My school magazine challenges conventions of real magazines by not including exclusive articles or advertisements. It represents different ages, genders, and social groups within the school. The target audience is young people aged 11-15, chosen through colors and article topics they indicated they preferred. The school would distribute the magazine to inform students and parents of events, and provide information to visitors. The magazine uses colors, images, and font styles attractive to both male and female audiences while maintaining a clear, comprehensible style. Through constructing the magazine, the author learned about using proper lighting and backgrounds for high-quality photos and design effects in Photoshop.
1. In what ways does your school magazine use, develop or challenge the forms and conventions of real magazines? My school magazine challenges the normal codes and conventions of real magazines as it does not include some of the features that real magazines have i.e. exclusive articles and lures. It doesn’t do this because school magazines have to be associated with the school, therefore making it different to real magazines.
2. How does your school magazine represent particular social groups? It represents the different ages throughout the school and focuses on the median age range to provide a magazine suitable for all age ranges. It also provides articles for both males and females. As well as this, it has the hobbies and interests of different social groups. The magazine is for young people so it represents their interests.
3. Who would your target audience be and why? My target audience would be young people aged 11-15. I targeted them through the colours used and the articles that were in my school magazine. I asked a range of people, both male and female what colours attracted them and used the information to create a colour scheme that suited both genders. Also I asked them what their hobbies and what articles they would like to see and from the response, I combined them together to produce a main article.
4. What kind of media institution would distribute your school magazine and why? The school that is making the magazine would be the institution to distribute the magazine. A school might want a magazine to in form bit the students and the parents of the events that are happening in the school. Also they might want a magazine to give to visitors to let them know what is happening in the school, and to le them know any important information about the school.
5. How did you attract and address your audience? I used colours that attracted both the make and female gender, making sure the colours complimented each other. Purple was the female colour and black was the male colour, however both these colours could be unisex. I also added in a neutral colour so that there was enough variety of colours and also to compliment both of the other colours. The main image focused on a primarily male sport to attract the male audience but used a female model in order to attract females as well. The font was an easy to read plain text font with added effects to the main article so it stood out but was still comprehensible. I used a plain font so that the audience would not be swayed into not reading the magazine because the font was too masculine or feminine. It also allowed the effects to be more operative. I used an informal language because my school magazine was aimed at young people. In addition to this it made the magazine more perceptible to the target audience.
6. What have you learned about the technologies from the process of constructing your school magazine? I have learned that in order to get a good quality photo, the lighting and background need to be god so that when it comes to editing it your picture will be of good standard. Also it makes your magazine look more professional when using high quality photos. I have also learned different effects that can be used in Photoshop to give your magazine a more professional look.
