All Three Pages : Front Cover, Contents Page And Double Page Spread.

Evaluation

After completing my magazine, i have written this evaluation, to explain how and why i created it in this way and to express my opinion and the ideas i put into it.
My overall product of the music magazine, uses conventions of real media products, because, the genre of music the front cover was portraying was hip hop/ rap / pop. All of these concepts determined the actual appearance of my magazine. So i created the mise en scene to represent these themes. I used props, clothing and styles of people and poses to create this look.
My product represents particular social groups, because it has a look that can vary through different personalities and interests. My front cover for example, has different colours on it, but not to much to make it look like it represents one specific type of social group. For example, if there was a lot of colour, it may put off people in social groups who are more into dark colours. And may give the impression that it was more feminine. The models used on the front cover also represent different social groups. I have done this by dressing them in different type of clothing, to show that the social group is not just based on one type. I have also represented different social groups, by having props and through the writing i have written on the cover. For example, i have placed a guitar in the middle of the page, so it is easily seen, which could represent and attract people in social groups such as people who are into rock music, punk music and also pop music. I have then added the phrase 'working with P Diddy' on the cover. This will attract people in social groups who are interested in rap, R&B and pop music also. From these two examples i have attracted people from five different social groups, all just form the front cover.
The type of media institution that would market this product would be one that sells other products that are aimed at a younger audience. This is because the audience would be familiar with these other products so would be even more attracted to buying them and having something produced from an institution they recognise, they would feel less worried about buying it, and would have more confidence that it will appeal to them.
The audience for my media product, as i have already acknowledged, is a younger audience. The age range would be for teenagers and young adults. This would be in the age range of 14-22. I have chosen this age range because this is an easier audience in this day and age because there is so much interest for a big variety of different things from this age range, that it wouldn't be difficult to produce something that would be appropriate and appeal to them. Also, being a teenager myself, it was easier for me to relate to the product and the stuff i put into it, helping me to produce a better product, and one that would be acceptable. The type of people my product is aimed at would be people from different varieties of groups. This is because this would equal in a lot more people, resulting in a lot more sales.
I have learnt a lot more about technologies needed to be used to produce this type of product. For example, the technologies needed would be Internet, as this is an easier and quicker way, and also a more reliable way to do surveys and questionnaires on, such as asking peoples opinion on things that they like for example their interests, and also what would attract them to a magazine and why. Photography is also a big main part in producing a magazine. This is because there will be no copy rite cases against you as it will all be original, and would be owned by the creator. And it also makes it look more unique, as different people can work different pictures from a camera and locations, hence giving a different look to your magazine. Then the main obvious technology needed to produce this produce was a computer. This is because it puts it all together to complete the magazine, and can also edit parts to make pictures, text etc, look a lot more catchy and attractive.
Looking back at my preliminary task, i feel like i have learnt a lot more about marketing a product and producing it. This is because i had to do a lot more research on things such as prices of magazines, lay outs, the types of audience they attract etc. I learnt that in order to make a successful magazine you have to do research in order to attract the right type of people you are aiming to attract and also just to attract anyone. In my preliminary task, i put thought into the mise en scene of my product, but i didn't think of why i had chosen this and who it would attract. I also learnt that producing a good product i would need to put research into it and also make sure that i have taken the feedback to produce it, and put a lot more editing into it. Even if there is not much to edit, for example if in a product it was purposely made to look a bit plain, then the editing would still happen on the rest of the product to give off the best effects.


This is a picture of my preliminary task. I was asked to create the front cover of a magazine for the college. The picture was a medium close up of three girls looking at a book. However i think there was too much in the background that could distract the audiences attention away from the main picture and article. I used bright colours that stood out a lot, however they now look too bold and unprofessional. The picture itself is too dark and doesn't have that great light in it, which could have been improved through editing like i have done on my main task.








As you can see, in my main task front cover there is a big improvement to the way it is presented, from the picture down to the editing. The picture has been planned out more and had more thought into it, and has meaning to it, which is that it is representing modern music and young people. The editing has a vast improvement to it, which makes a big difference to the way it is presented. It stands out a lot more, and each individual piece of detail has been chosen and made to look a certain way for a reason.










I have made this improvement from learning about technologies more and how to market a product. By doing the preliminary exercise and then the main task was a good example to show that by doing research and gradually developing ideas to your final piece, gives you a good finished result. I have learnt that research is one of the main priorities when it comes to the sales of a product. Because if i hadn't done any research i wouldn't have known what styles of mise en scene would be best for the front cover picture, i also wouldn't have known much about what type of things the audience the product is aimed at would like to see featured on the cover.

Priceing Research.

Now that i have produced my magazine, i asked a number of young people what sort of price they would find acceptable for this type of magazine and all its features. To do this i went online on my messenger, and asked a variety of people with different interests, between the ages of 14-22. I asked them online because i was sure to get an answer because i was talking to them at that moment and wasn't waiting for a response, like it would happen if i had sent out an email and not know when that person would next sign in, so when i would get my answer. These are the responses i recieved:
Adrian (Aged 18) - £2.30
Michelle (Aged 18) - £2.00
Rowanna (Aged 20) - £1.55
Keith (Aged 17) - £2.00
Victoria/Vicky (Aged 16) - £1.50
Breesha (Aged 21) - £1.20
Pagan (Aged 19) - £1.40
Callum (Aged 17) - £1.70
Simon (Aged 18) - £1.30
Nick (Aged 14) - £2.00

I personally, would pay inbetween £1.00 and £1.40 for this magazine. The reason for this is that it hasn't got as many pages as other magazines, which from my research cost inbetween £1.00 and £2.00. These magazines i looked at were Heat magazine (£1.65) , Closer (£1.25), Reveal (£1.00).

Double Page Final

This is my final copy of my double page spread. I have added in the interview, which makes it look a lot better. I have also added faded boxes around parts of the interview that will grab attention. By adding the boxes in these places means it will grab the audiences attention, and because it is purposely picked out parts of the text which are highlighted, that means it will be either interesting or funny parts, which after spotting them because they were highlighted, would make the audience want to read on. They also add more colour to the page, making it look less sophisticated and more fun and relaxed. I have also turned the boxes so they are on a slant, which makes it look more interesting and less common.
I have left the rest the same as i have evaluated in my 'Final Double Page Spread' blog. This is because i still agree with my ideas that i put forward, and that this was simply adding in a few extra parts to the page, to improve it.

Contents Page Complete.

I have done a few more changes since my 'contents page developments'. I have kept the background white but have put a texture effect on it. This made the background look less plain and flat, but kept its properties i explained in my developments. I have also added in 'as voted by you' with an arrow pointing to it. This is talking about page 21, and by saying voted by 'you' involves the audience more. I have finally put in the list of contents, which all relate to music, because it is a music magazine, and have put every other page contents in purple. By doing this gives the list a better effect and look less boring that keeping it one colour. It is also adding more colour to the page. I chose the colour purple because it is not biased to and gender as purple can be for males and females. The page numbers which are shown by arrows pointing to the article on the small picture of the front cover are also different. I made the text a little different and put each one in a different colour. By having them spread around the page like this gives a less formal look to the page which would appeal to the audience as it is for a younger audience which would probably aim towards people who are more informal. Overall the colours go well together but do not create a tacky look, which is what i was aiming for.

Contents Page Development

These are pictures of my development for my contents page. The first picture is of my final development, and the one i have chosen to use. The second picture is a draft of what i wanted it to look like. I have kept the same border on each page, because it is very colourful, but not in a bold 'chunky' way. The colours blend together, as though paint has been spilt and is running into each other. This gives a really good effect because it is different and stands out. The colours on the border work well because they are bright and there is colours that will appeal to both genders, and people with different interests because there are a few different colours to look at. It also adds a lot of the colour to the page as i have left the background white. I left it white because it looks more modern and if i chose a colour to make as the background, it could blend in with parts of the border and it would look to tacky and over the top. For the title i have left it black. This is because it is a bold colour and since the background is white, it contrasts very well with it. All the letters are in capital because it makes it stand out even more. On the word 'contents' i have put in a lens flash. I put this here because it gives a really good effect to the word and makes it less plain and boring, and it also makes it look a lot more interesting and professional. It also gives a more 'Hollywood' and glamorous look as it is a bright flash, which could be represented as all the photographs taken in Hollywood all day everyday.

In the top right hand corner i have put a picture of the male person from the group featured on the front cover. In the first picture i have edited it so it is in two colours only and looks like it is glowing. This will attract the audiences attention because it is different and the bright yellow contrasts against the black, which makes it stand out more. In the second picture i had used a different image of the male. I decided not to use this one as it look to plain and the pose doesn't look as 'fun' as the image in the first picture. In the bottom left corner i have put an advertisement there. I was going to put a competition but decided not to as there is one featured on the front cover and didn't want to over do the whole 'competition' look. The advertisement that i have made is for a new guitar. I chose to make it about this because it is a music magazine, so the audience who buy this magazine will obviously be into music, so it seemed obvious and necessary to make the advert about something that relates to music. In my first draft of the advert i produced it average colours. In my second draft i decided to change this as it looked to common and plain. I decided to then make the colours darker on the background and have a 'glowing' look, which grabs attention because it looks as though it is a neon type of light.
I then decided to change the box around the list of contents. I made it less smooth, which makes it look less boxed in, and also looks more modern. This will appeal to the audience because they audience is aimed to be younger people, so modern things will be familiar to them and will be their type of style.

Final Front Cover.

This is my final copy of my front cover. I have edited the picture so the colours are better and both people stand out more. I have put a lot more colour in it, which would make the magazine look more relaxed and have a happier feel to it. I have also added in information such as the price and date, to complete the cover. I have made the top half of the page darker. This is because now the pieces of text i have on the page stand out more as they are bright colours, they also contrast well with the black and give a good effect. I have put the text on slants which give a younger look, which would appeal to the audience and have them in a modern font. I have also put i transparent yellow box on the bottom left corner to highlight the competition and also to make the writing clearer so it is easier to read.
Overall i decided to use this picture because it is a lot more eye catching and has a more laid back look.