rt5

1. FMP Evaluation
Benjamin Wincup

2. Production Process Evaluation

3. Research
At the start of my research I decided to look into books about Vikings to try and find a front
cover similar to what I had in mind. I ended up finding a book called “The Road of the Sea
Horse” by Poul Anderson on Google which I think fitted with my original idea pretty well. I
followed this up by searching for a book poster. I came across one for a book called “The
Dawnlands Catch” by Sam Audley on Google. I think this poster fitted my idea better as it
had a simplistic design with an object in the middle. This is what changed my idea from a
man in the desert to an object on the front cover. I did the same procedure of searching for
an image on Google, but this time for an audiobook. My problem with doing this was I
couldn’t find one that I liked much. I ended up using one called “Rough Justice” by Lauran
Paine which was okay, but I wasn’t a huge fan of how it looked. I didn’t really copy anything
from it into any of my final products because of this. After finding these products, I decided
to write a questionnaire to get some quantitative data. The problem with this is that I didn’t
realise I was supposed to make it quantitative so it ended up with quite a few qualitative
questions. This made it really difficult to figure out what my audience wanted. The
questionnaire was kind of a failure as I didn’t really get much detail about my audience
other than their age and gender, 16 – 19 and female. After that, I carried out two interviews
which went well. What I did was I asked two peers to answer qualitative questions, which
they did, and then I got the results from the feedback. Most of the results are what I
wanted to hear which helped me focus on my product.

4. Planning
I started my planning by making a style sheet with the fonts and colours I wanted
to use. This was helpful because if I lost the idea at any point, I could look back at
the slide and get the image back into my head. On the style sheet I had a lot of
orange, sandy, mountainous landscapes and a few brown swords. When I was
looking for a mountainous background for my front cover, I came across the
cartoony style that was used in my layout plan. I really liked the design and I really
wanted to use it in my actual product, however I felt I should stay true to the
genre and have a realistic and dark background instead. I came across the font
that I liked through trial and error; searching through Viking runic fonts on
dafont.com. The problem with most of those fonts was that certain letters
weren’t very clear. That was until I discovered the font “Vinland”. I chose that font
because it was very clear and you can read it, but it’s still reminiscent of runes. By
planning my layout, I can have something to remind me of my original vision. I
stuck to my health and safety planning and made sure that I was careful with
everything I did. I didn’t really follow my schedule as I ended up making the
original front cover before doing my research slide. I also only recorded my audio
about 5 times as it was rather late at night.

5. Time Management
I think that I managed my time well for my research. I gave myself plenty of time
and I even had loads of time spare so I ended up starting my planning early.
During my research I spent the most time looking at book posters and covers to
try and find something like my idea for my covers. If I had more time in my
research, I think I would’ve found a better audiobook cover that is closer to what I
wanted mine to look like and one that had more conventions. Throughout my
planning, as I started early, I found it easier to take my time and think more on
what I wanted my layouts to look like. I spent plenty of time on finding pictures
for my style sheet too. When it came to my production, I think that I had the
perfect amount of time to make my product. Any longer and I would’ve started to
second guess my work and make small edits until it was nothing like how it was
when I finished. Any shorter and I wouldn’t be able to complete it to my personal
standards and it would’ve frustrated me. Overall I think I could’ve paced myself a
bit better with the research and planning, but I think it has worked out in the end.
Once again, I didn’t really stick to my schedule, aside from all the editing. I made
sure I had enough time to edit plenty. None of the tools I used on Photoshop
particularly slowed me down, but finding out that I can duplicate items into a
different page definitely sped my work up a bit.

6. Technical Qualities
There are quite a few
similarities between my product
and the other one. The main
one I can see is that there is an
about the author section that
includes a picture and some
text on the same side as mine.
There is also another section
with books in the same place.
The blurb and barcode are in
the same place too. A huge
difference between the two is
that when I have put who my
author is, I said “By”, but on the
other one it doesn’t say by at
all. I realise now that books
don’t usually say “by” before
the author, but from this I know
now for the future.
In the similar existing
product, the inside flaps of
the sleeve are one solid
colour. I have done the
same, except for where I
have text or other images.
I saw during my research
that books have an ISBN
number. I thought that if
I was making a book, I
should make one too. So
I did.
The tools I used (Rectangular Marquee Tool, Paint Bucket Tool etc.) were effective
in helping me recreate media conventions as I literally wouldn’t have been able to
make the product without them. The Rectangular Marquee Tool allowed me to
select the specific areas that I wanted to fill in with a colour I had chosen from
the Eyedropper Tool. The Paint Bucket tool allowed me to fill in the areas that I
had previously selected. If I was using another program, it would’ve been difficult
to make the product look this good.

7. Aesthetic Qualities
I used this layout
throughout each cover
because I thought that it
would look nice in several
pieces and it gives them
synergy and continuity
through my products. This
makes it aesthetically
pleasing to the audience.
I like the font as it fits
the books aesthetic of
Vikings. The font I
chose is both runic
and readable.
It may be bias, but I think my
work looks really good as it
has a consistency throughout
each piece. A weapon with a
glow, a coloured background
and the same font and
publisher logo through all of
them. The text, publisher logo
and the images are all in the
same place so that overall it is
aesthetically pleasing. Each
piece is the same size, 6x9
inches as this is what I found
to be the standard book size
during my research.
Each background is coloured so
that it specifically represents an
element. Fire, water, earth and
air. I did this because I thought
it fitted the story well. Each
book was about a different
The only cover I don’t really like is
the shield as it seems quite out of
place among the weapons. It is
also the only one I physically
changed, to put the ice in it. My
reasoning for doing that was
because I couldn’t think of a
weapon related to water that
worked in the Viking theme. I still
can’t think of a weapon to use,
but if I found a suitable one I
would probably swap it for the
shield.
I feel as if each cover is
aesthetically pleasing due to
the matching layouts and fonts
therefor my audience will
understand that it is a set.

8. Audience Appeal
I feel that I have tried to appeal to my primary audience in a minimalistic sense. This
was because it wasn’t at the forefront of my mind. I feel there is still appeal to the
primary audience. When I made my book covers, I consulted classmates that fall into
the sections of my primary audience so that I could get feedback on what they liked
and didn’t like and then I edited as such. When writing the section from my
audiobook, I tried to keep it dark and detailed so that it wasn’t too upbeat to deter my
audience. In my questionnaire I found out that my audience was interested in Viking
home life, albeit barely, so I decided that if I was to write a bit more I would include
something about families in the “brown spire”.
Age – I appealed to my target age range of 16-19 by using detailed language whilst not
making it too complex.
Gender – My target audience was female which lead me towards having a hegemonic
male protagonist. I also used very neutral colours to try and keep the aesthetics
genderless as I wanted to appeal to both my primary and secondary audiences.
Psychographic – To appeal to a balanced psychographic, I included the underlying plot
of saving the world. Although the main character is selfish, he’s still trying to find
world saving objects.
Social Status – To appeal to the B and C1 social status I have made the main way to
consume my project an audio form. This will appeal to them as you will have to
download it on a device that is expensive, but the audiobook would be cheaper than
the physical book.

9. Peer
Feedback

10. Feedback 1
• What did you like about the product?
– The audiobook was very well spoken, the music was perfectly timed
and there was a level of interest in the voices tone that made the story
come alive
– The book covers are well done and have a good theme going on with
them
– The poster looks very genuine and realistic.
– The blurb on the book sleeve is intriguing.
• What improvements could have been made to the product?
– The glow for the dagger could look more realistic
–NO BUGS HERE

11. Feedback 2
• What did you like about the product?
– I like the layout of each book cover. The font chosen and the design colours set the
scene very nicely and draws the reader in. The continuity of the theme of elemental
colours and glowing weapons reminds the audience that each book is part of a saga and
that each story is connected.
– The audiobook chapter is well thought out and well paced. There is enough information
about Ingvar to intrigue but which doesn’t give too much information away about him.
Descriptions of the landscape really bring home the barrenness of the wasteland and
build a sense of foreboding
• What improvements could have been made to
the product?
– Pronunciation of some of the words in the audiobook could be slightly clearer; there are
a couple of occasions where two words are slurred into one and makes the listener
wonder whether they had heard right.

12. Feedback 3
• What did you like about the product?
– The desert, eastern music in the beginning really builds up the scene in the consumers
head and allow audiences to be apart of the stories setting. Again, later, sound effects
are used – like the gushing of the wind moving the sand – to develop the setting further.
It really allows the audience to be immersed into the story. Also the echo sound affect
really makes me think that the character is all on his own in a vast wasteland.
– The narrator speaks in an even and clear voice, so the audience finds it easy to keep
with his pace and focus on what he is saying.
– The script uses strong and descriptive language.
– The book covers are very professional looking and all have a familiar tie between them,
making it easy to recognize they are apart of a series. The blurb is descriptive and great
synopsis of the story.
• What improvements could have been made to the product?
– Some of the words in audio are slurred.
– The writing on the front covers is quite a meek colour and could be missable at first
glance.

13. Peer Feedback Summary
• What do you agree with from your peer feedback?
– I really like that my peers enjoyed my products and it has
made me glad. I agree that I have had good pacing
throughout my audio and that my book covers look
consistent. I also agree that I have slurred my words. The
main reason for this, I think, is because I recorded during
the afternoon and I was tired. If I was to record again, I
would certainly do it when I am fully awake.
• What do you disagree with from your peer feedback?
– I disagree that the covers look professional, but this is
mostly due to the fonts. I realise, after looking at many
book covers and realising that they have bold, thick fonts
for their author and title.

14. Peer Feedback Summary
After reading my feedback, I have decided that the most important thing to change in
my product would be the audio. I would write a bit more of the book to make the
audio longer and also re-read it and make sure my pronunciation is better than what
it is currently. I would do this so that there is more content that appeals to my
audience and also so that it is easier for them to understand what it is that I’m saying.
I would also change the font into a bolder, thicker one and make the colour bright
against the dark background so that it really stands out and you can see what the title
and the name of the author say. I would also remove the “By” bit in front of “By
Jregory Krisk” so that my cover follows conventions. I would also add the narrator on
my audiobook cover for the same reason. Other than that, I can’t really think of
anything else I would change.