Evaluation

Introduction

This past term we have been leading up to create a music magazine for our coursework. 'Enough' (my music magazine) is targeted at late teens- early adult. I would class it under the C2, D and E category. I was aiming to achieve a magazine that was best suited for a male and female audience. This led me to choose alternative for my genre. However I was happy to choose this particular genre because this is the style of music I listen to. I had to research different magazines similar to mine and try to grasp ideas from that to inspire 'Enough' magazine. I feel that having done this exercise it definitely gave me some ideas to work from. 'Enough' is definitely a feel good magazine and includes a variety of alternative ideas and draws the reader in as well as it can. Before I started my research and planning I was given a preliminary task to complete. This consists of photos and planning gone into a college magazine and it helped me to think about the real task and how I was going to go about planning that. Overall I am very pleased with 'Enough' as a magazine.

Q1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Q2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Q3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Q4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

Q5. How did you attract/address your audience?

Question 1- What magazine would you usually buy? And would it be similar to 'Enough'?

The majority of the focus group all agreed in that they do not usually buy music magazines. However there was one girl that said she brought 'Q' magazine. I found this interesting because 'Q' was one of the magazines that I had used in my research and planning and it also gave me a majority of ideas to use in my own magazine. Also another member of the group mentioned that they do not have the money to buy a magazine. This implies that he is a student without a job. 'Enough' magazine has a very reasonable price and is aimed towards this type of age group which is why it is not too pricey but also not a bargain. 'Enough' is in the C2, D and E category and this is the type of category my focus group are.

Question 2- Do you think that the images and font on the front cover all relate to each other? (match)

When I asked this question someone mentioned that it 'all has a relaxed feel to it' and this is exactly what I was aiming for with my magazine. I did not want my magazine to come across as harsh in any way, shape of form. This worked well because I didn't use any harsh colours or typography. I tried to make it very relaxed but at the same time keep it classy and polished. They also mentioned that it was 'quite simple' and this was also another perfect answer because this is what I wanted my magazine to portray to an audience of this category.

Question 3- How do you think the image draws the audience in?

Straight away they all pick up on the model looking directly into the camera and having a direct gaze. I feel that this completes the magazine and entices the audience in. They also mentioned the lighting makes the model stand out as well by just having it on one side of her face. Someone mentioned that this is almost 'powerful' this could mean by drawing the audience in or even if it just the look on her face. I wanted the model to have a welcoming yet professional look about her as if she was a real celebrity. I think that I have captured this well as my focus group have picked out this quality.

Question 4- Does the brand identifier in the masthead attract an audience?

Someone mentioned straight away that 'maybe it's too simple.' Although this is true this is what I wanted to achieve. I didn't want a simple magazine and then an off-putting brand identifier. I wanted my magazine to look clean and work as a whole, not two separate parts. A girl mentioned that 'it makes it memorable and different' this is exactly the point of a brand identifier and I feel if I hadn't of put it then the magazine wouldn't of been as intriguing to the reader and wouldn't draw as much as an audience as I would of hoped for. I also carried out the brand identifier throughout my magazine as it is included on my contents page. However it is used on my contents page and diverts into the page rather than just sitting at the top. This makes the page look more appealing and gives the magazine a completed look.

Question 5- The layout of the front cover is very structured and simple. Is this what you would expect from a music magazine?

There wasn't much said about this question as it was fairly simple and easy to answer. They all agreed that they would expect most music magazines to be structured and simple just like how 'Enough' is portrayed. They said this is what they would all expect so there wouldn't be anything that I would need to change dramatically.

Question 6- If you were to pass 'Enough' magazine on the shelf what would be the first thing to draw your attention?

The first thing mentioned was the image. As they said before the model is making direct eye contact which would naturally catch your attention anyways. The next thing mentioned was the colours. The main colour for 'Enough' magazine is the rouge red colour which is a signature colour for enough as it is used all throughout the magazine and is displayed on the front cover, contents page and the double page spread. One of the boys mentioned that red is usually a stand out colour which would usually catch your attention; so the fact that it is a signature colour for 'Enough' and is used on each page will get the attention needed. 

Question 7- What is attractive about the contents page?

The layout is mentioned. The words 'clean' and 'professional' are used. In my introduction and aims I actually mentioned about having a clean and professional magazine so i'm glad that this has been carried out and the focus group have picked up on this feature of 'Enough.' The red colour is also mentioned again which is yet again saying that it may draw your attention and acts as an attractive feature as well as just drawing your attention.

Question 8- What is attractive about the double page spread?
First thing mentioned is that the double page is mapped out well. The image is also mentioned and how they all agree that they like the effect at the bottom of the photo. This is a faded out effect which makes the photo not seem so sternly sat on the page but blends in nicely to give it that wholesome feel. However the image layout has been said to be 'weird' meaning it is not how you would usually lay out a double page spread article. This made me see that the images were set out in a strange position and this was effective criticism because it did make me want to re-do what I had previously set out to do which was to fill up the page. The pull quote in the text was a good idea though because it seemed to draw the focus groups attention as they mentioned it being in the middle which usually is a good place to put something if you want it to be seen upon as a good audience in take. One of the girls also said that she likes the way 'Enough' have used the colours on all three pages. This is what I mentioned before about my magazine looking wholesome and I was happy she noticed this as it was definitely one of the main features of my magazine.

Q6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Throughout the making of my music magazine I have used various different programs and technologies; including Adobe Photoshop, blogger, prezi, Adobe InDesign, cameras etc.

Photoshop

When using Photoshop I was comfortable with it because I had experience using it from photography. However I still had a Photoshop induction because there were a few things that people were not sure about. When using Photoshop I wanted to focus on making my image for my front cover as professional as I could. With using Photoshop in another subject it let me gain confidence with my task and it became easier to use as I went along. The tool I used the most was the cut out tool. This was to cut the image I wanted out of the whole photograph without making it look badly done. Also another key feature I had to use was the enhance layer. This was to make the models eyes more enlightened and visual to draw the audience in even more. However the typography was also a key feature when it came down to this. I put a white faded box around the subheading to make it more clear and readable. It also sectioned the page off a bit better as well. The layers were very important to this as well; because using all the different effects you need a different layer because lets say you didn’t like something you would have to delete it off a layer but this could result in you deleting most of your work.

Blogger

Blogger was completely new to me; it is an online blog to place all of my coursework. I learnt about copying and pasting codes into the HTML code bar. This was a difficult task to do because you had to find the right place and learn about the different codes to then get the right content on your blog. Blogger is a quick and easy way to upload your work all into one place and allows people to view it simply. What I enjoyed most about using blogger was the fact that I could peer review my class and see how they were progressing as well as me. This gave me ideas and different techniques I could apply to my own magazine.

Prezi

For me personally I didn’t like prezi at the start because it was something completely different to me and I was unsure of how to use it. However after the first time I used it we were given another option to use it again and at first I didn’t want to but I decided to give it another try and I didn’t actually mind it because it was a more fun way of approaching an essay based task.

Adobe InDesign

Indesign was the program I found the hardest to use because I only used it for my double page. We all had a little induction on how to use it and to use the right tools to make our magazine look as professional as possible. Although it was the hardest program to use you adapted to it quite easily once you got the hang of it. There were a variety of different tools to use and one of them was a tool used to 'snap' your image in place where you wanted it. You could also adjust this to be as big or as small as you wanted it considering where it was placed on your double page spread.

Cameras (photography)

I had to go out and take my own photos to put in my magazine to show that I understood what the task was about. I firstly took a shoot for my front cover, I made a contact sheet on Adobe Bridge and I then had to choose which image would suit my front cover. I chose an image that had direct eye contact with the camera because I know this draws the audience in. For my contents page I had to then take a set of images, which included the opposite sex to make my magazine more appealing to either sex. I then made another contact sheet on Adobe Bridge and had to pick which images went best with my contents page. For the double page spread I used images from my first shoot because it was relative to what my magazine was mentioning on the cover. I enjoyed taking the photographs because I feel that it gave a more personal approach to my magazine.

Q7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Conclusion 

Overall I have found making 'Enough' magazine really good and enjoyable. Although there is a lot to learn and understand I think that once you get the hang of it it isn't as difficult as it plans out to be. My favourite part out of the whole task was to take the photographs for the magazine because I liked going out and setting up a shoot and telling the model how to act and be. I was happy with my progression and the only thing I would doubt about all the work I have done is the amount of time I had to do it in. Next time I now know that when approaching a task similar to this I have to handle my time management better consider what needs to be done and how quickly I can do it in. But overall I was happy with what I had produced.