Sarah evaluated her media task of creating a magazine. She felt it went better than her preliminary task because she used spare time to catch up on deadlines. Her audience said the magazine tied into the alternative genre through colors and was clear, easy to read, and looked like a magazine that would sell. She learned more about using software like Photoshop and InDesign, and managing her time and research for her final product compared to her preliminary task.

1. Evaluation
Main Task – Media
Sarah – Louise Hurley

2. Personal Response
Personally I think that my main task went much better
than my preliminary task did, I sometimes struggled
with the deadlines that I set myself but I used my spare
time in order to catch up on the work that I had failed
to complete. I believe that I have shown all of my work
from start to finish by using research, design and also
preproduction powerpoints in order to find out things
about magazines and also to keep track of where I was
at on the production and so that way my production
was much faster and better laid out. I am happy with
my result and personally like my magazine as it is
different to normal magazines.

3. Audience Response
My audience have said that it does tie in with
the alternative genre through the use of
colours and also that it is clear, easy to read
and that it contains many conventions of a
magazine. It is also easy on their eyes and they
did also say that it looked like a magazine that
would sell.

4. 1. In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real
media products?
I have used the common positioning of my masthead on the top left in order to use the convention of a
real media product. I have done this so if it was on a shelf in a shop, people would recognise it and be
able to find it much quicker. I chose the masthead ‘instance’ because the magazine itself is unique
whereas instance means a single occurrence so it goes against itself, sort of like an oxymoron, therefore
making it a little bit more unique. I think that I have challenged some conventions through the use of
only featuring one article on the front then a small box at the bottom in order to tell the audience a bit
about the content, instead of there being a lot of different features on the front cover with the main
feature. This also makes the cover easier to read and it also much easier on my audiences eyes due to
the negative space used on the page. On my contents page, I have used a normal title of contents and
then I have added some pictures at the bottom and the page numbers with the article names with a
short and brief introduction about the article itself, this has used some conventions of real media
products but also I used negative space again in order to keep it easy for my readers eyes. I also didn’t
add too much text because I didn’t want it to be long and boring . My double page spread uses a three
column layout with a title on the left hand page at a slight angle, a small and brief introduction the artist
themselves, a drop cap at the beginning of the article and then an image of the artist in which takes up
the whole right hand page, this again has used negative space as well as some conventions of real
media products.

5. 2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
My media product represents particular social groups
through the use of its diversity. Alternative music has a
broadened audience and therefore it will attract more people
to my magazine due to the fact of it being alternative. This will
encourage a wider range of an audience because alternative
music allows for people to have a range of liked genres, my
product will also attract to young people because it will start
off online and with an apple and android app allowing them
to get it on their phones and computers as well as tablets
because the use of technology is forever increasing and
therefore more young people have got access to it and will
therefore use it.

6. 3. What kinds of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
For my publisher I would most likely use IPC
Media as they are one of the UK’s leading media
institution. I would also chose them because
they are always looking for smaller scale
magazines to join in order to fill the spaces that
need filling. Due to their success there would also
be more advertisement options available to me due
to the fact that they are well known and successful.

7. 4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
The audience of my media product would be teenagers
and young adults from the ages 13 to 21. I also see the
majority of them being male. I have chosen to aim my
magazine at this specific target audience because I know
what it is like being a teenager and not knowing fully
what your favourite genre of music is and there will
always be the alternative genre and I also really enjoy finding
new artists who I can recommend to my friends to listen to if
they are any good, as do most teenagers. It would also aim at
this target audience because it is a monthly magazine and is
really cheap for teenagers at £2.50.

8. 5. How did you attract / address your audience?
I addressed my product to my audience by using a genre
of music in which pretty much everyone can enjoy, I have
given them a chance to discover new artists before their
friends and broaden their range of music that they can
listen to. I have also used young people in my magazine in
order to entice my audience to be able to interact with
the magazine through the use of young artists (like
themselves) that it features. I also use well known bands that I
know are popular within the news and on various social
networking sites among teenagers in order to feature them as
well to broaden my audience even more.

9. 6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
I used Photoshop in order to create my front page, my contents page
and to edit all of my photos. I learnt a range of new tools such as
opacity tool, magic wand, image filters, layers and cropping. For my
double page spread, I used Indesign, I learnt a lot of different skills
from this such as how to create a box to put text or images in it, how
to insert place holder text, how to make the text go from one text box
to the other, how to add drop caps, how to insert a image from my
documents and also how to shape things around text, although I did not use
this in my final product. To upload my work I have used wordpress as it is a
social media platform that is set up as a blog, therefore it is easy to use and
great for showing my work as I went along. Overall I have learnt that there are
a lot of new skills and tools that I need to learn in order to make a successful
end product, therefore I need to put extra time in to practise these skills in
order to perfect them to the best of my ability.

10. 7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression
from it to full product?
From my preliminary task, I have learnt that I had to
put in extra time to perfect my skills on the various
software that I used and also to learn new skills. I
also learnt a little bit more about time management
skills and also to research a lot more in order to get
a greater understanding of what I was making. I also
learnt that it does take time and some trial and
error in order to make things just right so just keep
going over things and don’t just give up because it is
frustrating.