My AS media evaluation

1. My Evaluation
Charlie Donohoe

2. Questions
1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of a real media
product?
2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
5. How did you attract/address your audience?
6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing the product?
7. Looking back to your preliminary task, what do you feel that you have learnt in the progression from it to
the full product
8. How successful do you feel your end product is in fulfilling the task? – How well does it fit the brief?
9.
10.

3. Final Piece – Cover page and Contents page

4. Final Piece – Double Page Spread

5. 1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or
challenge forms and conventions of a real media product?
Codes and conventions are essential for a successful magazine no matter what type of
magazine it is. In my very early blog posts, I started investigating codes and
conventions used by successful music magazines such as ‘NME’ AND ‘We love Pop’.
Below are all the codes and conventions I used in my magazine.
Puff Cover star credit
& anchorage text
Price, Date
and barcode Cover star Cover lines
Masthead and URL
Pug
Skyline

6. I began my research by investigating codes and
conventions used by magazines. These were part of
my ‘research into similar products’ blog posts.
This gave me an idea of where each convention is
often placed which helped me when creating my
final magazine.
Research into similar products example,
(http://charliedonohoeblog.blogspot.com/2016/10/research-into-similar-p
1. Choices behind my codes and conventions based off
inspiration from other existing magazines

7. 1. Choices behind my codes and conventions based off
inspiration from other existing magazines
A common rule in magazines is a ‘left third’, which is the idea that conventions
on the left side of the magazine are first to attract the readers eye. In response
to this I placed my masthead, puff, two cover lines, barcode, date and price
all on the left side of the magazine.
I brought my cover star in front of the masthead to give a sense of importance
to the artist. This is very common in many music magazines.
I also made sure the main cover line was much larger than the other cover lines
which furthermore enhances the idea that the artist is important.
Differences and developments to existing magazines
 I used a green colour scheme as I didn’t want to use a colour that is
stereotyped towards a certain gender such as pink or blue.
 I didn’t want my model to wear any dramatic or irregular clothing as I
wanted her to look like a normal and relatable teenager.
 Existing pop magazines talk a lot about fashion and clothes on sale. I
refrained from talking about this in my magazine as I didn’t think it
fitted the brief.


8. More ways I've challenged forms of
conventions:
 I didn’t put too many of my conventions as a left third as I
didn’t want too much negative space so I equally
distributed my conventions across the cover.
 I haven’t featured known artists in my cover lines as I
wanted to make the magazine feature some unknown
artists. By doing this I wont get the genre of the
magazine confused with the artist.
 I have not dressed my main artist to look like a superstar
and showstopper. I have given her an everyday look that
is recognisable with teens. This is what makes my
magazine so unique. I talked about my model choice
here
(http://charliedonohoeblog.blogspot.com/2016/11/planning-and-drafting-my-model.html)
1. Choices behind my codes and conventions based off
inspiration from other existing magazines

9. Looking at existing magazines gave me an idea of
what makes a successful magazine.
We love pop uses the same colour scheme throughout
each issue. This taught me to keep things the same
colour and maintain the same house style thorough
out as it looks more professional.
1. Choices behind my codes and conventions based off
inspiration from other existing magazines

10. 1. Choices behind my codes and conventions based off
inspiration from other existing magazines
I used We love pop as
inspiration for my magazine.
• I kept my masthead as a 'left
third' and cover star in front of
the masthead. This was taken
from 'we love pop' magazine as
each cover follows roughly the
same layout. I also placed my
puff in roughly the same place
as 'we love pop' did.

11. 1. Choices behind my codes and conventions based off
inspiration from other existing magazines
I also used some ideas from 'we
love pop' magazine on my
contents page. On their contents
page, they usually use a coloured
square that is rotated so it is
slanted. I used this on my
contents page by colouring the
square to match my colour
scheme. I then placed this
behind my contents. I also
placed the page numbers in the
corner of my photos, just like we
love pop did.

12. 2. How does your media product represent particular social
groups?
My plan was to aim my magazine at teenagers aged from 13- 19 as my early research
indicated that this was the common target audience that pop magazines aim for. I also
designed my magazine to be tailored towards both sexes, as that was the most popular
choice after receiving my questionnaire results,
(http://charliedonohoeblog.blogspot.com/2016/11/blog-post.html). My early research
was based around Billboard magazine, however as time went on I changed my
inspiration to We Love Pop and Top of the Pops as they suited my audience research
better. Also these were suitable magazines to take inspiration from as they featured
many conventions that are needed in order to fit the task brief.
(http://charliedonohoeblog.blogspot.com/2016/11/research-into-similar-products_4.html),
(http://charliedonohoeblog.blogspot.com/2016/10/research-into-similar-products_18.html) – Links to my research into similar products
(http://charliedonohoeblog.blogspot.com/2016/10/research-into-similar-products_92.html)

13. 2. How does your media product represent particular
social groups? – My model
When choosing my model I wanted the person to look relatable
and innocent as I really wanted the effect of her being a new
and rising humble star. I wanted my model to be a girl as I
wanted it to look like she is reaching out to other girls in her
interview. I used my friend Claire to model as she has a very
ordinary appearance which I think girls will respect. I didn’t
want her to be someone with a bad attitude or someone who
makes fashion statements. I just wanted her to be a normal girl
that shared her talent with the world. This is something I think I
achieved with my magazine.
I talked about my choice of model in more depth here:
(http://charliedonohoeblog.blogspot.com/2016/11/planning-and-drafting-my-model.html)

14. 3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media
product and why?
When doing my initial research I looked mostly at, Billboard, We Love Pop and NME, which are all distributed
by different institutions. After creating my magazine I have looked back on this research and I have took
most of my inspiration from We Love Pop magazine.
We love pop is distributed by Egmont UK Ltd,
which is an institution which publishes books
and magazines which are targeted at young
people. This is why I think Egmont UK Ltd is
the right institution to distribute my
magazine.

15. 4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
My magazine is aimed at both genders. I did this by choosing a colour
scheme that wasn’t stereotypically associated with a certain gender
like pink and blue. Instead I chose a green/yellow colour scheme which
isn’t associated with any particular gender in particular.
My questionnaire results helped me when deciding the target of my
magazine.
(http://charliedonohoeblog.blogspot.com/2016/11/blog-post.html)

16. 5. How did you attract/address your audience?
I have stressed that my target audience is both genders. In order to aim
it at both I chose not to use a gender associated colour like blue or
pink. I chose to use a colour scheme of green and yellows as they aren’t
very commonly used in existing magazines and I wanted to make mine
look different. Bright colours are often used in pop magazines so I
definitely wanted to choose colours that would pop out if the pages and
appeal to the readers.
I talked more in depth about my colour scheme on my blog. Below is the link to the blog post where
I explained my reasons for choice.
(http://charliedonohoeblog.blogspot.com/2016/11/drafting-and-planning-colour-scheme.html)
Colour Scheme

17. A main part of my research was due to questionnaire
results from the public. I addressed my audience by
asking them questions and receiving feedback which
helped me immensely when making big decisions on how
my magazine would look.
( questionnaire results -
http://charliedonohoeblog.blogspot.com/2016/11/blog-post.html)
The masthead is something that attracts the reader
straight away so it was important for me to make it
perfect. I drafted 6 potential mastheads and posted a
photo of them all on my Facebook and asked everyone
which one was their favourites. This gave me an idea of
what the audience liked and what they didn’t like which
really helped me with decision making in the future.
(http://charliedonohoeblog.blogspot.com/2016/12/draftign-and-planning-masthead-designing.html)

18. I also addressed my audience by how my models looked. My main
model had a very warm look that is relatable and ordinary, which
would appeal to my target audience. All my images also look different
and each artist looks different which is why I think my magazine
appeals to my target audience. My images are colourful and bright
which matches my colour scheme and house style of my magazine.
Below are the links to all the blog posts where I talked
about my photo choice and photoshoots.
http://charliedonohoeblog.blogspot.com/2017/01/organisation-photoshoot-location-1.html
http://charliedonohoeblog.blogspot.com/2017/01/drafting-and-planning-photo-editing.html
http://charliedonohoeblog.blogspot.com/2017/01/organisation-images-that-will-feature.html
http://charliedonohoeblog.blogspot.com/2017/01/organisation-photoshoot-results.html
http://charliedonohoeblog.blogspot.com/2016/12/organisation-photoshoot-location-2.html
http://charliedonohoeblog.blogspot.com/2017/01/drafting-and-planning-secondary-artists.html

19. 6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of
constructing the product?
Strengths of each software
Templates can be
made by changing the
canvas size. This
helped when making
the page more
realistic to a
magazine size
The use of different
layers helps when
editing and
modifying work
without disturbing
other amendments.

20. 6. Weaknesses with each software.
After unselecting a text box,
the text couldn’t be modified
after clicking off the text box.

21. 6. Using Blogger
Blogger was a way of keeping an online journal which documented my
coursework that I did in order to complete my end product. Blogger was a
good way of talking through my processes, explaining my research and also
showing what I have been doing.
Blogger was suitable for this task as it was all online, which meant I didn’t
have to keep a physical folder which stored all of my work. Blogger made it
easy for me to document my findings and turn back to it when I needed to.
My Blog: http://charliedonohoeblog.blogspot.co.uk/

22. 7. Looking back to your preliminary task, what do you feel that
you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product
Cover Pages
In my preliminary task, I was completely new to the software so I didn’t exactly know the range of tools the software provided
so it was a good chance for me to experiment with what software completes certain jobs in the best way.
• Looking back at my preliminary task I can see that I
missed out some essential conventions such as a
date, skyline and web URL. This is something I didn’t
miss out in my final piece.
• I can also see that I didn’t think about the effect of the
image. I didn’t use a decent camera which left the
photo looking grainy and pixelated.

23. 7. Looking back to your preliminary task, what do you feel that you
have learnt in the progression from it to the full product
Contents pages • I can see that my preliminary task was very basic and
under designed which left it looking amateur.
• There is a lot of negative space in my preliminary
task which makes it look boring
• I didn’t experiment with a range of colour in my
preliminary task
• I only used two photos in my preliminary task which I
think makes it look too wordy and not eye
attractive for readers.
•
• On my final product, I have included enough images
to support the text and make the page look
exciting
• I have also included a range of colours that are
outside of my colour scheme through the models
clothing, I think this makes the page look a little
less predictable and more quirky.
• I added social media links which I think enhances the
look of the magazine and makes it look more
professional.

24. 8. How successful do you feel your end product is in fulfilling the
task? – How well does it fit the brief?
I believe my magazine reflects the brief perfectly as I believe I have created a professional
looking music magazine that showcases a lot of things that I have learnt along the way of this
task. After each round of feedback it made me question if my magazine was good enough but I
always took on any advice that was given to me and listened to my own instinct, which is why I
think I have made a successful media product. My final product reflects my skills and ability to
put my learning into practice. I am very happy with my end product as I feel it looks very
professional and I have received very positive feedback.