Evaluation Q7

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

In the essay I will discuss what I have learnt throughout my progression from the preliminary task to the full product.

First of all, looking back at my preliminary task my photography isn't as strong as it is in my full product. Even though my cover image uses eye contact which is key on a front cover as forms a connection with the audience, my background is in a classroom with lots of objects behind my model. This makes me front cover look messy and makes it hard to construct text onto it because it blends it with the background. In my full product I have placed my model onto a white/plain background to make it look more authentic and to make it easier to add in text, images and shapes around the model. Also my models body language is facing the side and she is sitting down which isn't the way a typical cover model is positioned as hides apart of them.

Secondly in my preliminary task I used colours more associated with boys such as blues and greens however my target audience was for all college students of both genders. Green is a netural colour but by putting it with blue made my preliminary task appeal more to boys. For my full product I had conducted a lot of research and planning into finding out what colours appeal to pop music magazines. I learnt from my research that the target audience for pop magazines is young teenage girls so by using colours like pinks and purples will allow the audience to know it's for them and attract them to it. Also using bright colours like yellows will catch the audiences attention and make the magazine stand out more. 

Thirdly, in my preliminary task I used no effects on my magazine as I hadn't learnt how to add them in yet. In result of this it made my magazine look extremely flat with no dimensions, which makes it all look boring because nothing is made to stand out. In my full product I used a drop shadow a lot to make the object or text stand out because it's something I want the audience to pay attention too, for example the masthead.  

Fourthly, my font used in my preliminary task didn't stand out enough. I had chosen that font because it is bold and I thought it would stand out but because there was no effects it looked flat. I used the same font throughout my magazine whereas in my full product I use a bold font for the mastheads and a different font for the cover lines and articles; this is to add variety to the page, which will make the bold masthead look bigger, bolder and therefore the most important. 

Finally, in my preliminary task I only used one image throughout my magazine whereas in my full product I used fourteen pictures I had taken myself. I hadn't done enough research into magazines to find out that most magazines are filled with pictures, especially pop magazines. My contents page for my preliminary task had nothing but text on it, which made the page look empty, boring and lifeless. People normally look at the pictures first in the magazine as it is a quicker way to find out information than reading the articles; so by having no pictures in my preliminary task, will make my target audience not want to buy it. In my full product I have added in lots of pictures to make my pop magazine look as authentic as possible, because they are always jam packed with pictures to give it a crowded feel. 

Evaluation Q6

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Evaluation Q4 & Q5

Question 4 & 5: Who would be the audience for your media product? How did you attract/address your audience?

Below I have illustrated a picture of what a typical member of my target audience would look like and be interested in. I believe my target audiences main interests will include: boys, gossip, phones, internet, shopping/fashion and pop music. My target audience will be a girl because all the key conventions of a pop magazine relate to being targeted at girls for example using pink a lot and using photos of 'hot' boys. Also my audience will be aged from about 8 to late teens because this age group is the most common for listening to pop music; also they are the most interested in pop celebrities as look up to them like 'role models'.

Evaluation Q3

Question 3: What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

                           

BBC magazines:
- Based on pop magazines
- Have previously produced pop magazines
- Produces Top of the pops (very successful)
- Don't distribute lots of the same genre of magazines
- Offers a online platform to create a multimedia online magazine

Emap:
- Already distributes pop magazine 'Smash hits'
- 'Smash hits' is about pop music and gossip

IPC:
- Produces magazines such as NME
- Indie based

Bauer:
- Radio based
- Produces Kerrang and Mojo
- Rock and Indie based

Although IPC and Bauer offer a gap in their portfolio I believe that the best choice is to go with a institution who has worked with this genre of magazine before and can distribute it properly. I may also confuse audiences if a rock/indie institution starts producing pop magazines. BBC do not distribute lots of the same genre of magazines which means that 'Top of the pops' is probably their only pop magazine. I believe 'Top of the pop' magazine even though is very successful is starting to loose its value and therefore its audience/interest. By letting BBC produce 'MAKE IT POP' will give their institution a new fresh pop magazine that offers gossip as well. Finally I believe that BBC is one of the most recognisable and trusted institutions so by them distributing my magazine will get it selling faster.

Evaluation Q2

Question 2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Evaluation Q1

Question 1: In what ways does your product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

My product uses, develops and challenges many forms and conventions of real media products. I know this because the main convention of a 'pop' music magazine is bright colours, especially the colour pink. The colour pink is often associated with these types of media because they are typically aimed at girls. Other bright colours are often used such as yellows, blues, purples because again the target audience is typically teenagers and the bright colours will help appear the magazine to look more interesting, bold and fun. By understanding this form and convention I was able to develop my product to make it more suitable for this type of media.

Another main form and convention of a pop magazine is the cover image of an attractive celebrity that takes up the majority of the space on the front page. Because we had to contribute our own photography to this assignment the person I took a picture of isn't a celebrity however I have pretended she is one. Apart from that my model fits all of the other conventions of what a cover girl/boy should look like. She is attractive and therefore is suitable because the target audience will idolise her and want to read her article. The background to the picture is always plain so that editors can create and add what they want around the model (most of the time it is colour). Because of this I made sure to shoot my pictures of my model on a plain white background so that I can add texts, pictures and colours around her without hassle.

Having a lot of celebrity gossip is also a main form and convention of a pop magazine. This is because the target audience enjoy reading and learning about the celebrities they admire because it makes them believe that they are getting to know them more. Because of this convention I have decided, to make my pop magazine authentic, to use similar forms of gossip to attract the target audience. I used stories about rumours of celebrities dating because from my research I have found that every magazine has at least one of these stories.

Finished Design Work

My front cover:

My contents page:

My double page spread:

Photography

This was my original cover picture. I liked this photo because I believe my model looks like a real pop star and the pose that she is doing makes her look confident and celeb like. Unfortunately I had to abandon this photograph as another student had the same model as me so I had to change my model.

This is my second photo shoot with my new model. Again I got her to do the same pose as I believe gives a pop star look. However this photo had a green/yellow tint to the background so couldn't use it as make the front cover look unprofessional.

 I took more photos of this model but they are all too similar and does not give enough variety. She is wearing the same outfit and hair style in all photo's which in a real pop magazine wouldn't happen. Also they are all shots of her face so in my next photo shoot I plan to take more of a range of shots with different poses and outfit choices.

I have decided to use this photographs however I have used photoshop to edit out the background so its just plain white with no tints of yellow. 

I went to see One Direction at a concert and whilst I was there I took pictures of them. I have used these photographs in my design work to make my magazine look more authentic and real as are photographs of real celebrities. 

This is a photograph I took of my sister and her boyfriend on holiday last year. I believe that it looks like a real celebrity couple on a beach so I decided to construct it into my magazine. Also on the front covers I have researched they use photographs very similar to this.