Evaluation

                                                            

Evaluation

During my research I looked at the other codes and conventions used by other magazines and implemented some of them into my own work. I used similar layouts and conventions. I used a masthead, a splash and a kicker story. My magazine also challenges real magazines because mine is much simpler and not to celebrity orientated. My magazine does look like a real music magazine and from just a first look it can be identified as a music magazine. All/most magazines have a masthead, menu, pugs, secondary lead, splash, stand first, strap line, a feature story, headlines and a kicker. My target audience would find my magazine enjoyable as it is current and they can identify with the artists.

The magazines below all have a feature image with big bold writing surrounding the picture. I wanted to follow the similar R’n’b magazine front cover.

      

My magazine represents many social groups. It is aimed more at teenage girls who are into pop culture and current mainstream music. Therefore those who are more into underground music might not enjoy my magazine as much.

Bauer media could distribute my magazine as they distribute a lot of magazines, music and non-music. They distribute 300 magazines over 15 countries so they would be a good institution to join because they are so well known and could help my readership to grow. They also have other media products such as music websites, TV and radio. They could help my magazine to become national.

The audience for my product are teenagers and young adults who are interested in r’n’b/pop music. Although there could still be younger/older people who would enjoy reading my magazine. Mainly girls would be interested in the magazine as the colours are feminine. Many boys would be interested in it as well.

I attracted my audience by using bright bold colours and the use of many pictures. The language I used is not to complex, it’s easy to for all abilities to understand. I’ve used a more informal style to give my magazine a relaxed chatty feel. I also used a competition to entice my audience.

Skills I've learnt

I’ve learnt many new skills since the start of this process. I’ve learnt much more about publisher, as I had never created a magazine using it. I’ve also used an Apple Mac for the first time which was really fun as their software is amazing. Also I was taught how create a blog, even though I have created one before I learnt in more in depth detail.

Detailed analysis of front cover & pages

My front cover is very bold and eye catching so it stands out amongst others .The fonts and colours I used are different and bright. I used a bright orange matshead as it's very fun and will help my magazine stand out more. I used orange,yellow and pink as they compliment each other well and I feel they compliment the picture, giving it that autumnal feel. I used pink for the singer, Nicki Minaj's name, as that is her signature colour and fans will be able to identify with that.The cover lines I used will entice readers to buy my magazine, they’ll be interested to find out more about the cover line.

My contents page and double page spread appeal to my audience as they feature a lot of pictures and I again I continue the use of bold bright colours to interest the reader. The layout is simple and not too busy. The content will also interest people. On the contents page I included two images. One of Steph, the singer who I'm interviewing and one of Usher who the competition is based on. The picture of the well known celebrity, Usher, could help to increase my sales. I have also included an editors note, this gives the magazine more of a personal,friendly and informal feel.

For my double page spread I included the interview with my main feature star, Steph. I made sure I included interesting questions that the readers would want to know and kept them short and sweet. I used three images to the side of the page, which are slanted with flower patterns surrounding them and highlighted orange box. I wanted to show the variety of shots. I used a peach coloured background as I think it compliments the front cover and the pictures. I used two contrasting font colours orange and black as they stand out. On the other side I included the album review of Nicki Minaj's pink friday. I separated the writing into bullet points making it easier on the eye for the reader. I also included an album image for those who are not familiar with the album. In the top right there is the top 10 single chart, making my magazine relevant and up to date. I have also included information about the number one producer, Red One, as he is a very big name in the music industry.

Original images:

I choose my original images because they represent my magazine well and represent my target audience.

After editing:

Looking back at the preliminary task

I have learnt a lot from completing the preliminary task. Learning how to create a basic magazine helped me to improve hugely with my main task. My preliminary magazine was very basic and didn’t have a lot of codes and conventions used by magazines. I’ve learnt how to make the magazine look more realistic. I also learnt a lot of techniques to improve my magazine such as editing pictures and discovering different fonts

Imported images:

I choose these images because they represent the text very well. All my readers will be able to identify with these artists.

Improvements that I could have made

I could have added more pictures to my magazine and put more articles in if I had more pages to work on. I could have also made it appeal to a wider audience. I could have included more giveaways/competitions.

Audience feedback

I put together 5 questions and asked fellow students what they thought about the magazine front cover.

The questions included:

Are you male or female?

How old are you?

Would you buy my magazine?

How much would you pay for it if you would buy it?

Results:

6 :female 4 :male

10: 17 year olds

7 :yes 3: no

4: £1, 2 :£1.50 4 :£2.00 +

The results further support my target audience as I said mainly girls would be interested and mainly teenagers.