Evaluation

For my coursework, I designed and produced a front cover, contents page and two-page spread for a music magazine. It was my creative choice as to what genre and style the magazine would have and upon researching other magazines, I decided that I wanted to create a new sub-genre of the music magazine. Due to my own personal interest in Alternative Indie music, I decided to create a Alternative Indie magazine for teenagers which would contain information, reviews and interviews. Acting as primary research, I carried out questionnaires to see what would interest my target audience and put their demands towards my product's creation. 

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Evaluation Question 1- Who would be the audience for your media product?




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Evaluation Question 2- How did you attract and address your audience?

Question 2 Evaluation Question from Lauraa Shimmingtons

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Evaluation Question 3- 
In what ways does your product use, develop or challenge conventions of real media products?

CLICK HERE FOR QUESTION 3

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Evaluation Question 4-
How does your media product represent particular social groups?

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Evaluation Question 5-
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

PART 1- 
Evaluation Question 5 Part 1 by Laura Simmons on GoAnimate

PART 2-
Animation Software - Powered by GoAnimate. Evaluation Question 5 Part 2 by Laura Simmons on GoAnimate

PART 3-
Video Maker - Powered by GoAnimate. Evaluation Question 5 Part 3 by Laura Simmons on GoAnimate

PART 4-
Animation Software - Powered by GoAnimate. Evaluation Question 5 Part 4 by Laura Simmons on GoAnimate

Animated Presentations - Powered by GoAnimate. 

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Evaluation Question 6-
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
 

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Evaluation Question 7-
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression of it to the full product?

During the preliminary task I did not carry out any research that could help me make my product. I just simply sat and made it without any consideration as to what the readers wanted or whether I was addressing it in a correct way. I also didn't do much planning. I have only made one basic drawn plan for my front cover and my contents page and didn't think too much about making the design interesting. I also didn't put as much thought into the photographs I took unlike in the construction of my own magazine. I just simply took my models somewhere and did a few shots without considering mise en scene micro elements such as costume, lighting and setting. During the actual production of my preliminary task I had already known how to do a few little things in Photoshop but I still found it hard working with it as I struggled a few times trying to get my magazine to look the way I wanted it to be due to lack of skills and experience using the software.

To compare with my preliminary task, during the whole making of my music magazine I have carried out a lot of market research to find out what other magazines look like, what they feature and also see their way of addressing the product to the audience. I looked at different popular magazines and analysed them looking at different aspects such as the photography, language used or the colour schemes to help me make my own product. I have also carried out some audience research in which I asked different people questions using an online survey, trying to find out as much from them as possible about their ideas, their needs and what they thought makes a good music magazine.

During the actual task I have also done a lot of planning. I learned that planning is important in order to get things done right. I have planned out my photographs taking into consideration the props I would use (eg. the acoustic guitar). I also thought more about the place and the light in which I was going to take my photographs. I even made some very basic sketches of what I would like my photographs to look like. To ensure that my magazine was going to be of its full potential I have also made a style sheet on which I experimented with colours and different typefaces that I was thinking of using for my music magazine. This helped me in the way that once I finally sat to make my product I already had an idea of what I wanted it to look like and saved me time as I didn't have to waste it playing and changing colours in Photoshop if the effect I was getting wasn't desired. I made this mistake during my preliminary task and spent ages while making my front cover to decide what colours I was going to use. On top of all that I have also made a lot of designs for my front cover, contents page and the double page spread. I wanted to make sure that I could get the best result possible therefore I made four designs and then had a closer look at them all and compared them. After analysing the designs I made I decided that none of them were good enough on their own and I decided to combine different ideas from each design to create something very unique.

I have also picked up quite a few new skills in Photoshop and feel much more confident using the software. I did not know how to use it properly before making my product and I had a limited knowledge of it but now I definitely feel more comfortable and confident about using Photoshop which you can clearly see when looking at both my final version of the preliminary task and the final version of my music magazine.

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Evaluation Question 8-
On reflection, how successful do you think your product is? Will it actually succeed if it was launch on the market today?

I think that any possible success that my magazine would have on the market would be due to its unique sub-genre of an indie/alternative music magazine for teenagers. While other magazines are hybrids of both indie and alternative music, none specialise in the way that “Radar‟ does to make it specifically for teenagers. I think that for a magazine to be successful now days, it must be different because there is simply too much competition for magazines of the same type and genre such as “NME‟, “We Love Pop‟ and “Kerrang!”.

I think that the images which I have used and manipulated show many representations and ideologies which help to form a connection with my mass market. Some such ideologies include the ‘dream lifestyle’ of being rich and famous which a large majority of teens aspire to have. Also representations of the indie genre are presented in the mise en scene of my images and magazines layout. I have also used a diverse array of models which help to spread my target audience even further (contents page artists). As well as this, I think that the language that I’ve used when writing as both the musician and editor fits the styles and conventions. I worked hard at making my article and other language in general in my magazine rather informal as they are centred on a teenage audience and the simple yet informal language may appeal to them.

One of the things that I thought most important was the aesthetical value of my final product. For this reason, I took most of my time in making a good looking magazine that seemed to flow well with a continuous house style while remaining eye catching and intriguing in order for the audience to read on. This perhaps is the reason for my persistence in my construction and the effort I spent into making every detail was perfect. I think that the clear colour scheme throughout gave the magazine a house style which makes the magazine appear more professional and furthermore, worth £2.50.

I hope that this price that I have given would add to the success of the magazine were it launched on the market today as it is a very competitive price and would be affordable to the mass teenage market which I would hope to attract. I think that the variety of the magazine and the fact that it isn’t genre specific adds to the success as there really is something for everybody, wherever their interests lie.

I think that I adhered to enough conventions of the media for my magazine to appear “normal‟ and fit in with other magazines on the shelf whilst having its own unique qualities. These conventions include my grid structuring my contents page, layout and use of conventional high quality shot-types for magazines. I think that a magazine such as mine fills a larger gap in the market and as mentioned earlier – placing my magazine online could also have a great affect. Upon asking a few members of my target audience what their personal opinion was on my magazine they replied by saying that it looked “interesting”, “professional” and that they would “buy it if it was on sale”. I think that little things like this can show whether a product can be successful.

In conclusion, I believe that if there is demand for magazines regarding model railways, knitting and angling, there must be demand for a magazine of the every growing, extremely popular indie alternative genre for the mass teenage audience who are otherwise overlooked, while being at a low cost and keeping a contemporary, stylised feel to it.

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