EVALUATION

       I would agree that both of my products follows the real conventions of a magazine. This is important so the customers recognize the product which makes it look professional and realistic fulfilling its purpose. For my magazine cover, I have followed the standard conventions such as the masthead positioned at the top of the page supporting the Z theory. Other conventions I included were cover lines which attracts the reader to read the contents of the magazine which also anchors  the text to the main image. The issue number and date to inform the reader when the magazine was published, a puff to advertise a competition inside the magazine engaging and exciting the reader, subheading to help summarie the theme of the magazine which was back to school. I have also included more conventions which I have listed in a previous blog post. However I did challenge my plan and the conventions as I did not include a barcode on my front cover. This is because I found it was unnecessary to include a barcode as the magazine was going to be distrusted within the school which does not have an electronic scanner. Instead the magazine will be distributed upon payment which is easier than selling a magazine costing 20p electronically.

      My media product represents a wide variety of social groups.  A range of social groups attend Chislehurst school therefore I wanted my magazine to reflect all of them so everyone feels equally included. I included three different girls from three different backgrounds which I hope will be presented clearly on my product. Because I want to attract everyone I included a variety of articles which would appeal to different people. On the other hand my main target audience was mainly those of a working class seeing as the school is a state school. This is important as the parents are also my target audience who mostly have full time jobs.

      Because my product is only a school magazine it means it will not distributed on large scale, only within the school. The magazine will only be created by the students and teachers of the school meaning it will not be fully professional as it is made by unskilled persons. This means a large publishing house is not required to print the magazines as they are only being sold to the students and parents whom of which will not all purchase the product.

      The main targets of my products are the current students and their parents, potential students and their parents. The current students would be very interested in the school magazine as it advertises things that would interest or involve them including school trips, advice, year group and form of the term and much more. Especially for this particular issue the students would want to gain advice about how to settle back into school which would be particular helpful for new pupils. Their parents would also want to know about the latest news and progress the school is making. The magazine is great way to promote the success and achievements of the school to potential parents which would hopefully impress them and want them to send their child to the school. Potential students could also get a feel of their new school as see what exciting things it has to offer.

       In order to draw my audience’s attention inwards I needed to address them. I used words like ‘EXCLUSIVE’ which immediately intrigues the reader making the magazine more special and exciting. I included a competition where the text was written inside of a brightly coloured star representing the amazing prize at stake. I put the word ‘iPod’ in a larger font size to emphasize the prize making it stand out against the rest of the text – this applies to all of the other enlarged words.  I positioned both mastheads on both products at the top of each page boldly in the centro coloured vividly. I also followed a specific colour scheme which were the same colours as the school's logo so my magazine could evidently connect to the school. All these conventions and more are important to inform the reader what type of magazine it is.

     By making this media product I have learnt about technologies from the processes of constructing a magazine. Before making this product I had little knowledge about InDesign and only some knowledge about Photoshop. I now know how to use a range of tools on both software’s effectively and how to apply to them to the assembling of a magazine. I created the front cover on Photoshop as this software allowed me to easily insert and edit photographs as well as use a range of fonts of different sizes. In InDesign I created my contents page where I could re-size/crop images, add text, easily colour text and images as well as putting all the conventions in an organised manor. I now know how to apply the conventions of a magazine successfully and how to make the overall look of the product look professional. I can now appreciate the amount of detail and effort put into making a magazine and why certain conventions are used. I have learnt a range of skills which I will be able to apply to my music magazine efficiently.

      Overall I am pleased with the overall look of both of my media products. I think my front cover looks realistic as I have used each convention to their correct purposes. However if I were to do re-do it I would include more cover lines around the main image as there are some sparse spaces on the cover. Nevertheless I am also happy with my contents page as I have successfully filled the page with 50% images and 50% text. I am pleased with the layout of the page as I think it looks relatively smart and organised making it clear to read and easy for the reader to find the article they want. On the other hand to improve it I would make ensure I included all the colours that were apart of my colour scheme as I did not use much yellow or black as much as I could had.

FINISHED CONTENTS PAGE

FINISHED FRONT COVER

FONTS AND FEEDBACK

Masthead

I was unsure of what style of font to use for my masthead on my front cover and contents page. I wanted to know what the general public thought and to gain some feedback. To do this, I uploaded a image to Twitter asking anyone to leave a comment of what style of font was their favourite. I gave a choice of three similar styles of which were all found from www.dafont.com. I chose to gain feedback from Twitter in particular as many of my followers are the same age as my target audience. All three are serif fonts which is what I want my masthead to be. This is because serif fonts are more interesting and appealing for the reader. I also think serif font look more professional and stylish meaning the overall look of the magazine will be more sophisticated.

 

 

The feedback I received told me that I should use the first font style to be the masthead. I found this feedback very useful as it helped to gain ideas on what  the public want from my magazine.

The chosen font was called 'Mary Jane' from www.dafont.com. I will use this font for the masthead of front cover and contents page.

General Text

For my general text around the main image on my front cover I will used the font called 'Iskoola Pota' on Photoshop. I like this font because it is stylish, modern and easy to read.

 

Header/Tag Line

Inserted below is the font I have chosen for my header/tag line. I wanted to pick a font that related back to the back to school theme. Therefore I chose a classic American 'old school' font which is recognisable.

 



PHOTOGRAPH PERMISSION

Because I have used young models to be on my front cover and contents page I needed their permission to say if I was allowed to publish the photographs of them. These photographs would also be on the internet meaning anyone anywhere could see them. This meant the models needed to feel comfortable and happy with me doing this. To show I have their permission I asked each model to sign their name conforming they were happy with me putting the photographs on this blog.

CHOSEN PHOTOGRAPHS

Below I have inserted the photographs I want to appear on either my magazine front cover or contents page. I have chosen these particular photographs for many different reasons. These inlcude liking the composition of the models, capturing their facial expressions/body language correctly and more.

Front Cover

Contents Page

I will be editing each photograph by using a range of tools on Photoshop. I will crop each photograph to either turn the portrait images to landscape or so the models fill the entire frame. I will also adjust the exposure settings so that there is the correct amount of lighting.

CONVENTIONS I HAVE USED

Below I have listed the conventions I have featured in my magazine cover and contents page. I have also explained why I  used these particular conventions and I how I will interpret them into my own work.
I have chosen to use these particular conventions as they are commonly found on a school magazine. This will make my magazine easily recognizable and people will automatically know that the product is.

The Conventions Used On My Front Cover And Contents Page...

• Masthead - The masthead positioned at the top of the page basically summarizes what the magazine is about. 'Chislehurst Times' shows that the magazine is based or by 'Chislehurst School for Girls'. 'Times' is a reference and similar to the famous British newspaper 'The Times' showing that the magazine will contain news content. The masthead on the contents page will simply read 'contents page' which is simple and straight to the point.
• Strapline/Subheading/Tag Line - I have included a subheading underneath the masthead on my cover which will explain the theme of the magazine. This will include something like 'back to school edition!' so the reader already knows what the magazine will be about.
• Cover Lines -  The cover lines positioned around the main image on the cover will advertise some of the articles that can be found inside the magazine. This will help the reader decide if the articles interest them, e.g 'fantastic new school trip' or 'how to get straight A's'.
• Puff/Competition - I have featured a competition on my cover to engage the reader and give them an activity to do inside. This should hopefully make the reader excited at the chance of winning a fantastic prize.
• Images - I have used a wide variety of images of different sizes across my magazine cover and contents page. However on my cover I will only include one large image which will cover the entire background. In my contents page I will include four images. One image will be positioned larger than the rest making it the main image, this will be favorite photograph. The other three images will be of the same size and positioned on the right hand side next to the main body of text. I have used image as well as text otherwise boht products would look very dull and not interesting. The images also help to give the reader an insight into school life at Chislehurst especially if they are not a student.
• Barcode - The barcode on my cover will be positioned in the bottom right hand corner as this is of little importance. However I have still chosen to use it as it is a common feature of a magazine.
• Issue Number -  I have put the issue number on both of my products. The number is important so the reader can keep track of the number of magazine published.
• Date - I will include the date of when the magazine shall be published of a small size on both my cover and contents pages. This is so the reader knows how recent the magazine was published.
• Social Media Information - I will be putting the school's social media information on my contents page. I think this is a important convention as it is the easiest way for students to contact the school as most students use social media.
• Credits - I will put the credits at the bottom of my contents page. Here I will give credits to the photographer, author and designer of the magazine. This is important as it saves any copyright issues.
• Main Body Text - On the contents I shall be inserting a large text box which will list all the articles/features inside the magazine with the page number next to them. This is an essential feature of a contents page as the reader needs to be able to refer to the menu and easily find what article they want to read.