- The document reflects on the author's college magazine and compares it to existing professional magazines. - While the author's magazine has an organized style and bright colors, it lacks detailed information that may appeal to the 16-19 year old audience. - The author also feels the cover image takes up too much space, making it seem unprofessional compared to other magazines. - The author develops new ideas from analyzing other magazines and creates drafts for a music magazine that follows typical magazine conventions.

1. Reflection and Evaluation

2. My college magazine

4. • My new college magazine is very neat with an organised house style
and bright colours that contrast, however in comparison to existing
magazines it doesn't have as much detailed information which may be
unappealing to my audience of 16-19 year olds.
• Also, the image that I have used takes up the entire front cover,
something that is also seen in professional magazines however I feel
that mine has a little too much background detail (i.e. the trees) and
may make it seem unprofessional in comparison to existing magazines.
• I feel that mine has a more appealing look compared to the example
before as the bright colours in mine may be more appealing as they
could connote happiness and positivity.
• Another area of comparison is the barcode, mine is very large and takes
most of the space which gave me limited capacity unlike the existing
magazine. On the existing magazine the masthead is set behind the
image giving the magazine a more professional look.
• A further criticism I have of my own magazine is that there is no house
style established unlike the existing example. This could make mine
seem unprofessional and is something that I will strive to include in my
music magazine.

6. • Whilst I was analysing the existing magazine I developed new ideas on
how I would like my music magazine to look which has me draft ideas for
my new music magazine.
• My draft has the same house style as the existing magazines that is in
the slide before due to the fact that its a popular magazine.
• I decided to include only one outstanding image to make the magazine
look professional and neat as my target audience favoured it.
• Initially, I wanted to have the colour red as a key colour in my house
style,. However I decided that because there are already existing
magazines that use this colour as part of their branding and house style,
I decided against this colour and chose to use purple.
• Both the existing magazines and my draft have a masthead positioned at
the top; this will help it stand out. I’ve decided my masthead will be
based on a music notes page. The title Harmony will be superimposed
onto sheet music to represent that this magazine is about music and
good harmonies.
• I have taken inspiration from existing magazines, my image will be placed
in front of my masthead as it is a great use of graphics and will look
highly professional.

8. The types of convention I have included in my college magazine are:
masthead, barcode and informal language. I changed the house style in
the contents page to sustain the audiences interest, however this made it
look unprofessional as if you give it a glimpse you wouldn't realise it’s part
of the magazine which is an disadvantage.
The types of convention I have used are: cover lines, selling lines, barcode,
and informal language. These are all the elements an typical magazine
includes to assure their magazine is successful. Also I have kept the house
style the same throughout the magazine to make it look realistic and
professional.

9. • The drafting process helped me in many ways as it helped me create my
magazine in less time and it was how I intended it to look. Also gave me
more ideas on my magazine.
• My drafts helped me have an idea on how I would like my magazine to
look, also decreased the duration of the construction of my actual
magazine. However I have realised my actual college magazine is improved
compared to my draft, as the draft wasn't very well structured and
detailed. This implies that my music magazine will be better than the draft
and more detailed, also due to my draft being well organised and
attractive, therefore I believe my music magazine will be more easier to
create as I have an overall idea on how I would like it to look.

10. As I move through my coursework it is likely that my drafts and my ideas
would change. My current music magazine drafts follow certain
conventions that are typical for a music magazine. I have included a
masthead, selling line, main cover line, key image, additional cover lines,
barcode etc. I also have a double page spread that will use an appropriate
register to target my audience as well as a main image. My contents page
also follows convention as it indicates what will be featured in my
magazine, where audiences can find it etc. It also has images and
additional information for subscription etc. There is a house style which is
typical of any type of magazine and the magazine will directly address its
audience through words and pictures. I feel I have effectively followed
convention but I think I could improve the work by including more
information regarding music artists and have entertaining competition on
the front cover to appeal my target audience, also have favourable prizes
such as IPods, albums etc. To motivate them into participating more often
in the competition.