Evaluation! O:

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
My front cover has cover lines, a banner, and a strap line, all important components of a magazine. They are made with a certain colour scheme and font to look classy yet young and vibrant. The contents page is bright and the titles of the sections catch the eye of the reader. The content of the magazine is very student-y, as it contains information about higher education, has celebrity news and gossip, and has various other features that I identified as common when analysing other student magazines. I wouldn’t say that I’ve particularly pushed any boundaries with this design; perhaps I could have done this. However I am happy with this design.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?
With this magazine, I have tried to represents teenagers, in particular students, as this is a student magazine. I have represented them by asking students what they would like in a student magazine, and by using a fun and youthful layout. I have used photos that contain students for the most part, and they look happy and like they are enjoying college. This brings a fun feel to the magazine. I have also used a photo of a gig, which is something that appears in the magazine content, and is also something that links to students because they are commonly associated with live music. I have tried to keep the text and pictures about equal, so it seems like there is lots of content, but doesn’t look boring at too wordy. I have also kept the cover lines and contents page short and snappy so the things that are important to the reader stand out and are easily found. For example, the cover lines are Gig reviews, Latest films, Tuition fees?! and universities. These are all short and snappy.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Using a media institution may lead to a magazine like this being too expensive and not selling. I would want the college to distribute my magazine to the students; however, this may lead to it being unprofessional. To solve this, I would use the techniques that media institutions use to ensure that my magazine looks as professional as possible. Although we already have a college magazine, I think that if I could get mine to look more professional, it would be more popular than the other magazine.

Who would be the audience for your media product?
The audience for my magazine would be students between the ages of 16-18 roughly, of any gender that are generally interested in the things that the magazine contains. They would also be interested in higher education if possible, as this takes up quite a bit of content in my magazine. All in all, I want my magazine to be for normal students who just like to read magazines.

How did you attract/address your audience?
I attracted my audience by using bright colours that appeal to young people and using headlines/cover lines that affect normal students. Many students will be affected by the university fees rising and the cut of EMA, so this would attract people to read about it. The front cover is in black and white apart from the magazine content, which means that they stand out and grab the reader’s attention, which is important to get impulse buyers. My magazine doesn’t have a patronising air by trying to seem ‘cool’, but is also not too formal so that it seems alienated.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
I wouldn’t really say that I’ve learnt anything in particular, because I happened to use this blog service before this project, and I used the editing software that I have used for my AS photography. However, I have learnt to manage my time better, and to stick to plans. This will be really helpful for the next part of the project.