The document discusses a student's school magazine project. For the magazine, the student decided not to follow typical magazine conventions since research found most school magazines also diverged from conventions. The intended audience was students, based on survey feedback. The front cover and contents page use images and colors appealing to younger audiences. Distribution would likely be by students or school governors to increase their involvement. Through creating the magazine, the student learned about transferring assets between Photoshop and InDesign for layout, and gained experience using a Nikon camera.

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challengeIn what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge
forms and conventions of real media productsforms and conventions of real media products??
…However, I incorporated a few generic
conventions in my front cover (such as
the masthead and left third) so that,
even though it doesn’t follow all the
codes and
conventions, it
could still be
identified as a
magazine
For my school magazine, I decided to go against the usual
codes and conventions of typical magazines.
Above: my magazine, which
doesn’t follow the ALL the usual
conventions of a magazine
Right: A magazine that follows
the conventions and overall layout
of a magazine
I did this, mainly, because of the fact
that in my earlier research and analysis,
on school magazines, I found that most
school magazines DID go against the
conventions (shown right). One other
reason for this is that within schools,
school magazines are not widely expected
to look like, or follow the conventions
of, a proper magazines…

2. Who would be the audience for your media productWho would be the audience for your media product??
Like many other school magazines, I chose
to aim my magazine towards the students.
This is due to the feedback I received
from the questionnaires I handed out, the
majority of the people who completed my
questionnaire were aged between 11 and 16
–which is the age group/range of many
secondary schools
PRODUCTION FACTS…
The boy that
features on my
contents page,
left, stood in the
same position for
as long as 5
minutes while I
tried to figure
out how to turn
the camera, which
I had never used
before, on.
It turned out,
that it was
already on…
My advice to
these guys for
their poses was:
“just look
professional…”
I think these
photos turned out
pretty well
considering the
lack of direction
I gave them…

3. How does your media product represent particular social groupsHow does your media product represent particular social groups??
……and also attract/address your audienceand also attract/address your audience??
Front Cover:
I didn’t include any
price because the
feedback I received from
my questionnaires (shown
above) made it very
clear that the majority
of people wouldn’t be
willing to pay for a
school magazine
The people on my cover
all maintain eye contact,
making the reader feel
involved and, in a way,
like they’re on a
personal level with the
person in the picture
I used the left
third of the
magazine as
it‘s the first
part of the
magazine cover
that the reader
looks at
The coloured
lines,
separating
the pictures,
represent
the house
colours
within the
school, this
shows the
link between
the school
and the
magazine

4. Pictures still
maintain eye
contact with
the reader
keeping the
feeling of
involvement
present
Continuation of
colours, theme
and style shows
that my contents
page is from the
same magazine as
my front cover
Competition allows
the reader to get
involved in the
magazine, and by
putting an
‘iPhone’ as the
prize it appeals
to the targeted
audience
From the feedback, I knew
that Horoscopes, Achievements
and Cartoons/Comics were the
most popular amongst the
choices so I knew I had to
add them in, the rest of the
choices were pretty close,
looking at the bar graph
above, so I added them in
too; the least popular of the
choices turned out to be
Acknowledgements, therefore I
didn’t include it in the
contents of my magazine
Contents Page:
In order of
sequence e.g.
Agony Aunt =
First Bar,
Revision Guide
= Second Bar,
etc-

5. There is evidently
more images to text
in the front cover
and contents page of
my school magazine,
this is because the
feedback from
question 2 of my
questionnaire,
below, let me know
that this is what my
audience preferred
I tried to use all the feedback I received from question 6, in my
front cover.
Overall, I’d say that my cover is clear. The colours present, are
quite bright and therefore would appeal to the younger target
audience. The colours are used in a subtle way and the fact that
they are placed on top of a black background adds to the clarity
that I feel both my cover and contents, has. My fonts are clear and
easy to read and it is easy to identify the masthead from the
features, although this is helped by their placement on the cover. The people in
the images maintain eye contact with the readers and are all smiling, making
the reader want to know the reasons behind their smiles- the readers are
intrigued (at least that’s what I was hoping for…). Also, a few of the students
who filled out my questionnaire said that they would read my magazine if they
were in it, therefore by including a number of students on my front and
contents I have, in a way, succeeded in meeting the requests of the readers

6. What kind of media institution might distribute your mediaWhat kind of media institution might distribute your media
product and why?product and why?
[this is parents/governors/carers in this instance as well as students]
I would choose either the students or the school
governors to distribute my magazine. I would pick either
one, as I think these, above all, have the most
involvement in the school, therefore, not only would it
be more suitable, it would also be more beneficial in the
sense that if this were a real magazine, to be sold every
month, as shown in the questionnaire feedback (left),
then the students would be creating and contributing to
the magazine, as the majority of people answered ‘yes’
within the responses shown below. They would also be
learning and developing their knowledge on magazine
distribution within media. I think that the governors
would benefit by getting further involved with, and also
be keeping up to date with the goings on throughout the
school.
The reason I wouldn’t want my
magazine distributed by the
parents, carers or guardians is
that, being a carer(s), they
probably wouldn’t be able to
find, or spare, too much of
their time to distribute my
magazine so that it was meeting
the high standard that I would
expect it to be at.

7. What have you learnt about technologies fromWhat have you learnt about technologies from
the process of constructing this productthe process of constructing this product??
To create my front cover and contents page I used
the programmes Adobe Photoshop and Adobe InDesign.
To take my photo’s I used the Nikon D19.
I’ve learnt a lot about the
processes I have to go through
to transfer different things
from Photoshop to InDesign.
Like saving files as JPEG’s,
some as PNG’s and also
remembering to put everything
on a different layer.
This was my first time
using the Nikon D19 and I
found it difficult
remembering the buttons I
needed to use and remembering the functions of each one. It
took me around 20 minutes to half an hour to get the hang of
the camera fully, and after that I think I took some pretty
good, pretty professional looking photos.
+ Take these for example: