Evaluation

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

My magazine front cover uses the codes and conventions of real media products. I have used a specific colour scheme of blue, white and black which i thought worked well together and i used effects to make all these colours bold and stand out. It features a masthead which is very bold and stands out. It consists of one main image, which i feel attracts the audience due to the angle its taken at, it draws your attention to the guitar the person is holding which is eye catching. It also has a main title at the bottom of the page which is effective due to the use of the bevel and emboss tool which makes it stand out against the background. I have filled up the space of the whole page in many ways which i found was another code and convention of a magazine front cover.

I kept my contents page quite simple which was something i found when researching similar media texts. It works well because its easy to read and would make the magazine accessible. It features a few images which give a good balance with the amount of writing. I have used up the space of the contents page quite well so there are plenty things to look at, which is important for a magazine. Another code and convention i used was underneath the titles of all my features i wrote a sentance or two about what was on the page. This would give the reader insight about what to expect on the page and ultimatly make them decide whether to turn to read that page, this meant it was important to use sentances and phrases which sounded appealing to an audience.

For my double page spread i used one main image which filled up half the page. I found this was a regular code and convention of double page spreads in my research. I used an eye catching image of the band taken from a low angle, looking up at them. I also included a fact file about the band which would be useful to a reader if they didnt know who the band was. I used a very basic font on the write up of my interview becuase i felt this would be a very important code and convention of a double page spread as it would need to be clear for the reader to be able to read. I also included a few smaller images on the right hand side of the page to make it a bit more interesting.

• How does your media product represent particular social groups?

By making my magazine a pop/rock magazine aimed at young people, it represents young people in general which makes it appealing to them because if young people are involved in the magazine it may pursuade other young people to buy it as they have something in common with them. I have featured a young person on the front cover aswell wearing cool clothes which fit in with the style of the magazine. It brings young people into the music scene and also gives them a specific style due to the colour design and clothes i have used.

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

Most English media institutions would distribute my magazine. Probably media institutions which are aimed at the younger generation would mostly be in favour of distributing my magazine as its aimed at the 14-25 age group. An example of a media institution that would distribute my magazine would be EMAP which is a multi platform media group based in the UK. Some examples of magazines they distribute are Match, Digital Photo and Bliss. Another media distribution company which might distribute my magazine is IPC Media. They distribute magazines such as Marie Claire and NME.

I think media institutions would be interested in distributing this magazine because you dont see many music magazines specifically aimed at young people. I could also get a lot of funding to distribute this magazine through people who want to promote or advertise a product through the magazine because young people are a good target audience to sell new products/clothes too, so if the magazine was popular this would benefit them a lot.

• Who would be the audience for your media product?

I would be aiming my magazine mostly at the younger age group from about 14-25. Although the magazine would really be aimed at boys and girls, I think my magazine would mostly attract girls due to the fact it features a lot more features that girls would appreciate e.g pop/rock music and fashion and the main feature of the magazine is an interview about a new young girl band. Ultimatley my magazine will be aimed towards a target/niche audience due to the fact its a music magazine aimed at the 14-25 age category.

• How did you attract/address your audience?

I made my magazine look quite young, by making it look quite cool with bright bold colours. I also used an image of a band which would be in the same age category of people buying the magazine so this could be something which would encourage people to buy it, as it includes people they might have something in common with. All the images i used were taken with a strong background or at a good angle so it made the magazine stand out amongst others. I also added several effects to images and pages of the magaizne to make it look more proffesional and attractive to the audience. I also used specific phrashes and features to attract the reader, for example, "Win a Trip To New York" was on the front cover. This would definatly attract the reader to buy my magazine becuase they have a chance of winning something if they buy it.

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

I have been using photoshop to create my project. This has enabled me to learn how to use all the tools. I have learnt how to use effects such as outer glow, drop shadow and bevel + emboss which all helped to enhance all my titles and text across my project. I also used photoshop brushes to create patterns around my titles which made them look a lot more interesting.

I also learned how to use the magnetic lasoo tool with feathering to cut out all my images.

I used layering to help me edit my project appropriatly and enable me to use and delete what i like, also to put images or text in front of objects.

I also used image adjustments on all the photos i used for example the curves and levels tool helped me to increase the saturation, contrast, vibrance and exposure of my images which helped to make the colours stand out.

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

I feel i have learnt how to use the photoshop tools at a higher level. Also by doing extra research i think i have become more aware about what makes a good magazine and the correct codes and conventions a magazine should feature. My whole main task it set out a lot better than the preliminary task and due to the effects i have learned to use at a higher level in photoshop it has made the magazine look a lot more proffesional. I have also used better photography skills in terms of the images i used in my project. For example the backgrounds i took the photo against and the angle i took the pictures from to make them more eyecatching.

My Finished Double Page Spread(click to see larger image)

I also used adobe illustrator to create brush patterns. I first selected the brush tool and then artistic ink brushes. This gave me brushes with a spatter pattern. I dotted these around a blob of the black brush. By doing this in illustrator it made the pattern look more proffesional because illustrator uses vector art which gives the brushes a smooth edge. 
I then chose several different types of the artistic ink brushes to create a pattern to fill the gap on my double page spread. 
I also used the artistic calligraphic brush strokes to create simple line patterns of the black brush pattern i used. 
For the title of my double page spread, i simply used the band name. I used the outer glow effect to give the name an outline. The colour's are also the same colour design i have stuck to throughout the magazine. underneath the title i have put some information about the bands new album and next to it i have made an image which is the album cover of the bands new album. This would be useful to the reader as they will know what to look for when going out to buy the album. I also used the brush tool to create the patterns around the title. 
For the text of my interview with the band, i wanted to use something which was easy to read. This was another one of the codes and conventions i found when researching double page spreads. Having a simple font means that all the readers of the magazine are able to read it without any trouble. I chose the font named Arial because its a common font, it has gaps in between letters which makes it much clearer then other fonts but at the same time it still looks proffesional. 
I used the gradient tool to create the background of my double page spread, i used black blending into white. I think this made the background a little bit more interesting than just having it plain white. This is what the gradient background looked like(below):

I chose this image to use as the main image on my double page spread because i think it catches the audience's eye due to the angle the photo is taken at. Its also taken on a good background with the old grey stairs and old building. I adjusted the photo using the levels tool in photoshop and increased the saturation of the image, this made the colour's stand out a lot more. I have also included the magazine name in the top left hand cover, this was a regular code and convention of a double page spread that i found in my research. I included a fact file of the band because this would maybe give the reader an idea about what the interview was about if they didn't know who the band was, they could decide whether its something they could be interested in.  I used the bevel and emboss tool and the drop shadow tool(black outline) on the box of the fact file to make it stand out against the picture.

My Finished Contents Page(Click to see larger image)

Making My Contents Page

I downloaded some fonts that i thought would look good for my contents page. I have used the bevel and emboss effect and the outer glow effect on my contents title, this made it much more bold. I also used photoshop brushes again to create the graffiti look. I have also used different fonts to put which issue of the magazine it is, this is one of the codes and conventions of a contents page that i found, also the magazine name. 
I used the titles features, every month and events to show information about what's inside the magazine. I still kept to the colour design of blue black and white. I used the rectangle tool to create a shape to go behind the titles because i think this made them clearer and separated the titles from the page numbers/titles. I also used photoshop brushes to get the image of the buildings at the bottom of the page, i thought this made the contents page look quite appealing. 
I also featured some images on my contents page, i used the rectangle tool to create an outline around the image because i thought this made it stand out. I also put the page number connected to the image on it because this could be useful if the reader wanted to quickly jump to that page. I also made a banner across the image showing that it was the cover story. I adjusted the image's curves to make it a bit brighter and contrast the colour's in the picture. I also used the bevel and emboss effect to make the picture stand out against the black outline.
I chose the image below because i thought it was really bright and colourful, therefore contrasted with the rest of the page. I also used the magnetic lasso tool with feathering to cut the image out. I have also put a page number next to it to show that there is an article or story to do with that image on a certain page. In this case the page is about festivals, so i thought the image was also appropriate as its taken from a festival. 

My Finished Magazine Front Cover(Click to see larger image)

Making my front cover

I chose this picture for my front cover because i think it stands out and fits in with the genre of my magazine. I planned to use an image of 3 people on the front cover in a band but i decided to use this image becuase it only features one person, this means it would be easier to capture 

the readers attention as its the main focus of the front cover. I think the angle its taken at also attracts the reader because it draws your attention to the guitar. I have also edited this picture by using the adjustments tool in photoshop and changed the vibrance and saturation of the picture to make the colours stand out. 

I then used the magnetic lasso tool to cut out the part of the image that i wanted for my front cover. I did this so i could get the main part of the image and place it on a black background which would make it contrast with the rest of the front cover, if i

 had kept the original image as the background image for the cover it wouldn't have worked as well because of other things going on in the image, so the readers attention wouldn't be all on the main picture of the girl playing the guitar. When using the magnetic lasso tool i also used feathering and changed it to about 5px to make the image's edges less harsher so that the image would blend in well with the background.

To create the title for my homepage, i used a font which was in 

capitals and very bold to draw the readers attention to the magazine. I also used the spatter brush stroke effect on the title to blend the two colours i used together.

I used the outer glow effect on the title to create a white outline around it to make the title stand out and contrast against the black background. I used the black background because i thought lots of colours would contrast against it and images and text would stand out more, this would fit in with the typical codes and conventions of a magazine front cover. I changed the opacity to 100% so that the white line would be bold, i also changed the size and spread of the glow to make the line thicker. 

Here is my final title. I used photoshop brushes to get my title to have a graffiti effect around it. I think this made my title a bit more exiting and could attract the readers attention. I also made sure i did the brushes on different layers to the

 title so i could get the graffiti shapes to be behind the title to blend in.

I used the bevel and emboss tool for the masthead cover story name. This gave the title an edge and made it bolder to stand out on top of the main image. I used the name domination for the band featured on the cover as i think its an appropriate name for a pop/rock group and is a word which would stand out to a reader because its very strong. Underneath the band name i used the rectangle shape tool to create a banner showing what other features are in the magazine. This is another typical code and convention of a magazine front cover.

I also have added a barcode and a price to the front cover as these are one of the main codes and conventions of a front cover. I have also added sub headings filling up the gaps on the front cover showing features inside the magazine, which would also contribute to getting the readers attention as if they see something they are interested in, they will want to read more.