c

1. Evaluation
Hannah McNeill

2. Research
We started the project with research, this was so we could before we started writing down
potential ideas we could have a wider knowledge about magazine and the different style of
magazine. Through the website Issuu.com you can find over a thousand magazines, this website
was very useful because you had options to search for specific articles or I could search a topic
and a range of magazines that fit the characteristics of that style of magazine would come up.
Through the website you can look through the magazine and read the articles. This was very
useful because I didn’t have background knowledge with magazines so didn’t know specific
magazines I could research. Through the website I went through three different topics, food,
fashion and teen magazines. I thought because the three were all so different it would give me
a wider knowledge of magazines as a whole, and it would allow me to understand how a
different magazine would attract different age audiences, and how to make the magazine look
interesting.
My research helped my end product a lot because I took inspiration from the each magazine
and because of the research I was able to acknowledge what parts of the magazine were
important and what would make it look most professional. A weakness of my research is that I
should’ve researched a nature magazine, this would’ve been very useful because it would’ve
meant I had a background knowledge of the time of audience a nature magazine has, and it
would’ve given me the knowledge of how past nature magazines have attracted the audience. If
I had researched a nature magazine I think I would’ve been able to create better sub headings
on the front cover, this would’ve been more effective because I would’ve been able to make the
magazine seem more professional and relevant. But instead I had research about a food
magazine which didn’t make much of a difference to my final product as the design/layout and
the audience isn’t the same as a nature magazine. Although, a strength of my research was that
I used three magazines that included bright, energetic colours and a modern layout. This was
useful because my magazine has a young target audience and to attract a young audience I
needed to use a similar colour scheme and layout to the magazine I researched.

3. Planning
For my planning I started with my initial reaction, and I wrote about how I felt confident about the project and was
excited to see what ideas I could use in my magazine. Then I created a mind map so that I could see my ideas clearly,
during planning I think mind maps are very useful because they give you the opportunity to see all your ideas next to
each other and the lines encourage you to right further information on ideas you already have. My mind map was a
strength of my planning because it made me realise what I wanted to create for my final project and it also let me
generate other ideas. It helped my end product because I it meant that I had a clearer understanding of how I wanted
my magazine to look and I now had multiple ideas about how to create this magazine efficiently.
During planning we created a mood board to help us generate ideas and I was pleased with the end result of the
photos I included in my mood board because they were very useful and seeing them altogether let me imagine what
my final product could look like. However, it is a weakness of my planning because it lacks a lot of detail, the mind map
should have writing linking the photos together and explaining why I have included each photo and how I would
include each different feature in my final product. This is a huge weakness of my planning and if I had included more
information and had a clearer view of my final product then it could've been more successful and put together. If I had
more time in the project I would go back and spend more time writing information for the mood board.

4. Time Management
My time management through the project was handled carefully and throughout I was always aware of due in dates
and what I needed to hand in and when. Although, I did complete a few power points late, this was because I would
distract myself with other slides and include a lot of information and then go into time that I had allocated for different
parts of my planning. For example, I spent a lot of time on the research finding out about the different magazines but I
should’ve used my time carefully and done a reasonable amount of research on the magazines and then left myself
time to complete a detailed amount of writing on planning.
Overall I think my time was managed carefully with the power points and most were handed in on time, or not
significantly late. However with my end product I found that the two weeks we were given weren’t long enough to
complete it, this could’ve been personal to my project but I struggled to complete it in the time we were allocated.
However, this could have been a result of my lack of detail in planning so it took me longer during the production stages
to create.
With more time my final product would’ve been more successful, however, I did use my own time outside of college
completing the project so I didn’t need much extra time in lessons. If I had more time I would of spent more time on
my double page spread because I didn’t realise how much time it would take to learn how to use InDesign. The
software was very complicated and I only used it briefly before in my experiments. I found it hard to find where all the
tools were, so I couldn’t make my end product look as professional as I had imagined. If I had more time I would’ve
watched you tube videos explaining how to use the software.
However, I did have enough time to create a
contents page, although it’s not finished I’ m
glad I started it because it shows what the
magazine would be styled like if it included
more pages, it follows the same colour scheme
and style as the other pages.

5. Aesthetic Qualities
I think my end product looks aesthetically pleasing and I think this a part of this is due to the colour scheme I used, I think the
colours compliment each other really well because they are all pastel colours and the colours are subconsciously associated
with calming and positive vibes. This is important because the topic of my magazine is nature and nature is calming and relaxing
therefore to create the right atmosphere for the magazine I needed to choice fitting colours to give the magazine the right
mixture of calming but also introduce a fun and modern element.
I think the style is very creative and modern, the magazine follows a structure of a fashion magazine but has the articles of a
teen, nature magazine. My magazine follows three different topics; fashion, teen and nature. I appreciate that the magazine
might include too many different type of magazine and this was ambitious as its hard to include the different topics and
combine them together successfully. However, I think by using the correct style together the topics came together. The look of
the magazine focusses on a fashion magazine, with bold shapes and the photos and articles displayed unlike other normal cover
pages. Also, in an average nature magazine the articles would be laid out as boring text, concentrating on the information
written instead of the way the articles are laid out. In my magazine it focusses on both.
Also, a strength of my magazine is the fonts used on the cover, I think the variety of font shows the time that was spent making
sure the cover looked fun but also professional. I used different fonts because the fonts given on photoshop were all lifeless and
for my magazine I needed fonts that were loud and able to bring attention to the sub headings.
If I could improve the magazine I would think about having it more professional, and having a more sophisticated set up, but my
magazine was created for a younger, teen audience so even if I think a sophisticated layout would of looked more effective, a
simpler and more fun front cover and double page spread was more appropriate.

6. Technical qualities
A technical quality I have included is the type of professional photos I included, for the magazines front cover and
double page spread I used my own photos. For the front cover I took the main photo at home using my phone as a
camera, I planned what I wanted the photo to look like. I wanted to have a model in it so that it could stay within the
fashion/teen theme but I also wanted to include nature/wildlife elements because if I want to attract the right audience
I need to promote the nature aspects. I used a bright yellow flower for the photo because I wanted it to be colorful and
bring attention to the magazine against other magazines. Also, a flower portrays freedom and along with the color
yellow meaning happiness I think it gives a positive message to the potential readers. I also took the photos for the
flower ice cubes because I thought it would make it more authentic if I took the photos myself instead of copying them
of the internet. I also went into the Lush store to take pictures of the shop and find out extra information about the
animal testing policies and this is also where I found out about the Chinese bath bomb lush product. I also used one of
these photos for my contents page. The photos I chose are from different angles and have different effects applied so
contain convenient similarities which creates a nice link through the magazine, and gives a feeling of consistency
making it look more put together and not stand alone.
I conducted the photoshoot from different angels and using
different lighting so that I would have a wide range of different
photos I can chose from to include in my magazine. I used an
iPhone 7+ camera which has very impressive quality and gives a
clear image. The photo I used on the front cover mirrors the
same style on a range of professional photos I've seen used on
other magazine fronts, for example;

7. Audience Appeal
From the beginning the target audience for the magazine was female teenagers, and young adults. I
appealed to this audience by the style of the magazine and introducing articles with topics that young
women would stereotypically be more interested, for example, cosmetic testing against animals, and
decorative flower ice cube trays. I also conducted research and looked at other magazines and looked
into what qualities of a magazine would attract young women. The colour scheme was very important
and women said they were more likely to be attracted to a magazine that had bright and
(stereotypically) ‘girly’ colours, pinks and purples, instead of dull colours. Therefore in my magazine I
included a range of bright colours, including both pinks and purples. I also know that with a younger
audience it is important to include a range of photos, as although the younger audience still enjoy
reading the articles they are more likely to pay attention and understand the article if there is a visual
aid.