the rather grown-up style of the magazine my magazine wouldn’t suit those aged 0-15, and the rather informal language used wouldn’t suit an audience aged 25-50+, therefore I have fitted my magazine’s targeted age range comfortably within the age-group: 16-25, an age group which hopefully will take full appreciation for the magazine’s style and overall appeal.

• I believe that because the singer in the band is aged 18, females aged around this age can relate more to her than a more older 25-50+ age group, and can understand the times of teenage life today rather than a younger audience of 0-15 to which the contents may be unsuitable for and where sarcasm and humour used within the magazine won’t be understood.

• The fans of girl bands such as: ‘Sugarbabes’ tend to also be around the age group 16-25 as they usually sing about topics mainly focusing on boys which have a more ‘upper-teen’ appeal to girls with more boyfriend experience perhaps.

Examples of magazines and their target audiences

Example A Example B

Example A is a magazine suitable between the ages of 8 and 12. The magazine boasts a safe and alternative to the magazines geared towards older teenagers: Example B. Example B is a music magazine, the model (Kelly Rowland) is very glam and the style and tone is a lot more mature than of the magazine ‘American Girl’

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

Research of different types of magazines has helped me to develop my magazine. I have used ‘Google’ to locate and find ideas using the image results. I then ventured further and found a number of magazine websites, one being ‘MOJO’ http://www.mojo4music.com/blog the site helped me to get a feel of what interests people who are involved in the music industry and it’s online blog allowed me to see what the audience thought about different issues and events.Programmes:Fireworks- I used this programme to piece together my final Coursework piece. The easy side-bar allowed me to easily edit, add text, re-size pictures and more. The preview selection tool allowed me to see what the final result would look like so I could see exactly what my magazine would look like and what changes needed to be made.

I did however experience a little difficulty with the programme at first as a first timer, I was unaware of just how complex the programme really was so it was difficult to grasp, however once I had a feel of what was to offer it was an easy and simple process.

Not only did I use the Fireworks programme but I also used the photoshop programme. The collage effect used within my article spread was created by inserting each individual black and white photo and merging them together, re-sizing them all to create an un-usual and ‘pop’ like effect.

Why was the feedback so effective?Media helps items and issues become within the

eye of the public.

My audience wouldn’t be able to have given me feedback without the creation of a ‘questionnaire’ The audience questioned each received 1 sheet containing related questions. These questions were beneficial in my final evaluation as I was able to see my magazine in a range of different perspectives which in turn allowed me to see what things I could have adjusted or improved

Feedback is so beneficial as new media such as magazines and t.v programmes have one aim in mind: To have as many purchases/viewers as possible. The audience not only supports the media but it also helps it to flow and grow in popularity. A magazine name brand can spread like wild-fire the bigger the audience the bigger the company can be and the higher the profit

Looking back at my preliminary task, what do I feel I have learnt in the progression to

the full product?At the beginning.. Finished product

ComparisonMy preliminary task was to create a front cover of a college magazine for students. As witnessed everyday, the vending machine is a popular aspect along the corridor therefore in order to address my target audience I made it the focus. Not only did I use the vending machine background to lure in my audience, but I also used striking and bold colours in the sub-headings in order to create interest The title is the biggest feature in the magazine industry as the brand of the product must be displayed. The bold print of the title: ‘SMC Social’ stands out over the vibrant background of the red vending machine .The girl used on the cover is one that pupils can relate to at college and one that can be trusted, this makes the magazine seem more genuine

ComparisonIn my preliminary task, my model was someone that everyone can relate to, but in the big world of the magazine industry it’s celebrities and famous icons that centre the most interest: ‘Lexie O’connor’

Adressing the audience was a lot easier during the making of the preliminary task as there’s a lot less to talk about around college- the more complex audience of this magazine have different likes and interests therefore instead of just including 3 sub-headings of interest, the whole page is littered with exclamatory and persuasive sentences/words.

The college magazine only displayed 3 main colours on the page, however my ‘Play it’ magazine has 6 which all coincide together well.

Front cover changeBefore After

The original front cover I found looked more like a poster than a typical magazine cover, the background looked too simple and the slanted text I felt, after researching other magazine covers looked too child-like and made it hard to read. Although I liked the strange picture of the girl in the bath (to create interest) I felt a change needed to be made, thus I changed the model to a more modern pop-star to suit the genre-type, I changed the text and the text layout, I added colour and inserted other images also as I felt this was a more genuine approach to creating magazines.

ConclusionOverall, I feel I have progressed a lot during the making of the

magazine. I have learnt how to use the programme: Fireworks to my full advantage and have managed to turn a poster-looking front cover into a much more real looking page. I think I have made a very quirky and different magazine applying the ‘same but different’ technique throughout. The key examples of the ‘quirky’ style are the 2 pictures on the contents page: And also the chatty and colloquial language used in the article:

Weaknesses:The article I felt could have had a few more quotes in and exaggerated words in order for it to not seem like just a mass of text, if I was to re-do my magazine I would have probably chosen a genre a little less obvious than ‘pop’ and would have focused on smaller, more independent indie groups for example. To conclude, I think I was successful in making a magazine typical of the pop genre. My photo’s I thought were relevant and the style and title remained prominent throughout. My colour scheme stayed the same and I feel especially from the positive audience feedback that I have succeeded in meeting my criteria in both addressing the audiences interest whilst at the same time informing, explaining and persuading them.