Factual writing copy

Task 9 – Evaluation

Patrick Gouldsbrough

Sources of information Like in most other projects, this project involved me been critical on myself and constantly forcing myself to make a better product

through self-evaluation of the products I made over the course of this project. An example of this would have been the fanzine task of task 4; we had to make a chatty fanzine, with it’s purpose been from a fan to a fan, which involved using informal lexis. On my first few drafts, I wrote the fanzine too formal and it read like a critic was producing it, instead of a fan. In my opinion, it was the way I went about the article that was the issue; I tried to feature a lot of factual pieces of information, while the fanzine style is quite opinionated and often in the form of a rant. I decided that instead of making a structured piece, I would just try and create a rant and not concentrate on things like lexis, would just allow myself to write in this way. The results were a more informal piece, even if it was more formal than the traditional fanzine piece and certainly more formal than I would have liked.

Another example of self-evaluation on this project was from the layout tasks. In previous projects, the layout elements have often been difficult to start from me, despite having a good product at the end, the start of the layout was always the toughest. However, on this occasion, it was easy to start the task, due to the amount of existing products I has to emulate during the task. On one occasion, I designed a layout that had worked for a magazine that I read (Q) however, it didn't work for my layout. It involved having a big drop capital; in the centre of the page and it looked effective on that particular layout, but when translated, it looked ineffective on my product. After a few amendments and a few drafts, I had a product that I had modified to meet an emulation of a product that I liked but in many other ways, it was unconventional of a Q magazine layout, which I wanted to achieve.

As for tutor feedback from this task; it was a project where tutor feedback was fundamental to the success of my final products, without it, I wouldn’t have been able to make an effective product that fit the needs or the specification of the brief. Despite me wanting to take my product in another direction, my tutor ensured that I stuck to the brief and what it was asking me to do. Through feedback, I was able to make a product that we were both happy with and ones that were effective also. An example of where tutor feedback was key was the task that featured the press release. After producing a product which I believed was complete, I sent it to to my tutor for some feedback. While I believed the press release should be a balanced representation of my celebrity, my tutor expressed his concern and I amended it to make it all positive towards my celebrity in the press release. Without this piece of crucial feedback, I would have been unable to fir the specification of the task and would have made a useless product that fulfilled no purpose in the press release category of factual writing.

The third source of feedback is from peers. While in other projects, it was compulsory to get some peer feedback, this particular project didn’t require this level of feedback. I did however talk to peers in my group to find ut how they were doing with the work and ask them various questions about what they had included on the writing tasks and things such as the layout task, in terms of elements they had decided to include. On the other hand, I didn’t go into detail and no work of mine or others was ever given any official feedback, which is why on this project, I relied solely on tutor and self-evaluation.

Time Management On this task, we were given a very strict schedule to stick to and complete by certain deadlines. Like all other projects, I completed the tasks within the time frame and had some contingency time left at the end to add little tweaks to the layout tasks, due to the written tasks been completed and finished to the best of my ability, which was determined through self and tutor evaluation. After completing the relevant amendments to my layout products, I was able to go back through all the tasks undertaken so far and evaluate them and look for changes to make the product more effective.

The reason why there was extra time available for the layout products was the fact that my tutor gave me feedback for my written tasks relatively quickly, therefore I was able to act upon this feedback and move onto the next task. With this time, I was able to design more than the layout designs required for task 8 and I had a lot of time to write the evaluation, despite it never been an issue of time for me on previous projects.

Unlike past projects, there wasn’t such thing as a schedule I had to stick to, more loose guidelines that I had to stick to, to ensure I met all deadlines and finished the project in the allocated time. This loose schedule was a good thing and a bad thing I the project, which helped and hindered me throughout the project. It helped me in the project by giving me more time than normally allocated to individual times, which allowed me to spend longer on tasks and therefore make more effective and successful products. However, it also hindered me because I didn’t have strict instructions and guidelines to follow, like previous tasks. On the other hand, this can also be viewed as a positive, due to the skill of independence been worked on, which will give me the skills to work on future projects without strict schedules and deadlines to follow.

In this project, the research that we started on took longer than I thought, due to the complexity of information and depth of detail I put into existing products. If I was working to a schedule, I would have been behind schedule on this particular tasks and would have to make the time up on a future task. This is exactly what I did, with the essay question been the next task. I managed to complete this in the same day as completing the research. Despite it first looking like I had rushed the essay, I was able to plan it, draft it numerous times and conclude it before the day was out, therefore making the time from task one back. While task 3 should have taken me a while to complete, I managed to do it within the estimated time and stayed on the schedule, despite me having to go back to complete task 3 later on, due to me waiting on primary research.

Tasks 4,5, 6 and 7 collectively took a week; one week shorter than the guideline time you should take on them. As stated, this was down to the efficiency of my tutor with his feedback and my desire to apply the amendments as soon as I could. These added together to put me well ahead of schedule with only a few task left to complete, which meant I could take my time with them. Task 8 was another task that I thought would take a long time to complete, however, as I found, I completed my initial layout quickly, due to me emulating features from existing products and then amending them to a product that I was happy with. After completing all the other layout designs (fanzine and tabloid) I was still well ahead of schedule and it gave me extra time to work further on my evaluation and writing alternate versions for the previous written tasks.

Reviewing work in progressI think this project required me to review my work to some extent, however, I don’t think it was on the scale of previous projects such as recipe cards and design for advertising. I have already stated about the monumental impact about my tutors feedback in this task but my self-evaluation allowed me to make a more professional and effective product.

During the course of this project, reviewing was made after every draft of each task and amendments were made, which is why there are many different versions of each task on my documents and on my blog. All these drafts add together to show the development of my work throughout each task. While the written task development can only be evident by reading it, the layout tasks can be seen more easily and a definite progress can be seen throughout the drafts.

In particular, the magazine layout was the one where development can be clearly seen throughout the task. By already having a definite idea of how the product was going to turn out, I thought this would transpire that the product wouldn’t be effective and wouldn’t be able to be developed that much. However, by splitting up different effects from existing products, I was able to experiment with a wide range of techniques, such as: drop capitals, side bars and pull quotes. The use of some of these techniques was surprising and often effective, which led me to making, in my opinion, an effective product that fits the specification of the task I was given.

As well as the layout task, there was a lot of reviewing in task 3, when I had to research my celebrity and collect a lot of quotes, before collecting primary research through a survey I created. Although you wouldn’t think that much review would be put into a tasks like this, I evaluated and tweaked a few elements until l was happy, and in some areas, there was a lot of amendments undertaken. This was due to the fact that the first few articles I analysed for my secondary research, I was unable to pick out many quotes, due to it not been a memorable article. However, after some searching the internet, I was able to find some that generated some good quotes that I could use for my written tasks. The same could be said for my primary research, which, at first, didn’t give me the research I was looking for because of the brief answers respondent were providing me with. Even though this looked like the primary research wasn’t going to help me and therefore the interview task wouldn’t be as long as I thought it would be in task 5, I finally got some responses that were worthy of putting in an article and I got respondents who were fans of Johnny Marr and some iin depth answers. This wasn’t so much a reviewing piece in my research, but I made the decision to keep on researching instead of rushing and having nothing to use for task 5, therefore I was able to make effective written products in the end.

The written tasks in this project were pretty self-explanatory and were done using tools I had used before but using the skills I had acquired over this course, I was able to sense the nature of the tasks and act on it accordingly, in terms of: lexis, layout and length (no one wants to consume a piece of copy if there are no hooks or enticing pieces of information that leaves various questions unanswered in an enigmatic style). Even though I couldn’t comment on the technical competencies of the written tasks, I had plenty to say on the layout task (task 8).

To make the layout, I had to use Adobe InDesign, a tool that I had used previously for various layouts throughout the course. However, these were just to show off the layout side of your skills, this task required you to fit all your copy into the layout and also make an effective and aesthetically pleasing product. At first, I thought this was going to be tough, due to the difficulty I had found before with trying to produce a fresh idea and developing it into a final and effective product. However, I changed my mind when I viewed a few existing products and got a few techniques arranged that I would attempt to emulate for my magazine layout. Looking at some existing products from both Q magazine and NME magazine, two publications that are in the same genre of media production that I wanted to try and target. As well as these techniques I was going to emulate, I wanted to try and put an unconventional spin on my article.

The first thing I had to try and determine was the layout of my magazine, would it be a single page, short interview or would it be a double page spread in a more article style interview. The copy side of the decision wasn’t important because I had both an article style interview and a short Q&A style to cover all bases, should I decide to go with either. However, because I wanted to showcase as many techniques as I could, I went for the double page spread, that way I could fit more content on the page.

Columns was a straightforward choice for my article, due to too much text putting the consumer off on an article , while columns break up the text and makes it more manageable for the audience. However, unlike the presentation of the copy, the title took a bit more deliberation. The bold title of both articles pictured (top two on the right) are effective, but I feel they take away too much from the initial text on the layout. For this reason, I added a reasonable sized title that stood out, while also allowing other features on the page to stand out also. These two magazines, along with many other in the media industry, featured pull quotes within it. This feature allows the consumer to see the best quotes from the main focus of the interview and therefore be enticed to read the rest of the article on the page I included this feature because like all publications, I want to try and entice the audience in as many ways as possible.

Technical competencies

Technical competencies Staying on the topic of the previous layouts on the last page, the sidebar was added because I felt that all interview pieces should have a sidebar to give the consumer a quick run down of the interview in a quick, informative Q&A style. I believe my decision to use the sidebar has given me an extra bit of effectiveness to my article, despite me having to reduce the copy on my article in the process. I think the compromise of copy to have a sidebar is justified, even if I have managed to get both all my copy and a sidebar in other layouts.

After analysing all the techniques I have emulated from existing products, I have also used some techniques which aren’t conventional to this style of layout. For example, the column been fitted round the image isn’t very common in music style magazines and isn’t a convention I’ve come across when reading Q or NME. However, I thought by doing this, it would separate my articles from the rest of them; because even though I want to try and fit in with the rest of the market, I want o put my own personal spin on my layout and this was one way of doing it. I carried out this technical element by selecting the pen tool and drawing the box in which I wanted to put my text into. This was slightly tricky because if I got this wrong, the proportions of the whole layout could go wrong and make my layout look ineffective. However, the fact that my original text box been still a feature of my layout, I was able to draw around that box, while making a few amendments to give it the fitted effect.

Another of my layouts also had a lot of emulated techniques from existing products but was more experimental in it’s approach. Using the sidebar feature, which was done by adding a simple box, I also tried to recreate the main feature of a Q article I had found via the internet; the drop capital. Traditionally used at the start of a layout, this unconventional feature not only stands out, it looks effective too. Produced by typing a letter using the same font as the main copy, before increasing the size of this letter and adding it to the centre of the left page. However, unlike the existing product, my layout didn’t look right with 100% opacity on the drop capital and I had to reduce the opacity to 55% to make it look effective once again.

Pull quotes, used on two occasions on my layout on this product, was another emulated effect that I decided to carry on from the layout on the previous page. Despite all these features, some old and some used from the previous layout, this wasn't the biggest change to my layout. The complete design had been altered completely and instead of a full page image, it was still a double page spread but I only used an image on half of the page, leaving the other half free to house my copy and sidebar.

Technical competencies The images I used were chosen very carefully and experimented with before I decided to use them for my drafts and final products. At first, I thought the images I had chosen wouldn’t translate that well on InDesign, due to them potentially looking stretched and pixelated, like my images in the recipe card project. In that particular project, I had to create a layout using visual hierarchy and despite it been a different purpose on this project, the images still looked pixelated and this is what prompted me to fear that the same would happen in the layout task of factual writing.

However, by holding the shift key while dragging the image to the correct dimensions, I was able to keep the image in immaculate quality, which then set the tone fro the rest of the product, due to the image been one of the main focuses of the layout.

While I think my layouts hold their own against the existing products and are of a professional quality, I believe I could amend a few things on my layout if I was to repeat the process to try and improve it. Even though I believe the pull quote on the example second from bottom is effective, I think it could do to be increased in size by a few points, therefore making it more visible and reducing the white space below the pull quote and below the sidebar. Apart from this, I can't see anything else that can be improved, apart from maybe a drop shadow been added on the title of the article, which would make it stand out more and give it a silhouette style effect.

As for the other layout (bottom right) there isn’t much I can add to this layout if I was to repeat the process again. A few minor tweaks, which includes; shrinking the drop capital so it looks less stretched would be one thing I could amended, while increasing the copy by a single point might move it down to the bottom of the page instead of the bottom of the page having an inundation of white space. On the other hand, if you increase the text it might send it below the image and then it would be uneven again. Another suggestion for the text could be the presentation of it. Instead of been endless masses of text split into paragraphs, it could be split using columns, like the existing products and my later drafts of my layout. Though this would improve it, experimenting with different layouts was the whole purpose of the start of production; seeing what works and what doesn’t, and while this draft was good, it wasn’t my final product.

While the written tasks didn’t require any technical competency, there were a few tasks that we hadn’t covered on the course before. Due to it been very production and theory based, it was rare that creative writing was required. This did take some getting used to but eventually I amended my writing style to the new writing topics of: fanzines, obituaries, press releases and tabloid newspapers. Also, while I had researched and done a bit on magazine layout, I have never had the chance to write a magazine interview piece previously so that was an issue that I had to overcome in this task, despite no technical equipment as such been new to me in this project.

Creative abilities In terms of creative ability, the magazine layout, my main and final piece, wasn’t that creative. This was

due to the fact that I emulated quite a few conventional techniques of a traditional music magazine layout. However, there are a few techniques that I have used that are original ideas and have not been emulated from an existed product, such as the square shapes leading to the title box, with the title box itself also been produced through creativity instead. At first, you would think these two techniques wouldn’t add much to the effectiveness of the overall layout, however, they help to contrast the white of the background and helps to draw the consumer to this box first and therefore read a bit about the article before reading the main copy. Even though the creative ability of the box matters, the copy within the box needs to be effective also, it could make or break the success and viewership of this article. If it’s interesting and informative, the audience are more likely to be enticed and therefore read the remainder of the article, however, if they don’t like it, they will move on to the next story.

While I am happy with these creative elements of my layout, as well as the experimental copies of this layout (the big drop capital draft on the previous page) I feel that I could have added more creative features to the products. During the production, I looked at many existing products from the same market that my magazine would be in if it were to be sold and I took a few techniques and I emulated them onto my own (drop capital, pull quote, columns, etc.). However, after the project, I looked at further articles more extensively and saw articles that could have made my product more professional and effective. For example, the Pete Doherty article (second down) shows you can add a pull quote in between or in the middle of your copy, instead of at the bottom like I have done. If I were to repeat the process, I would at least experiment with this feature, just in case it’s a feature that works for my layout. Apart from this feature though, the example features techniques that I have used (columns, half page images and contrasting colours) this is a good thing because it means that my product would fit into the market and be a conventional product of the genre.

After completing my magazine articles, I decided to move onto another article design product, which in this case, was a fanzine. Due to my fanzine article that I created back in Task 4 been so long, I knew that I had to produce a layout that had a lot of space for copy, while having images and a handmade/craft feel to it, due to this been a traditional style for a fanzine. Even though I had a definite idea about what I wanted to create, I was unable to find any products that I could emulate, like in the magazine layout. Instead, I just had to start creating my layout and try and make it look as effective as I could (professionalism doesn’t come into it because a fanzine is from fans, for fans, it can look raw and handmade).

After selecting my font, which is creative in itself, it was time to add the titles and the copy to the layout. At first, it didn’t quote fit all the text in and I thought I would have to reduce some of my fanzine article to make it fit in the frame. However, after extensive experiments and deliberation, I decided to bring the font down a few points so it would fit into the frame, despite it not been visible from the InDesign window. I thought at this time, it was time to cut the text down but when I put the Adobe file onto presentation view, the text was clear and could be easily read. The creativeness continues with the images, which are on a slight slant and look like they’ve been stuck on the fanzine and gives it a handmade feel like I wanted. The final touch was the labeling of the images that gave the fanzine an extra creative element, due to me been unsure on how creative and original my idea was.

However, while my fanzine fulfills it’s purpose, it still looks quite formal compared to a conventional fanzine product. Even though I have included the features I have mentioned, you still get the feeling that this article would appear in a magazine, instead of a product that’s given away free. In my opinion, finding examples of music fanzines after my production helped me see what could be included to improve my product, should I decide to repeat the production of this product. The Ian Curtis fanzine (second down) uses a more handmade and drawn approach to a fanzine, which might be nice to experiment with (I could write out the fanzine article and stick on images before scanning it onto the computer to give me the digital version of the product). Another creative technique I could think about adding is the addition of a torn paper effect. While I have the crumpled paper images as my background, which is a creative feature, I think a ripped paper effect behind my main copy would make it look more creative and would make it look more authentic.

As the project was starting to draw to an end, I had the chance to have a go at producing the third and final layout type; tabloid newspaper. Creating the copy for this layout was difficult enough; I found it difficult to use a different lexis for a tabloid consumer, compared to the audience I had been writing for in previous tasks. Due to me having a good idea of the features of a tabloid cover, this section didn’t require much research. Adding the copy was relatively easy, with me adding the first paragraph and amending it to look like the opening to a tabloid article (The first word is in capitals and the first line is in bold). However, adding the images proved difficult, due to the fact that if I added the image to be a full page image, the text wouldn’t be readable, but if I reduced the size of the image, it wouldn't appeal to the consumer and fail as a concept for a tabloid newspaper cover. However, this issue was resolved after some tutor feedback given to me allowed me to amend the image on Photoshop and give it a gradient layer, therefore allowing the text to fit round the image, which then made it a creative feature of the layout.

Creative abilities

Other creative abilities featured on the tabloid cover was the additional news added down the side of the main story. Using the example I had collected before the project began, I was able to emulate the design and add two news stories in a sidebar style feature. This feature not only gave me a creative element to my product, it also gave me the chance to write some additional copy (the stories required a small paragraph of copy which I generated myself from current news stories from that particular day). This gave me chance to see what was required to make the copy for a tabloid newspaper and the big change of the layout on a day to day basis from the tabloid publication. Despite all these features that I have spoken about been good, there are a few amendments I would make to this product to make it more effective. The image on the top right of the screen that depicts two Syrian soldiers and a child has some text on top of I, even though you can’t visibly see it on the image. To correct this error that I have made, I could either find a darker image and fit the same coloured text to it or I could split this box into two and have two news stories featured instead of one.

Even though creative abilities can be seen as a feature of the layout tasks, it was also evident in my writing tasks also. Not only was this project a chance for me to learn about various journalistic skills and information, it was to further my writing skills and give me some creative flair when writing. Most tasks required something different, whether it was a change on lexis, style or audience, there was plenty of chance to document my creative writing ability. I think the point where I was most creative in the project was in task 5, where I had to create an interview piece. While the brief allowed a Q&A style for this task, I wanted to write an article style response on this task, which brought out the most creative pieces of writing because you were required to provide filler pieces in between the quotes that you had selected, it was the best way to develop creative writing skills and to show them off also.

However, a task in which I thought my creative ability lacked and my writing wasn’t at it’s most creative was in task 4. From the start of that task, I knew I would have to change my style and formality, as well as my lexis. Having written for different audiences in the past, I thought I could carry on with that kevel of formality, only to find out that I had produced the fanzine piece too formal. To be successful in the task, you need to fit the audience and the specification of a fanzine, which, at first, I didn’t. After much experimenting with the paragraphs and the placement of sentences, I managed to make it more informal and chatty and suitable for fans of my celebrity instead, despite it still seeming a little but too formal for the task requirements. Another version of the fanzine that took the form of a rant ensured that I had all bases covered, just in case my first draft didn’t fit the purpose of the task.

Creative abilities

Before any of the writing or production tasks had begun, I had set myself a goal/intention of going into the tasks and trying to make a professional product, like I do in every other project I have undertaken so far. However, as well as this intention, I wanted to make a product that didn’t compromise my own writing in the process of making the product. What I mean by this is that I want to make a product that I wanted to make, instead of making a product that fits in with the market I wanted to go in, again, like I have done on some of my previous projects. Design for advertising,. The previous project, documented this well. I made a product that would please the market, instead of something that I wanted to make. This is by no shortfall a complaint because I am very happy with the product I made in design for advertising but I may have compromised a few of my own ideas for ones that would fit in better with the market. On the other hand, this work did not go undocumented, I put them in as other versions and different flavours and they were still evident on the final presentation but at the start of the project, I knew that I wasn’t going to compromise my creative writing and journalistic works for a product that would fit in with existing products, I wanted to make something that I have just written without consulting previous products first, which, on most tasks, I did.

The formal version of my fanzine was evidence enough for no compromises on this project. That piece of work showed that I was going to write my own piece, not write a piece destined for a certain magazine or with another article in mind, I wanted it to be different, unconventional and more importantly, something to show off my creative and writing abilities. Yes, it still fits in with the music magazines that I researched before the writing tasks, I wanted it to do this also, but I haven’t been as extensive with critical analysis of products and emulations on the written tasks this time round, I have given myself a bit of freedom for my own spin on things.

This freedom of my writing extends into the layout tasks also. After researching fanzines, I felt that despite the tradition, I wanted to subvert the conventions of the genre and make a product that was formal in it’s approach but still gave the audience the same information as a traditional fanzine. It works as a concept but because the whole purpose of writing a fanzine was to get a change of formality and audience and this is why I decided to write an alternate, more accessible fanzine written piece, despite me not changing my layout, due to it been a secondary piece to my final magazine layout.

This is also evident in my magazine layout. Even though there are many emulations from existing products throughout the product, I have managed to find some features that were my own, such as the title design and the addition of the second image on the left hand side of the page. Some more things evident on the Florence Welsh example are features that I wish I would have emulated into my work, but at the same time, I’m glad I’ve kept it original and simple and I think it transpires that this piece is more effective for this feature about it. For the most part then, I have managed to achieve what I set out to do without many issue whatsoever.

Realisation of intentions

Appropriateness of workIn this project, I was making products for different purposes, with these sense of difference extending to the change of audience. While you weren’t required to change the audience, it was natural that your audience for your fanzine will target a different demographic to that of your interview. For a start, a fanzine will target the fans of the celebrity, where as the magazine article will target all music fans. However, it’s on the layout task where things start to change in the target audience. In my double page magazine layout, I wanted to try and target a male demographic, due to the majority of The Smiths fans been male. However, I wasn’t sure of the age demographic before writing this article piece. When I started writing it, still wasn't sure and thought I would decided after I write it and see what style it was in and what lexis it contained as to what age demographic it would come under.

After completion, it was evident that I had created a piece for an older demographic, due to the formal and complex lexis featured and the topics of the past (The Smiths will appeal to the demographic that grew up with them, it will be a familiar topic for them and they will really be able to read into the insight featured in the article). The male demographic also carried on in the layout; the monochrome image with the red text is male orientated, however, I wanted it to also appeal to a bit of the male demographic (most of my products have been mass market so far on this course, I wanted the same but I also wanted to appeal to a certain, niche market. The features that I have added does both I believe).

On my fanzine, it was another demographic been targeted; not only due to the fact that it’s fulfilling a different purpose, I also modified it to fit a certain demographic. Due to the last layout been orientated to a more male demographic, I wanted this product to appeal to a mass market and this is why I added the white colouring, due to the neutrality of it. However, on things like the title font, I chose a font that would appeal more to a male demographic, with the main copy font been neural also. What these features made the layout was a mass market product with a few modifications to make it more male orientated. At the start of this layout, I wanted a mass market product, but in the middle of the task, I realised that music fanzines and magazines are read by a majority of males (Q=65% males NME=56%). From then on, I decided that all my products would be made with a male demographic in mind, while some more than others will feature a lot of mass market features also (I wanted to appeal to a variation of audiences with my different layouts)

Appropriateness of workIn magazines like Q and NME (both pictured) there is a continuation of style throughout every issue on things like colour schemes and font choices. This doesn’t matter if a male of female is the central focus of the story, it’s a consistent color scheme (the elbow and Cheryl Cole examples on the right help to show this consistency from Q). Even though this use of the same style suggests that it’s targeting a mass market, the colour schemes and bolding fonts makes it amore male orientated magazines, which is reflected in the viewership figures for the publication.

However, these examples were chosen when female artists were not the main focus of the issue. Take the example of Lana Del Rey on the front cover of Q; the media producer has changed the whole format of the magazine and a more female colour scheme is evident on the front cover and the feature articles within the publication. However, this change in colours and audience only happens very occasionally, due to the lack of female artists been featured been the sole problem.

As for NME, they are a more neutral demographic publication (56% male readers, compared to Q’s 65%). This shift in consumers is evident in the media producers products, with more articles on female artists been evident, which leads to more female colour schemes (like the Nicki Minaj example on the bottom right). Using pinks and lighter shades is stereotypically a female feature and it entices the female demographic more by doing this.

In terms of social class, magazines can’t normally be classified, due to the assumptions been made. However, both NME and Q can be seen to be in the ABC1 category because of the fact it uses formal lexis and while the music industry isn’t a privileged one, an ABC1 demographic will familiarise themselves with live music and studio albums because they can afford to spend money on albums and gigs, due to them having a disposable income, instead of the C2DE demographic who have to spend money on essentials.

My products, don’t reflect this ideology, however, due to the fact that I’ve emulated so many features from Q and NME articles that my demographic for social class will lean towards the ABC1 category. I think by using such features as formal lexis, gender specific colours and font, I was able to make my work appropriate for the audience I set out to make products for, both in the writing and layout tasks. However, on my tabloid and fanzines work, the lexis was much more simple and therefore a C2DE demographic, along with a younger audience was the target for these work, despite me not emulating any features from existing products on these particular works.

Content, the style & skills In the magazine layout, I wanted to make my target demographic that

of an older demographic who were around when The smiths were around, that way they would reminisce about those time and the article would also entice them through the familiarity of the subject.

The article was also written in a formal lexis, which would , without making an assumption, discourage a younger demographic from reading, due to this target audience liking the less copy, more images layout of magazine design. This copy was well written and in my opinion, exhibited my creative flair for writing and displayed my skill of writing for different audiences and purposes in the earlier tasks.

The copy that I had written in Task 5 for the interview task was conventional to the genre, in terms of lengths. However, when it came to translating that to my layout, some text had to be reduced, due to the fact that I either had the remaining copy or I added a sidebar to the right hand portion of the layout. This was a decision that I experimented with and altered the layout many times before settling on the layout with the sidebar included. I decided that the copy looked right on the left hand side but I wanted to try a technique that would make my article stand out from others. Due to the fact that the piece that I had emulated (top left) so far during this task, mainly for the double page image and pull quotes, I decided to make my interview unconventional to this existing product. The sidebar includes the short version of the interview that I hope will entice the target demographic to read the rest of the article.

I decided from the start of the project that I was going to have an article style interview, instead of a Q&A style. This was down to the fact that I had a lot of primary and secondary research, which I felt that I could transform into a long form response.

Content, the style & skills This article style of writing an interview is quite unconventional to the

genre and isn’t used that often, unless the journalist manages to acquire very detailed answers from the interviewee (some artists give the journalist hardly anything and they have to try and use fillers and extra information in the interviewees quotes to make I sounds interesting. This of course needs to stay in context of the writer will be breaking legal and ethical obligations).

In this task, I have used many skills and employed various techniques to try and make this piece as effective as it could be. Within the writing task, I made sure I used the correct skills to target the demographic I set out to; this was done by using things such as formal lexis and music industry terminology. Creative flair and an eye for writing relevant things in the interview piece were also taking into account. This was done by thinking back at my previous works and creative writing I have done aside from the course, which really helped me write an interview piece that I would class as professional standard.

As well as skills used in my written task, I incorporated loads of skills that I have learnt over the previous projects to try and make my layouts as complete as near to perfect as I could. For example, I used the pen tool on the text to make it fit round the main focuses head. I drew the points of where I wanted the text box to be laced and then placed my main copy in this box. Instead of been a standard column, I have transformed it to be one of the most prominent features of this layout. Despite me not having this skill to use from other projects, it was an easy skill to pick up and I was able to perform the feature quite quickly and simply. Another example of a skill that I used on this layout was the use of the shape tools which I have used for many projects previously. I used the shape tool to draw the box of my sidebar, which was done simply and while it wasn’t a tough skills to carry out, it added a lot of effectiveness to the layout.

Content, the style & skillsUnlike the previous layout type, my fanzine was created using no

existing product emulation or help with techniques from elsewhere, it was purely designed by me. This was a positive for creative and skill analysis but it was difficult at first because I didn't have any starting point and I only had the specification of ‘from fans, for fans’ to go on. After looking at fanzines and the different and variations in designs, I could see that a handmade design was a popular one for this particular genre.

However, I wanted to try and be unconventional and make a digital version of a fanzine that would incorporate digital design with a twist. This twist was to be the handwritten font that I would use to try and generate a bit of a handmade look for my fanzine. After completing the written task for my fanzine, I thought it sounded good and it was very well written, however, it was a bit formal for the audience that I was trying to target for this particular task. A fanzine should be relatively informal is the feedback I got for my product from my tutor and I knew I had to change my style and amend the first drat or I would have not met the specification for a fanzine on this task.

After tweaking the piece and making it less informal, I thought it read better as a fanzine but it was still slightly formal and it didn’t read like a fan had made it, it read like a journalist had written it for a publication. If I were to repeat this project again, I would certainly change the level of formality for my fanzine and I would make sure I didn’t write it like an article piece.

As just mentioned, the style of the article didn’t match the genre of the article, it didn’t quote read right and it felt as if it would be printed in a professional publication, instead of given away free by fans. In comparison to my magazine layout, this product didn’t quote meet the brief as well. The magazine layout fitted in well, due to the fact that I had something to emulate and look at before making my product, which is why I think my fanzine wasn’t as successful.

Like all my layouts on this project, the written side of my fanzine used creative skills, even if they were not required on this task. In every it of writing, I try and add a bit of creative ability and show that I can write in this style, which, unfortunately, is in the wrong style in this instance.

My use of music terminology helped to inform the consumer and helped to educate those who weren’t around at that time or other points throughout Johnny Marr’s career.

As for the layout, I didn’t exhibit many skills , due to the simplicity of my layout design. The slanting of the images were done because I believed it would add a more handmade feel to the overall layout, which mean that the captions had to be slanted also. The overall and broad skill of InDesign was also used to full effect on this occasion, my layout been split up into columns, like a fanzine would be and then relevant images from that point in time added to that section of copy.

Content, the style & skillsIn terms of content, the tabloid written task was the one that generated the least copy, which was a

good thing when it came to my layout task, due to the lack of space to add much copy. However, when I first began this task, I refused to, at first, change my style and adjust my lexis for the task. For this reason, my first draft reads like an informative piece, not a sensational news article, like tabloid news stories have to be.

After many more drafts and a lot of deliberation over the use of various words, had a tabloid news stories that grabbed the consumer from the off and was sensational in nature. It was the waste of time from the failure to change styles that I would change if I repeated this particular task. From the start of the task, I would think about my work choice and if I was unsure, I would check some existing tabloid openings and look at the language they have used. Tabloid are traditionally a chatty and informal type of news reporting and conventionally, but not exclusively, for the C2DE demographic, due to the simple wording and the voyeuristic look into celebrities lives that this viewership seems to crave (no assumptions can be made however).

The tabloid style, traditionally, is informal and that’s what made me worried at the beginning of this task, due to the fact that I have never written in a tabloid style, I have only ever written in a broadsheet, informative style in both my past projects and outside the course. However, after many attempts, I find that this style was easy to generate and much thought didn't need to be put in, as long as you answered all the key questions in the article.

Unlike my other two types of creative writing in this project, the tabloid required the most technical skills to complete, even if it didn’t require the most writing skills. In the layout task, I first added the image at the top of the section, with the headline underneath it but I was informed through tutor and peer feedback that this wasn’t effective and it didn’t make the design stand out. At this point, I realised I would have to edit the image in Photoshop, before adding the image back to InDesign and fitting the headline around it. By adding a gradient level, I was able to make the image merge with the black background of the tabloid section and fit the headline around it. This looked effective, but I have since realised that one or two letter of the headline aren’t visible, due to them blending with a portion of my stock image. If repeated, I would change this feature but because this layout type is my third piece and it’s just showing I can create a tabloid layout, it fulfills it’s purpose.

Another skill I used on this layout was the skill to add more text than required and generating it from nothing. This was required, due to the fact that left a small margin between the main story and the border, therefore I needed something to fill it, with current new been the top thing I could think of to fill the white space. Other skills on the tabloid layout include the use of shape to create the various boxes displaying the content in side, which were very easy to create, due to my past knowledge of InDesign.

Content, the style & skills

Why I chose this image for my layout?Due to the fact that I needed a landscape orientated image, I had to rule out all the portrait images I had selected for potential images to use in my layouts. After this process, there was only two landscape image I had earmarked for my double page spread and since the monochrome of the image would contrast well with red fonts and other red elements, I decided to go with this image. I believe this, along with the red features on the layout, make it one of my most effective designs on the layout tasks.

Why I chose this image for my layout?After choosing a portrait image on the right hand side of the screen, I wanted to try and add a landscape image on the page with the copy. I chose the landscape image because it was easier to fit into the layout without making it look too busy. I also chose this image because the colours of the layout were red, white and black, with this image featuring them all, which made this photograph and obvious choice for the other magazine layout.

Why I chose this image for my layout?My fanzine piece followed Johnny Marr’s life throughout his career, which featured a bit about his band The Smiths. Due to this fact, I wanted to try and fit a smiths style image and it ad to be portrait because the room I had on my fanzine layout only allowed it to be portrait. Another reason why I selected this image for my layout was the fact that it was a monochrome image which added to the handmade and retro feel of my fanzine, which, in turn, added effectiveness to this design.

Content, the style & skills

Why I chose this image for my layout?Before the layout tasks had begun and we were still on the writing tasks, I was thinking ahead to the layout tasks and thinking about how I could make them effective and eye0catching to the consumer. Apart from the features such as pull quotes, side bars and drop capital, I came up with the thought of contrasting a dark image with light aesthetic features, such as font and the sidebar box. As I found out, this looked effective and gave me a professional looking product.

Why I chose this image for my layout?I never initially meant to add this image to my fanzine layout, it happened by chance. Before definitely deciding on an image for the design, I always experimented on them all to see which one fit on certain layouts. When I first add this image to my fanzine layout and tilted it like the rest of the images, it didn't look correct. However, after some further experimenting and an opacity change (I reduced the opacity to make it blend with the background more) it looked like it fir the layout perfectly.

Why I chose this image for my layout?Again, this image wasn’t originally chose for my layout, but after adding it and altering it slightly, it looked very effective. At first, my fanzine featured an image of Johnny Marr and Bernard Sumner (electronic band members) because that part referenced them and I thought it would link well if I put a visual for the consumer to see. I found an image of the two and added it, but unfortunately, the image was blurred when I converted it to presentation mode and I had to change to the image above. If I were to repeat the project again, I would look more extensively for images, even though the images that I have collected are effective and fulfill the purpose of looking eye-catching to the consumer.

Development of skillsFrom this project I have learnt many skills, including both layout and written skills. An obvious skill from the layout side of the project was furthering my skills on Adobe InDesign. I had used this piece of software on the recipe cards project, but not in the way that I used it in this project; in recipe cards, we didn’t have to transfer any copy, we had to make layout though. On the other hand, this project allowed us to transfer our copy and turn it into a layout, which isn't just about the initial layout, it’s also about the way in which you reduce your copy if you are required to do so on your design; another skill I learn on this project. A technical example of where I have furthered my skills in InDesign is the use of the pen tool on the blow right layout. I had to use the pen tool to mark out where I wanted to create my text box, before adding my text to fit around the man focus of the design, Johnny Marr. This skill is certainly one that I would use for further layout projects, due to the fact it makes the layout look effective, while giving the design an alternative to restrained and dull columns.

In terms of he written task, I have learnt and picked up the skills to write for different audiences and purpose. While I have researched different genres of writing for different demographics, I have never put it into practice. The critical analysis work helped me to carry out these pieces effectively, despite the fact that the fanzine was quite formal and didn’t quote fulfill the purpose I wanted it to do. On the other hand though, it still fulfilled a purpose and because of all the drafts and versions I have done of the task, I believe I have done enough to have made professional collection of works. An example of where I have changed purpose and

audiences is the change I had to endure between the fanzine and the magazine article. The article had to be factual and go into depth, as well as the fact that it had to be formal in nature. However, the fanzine had to appeal to fans of the musician and had to be written in an informal style, with simple lexis featured. I didn’t do this but after many alterations, I was able to get a product that both fit the brief and one that I was happy with. As stated in last sections, I would still change this piece of writing, but for the purpose of the writing task, it still fulfills the brief and specification set.

Other skills include furthering Photoshop skills such as gradient layers (tabloid layout), practicing my creative flair and creative writing (written tasks) and learning how important selection of images is for layouts, if you get it wrong, it could make the design look ineffective and therefore it will not sell many copies for the media producer. I have been aware of this skill on previous tasks but never put it into practice quite like I did on this task.

ImprovementsIn this project, I have made some professional products and have been able to develop them, due to the fact that, as previously stated, my tutor gave me a lot of extensive feedback which helped. However, there are also things that I would choose to improve on if I was to repeat the written and the layout tasks again.

As a starting point, I would amend something that has featured many times in this evaluation, my fanzine piece. I previously slated the article, before going on to say that it was what I wanted to make at the begging of the project, which is true. However, sometimes it’s not about making a product that you want to produce, it’s about working to a specification. On this occasion, I have somewhat missed the whole point of this task on my firs draft, I continued to write in a formal lexis and for the same audience I usually write for, instead of changing the audience. This task, along with the other ones in this project, were supposed to get me to change my style to fit a certain purpose. Eventually, I changed the draft to be more fanzine appropriate but I still believe it can be further changed to fit the brief even more. The use of formal lexis is still evident in my second draft, along with the use of connectives, instead of the fillers and pauses that might be seen if I was to hand make the product, writing out every single piece of text. I want to eradicate these features and make it more suited to a conventional fanzine written piece.

As for the layout of my fanzine, it’s not just the writing that’s too informal, it's the design of the layout. Some additions could be made to change the layout and make the aesthetics of the layout more similar to a traditional fanzine. As well as the images been on a slant, I could rotate the copy slightly also, which will make it look like it’s been cut from a piece of paper and stuck together, therefore giving it the conventional handmade feel. Another feature I could change is the addition of some torn paper images, which would be added behind the main copy, giving it a similar effect to the previous suggestion of improvement. The last feature I could improve is very time consuming and would take a lot of experimenting to do. Converting the digital version to written, so it has a handmade feel will take a long time but might be worth it in the long run if it makes the product feel more like a fanzine.

Another product that has received a lot of criticism in this evaluation is the tabloid newspaper cover. Slated for the use of images and fonts incorrectly in the earlier pages, these issues need resolving if this piece is to be an effective secondary piece for my layout tasks. The font colour choice with the top right Syria related image don't compliment each other well and it’s difficult to read if the layout is zoomed out. In a normal tabloid layout, if the colours weren’t visible when put on other colours, the publication would lose viewers and sales on that particular issue; a problem that seems relatively small could lead to a big problem.

ImprovementsTo resolve this issue, I will have to try and experiment with different colours and the image itself. The same can be said for the image and title I have selected for my main story. During production, I didn’t realise that the image and the white colouring on the headline would clash in such a way, but when I converted it into JPEG, it was more evident. Experimenting with the colours and images on Photoshop, before converting them to InDesign is probably the action I will take to amend this issue. This is such an easy feature to correct, but can have such a monumental impact on the overall effectiveness of the layout.

As well as creating the three genres of layouts (fanzine, tabloid and magazine) I also created a short form Q&A style layout, where I emulated an existing product from the existing market. This past product was very unconventional, due to the fact it was all copy, with no images on the product. For this very reason, I wanted to emulate it, I wanted to see if it would work and if it would look effective if so. During many experiment stages (all drafts of my layouts went through extensive experiments) I was able to recreate the design that appeared in Q magazine in aril, however, it wasn’t as effective, due to the fact that they had many short for questions and I only decided to pick only 3 questions and answers for the layout. If I were t repaper the process, I might not have done this layout, but if I would have, I would have added more questions to the layout. It wasn’t like I didn’t have any more questions to add, I had a lot of primary research on my task 3 presentation.

The last improvement I would make in this project is the fact that I didn’t review, in depth, all the work I had produced during this project. I think hat my work may have benefited from this, due to the fact that I got stronger, creatively, in the later tasks and some of that creativity and flair could have been used on the earlier writing tasks.