7 evaluation questions

1. Evaluation

2. Main Image - A convention of a real magazine that I have followed is that the
cover model I have used is lens center with a direct mode of address. Also,
conventionally it is either a medium shot or close up shot of the cover model so
that the face of the model can be seen clearly to gratify the audience. I’ve done
this by having a medium shot and eye-level angle so it suggests that the cover
model is looking directly at the audience.
Cover lines - The cover lines are all
organised professionally, and the content
is all to do with music, as they are
interviews, information on the charts,
festivals and artists and celebrity gossip.
This is conventional of especially music
magazines, as they are cover lines that my
intended target would want to read about.
Font scheme - In real magazines,
only two or three fonts are used so
there is cohesion on the cover and it
all fits well together, I have done this
by only using three fonts., this also
strengthens my magazine brands as
by only using specific fonts my
magazine can be recognized by
audiences. Also all the fonts are sans
serif, which is modern – this is also a
convention of especially pop
magazines because sans serif gives a
vitality and punch to the page, rather
than a dull medieval serif font.
Language – One of Richard Dyer’s Social
Tensions is fragmentation – this is
especially true for teenagers (my target
audience) who can at times feel lonely in
the big world, so to combat this I’ve used
one of Dyer’s Utopian Solutions –
community by including personal pronouns
such as ‘you’ and ‘our’ this adds a sense of
community to the magazine and make
every reader feel a part of it. Also there’s
music jargon such as ‘album’ , ‘songs’ and
centre stage’, these all reinforce the fact
that it is a music magazine.
Colour code - The colour scheme I
have employed is professional as
there is limited colours used, only
red white and black. This is a
common convention of music
magazines as since they want to
adopt a professional approach,
limited uses of colour would provide
a professional house style.
In what ways does your magazine design use, develop or challenge
forms and conventions of real magazines?

3. Masthead - One way in which my front cover has followed
conventions is through the typography of the masthead : it
is the largest and boldest font and expands the full width of
the page, which makes it the most noticeable piece of text
on the page. This allows the audience to see what they’re
about to read and it reinforces the idea that I have a strong
brand. It is also a sans serif font which is exuberant and
dynamic which is common in pop magazines as it is a lively
and high-spirited genre.
Website / convergence - Due to the increasing use of the internet a common
convention of magazines is to put the website of the magazine on the front cover
as a form of convergence which I have put in the top right corner underneath the
title so it can be easily seen and located. Convergence is a common convention in
music magazines as this industry is so large and used everyday, so it is available on
many different media platforms. Although I have developed this convention as
normally the website link is next to the barcode and price, but I decided to locate it
at the top underneath the masthead, this is because I wanted to make it as
noticeable as possible, due to the age of my target audience I know they are regular
internet users.
Barcode / Price - There’s a barcode and price in the bottom right hand corner, the barcode
is as small as possible as it is only for scanning to record the sale of a purchase, but isn’t
actually there to aesthetically please the audience.

4. Skyline / Buzz word - I’ve also included a skyline at the top
of the page that uses bright colours and includes a buzz
word ‘free’ which is in bold to attract the attention of the
audience.
Anchorage Text - My main cover line is the second largest font
after the masthead and also acts as anchorage text as it is the
name of the model in the main image, which are both
magazine conventions.
Puff - I have also included a puff, which is in the shape of a circle and is
a red and white font on a black background – this along with the puff
being the only circle shape on the cover makes it so stand out as
conventionally the information on a puff is usually
important/interesting. So irregular shapes/ colour contrasts are used to
make this information stand out.

5. My front cover in comparison with a real front cover
• Similarities
• Bold, sans serif border
masthead
• Anchorage text as single
name of the cover model
• Sophisticated colour
scheme (only black, white
and red)
• Symmetrical composition
• Skyline at the top
• Relevant coverlines
including artist names
• Provocative looking cover
model
• Medium shot of cover
model
• Barcode in bottom right
corner
• Link to magazine website

6. Contents Page
Numbering - In a real magazine,
the page numbering is
chronological so that it is easier
for the audience to navigate,
I’ve clearly followed this
structure. Also I’ve made the
numbers a different colour (to
other text) and used a bold font.
This allows the number to stand
out.
Layout - In a real magazine the
coverlines are usually organized in
columns, as this also makes it easier
for the audience to navigate and it
gives a professional structure to the
contents page, I’ve followed this
convention by having my coverlines in
two columns.
Font Scheme - Only two fonts used for page cohesion
and in order to follow a specific house style. One font
(Charcoal CY) for the masthead, subheading and
headings next to the page numbers and second font
(Times New Roman) for the brief description of the
articles.
Page numbering - Page number
in the bottom right hand corner
for the audience to use as
navigation.
Content: The content of the
article descriptions are all topics
to do with music, which relates
to the target audience and keeps
the magazine specialised and
focused.
Logo - One way in which I’ve
developed conventions is that
normally, the masthead is usually at
the very top of the page but I’ve
developed this convention by having
my magazine logo above the
masthead, I did this to reinforce my
brand, and constantly remind the
audience of my magazine name.
Masthead - The masthead is the largest
front and is at the top of the page so
the audience can see clearly what the
page is about.

7. Subheadings - In a real magazine the subheadings are always more
noticeable than other text, I’ve followed this convention by making the two
subheadings a different colour to the rest of the text (red) and by making
them a larger and bolder font.
Convergence - Social media links and website link at the bottom as a from
of convergence. This is a common convention especially in magazines
aimed at younger people due to their increasing use of digital media and
decline in use of print based media.
Date and issue number - Both in the top right hand corner to be used as
reference. Issue numbers are conventional particularly in magazines who
have inherited audiences as these people will read every new issue of the
magazine, so I have the issue number so they know which one in the
series this magazine is in.
Images - The images I’ve used are related to the coverlines.
Conventionally, there are usually multiple images on a
contents page so the audience get an idea of what kind of
content will feature in the rest of magazine and from a quick
glance (which is what many people do when they go on the
contents page) images will display this most efficiently. So
I’ve followed this convention as the images include models
acting as music stars.

8. Similarities
• Masthead labelled
‘contents’ at the top and
is largest font on the
page
• Issue and date in top
right corner
• Subheadings in different
size/colour font
• Multiple images
• Chronological page
numbering
• Relevant article titles
• Brief description under
article title
• Logo at the top next to/
above the masthead
• Page number in bottom
right corner
• Website link
My contents page compared with a real contents page

9. Organisation - A common convention is for the
text to be on one side and an image on another,
I’ve clearly demonstrated my use of this
convention in my work as the text is on the right
side and the image is on the left.
Juxtaposition : Another way in which I’ve
challenged conventions is by having an irregular
colour scheme. Normally there’s usually co-
ordinated, specific colours used but instead I’ve
decided to have plain black and white text next top
a colourful image. I’ve done this as the
juxtaposition of the coloured picture and plain
text makes the image stand out. So if the audience
flick through and come across the page, the
picture will grab their attention quickly and then
they’ll proceed with reading the article.
Double Page Spread Language : One way in which I’ve challenged
conventions is by using mainly sophisticated,
ambitious vocabulary in the article. As conventionally,
simple and sometimes slang words are the basis of
many pop articles. But similarly to magazines such as
‘GQ’ and ‘Q’ (who also use detailed and sophisticated
language) I’ve decided to challenge this convention as
I want to be known as a mature , cultivated brand
aiming to reach out to active audiences therefore I
needed to use detailed, high standard information.
Q magazine commonly have lots of text in their
article with high level vocabulary and because of this
they have a high value brand – this is what I was
trying to replicate in my double page spread.

10. Drop Capital – A common convention if for the article
to feature at least one drop capital to grab the readers
attention as it adds visual strength, rather than just
block text throughout.
Page numbering at the bottom, used by the audience for
navigation.
The title of the article is conventionally the name of the
musician being discussed.
The layout of the text is usually columns.
All my text is clearly laid out in three
columns, I’ve challenged conventions by
having a split in the middle as I thought
the pull quote had a degree of
importance that is should clearly be seen
so therefore I made it into a larger font
than the rest of the text.

11. How does your magazine represent particular social groups?
The social groups of my target audience will be females, who are teenagers/young
adults from age 15-21 in the occupational social group E.
Colour Scheme : One way in which
my magazine represents females is
through my use of colour. Part of my
colour scheme includes red, which
has connotations of love and
passion. This represents females as
stereotypically, women are the ones
who are more inclined to care and
be enthusiastic about love and
romance as opposed to men.
Another dominant colour – white,
has connotations of purity and
innocence which again, are features
stereotypically associated with
females.
Cover Model : A way in which I’ve
represented females is through the
cover model: females are known for
taking great care in their appearance
and for wanting to always look
aesthetically pleasing, this is mainly
due to the pressurised hegemonic
media /society that says women
must look a certain way. Therefore it
is common in many magazines to
represent females as ‘perfect’
through their use of photo- shopped
and provocative cover models. I’ve
tried to replicate this representation
in my front cover through having a
cover model that is a female who
has straight brown hair, fair skin,
thin build and lots of make up on.
Dress Code: A way in which I’ve represented females and teenagers
is through the cover models dress code. She is wearing a regular
blouse and a retro necklace which are both items that would be
worn by a regular girl, so the target audience would be able to relate
to this.
Camera angle – By having an eye level angle and medium shot this clearly shows the cover models face,
body and clothing- this represents teenagers as they are known for caring about their appearance.

12. Price: The price of my magazine (displayed in the bottom right corner) is only
£1.99, this is a relatively cheap price and represents my target audience who are
people in the social group E as they will be students who are unemployed, so a low
price represents their limited disposable income. This is also present in my use
the buzz word ‘free’ as people in this occupational social group will be attracted by
things that save money – due to their lack of it.
Website: The website of the magazine is clearly visible (just under
the date) and this represents people in the occupational social
group E/D as since they usually have a lot of free time they are
regularly active online.
Content of cover lines: One way in which I have represented
teenagers is through the content o my cover lines. The cover line
about the article on ‘Wireless 2015’ represents teenagers because
this is the type of event they will attend in their free time, so of
course they'd be interested in reading about it. Also, the ‘exclusive’
interview cover line links in with how teenagers usually want to be
the first to know about new information, especially about their
favourite celebrities.

13. Contents Page
Content - The article title ‘Rihanna Vs Stevie’ and its description ‘pop vs rock’ is
an example of Levi Strauss’ binary opposition theory where there are two sides –
this represents females as they’re stereotypically known for being ‘bitchy’ or
‘argumentative’ so this type of article represents how they can sometimes be.
Convergence – A way in which I’ve represented teenagers is by including links to
social media pages at the bottom, in the modern day teenagers are using social
media more than they are print based media, especially popular ones such as
Twitter and Facebook .
Angle – In one of the images on the contents page I’ve used a high angle looking
down on the cover model, which represents teenagers as it suggests their
innocence in society, as they’re still finding their way.
Double Page Spread
NVC – The pose of the model is serious, with her arms folded, this represents
how teenagers can sometimes be moody and stubborn.
Dress Code- The clothes the model is wearing are regular clothes that a
teenage girl would wear – skinny jeans and a jumper . This represents regular
teenagers and acts as inspiration for the audience who see that because of
the media, a regular person like them can become a world wide star (Dyer’s
star theory).
Language – In the article I’ve used words like ‘OMG’ and ‘’bezzy’ , this is
neologism and represents teenagers as it is a strong part of their vocabulary.
Layout – My text is laid out in well-organised columns – this represents
females as they are known for being more organised than males and for
paying attention to detail.

14. What kind of media institution might distribute your magazine and why?
As I mentioned in my research behind magazines, media institutions are very important in the
process behind the scenes. A media institution is an established, and often profit based
company that deals with the marketing, distribution, publication and production of a media
product. As my magazine genre is pop, this is a largely followed genre with a mass audience,
so I need to find an institution that can handle a mass target audience and would be able to
reach a vast number of readers. An example of a magazine similar to mine is ‘Q’ magazine,
and they are distributed by Bauer Media Group . This is the kind of media institution that
would also most likely distribute my product.

15. Bauer Media Group
Bauer is the largest privately owned publishing company, it is worldwide and produces up to 38
million magazine copies a week. This is exactly the type of institution that would suit my
magazine because it reaches a mass market, rather than other independent publishers who aim
at a niche market. Also the experience that Bauer Media group have would be beneficial to a
new magazine like mine starting up in this competitive market. Magazines that Bauer currently
distribute for example Heat and Q both have similar target audiences to mine (16-21) year olds,
so Bauer Media Group would already have experience in how to reach my target audience.
This is the vast amount of brands that
Bauer Media group represent. As
shown they have a successful online
presence as well as a paper based, this
is also beneficial to my brand as my
magazine is heavily involved in digital
media due to the age of my target
audience and them being known as the
‘technological age’.

16. Other Institutions to consider:
To conclude, my final decision would be to choose Bauer Media Group, because with magazines
such as ‘Q’ that they already distribute I can say that they’re one of the closest to my specific
target audience and genre. Then another reason is because of the wide success they already have
and the high level they are at being the largest publishing group worldwide, therefore I can be sure
that my magazine would reach out to my audience.
Time Inc Uk: Formerly known as IPC Media, this institution distributes magazines such as NME and
Uncut, both music magazines that have mass audiences and deal with chart music. Time Inc are
distribute in the United Kingdom and sell over 350 million copies a year. Firstly, they would suit my
magazine because they operate in the location of where the majority of my target audience live in, so
they would easily be able to reach out to them, and secondly with the vast amount they’re managing
to distribute yearly, I would be confident that they would successfully distribute my magazine.

17. Who would be the audience for your magazine?
As the genre of my magazine is pop, in this particular genre the artist within it are also closely associated
with other genres such as R&B and hip hop – so I have to keep in mind that my audience could also be
interested in these genre’s as well.
Gender : The gender of my audience will be primarily female, this is because females are typically known
for being the gender that read magazines, and are more enthusiastic when it comes to reading in general.
Also regarding my genre (pop), females will be more into this genre as it is easy-going, fun and calm as
opposed to more ‘male genres’ such as rock, heavy metal and hip hop which are very loud and rough.
Age: The age of my audience would be from 15-21, as this is the prime age range for people who involve
themselves with music, since they are likely to be students they have enough free time to be able to keep
up with the latest news regarding music and celebrities (which is the main content of my magazine).
Race: My magazine doesn’t fall towards any particular race, even though the cover model is white, there
are articles about black and Asian music artists such as Rihanna, which would appeal to all different
races.
Occupational group: My target audience would be in the occupational social group E, because they are
students and would only be in possibly part time jobs, their income would be low – this is represented in
the low price of my magazine.
Psychographic profile : My target audience is likely to fall under ‘Aspirers’ – the group that seek status,
and are oriented to image and appearance, persona and fashion. This is evident in my competitions,
exclusive cover lines as my audience will be the first to see these events.

18. How did you attract/address your audience?
Colours – I addressed my audience through the use of bright colours that represent them – the red used
has connotations of love and passion, which is stereotypically associated with females. White has
connotations of innocence and purity which is also typically associated with females. Black has
connotations of mystery, which links in to how teenagers are as a social group, they’re often mysterious
in the fact that they're secretive, and sometimes moody or sometimes happy.
Layout – The organised mise-en-scene, symmetrical composition and limited cover lines all add to give a
sophisticated house style of the front cover. The professionalism attracts the audience as they would
want to read something that looks official and practical.
Convergence – By having social media links at the bottom of the contents page and website link on the
front cover this attracts and addresses the audience as since they are teenagers they’re known for being
the ‘technological age’ where they are constantly on their phones and the internet. So by having social
media links they will be attracted as they will see that my magazine spreads far across many media
platforms in which they can be involved in as well by for example following the pages.
Content – The article title ‘Rihanna VS Stevie’ and its description ‘POP VS ROCK.. which is better?’ is an
example of Levi Strauss’ binary oppositions theory where there are two opposing sides against each
other, this is effective and attracts the audience as it creates conflict in which the audience can explore –
this is one of Blumler and Katz’ uses and gratifications theory – social interaction as the cover line causes
people of either side to actually debate which is better.
Main Image - The cover model attracts the audience because she is in the age range of the audience, and
therefore can act as an aspirational character as she is a successful musician and celebrity, something the
audience would admire and want.

19. Competition– Competitions that use buzz words such as ‘free’ attracts the audience as it persuades
them to purchase the magazine with the opportunity of winning something in return (Burton’s
Devices of Persuasion – rewards.)
Typography – Majority of the text is in sans serif, this attracts the audience as this type of font is
modern, vibrant and vivacious.
Star appeal – There are various names of celebrities and pop stars on the cover lines and contents
page, this attracts the audience as when they see names of their favourite celebrities, they’ll want to
read on about them.
NVC- The NVC of the cover model is positive and neighborly, this attracts the audience as they’ll see
be drawn to the elated feeling that my magazine gives off.
Galtung and Ruge’s News Values - A way in which I’ve attracted my audience is through the content
of the cover lines, some of them fall under Galtung and Ruge’s News Values such as the ‘exclusive’
interview which comes under ‘exclusivity’ and this would attract the audience as it is something that
they could only see if they read my magazine. The cover line ‘ Wireless 2015’ comes under
‘recency’ in the news values, as it is an event that is due to happen in that current year, this attracts
the audience as it is something new that could be happening and they’d woould want to hear about it
as soon as possible.

20. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing your
magazine?
From when I started to construct my magazine I learnt about two new
pieces of software that were essential in constructing my magazine:
Photoshop: This was the most important piece of software that I used
for to create my three final products. Photoshop allowed me to
manipulate images; use many interesting and exciting fonts; create shapes
and finally put it all together. Photoshop is the reason why my magazine
can come across as professional. Using Photoshop I learnt about tools
such as ‘eye dropper tool’ , which allowed me to make sure that I had a
consistent colour scheme throughout. The ‘quick selection tool’ was also
very useful as it allowed me to efficiently remove the background of any
images I wanted to insert. Other popular tools I learnt about in this
process include ‘paint bucket tool’ ‘text tool’ and ‘eraser tool’.
Blogger: For evidence showing the gradual construction of my
products I used blogger. At first I found it quite frustrating as when
posting blogs, it was hard to have the pictures and text fit well as it
wasn’t as easy as what I was used to, but in the end I spent time to
learn about right clicking an image and moving it ‘centre’. So for my
research and planning, construction and evaluation are all present on
my blog. When using blogger I learnt that keeping all of your work on
a blog can help to prove that you know what you are doing when
creating the products as it provides a consistent record of the process
involved in creating the product and how you changed certain aspects
to improve and conclude with a final, finished piece.

21. Looking at your preliminary task - what do you feel you have learnt in the
progression from it to the full product?
There are a few flaws with my school magazine because I created that without advanced
knowledge of Photoshop or general conventions of how magazines should look. The next
slides a list of weaknesses of the preliminary task and how they are addressed in the full
product.

22. Cover Model:
In my preliminary task, the picture of my cover model was taken indoors, under artificial lighting.
This is evident as the quality of the picture isn’t great. To improve this with my music magazine I
took the picture in natural light, with a high definition camera – this enhanced the quality of the
picture and made it look more professional. Also, in the school front cover the cover model is
looking away from the camera, but then I learnt that it’s a common convention for the cover model
to be looking at the camera, so I then rectified this in the music magazine.

23. Spacing:
In the preliminary task, when I would write my cover lines I’d leave too much space between
each line and it wouldn’t look professional. But then once I become familiar with Photoshop, I
discovered a tool that could reduce those spaces.
I used this to decide how much space would be
between each line, preferably I wanted as little as
possible.

24. Colour
In the preliminary task, I manually tried picking the same shade of blue to use, but as it was
manually, I didn’t achieve this therefore I had different shades of blue all over the page even
thought I only wanted a specific one. But in the main task I acted upon this by not choosing the
red manually, but by using the eye dropper tool. This is a tool that I learnt to use while
constructing my magazine as I identified it as a problem in the school magazine.
Different shades of blue Same shade of red

25. Puff:
In my preliminary task, the puff didn’t stand out enough, this is because I used a regular font
that didn’t attract the audience attention. But then upon creating my music magazine I learnt
that the information in puff is usually important so I needed to make it stand out. So rather
than using a one colour, regular font I used two different contrasting colours, with a bold font,
in all capital letters and with exclamation mark. This then made the puff stand out much more
than in the school magazine.