I'm really pleased with how my magazine came out.
So my coursework is all done and this is me saying So Long, Farewell.
Fin.
Friday, 11 March 2011
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
The main thing I have learnt along the way is to keep your pages looking professional. This often means stop editing, in the prelim task I had lots going on and the pages were too busy. I left more white space in my final pages and tried to use less dramatic editing. I thought about everything lots more second time round, especially audience. For example when I was taking my images I thought about how they would work on the page and what was in the background that would be distracting. I tried to use the blog more aswell, as it is useful for getting quick feedback from peers in the comments. After writing my treatment I also thought alot more about my audience. So what kind of images they would like, what article info they would want and which colours to use. I also wanted to make the pages seem more connected as my prelim pages didn't look like one magazine.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
I have used several forms of technology whilst making my magazine...
- Photoshop
- Digital Camera
- iMovie
- Blogger
- Graphics Tablet
I used blogger for the last task and so my use of that has not really developed. I have also used photoshop and my camera before quite a lot and so knew how to use them well. I had never made anything like my pages before though and so it was different taking pictures for a magazine and designing the magazine. When taking my pictures I thought more about how they would work when they were actually on a page and how titles would fit around the image.
With photoshop I thought more about making it look professional and making the pages look linked and part of a whole magazine. I used a graphics tablet when I was photoshopping images. This was something I had never done before and it meant I could be really accurate, it also allowed me to do the Haydon Jones signature on my cover, something that lots of people commented on.
With photoshop I thought more about making it look professional and making the pages look linked and part of a whole magazine. I used a graphics tablet when I was photoshopping images. This was something I had never done before and it meant I could be really accurate, it also allowed me to do the Haydon Jones signature on my cover, something that lots of people commented on.
Audience
Who would be the audience for your media product?
My magazine is aimed at both genders, aged about 17-20. They are students becoming more independent. They will have a distinct and eclectic taste in music, particularly alternative music. They are also educated, artistic and adventurous.
How did you attract/address your audience?
The main way I attracted my audience is through the design of my cover. The design of the magazine would be very important to the target audience. I kept it quite clean and professional looking, very much like Q magazine. I used secondary tones of blue, this makes it look more expensive and less tacky, it also ties in with cool alternative music. In my audience feedback lots of people commented on how they liked the clean design of the pages. I used a retro font for my masthead, as this would be the sort of thing readers would like.
I used green for the main cover line as it matched the image and would stand out more and grab attention. I used conventional coverlines such as competitions, top tens and exclusives.
These interest viewers more than just artist titles. All the people in my photographs are alternative style people of the same age as my readership, so they will connect with similar people. As the magazine is aimed at both genders I tried to keep a mix of both in my magazine.
I used a semi-formal register when writing the magazine. This is because the readers are intelligent and so want well written articles, though not boring or over complex. I avoided using "teenage" speech as often in text it does not translate well and ends up sounding cliche. One of the things lots of people commented on is that they liked how professional the pages looked, backing up that teenagers don't want dumbed down magazines or cheap tacky magazines.
I used green for the main cover line as it matched the image and would stand out more and grab attention. I used conventional coverlines such as competitions, top tens and exclusives.
I used a semi-formal register when writing the magazine. This is because the readers are intelligent and so want well written articles, though not boring or over complex. I avoided using "teenage" speech as often in text it does not translate well and ends up sounding cliche. One of the things lots of people commented on is that they liked how professional the pages looked, backing up that teenagers don't want dumbed down magazines or cheap tacky magazines.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
My magazine is aimed at old teenagers/young adults who are artistic and interested in alternative music. For this reason I used young alternative artists in my images. Because the readers are interested in design my magazine is very design led and the photographs are quite artistic. This also means there are a lot of good quality images. Although there are a lot of images there is still a lot of text, for example in the double page spread, as the readers would be very interested in everything they read. Often teenage magazines don't use much text and talk in 'teenage' speech, I didn't do this as I think for my readers it is a false stereotype. Stereo readers would want intelligent articles, though not too factual and boring, I tried to do this. As the audience is older teens they may be working and have money to spend, so the magazine is a bit more expensive than a young magazine, but has enough content and quality to be worth it.
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