JASMINE CHUNG

EVALUATION

My complete Front cover, contents page and double page spread

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

For my front cover, my main focus was CLASH magazines. They front covers were very interesting, as each of them had very different layout.

My first idea was to emulated one of the CLASH magazine. But I wanted my magazine cover to look more like a poster, so that people would be able to treat the front cover as a poster. I did this by having less text on it, but I feel that my front cover still covers the codes and convention of other magazine covers.

I looked at a few other magazine covers, but I found they looked to “rock” which did not suit my magazine genre.

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

Although my cover does not have much text like other covers.

But the main point of my front cover was to be different than others. And to do this, I creates more than one main image, and also the images are in black and white. This will attract people as it is very different to other magazines.The layout of it is a grid, which is my USP of my magazine. It is original and consistent throughout my magazine.There isn’t much text which may intrigue people as to what is in the magazine.

There are some similarities with my magazine to others. Nothing covers the title. So people can see very clearly what the masthead of my magazine is.The issue number, and the barcode is visible, so people are able to check the price etc.

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

For my contents page research, I looked different genre magazines too. And during my research, I found that other magazines would use only one or two images. And so I decided to follow most music magazine trends and use more than couple of images. This is because I wanted to use my contents page to reveal all the different things my magazine covers.

I decided to emulate contents page, because the images were laid out in a grid form which I thought would go well with my front cover.

I included an Editor’s letter which most magazines will include. I feel that this would make my magazine friendlier and make the audience feels more involved.In my contents. I made sure that I had put in the monthly topics, so that the people can rely on my magazine to be consistent.Like any other magazine, I put a picture of the front cover on my contents page too.

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

My contents page has many similarities to other magazines, but it also has a few differences which will be what attract people to read my magazine.My layout is quite unusual as the images are in grid form. I had done this so that works well with the front cover. And like my front cover, I haven’t included much information, just titles of the pages so that it doesn’t give too much away about what is in this magazine.

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

Like my contents page, I did research on other magazine genres but I didn’t really find one which interested me. So I decided that I would “mix & match” a couple of them.

I used a bigger image which took up half the page to make an article more interesting and more enjoyable to read as there had been photos taken professionally

Used smaller images to inform readers that there are pictures to look at within the an article and not just a lot of reading.

Big title in capital letters to attract readers

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

I made the title big, this is because I am trying to bring this new band out, and so I needed to make the band name attract attention for people to be interested to read this article.

A little pop out, with extra information that my audience may want to know.

A big image, again this is to attract attention, and people would usually look at the picture then decide if they would like to read the article.

Like other magazines, this article is in columns. This is so people who wish quickly skim read, are able to do so.

Instead putting a little arrow to let readers know that there is more on the next page, “p.t.o” in a stylish font, so it would suit my target audience more.

How does your media product represent particular social groups

I feel that the pictures I have taken represents young, easy going and fun people.

These pictures are close ups which shows facial expressions and a variety of expressions which

The people in these images are not looking directly into the camera, this shows their personalities; they are shy but outgoing people.

I also decided to have my photo shoots in different kinds of weather. This shows the people in them are adventurous as they like to experience “different lifestyles”.

How does your media product represent particular social groups

My article represents the people in them as it they sound as friendly as they look in their photos. The way they answered the interview was in a very natural way, and they seem very out going which is how the photos present them too.They use simple sentences and many monosyllabic words which shows can help to determine the age of people, and uses lexical field on music, this shows what the people are really interested in and their occupation.

It also represents people who admire music, as the people in this article talks about music, songs and lyrics in a very detailed way.

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

As mentioned before in my media pack, I will use a number of ways to advertise and distribute my magazine. These include, online radio, and example handouts in big festivals such as Glastonbury, and V Festival.

I decided that the most appropriate institution would be the Independent production and distribution, for example, Stool Pigeon and Fly Magazine.Fly magazine, a free monthly music magazine, consolidated its position as the UKs No 1 music title.  With a 0.2% rise in distribution to 100,574.  and he Stool Pigeon, another monthly free magazine posted a circulation of 53,676, almost double that of NME. (Information from The Guardian)

My magazine will be a free monthly magazine, which will be in social areas in cities, so that my target audience are able to grab a magazine if interested. And a website will only be available for people who would like more information. And a website will be useful so people can subscribe to my magazine, so the magazine will be delivered to them monthly. Having an online website will hopefully increase more people to read my magazine, as those who subscribe will be able to download a free album of their choice, and a soundtrack once a month. This is so that subscribers feel they have something in return.

I also had a few more ideas. I would like to create apps for androids and Apple versions of my magazine. So that people are able to …

Who would be the audience for your media product?

As mentioned in my media pack, my typical reader would be in there late teens and early twenties, they are into indie/rock music and into self written lyrics and music.

My magazine would appeal to both genders with age range between 16-24.They would be in further education and some would have just started their first job.The main area would be cities such as Bristol, Bath, London. Areas which many of my target audience age ranger would appear. Also them cities because they are fashionable, and has the “indie” style which suits my magazine. And my magazine will be in popular socializing places so the more popular areas, the more my magazine will be able to distribute.

They would be in the social Group of Innovators and above. As my target audience are those who like to try different and new things. And they set trends for others to follow.

How did you attract/address your audience?

I made my product fit the audience by a number of ways; photo, layout, genre…

The fonts I used are sans, this is because they’re more modern, informal, so more warm.

I chose people to model for my magazine in the age range of my target audience, so that readers would feel comfortable to read my magazine as readers will be able to relate to the contents in my magazine.

The poses made by the models are not to serious ones, this shows the audience that this magazine is lively and it doesn’t take things too seriously which can be an attraction because again, reader are able to relate to things.

The layout of my magazine, is very different to other magazines, and so people would be intrigued and that would be how it’ll attract them into reading it. The layout is also the USP.

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

Most of the skills I have learnt to produce my product is on Photoshop.In Photoshop I have learnt many techniques to “tidy up” images.

With the skills I have learnt, I think I have done quite well. It took lot of time and effort for my final pieces to look as real as other magazines. Also by learning these editing skills, its made me realise that even photos taken by professionals would still be edited as they will never be perfect, but good enough for ordinary people.

I adjusted my images for my front cover, so that they are black and white, of high contrast and low brightness.To do this, I first made my images simply black and white, then I used curves, which is similar to changing the contrast and brightness.

In this picture, there is a white line in going across the image. And so to remove this, I used the plaster tool. This tool uses shades around it and replaces the white line.

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

Looking back at the preliminary task, I have learnt a number of things.Keeping designs simple is an effective way to attract attention, but it has to be the right layout for it to be successful.

I learnt that even if a magazine is very well known, it is always best if the masthead is in front of the central image, as most magazines aim is to try and gain new readers.

I also learnt that my strength in this task is being able to create and design interesting poster like front covers, and that my contents page could have been more creative.