Magazine Evaluation

Magazine Evaluation and Magazine Evaluation and audience feedbackaudience feedback

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

My magazine would be mainstream because it follows most of the conventions of the typical magazines but with little twists. I wanted my front cover to be a little different to the conventional magazine so it doesn’t have everything you may expect. I didn’t include a selling line or slogo because I felt the masthead of the magazine gave you a big enough impression without a selling line. I chose a photo which had bright colours and then chose a contrasting colour to use for the masthead and coverlines. I wanted the photo to show the values of my magazine, I wanted it to show that my magazine felt that seeing bands live was a big part of the music business. My magazine does have a left third but I also put cover lines on the right to balance out the amount of text on the front cover. From my audience feedback quite a few people said that they thought the main image should have been in better focus but I chose to use this photo because it really gave the sense that the photo was a live shot which was a spare of the moment thing and you can tell the energy the band have on stage from how the photo is not in perfect focus. It gives a strong impression of the band and how energetic their music and live shows are.

Masthead

DatelineWebsite

Lead article

Cover lines

Left third

Cover lines


For my contents page I decided to use a typical layout because I wanted it to be simple and easy to follow. The main purpose of a contents page is to inform the reader of what is in the magazine and I tried to make my contents page serve this purpose. I used three completely different photos which portrayed the artists in a different way because I wanted it to show that my magazine covers more than one genre of music. I used the same colour scheme as I did on the front cover to give my magazine a house style that I would carry on to my double page spread. I separated the contents into sections so that it was easy to follow and to make the headings catch the readers eye as they skimmed though what was in this issue. From my audience feedback one of the things my target audience said was that the contents page was a little too dark compared to the rest of the magazine. I wanted this to be a little different from the double page spread because the double page spread was meant to catch the readers eye and be the main selling point for my magazine whereas the contents is just a guide to what’s in my magazine.


For my double page spread I decided to use the same purple from the front cover to make it obvious that the double page spread went with the front cover. I used an unconventional font for the article heading because I wanted it to stand out and look different from other magazines. I decided to use smaller photos spaced out over the two pages to break up the big chunks on text. I decided this would appeal more to my target audience because they would want to see what the band were like live and then when I had got their interest they would read the article. I chose to use the two pull quotes because the band have two lead singers and I felt it was important to have a memorable quote from each of them to be able to get a good idea of the band. I used two completely different quotes because they showed a different side to the band and gave a good idea of the personality of the boys in the band. From my audience feedback my target audience liked the photos on the double page spread but were not that keen on the purple background but I decided to do this so that it kept with the house style of the magazine.

How does your media product represent particular social How does your media product represent particular social groups?groups?

I wanted the photography and text used to portray the artist well. I wanted it to be obvious

that the band were funny, confident and genuine guys who are easy to get along with. I wanted the reader to feel the band valued their fans and that they made music for them not as much for the money or fame. I wanted to show

that the band thought a huge part of supporting them was going to their live shows and I did this buy using photos from the gigs to

show the kind of show they put on for their fans. I used quotes from videos I took at the

gig to put into the article so that you got a true idea of what the band were like. From my

audience feedback it was clear that the way I wanted to portray the band was obvious from the photos and what was said in the article.

Everyone seemed to get the idea that the guys in the band were fun and just wanted to have a good time. One person even pointed out that the fact I used live shots of the band show the

band in a positive light and shows the connection between them and their fans.

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

If I had the choice I’d want my magazine to be distributed by Bauer Media because they are a well known distributor of magazines such as Kerrang. Kerrang is aimed at a similar audience to my magazine so they would know where it is best to sell my magazine for it to sell well. My magazine is slightly different from the magazines they already distribute so they would be able to fill a gap in the market by distributing my magazine. I would also launch my magazine online because this would appeal to my target audience. With the way technology is changing and evolving a lot of teenagers would prefer not to buy a hard copy of a magazine and would quite happily read it on the internet because it’s easy and they can do it from the comfort of their own home for free. I still think it would be worth releasing the paper version of my magazine because I know a lot of my target audience buy magazines just for the posters and photos of their favourite bands to put on their walls.

Who would be the audience for your media product? How Who would be the audience for your media product? How did you attract/address your audience? did you attract/address your audience?

My audience would be teenagers, ranging from the age of 15-19, who have a real passion for music. My magazine would suit both females and males because it would appeal to a wider audience which would make it more likely to be popular. In my audience feedback most of the people agreed that my magazine is aimed at both sexes and that it would appeal to both of them for different reasons. I designed a readers profile which gives a clear idea of my target audience and even some of their favourite bands, websites, shops and brands. My magazine will be aimed at people who enjoy going to live shows and will include a lot of exclusive live photos of their favourite bands. Before I made my magazine I asked my target audience some of the their interests and favourite things and this was all included in my readers profile to the right.

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

I learnt that there is a lot of technology online to help you create and distribute things easily. It makes life a lot easier than having to do everything by hand or in person. Before doing this task I had no experience with the programs I was needing to use. I had to learn how to use SurveyMonkey and I found that it’s really useful for producing surveys and it’s really quick to distribute the surveys once I had made them. It is a much more effective way of getting audience feedback than writing out surveys and having to give them out to people or actually doing face to face surveys with people. To help distribute the surveys I used Facebook because it was a quick and easy way to make sure lots of people saw my survey. Another website I had to learn to use was Blogger, I thought this was a really good idea to have all my work in one place and where I can present it in a way I really like. In order to put slide shows onto my blog I had to use Slideshare which is an easy way of importing PowerPoint presentations into my blog. The main thing I learnt during the process of making my magazine was how to your Photoshop, at the beginning it was quite difficult to get the effects I wanted but by the end of it I think I am getting a lot better at editing photos and putting work together on Photoshop.

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

The main thing I have learnt during this task is how to use the new programs that I hadn’t used before starting this. At the beginning my knowledge of Photoshop was very limited and I found it hard to get the effect I wanted when editing photos but by the end of this task I feel a lot more confident with Photoshop and know most of the tools and how to use them in the best possible way. I’ve also learnt how important it is that you represent an artist in a way that appeals to your target audience because if they don’t like the artist then they won’t buy the magazine. I’ve also learnt how to appeal to my target audience and to meet their expectations. I have also learnt the typical conventions of music magazines and now understand why magazines wish to present certain views and values to their readers. After researching into other magazines I also learnt how to layout and write an article. It taught me how to grab the attention of my target audience and how to keep them interested once I had got their attention.

Documents

Magazine Evaluation