Final Evaluation Question 3

Final Evaluation Question 3

Final Evaluation Question 2

Final Evaluation Question 1

Evaluation Question 1 from _megkiely

Evaluation Draft Question 7

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

I feel the most important progression I have made from my preliminary is the ability to use various software and technologies e.g Photoshop CS6. I also think my understanding of how a magazine is created in industry has expanded and I know understand the full process of what goes into to making a magazine (from the research and planning, first draft and final product) I now understand how in depth the process really is.
My knowledge in the technologies I have used such as Photoshop have increased significantly, looking back to my prelim the basic layout, editing and precision that I used in comparison to my final product I can definitely see that it is to a much higher standard. Using tools such as the ‘magnetic lasso’ to cut out images and using the grid to get precise measurements has enabled me to achieve a really professional looking final product.  I also feel due to my practice and deeper understanding of basic editing tools I am now much more efficient when it comes to simple tasks such as inserting and editing different layers; this is something that during my preliminary task I found quite difficult.

I also feel my knowledge and understanding of the magazine media industry has significantly improved, I feel this understanding and knowledge came from the vast amount of research I did into existing successful magazines and how they appeal/attract a certain audience and genre of music for example through how they challenge or conform to different conventions. I feel I also developed this knowledge during the drafting process of my magazine and receiving feedback from my peers meant that I could improve my work and broaden my understanding of how a successful magazine would be produced.

I think a key example of the progression I have made since my preliminary task is comparing my prelim contents page and final contents page. The preliminary task was a very brief process and hardly much thought went into what I produced, there were no precise measurements made and it was extremely simple. The images for my prelim were taken in minutes and not much thought went into the costume, style or poses that my model did in relation to the magazine's genre and target audience. In contrast to this, looking at my final contents page and the depth of detail in what the magazine contains and the precise placements of the image, subheadings and contents information, it makes it much easier for the reader to use and is much more aesthetically pleasing to look at.  

Evaluation Draft Question 6

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

Editing Technology/Software:

Computer:  For the majority of the process when constructing my magazine I used the computers at school during lesson time, study periods and working after school. I felt more comfortable working on the computers at school rather than working from home on my laptop and the school computers are of much better quality that the hardware I have to use at home (they are equipped with HD screens), I managed my time wisely at school giving myself enough time to complete the magazine.

Adobe Photoshop CS6 Extended: This is the editing software I used throughout the process of constructing my magazine on the school computers. When starting the preliminary task I wasn’t a confident user of Photoshop, but after lots of practice I have developed my skills and have used the software to my advantage, editing and creating my final product to the best of my ability.

Microsoft Word 2007: I used Word to write up my double page spread article, it gave me the chance to correct any spelling errors and edit my article with ease before inserting it into the Photoshop document; it also enabled me to keep a word count and structure my writing before inserting it into my magazine.

Paint: I used paint quite frequently, especially when print screening any work I had done and when producing my ‘Fashion & Costume’ post, I had used Paint a lot before in the past, due to this I was able to use it efficiently to present particular stages of my work.

Presentation Software:

Blogger: I used blogger throughout the process of constructing my magazine; I documented all stages of my coursework on my blog. Before this course I hadn’t used blogger before, now I have learnt how to use it properly, in presenting all my work from research, drafting, feedback, final product and now my evaluation. I feel it has been a great piece of software to use to present all my work throughout my course.

Animoto: I used this video creator in the early stages of this process to produce a pitch to present to my peers. I had never used Animoto before, but I found it so easy to use and it presented all my ideas really effectively, giving a great visual representation of my work.

Twitter: I posted some of my photographs on Twitter to get feedback from my friends and peers, it proved to be useful as my friends and ‘followers’ on Twitter would be part of the target audience for my magazine; so their feedback was very useful.

Flickr: After taking my images I uploaded them to Flickr, this created a ‘feed’ that I was able to post on my blog and allowed my peers to view the pictures in high definition and with ease.

Internet (Internet Explorer and Google Chrome): The internet was a vital part of my research, collecting images, magazine covers and information  helped me along the process in developing my ideas into a finished product.
e.g www.uktribes.com
      www.i-donline.com
      www.lookbook.nu

SlideShare: I used SlideShare during the research stage of this process, it enabled me to upload powerpoints of work I had created analysing magazine covers so it could be read and viewed with ease on my blog.

Practical/Hardware Technology:

Canon EOS 1000D (camera): This is my own personal camera that I used to take all of my photographs (cover, contents and double page spread), as it is a high quality and credible camera I feel that I got the best quality pictures possible. As it is my own camera, I already had good skills in photography so I was confident in my skills prior to shooting my images and I knew the certain settings that my camera needed to be on, the framing, use of flash etc.

Lighting: I used two soft lighting boxes to create the prefect ‘bright’ and ‘stark’ lighting for my photographs, these helped me to achieve great lighting and enhanced my model’s facial features. They also helped to eliminate any shadows and created more precise and high-quality images.

Evaluation Draft Question 5

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

My audience age range is 16-24, so it ranges between older teenagers and young adults of both genders, I designed my magazine in a way that will attract this specific type of readership and using both a male and female on the cover meant that it would not become too gender focused and would appeal to both the male and female target audience as I feel that having just a female model on the cover would attract more of a male audience and could end up conforming Laura Mulvey’s ‘Male Gaze’ theory, which would not be appropriate for my magazine genre or target audience.  The very basic mono-tonal colour scheme (black and white) used throughout my magazine also meant that my magazine would attract both a male and female audience as it is simplistic and minimalistic which suits the genre of the magazine, the band featured on the cover and the ‘indie/alternative’ target audience I am aiming DWNLD at.

The initial part of the magazine that the reader would see if it were to be placed on a magazine shelf in a shop is the masthead; this is because it is positioned at the top of the magazine meaning it would be visible on a shelf. The font I used (Innovation) is bold and clear yet it has an unusual italic edge to it, this means that readers will form a ‘brand recognition’ in relation to this type of font and the magazine itself. I used a similar font style to magazines i-D, Wonderland and Dazed & Confused; they are all bold and therefore hard to miss, they also share the same audience as my magazine so I can be assured it will appeal to the correct audience.

The models I used on my cover are dressed in the same style as my target audience are interested in, creating a blog post prior to taking my photos meant I was able to do some research into where my target audience like to shop and the current trends they were wearing (UK Tribes research), I then had the chance to plan out their costumes prior to the shoot to ensure it would attract the correct audience. My final cover features both the male and female members of the band; both in juxtaposition to each other (in relation to their poses). Both of their personalities are clearly shown on the cover which attracts the audience well, as they are a new band readers will see the bold image on the cover and will want to find out more. George is presented as the more serious member of the group, ‘moodily’ looking directly at the camera and addressing the audience with a rather intriguing expression on his face, whereas Ellie is presented as playful with an attitude and her winking facial expression contributions to her outgoing personality; which attracts the readers.

On my contents page I decided to use an image where both models are directly looking at the audience, again the grabs the reader’s attention and is one of the main focus points of the page, Ellie’s blue eyes and red lipstick are very appealing to readers and again draw the audience further in. Using clear and concise subheadings and columns on my contents page created a symmetrical page with a minimalistic and simplistic style that my audience could read with ease, shortly summarising each feature with a suitably vague sentence leaving them wanting to know more e.g. ’Are you having a laugh? TEED’s Orlando Higginbottom certainly is…’

When writing the article for my double page spread it was important to get syntax and grammar correct as any spelling mistakes for example could alienate my audience and create a bad name for the magazine, however it was still important to get the right balance between formality and syntax, as making my article too informal and too much use of colloquial language wouldn’t suit the genre of my magazine or the band, however making my article too formal may mean that readers may not be able to understand what they are reading and again could alienate them/put them off buying the magazine again.

Evaluation Draft Question 4

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience for my magazine would be young male and female adults aged 16-24 with a keen interest in the latest upcoming music within the indie/alternative music genre and the latest fashion, style and future/current ‘trends’. As my magazine will be published monthly I decided to go for a higher end price of £3.99, I feel that the target audience I am aiming my magazine at will be happy to pay this higher end price as the content of the magazine is good quality and it won’t be full of ‘gossip’ columns about celebrities as plenty of existing magazines like to do. The audience I am aiming my magazine at prefer to set themselves aside from the mainstream pop genre of magazines and my magazine would cater to the smaller ‘niche’ market of alternative fans (which is currently fast growing into a successful and credible music genre).  The readers would be interested in artists and bands within this specific music genre such as: The xx, Jessie Ware, Disclosure, Crystal Castles, SBTRKT and foals. All of those listed feature on the magazine’s contents page and would appeal my target audience’s ‘niche’ and alternative music taste. DWNLD magazine readers will have a significant interest in the latest and upcoming trends/styles within the music and fashion industry, although my magazine is a primarily music based media product, it also relies heavily on style and fashion to appeal to its ‘alternative’ audience

DWNLD would appeal to the ‘alternative’ audience as it is similar to existing magazines such as i-D, Dazed & Confused, Wonderland and POP. I feel I have styled the models on the cover, contents and double page spread to fit in with the ‘indie/alternative’ genre of the magazine and readership it will attract. The bold and flawless photography style achieves the ‘indie/alternative’ look eloquently and is very similar to the style of i-D magazine and Wonderland, making the decision to brand each issue with a tagline (The Influential Issue) similar to i-D and Wonderland also helped to significantly attract my target audience as the suitably vague tagline of ‘The Influential Issue’ would interest my readers in wanting to find out more about the content of the magazine and why it was branded as ‘influential’. Again, using the increasingly popular, stylish and bold photography style of Richardson and Vauthier helped me to achieve this ‘indie/alternative’ style and will help attract the specific/niche audience for my magazine.