guess what :o

I'VE FINISHED :)
 


kthanxbye

mr biggg ;) x

Evaluating My Student Magazine

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

Nearly all magazines have the same basic ingredients for their cover page. The masthead is large at the top of the page and then there is a banner with the main feature title. The other article titles are smaller at the sides of the page with some additional information. I have used all of these conventions to make my cover look realistic and professional. I did put my extra photographs at the bottom of the page into a filmstrip, I wanted a more interesting way of presenting them than most magazines.  Contents pages in real magazines are very varied, though they should contain a list of contents and often some pictures from inside the magazine. I did this and tried to keep the page quite clear because it could easily look busy with all the contents. 

• How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My magazine represents teenage students. This means most of the focus is on the pictures and there is as little text as possible so that it doesn't look too wordy. The text that there is uses simple modern language but does not use cliche teenage words. The pictures have had the backgrounds edited to look like simple graphics so that the focus of the images is on the students. I took pictures of students having fun and often out of lessons so that it didn't look too serious. The pictures are also colourful and the graphics use bright simple colours.  I think I have represented teenagers well as people who gave me feedback all said they liked the designs.

• What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

My magazine is college specific and so would only be distributed in the college. It would probably be made and distributed by the college also, as getting a company to distribute it would lead to a rise in price. We do already have a college magazine but I think mine has content that the students really want and mine looks more professional. 

• Who would be the audience for your media product?

My audience is students aged 16-19 who go to Ludlow College. The audience otherwise is all genders and type of person as if I made it any more specific then there would only be a few people in the college who would buy it. 

• How did you attract/address your audience?

The front cover is the main way that I attract my audience and make them want to buy the magazine. It uses pictures of students, some that they may recognise. I edited the pictures to look modern and colourful so that students would know this was a magazine that is aimed at them. The pictures had a balance of guys and girls so that it appealed to everyone. The graphics I used are in bright colours to attract the eye without clashing. The banner is large and bold so that it also captures the eye. The banner is about EMA and University cuts, something that will affect lots of students and they will want to find out about. There are also the other titles and the chance to win something on the cover, these are the other things that would persuade people to buy the magazine once they had picked it up. From the feedback I got I think I created a professional and very attractive magazine.

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

Lots of the technology I used in this process I have used already such as camera's and Photoshop, though i have never used them for a magazine and so I learnt new things I could do and thought about what I was doing more. For example when I was taking photographs I had to think about how they would fit into my magazine and how they would look. I have never made a blog before and so I had to learn how to use the site and make my site appealing. 

My Final Cover and Contents Page

So these are my final pages, i'm really pleased with how they came out. Any bits you like and dislike is really useful for next time.

Contents Page Drafts

These are my drafts for my contents page, again please say what parts you like and dislike.

Title Fonts

The most popular magazine title on my poll was Insider. Now I need some help on deciding what font to use. Which do you like best?

   1.

 2.

3. 

4. 

Questionnaire Results...

1. What sort of information do you need on Universities?


-What courses are the best for my needs


-Prices



-which universities are the best

-what grades i will need to achieve to get into uni and how much it will cost.

2. Are you interested in world news?


-yes

-No

3. How often would you want a student magazine?


-Fortnightly


-every month


4. What would you expect to pay for it?


-£1.50

-about £2 or £3

-free

- not a lot.



5. Do you want music, film and TV news? What like?


-Yeah. Celebrity gossip, new releases, gigs?


-yeah! BLATES! different genres of music and films and i'm not bothered about TV news :)

-Yes, anything recent or anything on at The Assemble Rooms :)



6. About how large would you want the magazine to be?


-A4. About 45.



-about 40-50 pages :)

7. Are you interested in teacher profiles?


-Um...



-no

-Yes

8. Are you interested in college news?


-That would be good

-Yes

These are the results of my questionnaire, they are mostly about what I need to put in my contents page. Some of them have opposing answers but I will probably put those things in anyway as people could skip what they didn't need.

Cover Designs

These are my layout designs for my magazine cover. They are only basic designs for the layout of the page so are quite rough and don't have final fonts etc. Please comment which is your favourite or what parts of each you like and dislike.

More Photo's...

These are just some more photo's, In particular I thought I needed more with guys in them.

Edited Photo's

These are the photo's I have decided on using in my magazine,  though I am not sure how they will fit in yet. I have edited them to look young and so that the focus is on the students. I really like how they have come out. I am still not sure that I have enough different photo's and so may take some more.

Pictures Taken So Far...

These are just a few of the pictures I have taken so far, I'm not sure which I will use yet, I will probably take some more as well. I also haven't yet edited them.

Magazine Questionnaire

1.    What sort of information do you need on Universities?

2.    Are you interested in world news?

3.    How often would you want a student magazine?

4.    What would you expect to pay for it?

5.    Do you want music, film and TV news? What like?

6.    About how large would you want the magazine to be?

7.    Are you interested in teacher profiles?

8.    Are you interested in college news?



Idea's for my Photoshoot

I want to take photo's of several students around the college, I want to have a fun group feeling, showing people socialising and studying so that they are related to the college but do not look boring. They should look as natural as possible and not posed. I want the pictures in lots of different locations around college, I will also have to take more photo's than I need so that I can select images that will be suitable for the cover, contents page and will work with the rest of the design. I will take the photo's throughout the week so that I can get a good variety and so that the weather is good.

Cover and Contents Analysis of First Car

The Mast Head  is, as with most magazines, very large, bold and in full capitols. This means it is imprinted into the readers mind. Most of the rest of the text on the cover is also in full capitols, this makes the text more eye-grabbing and as if the magazine is almost shouting at you from the stands. The boldness of the design and text also relates to the teenage attitude. The title makes it instantly clear what the magazine is about. The first thing that most people will look at is the banner and corresponding background photograph as they will recognise the actors and name of the show, these things are most important as they will be what attracts passers by. The picture uses depth by having the main, most recognisable character at the front and the secondary characters further back. The actors are posing around a car from the show, this relates back to the subject of the magazine. The picture is taken at a tilted angle, this gives a comedic effect, is interesting and feels more like a teenagers photo and less posed. There is then other sections of text telling the viewer the content of the magazine. This includes a strapline at the top of the page with general contents, also short catchy titles with a sentence that further explains them, at the bottom of the page these titles are also accompanied by relevant pictures. The titles are quick and easy to read so they grab your attention and have corresponding page numbers to help readers find what they want easily. The pictures at the bottom of the page convey a point quickly, faster than reading the titles. The cover uses a very limited palette, grey, black and white, the only colour used is yellow. This means the cover doesn't look too busy or clashing, and that everything stands out clearly. 

Again this page uses bold text in capitals to bring attention to the short, easy to read page titles. The pictures make the stories look interesting and make the page look less wordy. The page numbers are large and bold, so the stories can be found easily. The largest image is the Inbetweeners image, this is the most exclusive and important article. The more complete contents list is to the side and is split into sections for ease of use. The contents have a title and description, I think this makes it look a little too much writing and isn't quick enough. Again the simple colour scheme is carried on using black, white and yellow. The page is very full and there is little black space, this give the impression that there is lots of content packed into the magazine. It doesn't look too busy because it is ordered and there is limited colours used.

Any Help Here?

Which is the best name for a Student Magazine?
	Mondays
	Student View
	College Line
	Insider
pollcode.com free polls

Notes On Student Magazines

I looked at a few student magazines, they were all quite different and offered different things...

Smaart Talent - A magazine for 'Black and Minority Ethnic Students', mostly careers advice including lots of adverts for universities. Also included job profiles, information on volunteering and some news stories.

Youth Action - A magazine aimed at teenagers who want to volunteer in some way, another magazine that contained mainly adverts for places where people could volunteer. There was an agony aunt type page and some information on how to get grants for university.

Both these two had very plain but professional designs.

Student ID - A student magazine made by students for a specific college. It was more like a general teen magazine with film, music, tv and gaming news and reviews. Also had a horoscopes page and a comic strip. It had some more college specific pages such as teacher and student personal profiles, school news and photographs of college events. This magazine had a much brighter and bolder design.

First Post & Action Plan

Week 1 - 15th November

• Write Action Plan
• Set up Blog
• Initial Magazine Comparison
• Decide on my Magazine Name

Week 2 - 22nd November

• Textual Analysis of Magazines
• Audience Questionnaire/Poll
• Organise Photoshoot
• Take and Edit Photo's

Week 3 - 29th November

• Front Cover Design and Draft
• Contents Design and Draft

Week 4 - 6th December

• Audience Feedback
• Evaluation

Deadline 10th December