This document contains an evaluation by Will Sutton of a magazine media product he created for a Year 12 Media Studies class. It describes the various conventional forms and conventions Will incorporated from real magazines, such as the masthead, main image, barcode/price, sell lines, etc. It also discusses how the media product represents younger music fans and how a company like Bauer Media would be suitable for distributing the magazine given its experience with rock magazines and young adult audiences.

1. YEAR 12 MEDIA STUDIES
EVALUATION
WILL SUTTON

2. IN WHAT WAY DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR
CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA
PRODUCTS?
Skyline – usually giving
information about offers
or information or things
that might feature in the
magazine
Sell lines – Writing which
tells the reader about other
articles in the magazine,
they usually down the side
or at the bottom of the
page.
Barcode & price – The
barcode allows the
magazine to be scanned at
the checkout, it is usually at
the bottom right corner. The
price of the magazine will
be shown at the bottom
with the barcode. The size
of the price shown depends
on how expensive the
magazine is.
Masthead- name of
the magazine. The
masthead will
normally be the
biggest part of text on
the page.
Anchorage text- writing
relating to the main image
which tells you what the
main picture is about.
Main image – the big
picture in the middle of
the page which is the
main focus.
Front cover

3. Masthead- name of the
magazine. The masthead will
normally be the biggest part of
text on the page. On my
magazine I have made the
masthead large so it stands
out, but it also sits behind the
persons head which magazine
tend to do.
Anchorage text- writing relating
to the main image which tells
you what the main picture is
about. I have made this bigger
than the sell lines but not so
big that is covers the width of
the page.
Main image – the big picture
in the middle of the page
which is the main focus. I
have put the model with her
eyes at about three quarters
up the page which obeys the
conventions of a magazine.
Puff(s) – gives information about
content in the magazine, is
usually in the shape of a circle or
star. I chose to use a yellow
circle because it stand out
against everything on the cover.
Barcode – The barcode
allows the magazine to
be scanned at the
checkout, it is usually at
the bottom right corner.
Sell lines – Writing
which tells the reader
about other articles in
the magazine, they
usually down the side
or at the bottom of the
page. On my
magazine used two
sell lines along the
right hand side.
Date line – on my
magazine I have put in a
date line instead of
having it next to the
barcode where most
,magazines have it.
Front cover

4. Contents
This contents page
has a greyscale with
the heart being red
which is the only
colour on the page.
This is because
people will be drawn
to this because is eye
catching that the
heart stands out.
The contents title which
says ‘contents’ is in three
lines this works because
its different to most
layouts. The bold black
stands out against the
grey.
The writing here is in a
fancy font which is good
because it flows and is
completely different
compared to the rest of the
text. The column that the
text is in is slanted like the
model in the picture. This is
effective because it looks in
place with the picture.
By using on large
picture it more
attractive to the reader
instead of loads of little
picture that fill up the
page. This is also a
very bold photo which
makes him stand out
on the page and will be
the first this the reader
looks ay.

5. Contents
Here on my contents
page I have put in a
clear column that has
all the features in the
magazine.
I have used the technique of
putting the title on three lines.
I have made it bold block
colour so will stand out and
can be seen easily. I have
also put a white shadow
behind it to make it stand out
even more and to link with
the colour scheme. I found
that it looked more in place
when there were parts of the
page that were cut off.
I used one large photo on my
contents for the back ground
image. I think the photo sticks
out because it drops behind the
column but is catching the
readers eye more than the
column. I chose to use grey
scale because the lighting on the
original photo I didn't like even
after editing. But I really wanted
to use this phot so I used
greyscale and it has linked well
with the colour scheme.
On my contents page I have
used a blue, white, black and
grey colour scheme. I think
that the colours used
together look really good and
match my double page
spread.
Here I have put in more
photos because I thought the
page looked a bit bare. I have
used a blue box behind the
photos so it doesn’t look like
the photos have just been
chucked in.
For the text in the column I
have used white for the
page numbers and black for
the page information. The
blue text is for the main
parts of the magazine I feel
that he text colour choices
worked well and stand out
so I feel its easier to read.

6. Double page spread
Large big black bold title
that goes across a third of
the page. This is the first
thing the reader will look at
and then the large s for the
drop can and then start
reading. The idea of a large
drop cap is good because it
will draw readers in to the
text.
In the corner there is a picture used
to make the page look less bare.
There is a quote layered on top of the
picture so the reader is more likely to
look at the quote then the picture
after reading the columns.
On this page there are
there clear columns of text.
I like the way the texts
wraps itself around the
other things on the page.
There is a quote on a
green background so its
not just black texted
placed on the page. The
green follows the double
pages colour scheme. I
like it how it sits on the
image and the text around
it. The quote looks
imbedded into the page.
There is one main
image used on the
double page of the
band. It goes over
slightly onto the right
hand page. Most
magazines wont have
anything going over
the crease of the
pages. But I think with
the title coming into the
picture is looks quite
effective.
On this double page
spread there is a
colour scheme but is
only used a bit. The
scheme is black, white,
olive green and grey.
Quite plain colours but
together it makes the
page look very
professional.

7. Double page spread
On my double page
spread I have put in
two separate images
and merged them
together to look like
one. I have put the
pictures at the sides
so I can fit two
columns in the middle.
I played around for a
while trying to get the
picture in the right
place and if one
should be bigger or
not but this is what I
finished with.
I have put two columns in my double page spread. I have used
white for the interviewer asking the questions and blue text for the
band members answers. I think that this way it looks a lot clearer to
look at and to read rather then on colour. By using these colours I
was able to stick to the colour scheme of blue, white, black and
grey. At the beginning I have included a drops cap, a lot of
magazines use these.
In this corner I have
put in a tour dates
table. I feel that this
makes the page a bit
busy and gives the
reader a bit more to
look at when then turn
to this double page
spread. This box also
follows the colour
scheme.
With the right hand
title I have used blue
and white. I have
made mirage white
and a different font
that is the same as
on the front cover. I
feel that this make
the bands name
stand out more, so
its one of the first
thing the reader
reads with the white
arrow to it. The blue
font is bold and also
stands out next to
the white text.
The right and title I have
used a white bold text to
stand out against the
black background which
gives a nice contrast. I
think that this side is the
fist thing the reader will
look at because it stands
out the most. The
arrows line is the same
width as the bar on the
H. this I like because it
flows from the text to the
other title . Both titles
are three lines and both
have around the same
size font that is bold.

8. HOW DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT
REPRESENT PARTICULAR SOCIAL
GROUP?
The social groups that are represented in my magazine are the readers which you
expect to see buying a modern music magazine which would be mostly younger
generation but will have a few older buyers who are very interested in music that is up
and coming and who likes to stay up to date with music.
The people who will be buying the magazine would be
• People of teens to middle age (14-40)
• Older people who are interested in new music
• Teens who like to read about music industry
• Both genders
• People who are interested in indie/rock
• Any person can buy it, its not overly expensive for what it is.
My contents page and double page spread both follow the same colour scheme so its
easy on the eye so that anyone can read it from my target audience. My front cover
has clear titles so that thy can be seen from across the shop to draw people in. I have
used a colour scheme that appeals to older and younger people so that this would
make my target audience bigger which will make the fan base larger and that this type
of music indie/rock, most age range like this type of this music.

9. WHAT KIND OF MEDIA INSTITUTION
MIGHT DISTRIBUTE YOUR MEDIA
PRODUCT AND WHY?
Because my target audience is young teen to
middle age, the younger generation will have all
there music digitally on their iPod or IPhone using
apps like iTunes store, Spotify or sound cloud to
buy and stream their music. whereas the middle
aged people may still like going to high-street
stores like HMV to get hard copies of an album on
a vinyl or CD. The majority of people buy their
music on a digital device instead of getting hard
copies. So id think id go to a digital institution and
find a good place to sell the bands music to
people. I think that more copies would sell online
than hard copies bought in stores. When the band
starts out and is up and coming I would put their
songs on YouTube so they get more well known
and then when they get big enough put their work
on Spotify and iTunes then keep posting on
YouTube as they get bigger. I also would have
separate companies for merchandise sales telling
t shirts to shops and other band merchandise like
cups and wristbands.
I think that Bauer media will
be suitable for the
distribution for my magazine.
This is because Bauer has
more experience with
producing rock magazines
which are successful and
how it has experience with
young adults.

10. WHO WOULD BE THE AUDIENCE FOR
YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT?
The target audience for my band would be people who are into rock/indie music. I think
that the age range can vary from young teen to middle age people. The band aren't aimed
at a specific age group. I think this way they would be more popular with a larger fan base.
I think that the audience would be city based not country, I feel that there will be more fans
in the cities because of the gigs they would play in the cities where more people are. The
band is aimed at both sexes and is quite a mellow rock sounding band so is light rock. I
think more people would listen to this type of music because its like indie music which is
very main stream and has a very big fan base and the audience varies a lot in different
people. I made the style of my magazine with colours that have a scheme so it looks more
professional and slick because my target audience is young teen to middle age so I
wouldn’t have bright colours and loads and loads of pictures all over the magazine
because that would be more appealing for young kids who love colour and that’s not what
I'm aiming for. Although my target audience is young teen to middle age I think the bigger
portion of my bands audience would be younger because younger people have better
access to information on the internet and the music itself so there would be more younger
fans who would follow the bands updates on internet sites like twitter and Facebook. I also
think that more younger people will go to gigs to see the band, so the band would be more
well known with the younger generation.

11. HOW DID YOU ATTRACT/ADDRESS
YOUR AUDIENCE?
I used bands such as peace and Bombay bicycle club who
are related to my band. I think that this helps my magazine
to be advertised because people who like rock/indie music
will be more inclined to buy the magazine because my
magazine appeals to that type of music. I have used fonts
that are basic and not sharp or bubbly. Magazines that use
sharp edged fonts tent to be heavy metal rock and
magazines that use bubbly fonts would be like pop music.
So I had my font and kind of simple using bold fonts and
san serif fonts. I feel that this type of font will appeal to the
older readers who like the music content and don’t want to
see all these colourful curly, bubbly font all over the page, if
it was, they wouldn’t buy it. On the double page spread and
contents page I have put a clear colour scheme of blue
black white and grey. I chose this because when it was all
finished off it looked very professional which was what I
wanted to do from the start. These colours together I think
look very slick and I think these would be fun and modern to
look at by the younger readers. On these two pages I have
used big bold titles at the top of the pages, these I feel are
easy to read and shout out to the reader.

12. WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT ABOUT
TECHNOLOGIES FROM THE PROCESS
OF CONSTRUCTING THIS PRODUCT?
I had never used InDesign before making this product but now after making my double
page spread in InDesign I can confidently place images and edit them till I'm happy with
them. I can lay out a page and insert text, change the colour and fonts that I have
downloaded to suit my magazine. I have learnt to use the transparency and gradient tool
to change the brightness or the boldness of the shape or image. I had already used
Photoshop before we started this project so I knew the basics which really helped me with
starting the front cover. I knew how to select part of an image and make that part a new
layer to overlap text or another image. On my front cover I was able insert text and
change the size of its width or length and the spacing of the text this allowed me to put the
texts as close as I wanted. I leaned how to set up a photo shoot with three lights.one
either side showing the light coming in diagonally and one light coming down on the
object. I then learned how to take a clean crisp photo for my magazine. I can now take
photos with a different shutter speed and a main focus point. A lot of skills I learnt in my
preliminary I used in my main project and it was very helpful when trying to basic things at
the beginning stages. I can now merge two images together to make one image I did this
with my double page spread on InDesign. On my contents page I have the title in two
layers of the same thing with the front one blue and the back one white and placed behind
one another and moved to the right a bit to give the title a white shadow and it will almost
look 3D on the page. I did this to grab the readers eye.

13. LOOKING BACK AT YOUR PRELIMINARY
TASK, WHAT DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE
LEARNT IN THE PROGRESSION FROM IT
TO THE FULL PRODUCT?
On the left hand picture is my preliminary contents page that
I made. I had the pages features and their page numbers
with a title with pictures. On the right is my magazine
contents it has the same thing than on the right but I have
learned the conventions of a magazine so I was able to lay
the contents page out better and put in a colour scheme and
have the pictures and the text in the right places.
On the left is my preliminary front cover. I thought that
this was a good warm up to make the really thing. I
leaned to overlay text and parts of the photo to put text
behind the person on the right. On this I learned to
place text along the side of the page, this helped a lot
in my music magazine. On the right is my music
magazine front cover. I have put on puffs which I didn’t
have on my preliminary front cover. On this my music
mag I have got date lines and correct placement of the
phot and text.