evaluation

By Louise Lewinson

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

ConventionsThroughout the making of my magazine I have use many different conventions, to help me produce a readable magazine. But along the way I have also challenged and developed some of them.

Conventions used and developed Conventions challenged

the place were I have put the mast head is a common convention in magazines this is because they are most commonly put in the top left hand corner of the magazine.

The barcode is a convention because it has been place at the bottom on the magazine. But I have developed it by putting the price, date and issue number above it as this is not very common on magazines.

The image is a very common convention. This is because in most magazines the image is in the centre . And I have done this too. It makes it easier for the reader to see the image.

One convention challenged is that I have place the barcode on the left hand side of the magazine but when I looked at other magazines the barcode was on the write hand side.

Another convention which I have challenged is that I have only used two layers whereas usually In magazines the are numerous layers.

In most magazines the eyebrows are only at the bottom but I have placed them at both, the top and the bottom of my magazine.

Conventions used and developed Conventions challenged

I haven't included a lot of images which is a challenged convention as usually there are either a lot of images or a couple large images.

The conventions which I used for my magazine are:

I have included a message from the editor in the top right hand corner or the page.

I have included and email address on the page so the readers can look at the website.

I have included pull out quotes in the contents.

Conventions used and developed

• I have included pull out quotes but I have put them in a different font so I have developed this convention

• There is a web address on the page.

• I have included page numbers

• There title of the magazine is at the beginning of the article.

Conventions challenged

• Instead of having a main image for the double page spread I have included many different images.

• There are two different fonts when usually in magazines a double page spread only has one font.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

• A representation is what my magazine shows about its target audience.

• The social groups which I am targeting are teenage girls aged 15-19. these teenagers are passionate about pop. So they want to stay up to date with the latest pop news. So my magazine aims to provide this audience with exactly what they want. I do so by having a teenager as my main story who has the same aims and ambitions as my readers.

• The representations which my photographs construct are that of a young teenage girl with great ambitions, who is following her dream no matter what obstacles get in the way. But she still has fun at the same time. The photographs used show the readers that following there dream doesn’t have to consume there life but they can still be themselves at the same time.

• The textual content represents that people who follow there dreams are people who we should want to be like and we should follow our dreams to. The content of the magazine represent the modern day of music and fashion showing people what they want to know.

• The design of the magazine shows that teenagers are fun and funky but still misunderstood. They love music

Improvements for magazine

From looking at the feedback which readers of my blog have left I can see that there are some improvements which could be made.

Contents page

I could have used a wider range of colours to make it more eye catching and interesting to read.Also I could have included a few more pictures to entice the readers more.

Double page spread

For the double page spread I could have made the layout clearer to read.

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

The publishers which I think would publish my magazine are Bauer media publishing's. this is because this particular publishing company produces magazines for a variety of ages therefore would be able to publish my magazine and advertise it for the target audience which I would like to read my magazine. Also Bauer are well known and they have many readers who would be interested in my magazine.

The content of my magazine is very important this is because the content is what makes readers want to purchase a magazine again. So if the content is boring and lifeless then no one will want to read the magazine. Where as if the content is fun and lively then they would want to purchase the magazine and keep on reading. So I have included funny content, questions in article, to keep the readers interested.

the profit of a magazine is only important for 2 reasons. The first one being that the magazine needs to make enough profit to keep going, because if the magazine doesn’t make any profit then it would have to be cancelled as there is not enough money to keep the magazine running. The second reason is that if the magazine makes profit then it can bring its readers more exciting information and prizes. This could help to bring more readers in and provide them with what we want them to read. So I only charge enough to make a profit.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience of my product are young teenage girls aged 14-19. they don't have a certain look they just love pop music and dream big. So my magazines help them follow there dreams by including interviews from people are are/were just like them. This is to motivate the readers and help them to achieve there dream. The readers demographics are from all over as anyone can dream big. So they can all come from social groups in different areas. As long as they love pop they can read the magazine.

How did you attract/address your audience?

To attract my audience have used one bright colour against two plane coloursthis is to make the page stand out more. Also I have included one odd colour so the target audience will get attracted to what is highlighted to encourage them to purchase the magazine.

I included pictures of young people the same age as my target audience so that they new that the magazine was for there generation.

I included eyebrows so that they new the content of the magazine was good quality and that there was plenty of it.

I addressed the audience on the front cover so that they felt a connection with the magazine.

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

• I have learnt that there are many technology's to help with making a music magazine and how to use these technology's.

• I learnt how to use a professional camera to take different types of photographs.

• I have learnt how to use adobe design premium CS4 programmes, InDesign and Photoshop on the computer to form my magazine.

• I used the Photoshop to manipulate and edit photographs to insert them into my main magazine.

• I used InDesign to put together my main magazine and also my research and planning.

Looking back at your preliminary task what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

While producing my magazine a have learnt a lot during the progression of my productI have included: a lot more contentMore colourLess picturesfun and funky pull quotesPage numberWebsite

These all help to inform the reader and makes the magazine a lot more

Throughout the progression of the product the front page has developed a lot. I have changed:Included eyebrows, more pictures, barcode, price, date, issue number. There is a strap-line under the mast head.

These have all improved the magazine for the readers making it more like to be bought and read.