3. Initially my group was supposed to record our evaluation but
because of other commitments we found it difficult to find the
time to actually record it so we thought it would be best to do
our own evaluation. I think at the time it was a good idea to
work as a group because we could help each other out and then
create the same house style magazine, but coming to the end of
the project I think it would have been better to work on our own
so that we wouldn’t of had to rely on other people.
4. I think our group magazine uses, develops and challenges existing magazines. So does my own
magazine. We agreed that there was a gap in the market for the genre of live music. There are
magazines that incorporate live music but doesn’t solely on live music. This is why our magazine
challenges existing magazines because its completely different and there’s not a magazine like it.
My magazine uses existing magazines because my magazine issue was focused on indie/rock
genre of music. These genres of music magazines are already currently on the market so when
analysing these I could see what would work well on the front cover. So even though the front
cover might look like existing rock magazines, it develops them because again it is live local music
and focuses on just that rather than a range of other things.
It also develops existing magazines because the band/artists that are used in the magazine are
not well known. Other magazines would focus on artists that they know everyone would
recognise, whereas my magazine focuses on the talent that people might not know about but
should!
This front cover is similar
to mine with the main
man of the band in the
centre of the page.
However the layout of
mine is clearly different.
5. My magazine clearly represents what genre this issue is promoting. With it being indie/rock you
can obviously tell that the people that would be attracted to it would definitely listen to that type
of music. I think my magazine is aimed at both genders because it features things that would
attract both genders. However with the front cover, more men would go for it because it has the
stereotypical live male band member. People that look like him or are similar to him would
definitely be attracted to it more than what girls would.
You would also stereotype a live band by looking like the band I have used in my magazine. This
again stereotypes the type of people that would read this magazine and also stereotypes other
live bands.
6. I think the best institution for my magazine is ‘Bauer Media’. Bauer Media distributes lots of
music magazines, some of the popular ones such as Q, Kerrang and Mojo. This would be the ideal
institution for my magazine because they work with most of the magazines that are similar to
mine which means they have experience in selling music magazines which is why I think this is the
best institution to go for.
They are also a UK based institution which is another important factor in choosing it because my
magazine is all about local. So because the institution isn’t in another country, it makes it more
reliable when selling and also represents the concept of local music.
They also have a gap in their market for my genre of magazine, live music. My magazine is all
about live music so this would definitely fit in their institution as they haven’t got one like it.
7. My magazine would appeal to people from the 17-28, because I think the genre of music I am
promoting is the most popular for this age group. My magazine would appeal to university students
and young adults that are always looking for cheap nights out to see live bands play the music they
enjoy listening to. They love to go out and socialise and enjoy being out, having a good time.
8. The first thing I did was created a questionnaire to find out exactly what my audience wanted. I then
tailored my magazine content from the feedback I got from the questionnaire.
The models in the image are
of a similar age to my target
audience which will interest
my audience as they can
relate to the models.
Even though you cannot see
the price, I have made it
£2.40 so it is affordable to
my target audience. This will
also attract their attention as
they can buy it without it
being too expensive.
Also because there is a gap
in the market for this genre,
people can’t follow it so by
promoting this genre and
telling them where different
gigs are, this will attract my
audience.
Most of upcoming gigs are
on posted online, on the
internet. Not everyone might
have access to the internet
so by putting all the
information in a magazine it
makes it easier to find out
that information and easier
to follow.
9. People that are well known
as well as unknown talent
are included in this magazine
which would attract my
target audience of finding
out local talent as well as
finding out the gossip of
celebrities.
Competitions will also attract
them because they will want
to win stuff as they might
not have that much money.
A sneaky peek preview will
also attract my audience
because they might want to
know what is in the next
issue and will encourage
them to buy the next issue
and the one after that etc.
Images that are used again
are similar to my audience,
the people in the images are
of a similar age. The images
are also representing the
genre of music indie/rock
with people showing they
are having a good time. This
will attract the audience to
look to that page and find
out where they should go to
have fun like that.
10. I have learnt that modern technologies have made the production of my magazine so much easier.
The quality of the work is so much higher by using Adobe in Design and Photoshop compared to
using Publisher. There are much more techniques and actions that can be used to make the product
better and look more professional.
However, with the advantages of Adobe there comes the disadvantages. It took a lot more time to
create my product in Adobe because I hadn’t used it before and I needed to practice learning how to
work the programme before I started creating my product. If I was using Publisher to create my
product, I would have achieved the finish of it in half the time because I am confident in using it and
know how to work it. However with now using Adobe in Design and Photoshop I am now
comfortable with using these so it wouldn’t take as long the next time I need to use them.
11. I have learnt how to manipulate images in Photoshop to make them look better. I achieved this by
using layers to achieve the look I wanted.
This was my original
cropped image which I
then changed into this
one. I used certain effects
for the background,
smudge look and coloured
it in black and white so
that the attention was
clearly focused on the
band member.
12. Looking back to my preliminary task, I have learnt that there is a lot
more software you can use that produces better quality work.
I have also learnt how to edit photos in Photoshop to improve the
look of the image if the original image didn’t fit well on the front
cover of a magazine.
I have also learnt that their should be no
empty spaces on the front cover because it
looks empty and people will not be
attracted to it.
I have also learnt that the positioning of
the image is important. The image I used in
the school magazine was more positioned
to the right side of the page, it suggests
that the image isn’t the main focus so in
the main task I put my image in the centre
of the page so it can be clearly seen and
people will know it is the main focus they
should be concentrating on.
I have also learn that
you need to consider a
wide range of people
to satisfy rather than
just catering for a small
group.
13. For my feedback I asked the people who I worked in a group with to comment on the strengths
and weakness of my magazine.
I was told that they liked the main image on the front cover and it worked well for the genre of
the magazine. The black and white background made the main image very effective and grabs the
attention of the reader. I was also told that the colours worked well together and that I
maintained that colour scheme throughout the contents page and the double page spread. I also
got told that the fonts worked well together, there weren’t too many but enough for the function
of the front cover and again these fonts followed in the rest of the magazine.
I was also told that the layout of all the pages were very clean and precise, especially the
contents page. The contents page and the double page were also lay out very well and very
organised. I was told that because of the magazine title being repeated on the contents page and
the double page spread, you were able to see a clear sense of brand identity which worked really
well.
Some improvements were that I could of used some more colours in my scheme rather than
different shades of blue to attract the other gender more. Another one was that I should use
coloured images for the main image rather than black and white because they liked the coloured
images more.
