Final Evaluation

1. C
EVALUATION
Emma Nugent

2. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real
media products?
• For my magazine I used conventions to ensure that my magazine looked as professional as possible. I used conventions such as;
a mid shot image of my model, a date, issue number, a price, a barcode. Also on my magazine cover I have used a masthead
and a colour scheme – where I used gender neutral greys, black, white and reds, also on my cover is blue and purple. On the
cover of my magazine I used a left hand third, plug and puff. I used each of these as I felt that they made my magazine look
more professional and also made the magazine look more exciting. For my work I have not challenged forms and conventions of
real media products, but I have developed them. I have developed them by including multiple bits and also by slightly moving
them around to make the layout look similar but unique to other magazines.
This is the
left hand
third on my
magazine
cover. I
have
included 5
pieces of
information,
I have done
this so that
people
could
decide on
whether
they would
like this
issue, before
they buy it.
This is the masthead. I have used a font not
commonly used for magazines, to make my
magazine stand out, as other magazines
don’t tend to use this font.
This is an example of a
plug using a pun to
entice the reader. Not
something all
magazines would do.
However I think that if
you interest the reader
on the cover they will
want to read on.
Above is an
example of a
puff, in a shape
with block colour,
to break up the
image and
background. The
colour would
draw attention of
the audience to
the information
inside it.
Above is the price, date and issue number under the
masthead, I placed these key features in clear and
obvious places – where they usually are on
magazines, so that people know what they’re buying
and what they're paying for it.
Here is the
mid shot
that I used. I
was inspired
to use this
from the
magazine I
referred to
throughout
my work: Q
magazine.

3. How does you media product represent particular social groups?
• I think that the colours on my magazine could be well liked by men and women that the colour
scheme suggests that the magazine is aimed more at women rather than men. The magazine is
quite dark but seems to be much more feminine, especially with the use of the pink colours on the
contents page.
• Women may be more interested in the magazine due to the fact that the main article is about a
woman and the images in the magazine are of her too.
• This magazine would be aimed at a demographic audience of C1, C2 and E people – hence why
the magazine is an affordable price.
• The psychographic for this magazine would be ‘working class’ people, also ‘strugglers’ would be
the people that would want to buy this magazine as they would be the complete opposite to
mainstream people – however ‘mainstream’ people may like this magazine too as they find that
the artists that are mentioned in the magazine are bands and artists that they personally like.
• Teenagers/young adults would be more interested in this magazine, the content would interest
their age range more as the music mentioned in the magazine is newer and up-and-coming music
that younger people would more likely listen to.

4. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
• Bauer Media Group could be the media institution that would distribute my magazine, as it is similar
to other magazines that Bauer has created, magazines such as; Take a Break or Spirit and Destiny.
• I think that Bauer may also like my magazine because it is similar to Q magazine – which is a huge
music magazine, however it has it is more suited to younger people, whereas Q are more likely to
try and cater for as many people as possible.
• Magazines are distributed by Bauer online and in the shops, the bigger seller is online – which Bauer
would like about my magazine as they would be able to put my magazine online and get the
readership as a younger audience would be more likely to go online and find the magazine.
• IPC is another institution that could distribute my magazine. IPC distributes magazines such as; Teen
Now, Pick Me Up! NME and Now which are magazines targeted specifically at women.
• Also IPC distributes Marie Claire, InStyle and Feel Good which target upmarket women.
• IPC would publish my magazine as it could interest their target audience, less so the upmarket
women, however women as a collective would like it as they like the other magazines that are
similar to mine, that IPC publishes.

5. Who would be the audience for your media product?
• My target audience for the final product of my magazine would be female teenagers or teenagers interested in
Indie Rock music. This target audience would fit my magazine as, the whole magazine is based around indie
music and indie bands/artists.
• Although my magazine would be targeted more specifically at teenage females the magazine could also be
something that males are interested in as the music would be something that they could be a fan of too.
• However the magazines colour scheme suggests that the magazine is more for girls. I used another magazine to
compare my work to as I went along. I looked at Q magazine as the magazine is aimed at both men and
women although in different issues the magazine is aimed at specific genders. I used Q magazine as an outline
for my work to attract men and women with only the cover.
• Being the same age as the target audience I found it quite easy to attract the readership that I wanted to.
Both of these covers
are aimed at men,
this is shown through
the sexualised
images of women
used on each cover.
This is an example of
how Q magazine
attracts specific
gender/sexuality
readers for their
issues.
However these
magazine covers
shows a gender
neutral cover – this is
because the images
on the cover are not
sexualised. Women
may still buy the
magazine because of
the man on the cover
but that would not be
the first reason to buy
the magazine.
My magazine shows how
it is similar to Q magazine.
My magazine is a gender
neutral cover rather than
being sexualised like some
of Q’s issues are. My
magazine is presenting
how anybody could be a
fan of my magazine and
how either gender could
buy the magazine
regardless of the cover
persons gender.

6. How did you attract/address your audience?
• To attract my target audience initially I used an image of someone that people the target age of
could relate to. The image is of someone who is young and ‘up and coming’ so the target age
range could relate easily to her.
• The colour scheme would grab the attention of lots of young girls as the pink is quite a vibrant and
feminine colour.
• The price would attract the demographic audience as they would be people that don’t have lots
of money, or people that don’t have the kind of money to spend on expensive magazines.
• Magazine price: £2.00
• The features of the magazine address the audience by including things that they would like, for
example: The plug and the left hand third contain information that the target age range would like
– they are all about things that are modern, up to date and relevant. Also there is information in the
left hand third that anyone interested in this type of music would know about.
• The style of the magazine is very unique – the layout of the magazine is similar to that of magazines
such as Q and MOJO etc. Yet the design is different – for example the mastheads font is very
different to all other magazines.

7. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this
product?
• I used Photoshop CS3 & CS6 to create my front cover and contents page for my magazine. Also I used InDesign CS6 to create
my double page spread and masthead. To create my double page spread I had to use text boxes.
• To create my cover and contents I used various tools – I used these tools the majority of the time to edit my images I wanted to
use. I used tools such as the quick selection tool, the lasso tool and I also edited my images using camera raw. This is shown
above.
• Final product: Tools used:
• As well as using the above tools on Photoshop to create my final product I also learnt how to create a blog on WordPress, I learnt
how to create presentations using Prezi and also Slide share. Also throughout my work I have learnt to upload and embed videos
from YouTube. While creating my work I also used the site bubbls to create mind maps/ brainstorms for my work.
I used the lasso tool when editing my images, mainly for
getting ride of the background.
I used the quick selection tool for editing my images, it gave a
nice finish around the image and didn’t leave jagged lines.
I used the spot healing tool to make sure that my models skin
looked flawless – like professional magazines do.
I used the burn tool on the background on my front cover and
contents page, so that they weren’t just block colours.

8. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the
progression from it to the full product?
To start with I have learnt how to fully produce a magazine using Photoshop and also InDesign, whereas when I
created my preliminary task I used Microsoft Publisher and Paint to create it.
• These two top images show my preliminary task, from looking back on them now I
can now see that my work has progressed a lot. One way to prove the
improvement in my work is that in my first task I used publisher to create my
magazine cover and contents page, also instead of Photoshop I used paint. For this
task my images were cropped and cut but not actually edited. Also to improve I
have used better quality images and have improved my editing skills. Also this
magazine is very basic and very plain which I wanted to improve on for my final
magazine.
• I improved my work and I can see that from my final product – one way that I have
improved is by using codes and conventions that are used to create professional
magazines, for example I have learnt to use a date, price and barcode. I have also
learnt to use a properly developed masthead, a left hand third, cover lines, plugs,
puff etc. I have improved my work completely which I show in the two bottom
images (to the left ) which shows my final magazine cover and my final magazine
contents page. I have improved my final product from my preliminary task by
including more detail in my work and better quality images, also I have used a
bigger range of colours and included more codes and conventions.