EVALUATION ON MUSIC MAGAZINE

EVALUATION

Question 1
When producing a music magazine, there are certain ways media present the content and when I was making my music magazine I followed the conventions of my ideal music magazines such as vibe and hip hop weekly.

Looking back to my final creation of my music magazine, I compared it to my ideal music magazines and found out part of the conventions were far different from mine but some were identical.

To begin with, my skyline text is at the top just like any other music magazine which is professionally done. The downside to it is that mine isn’t as bold as my ideal music magazine on the right so therefore doesn’t stand out as much if someone was to have a quick glaze at it.

Moreover, my masthead is placed behind my main front page cover model. This convention runs through the well-known and top music magazines;  I done this deliberately because I believe that it allows my front page cover to look more professional since it is a well-known convention, as it is more likely to find the masthead behind the picture of the main model rather than in front.

 In addition, another convention which was both used in my music magazine and many other music magazines is a bold and outstanding font for the masthead. This allows the tittle of the masthead to stand out more even though it isn’t in the foreground or in front of the picture of the main model. The difference to my masthead and my ideal magazine’s masthead is the use of colour. The colour used for the masthead in my professional example is plain but still stands out as the colour used isn’t used often in the front page cover.

 On the other hand, I used 3 colours on my masthead; it has 2 outline colours and a main black fill effect to it. Although this is different it also doesn’t allow the mast head to stand out as there is a lot of colours used on it as well as my front page alone, if I had kept it to my original ideal masthead example then I would’ve got that professional look to it a bit more but since I didn’t the front page looks a bit hectic with the over use of colours.

The conventions I followed for my front page cover were mainly from HIP HOP WEEKLY magazines. I used the structure of which the orders of the secondary images were place. This is at the right hand side of the magazine, I done this because I liked the way it was set out and because it has cover stories underneath, it gives the audience the chance to understand what the cover line is about or who it is about more easily. It also gives the audience a brief of the exclusive features within my magazine aswell as 'hip hop weekly magazine'.

The downside to my music magazine, compared to my ideal music magazine is that my music magazine doesn't include

I also added a page curl just like my ideal music magazine has, but instead of the top i had it at the bottom which challenges conventions because in shops the magazine are layered one on top of another and the top left hand corner is the first thing people see becuase they can't see the whole magazine. My top left hand corner doesn't have anything exciting so it would be difficult to catch the first impression of my audience.

In addition, I also thought to have my barcode placed vertically on my music magazine, just like hip hop weekly magazines and most VIBE magazines.  On the other hand, my barcode is slightly more to the middle of my magazine than the 'hip hop weekly' magazine.

I challenged a convention by not adding on a specific date and having the bar code placed slightly off the right hand side and towards the middle a bit. This makes my music magazine look more unique and interesting to look at as it isn’t like other simple and professional music magazines.

Most music magazines include freebies in their front page cover and also include different font colours so that the freebies are easily noticeable.

Another way of which I had challenged conventions in my music magazine is when I used different fonts such as Arial Black and Arial Narrow for my front page, contents page and double page spread. This may not be as noticeable but the fact that it doesn’t look as professional let me down.

Finally, another way I used conventions in my music magazine is by not including a very large image in my contents page but a big imageon my double page spread which takes up at least one side of the page. This allowed my double page spread to look as though there wasn’t too much or too little writing involved on the double page spread.

                                                                                                                                                                          

My textual analysis gave me the chance to have an idea on what is needed in a magazine and why. It helped me with my drafting of my music magazine and how I would like it to look. In addition, with the use of different forms of research such as internet and people I know, this aided to what I believed people would find appealing to them and what they will be looking forward to in their ideal music magazine.

Question 2

My music magazine focuses on Hip Hop and RnB music; this is also aimed at those who are from this kind of culture. Although I didn’t use enough features such as props and costumes to steer up the fact that it’s a Hip Hop and RnB kind of music, I believed that everything added together such as artists and language used made it more obvious of what the genre is and who it’s targeted at.

The male model that is the main cover picture of my magazine is being represented as a hip hop artist, you can’t see much of what he is wearing but by the use of the headphones as a prop it is obvious that he could be a DJ, also from his facial expressions.

I done some research and found out that hip hop includes breakdancing as well as DJs so having someone with a headphone as a front page cover image makes it  more obvious to what my genre is towards this magazine, rather than having a guitar.   

The main cover image and the secondary pictures are all black which emphasis that hip hop and RnB is a black culture. I also looked up who may be interested in hip hop and found out that mainly black people are interested in this type of music so it made me believe that I have backed up these stereotypes of hip hop and RnB being within the black culture.

On the other hand the male model on my double page spread is wearing designer clothing such as Nike whereas the female model isn’t wearing designer clothing but shows a lot of flesh. The male model is wearing sunglasses which show that he is trying to hide his identity; this is one of the latest styles within the music industry as media exposes some people such as celebrities. So having my model wear sunglasses makes it seem as if he is being exposed and people of which my magazine are targeted at love to read out exposure.

This represents particular social groups because it shows that those who are famous rather be famous for their music but not for their personal life. Moreover it shows that those within higher class have money to spend on designer clothes (ideally the males), and the females have money to look good.

The way the model is stood in the double page spread emphasises how strong and fearless he is because he is standing with a good body posture (which is straight but slanted to look cool). This shows that black people within this kind of music industry are fearless and strong. It also shows that these kind of social groups are interested in trouble as he is placed in a negative issue of an argument between two females.

Finally, my magazine represents women as leaders because in every picture added on my double page spread of the two models, the female model stood in front of the male model as though she owns him. Which could also show that without females, male artists wouldn’t be noticed because the female artists is the main cover line and the male isn’t mentioned in big font so shows that without the female model, the male model wouldn’t have made it to the double page spread.

Question 3

Conde Nast publication distribute magazines such as VIBE and my idea magazine was somewhere along that line which was why I believed that Conde Nast publications would distribute my music magazine.

The problem is that the magazines which this company distributes aims at those within the higher social class and there is a wider range of audience such as does in Europe who know how to speak English and people in America. On a positive note I think that this company will be interested in distributing my media product as they haven’t distributed anything like what I created so it’s something new to them. It’s better from them because instead distributing type of magazines they are already distributing; they can make more money and aim at a wider range of audience by distributing my music magazine. Not only will they be making more money but because of the amount of audience I will be bringing in to their business, I will also allow Conde Nast to become more noticeable and recognisable through word of mouth from my audience.

Nevertheless, when sponsors work with the publishing house of which I believe will be interested in my music magazine, they will have the chance to gain more profit. This is because music magazine are the most selling type of magazines and different kind of sponsors would be interested to advertise different things into the music magazine to get their fame. This will then bring more audience and more money into the publishing house and companies involved.

Conde Nast doesn’t have a magazine like mine already so there wouldn’t be any competition within other companies when this magazine is distributed. This means that not only will they make profit but they wouldn’t be missing out on easy funds.

Moreover, my magazine has a different audience from what Conde Nast distribute therefore this grabs more audience to their publishing house. Just like magazines distributed by Conde Nast my magazine will be aimed at those who have reading as their lifestyle.

                                                                                                                                                               

Finally, magazines published by Conde Nast include things such as glamour. These types of magazines are no different from my own. On the other hand, some things like Brides and GQ aren’t really the same genre as my own making which is a good thing because it shows that Conde Nast can target wider range of audience and is diverse.

In conclusion, I believe my magazine will be sold at local supermarket such as WH Smith and corner shops across the country. In addition because most magazines are distributed online through Conde Nast publications, I believe that having my magazine published the same way will get across to my audience in every single way possible. So that if they don’t have internet they can also view my magazine or get hold of it from their local supermarket or corner shop.

Question 4

My ideal audience for my music magazine are those who are obviously interested in music and like to read and keep up to date with the music industry. My target audience are both males and females.

I chose a genre which I enjoy reading and listening about; this made it easier for me to pick out what kind of things my target audience are interested in because I will be relating it to me.

My target audience are those who enjoy listening to and keeping up to ate to hip hop and R&B music. To be more specific, I know that my target audience are those who enjoy watching a bit of Channel AKA and MTV Base, this is because this kind of music are featured and presented in my music magazine.

I decided that the age of which the magazine is aimed at is from 16 years is because this is when the older teenagers get EMA or abled to work. So I believed that the price wouldn’t be too much for them as they will be earning some income to buy the magazine. I also those that no one older than 24 would be interested in this magazine because this is when more adults finish university and is in  some sort of major occupation or sorting a new family so they possibly wouldn’t be interested in buying  a magazine as they may not have the time to even read it.

Moreover, I don’t think the language used in my magazine would appeal to older people or even the elderly because there is a high chance that they wouldn’t understand the language used in my magazine.

The audience for my music magazine would be those who are in full time education, in university or starting a new job after finishing university. My magazine doesn’t target a diverse culture as the models used on the magazine are mainly black so I will lack the amount of people from different ethnicity other than black who will find my magazine interesting.  I believe those who are African and Caribbean are the main targets for my magazine as they are the ones who are most likely to be listening to Hip Hop and RnB music.

This is stereotypic because there isn’t any proof that other cultur4es wouldn’t find my magazine interesting unless I do a questionnaire on this but then looking back to those who are resented on TV and people around me, a higher majority of those who listen to these kind of music and who I believe will find my magazine interesting, they’re mostly from black backgrounds.

Also, my magazine targets those who like African and American music because of the names of the African and American artists I mentioned in my front page and contents page.

Moreover, I believe that my magazine can only be aimed at those who understand London slang because people from Birmingham may find London slang hard to understand so unless they understand the vocabulary used then they will find my magazine appealing to them.

Finally, my magazine would also target people who are into the latest fashion and enjoy listening to world music in their own time.

 

Question 5

The first thing I done to attract my audience was to look back to my audience research and figure out what they wanted in a music magazine so that I can create a way of meeting their needs.

Freebies

For my contents page I made it clear and highlighted the fact that there is 28 pages of UNLIMITED prizes. Making it seem like the prizes which are being giving away are unlimited and never ending so they can get as much as they want which is what my audience suggested (freebies). I also attracted my audience with the use of enlarged catchy phrases such as FREE or PRIZES.

Moreover, because most of my audience like downloading music from LimeWire as it is free, I had an idea of including a free CD on the front page cover so that the audience wouldn’t have to waste their time waiting for 20 of their favourite tunes to download.

With all these free things, it makes it seem like they’re getting a good deal for their money. In addition I noticed that most of my audience like trey songz because he has a good figure I included “free trey songz poster” not only for the females who find him attractive but so that some of the males can have a goal for their look this summer in the future and compare themselves to this figure.

Colour scheme

The colours used throughout my contents and front page were dark but bright. I had a dark background but bright text colours so it stands out more.

On the other hand, for my double page spread I used simple but catchy colours so that it isn’t that dark and dull and looks more interesting to my audience. I also made sure that the colours weren’t clashing in the double page spread so that it doesn’t look too full.

Mentioning names

I attracted my audience by mentioning names of the most known African and American artists so that they have an ideal idea on what this magazine’s genre is set to be.

Names such as Wande Coal and Snoop dogg are well known hip hop and RnB artists so having their names mentioned brought more attention to my magazine.

Topics

The topics mentioned on my contents page were mainly about gossip, interviews, fashion and news. These were the main topics of which my audience suggested to me and liked to see in their ideal magazine contents page which was why I took this on board and added this.

Use of language

I used colloquial language to make my magazine look friendly towards my audience. This enabled my audience to feel calm and not offended whilst reading my magazine.

Type of Models

The models used in my magazine pieces were about the same age of those of which I targeted my magazine at. This allows my audience to relate these models to them and make it look like this type of magazine is for them as it has models of their own age rather than someone much younger or older. This is because they have an ideal role model of the same age as my audience presented on the magazine.

In addition because my genre is stereotypically aimed at black people, I made all my models come from black cultures so that the audience have a bit of an idea of what kind of music this magazine is representing.

I also made sure that the models were beautiful and good looking so that my audience find it attractive and good to look at. Moreover I needed to get rid of blackheads or faulty make up so I air brushed some faces so that it looks more professional and interesting to look at.

In addition, I made sure that I gave enough time for my models to look fresh so that their hair is trimmed and their hair is done by the time I take the pictures so that the models of my magazine look real. Having messy hair or not looking fresh won’t attract my audience because it won’t look as professional,

Costumes and Props

I had done vital research on how hip hop artists dress and what they tend to wear a lot. When I had finished I found these images:

  

THIS SHOWS THAT HIP HOP IS ABOUT DESIGNERS FOR THE MALES AND LOOKING FLIRTATIOUS FOR THE FEMALES.

This was why I attracted my audience by the use of headphones, chairs, microphones, sunglasses and many more as props. In addition, I attracted the audience with the use of dresses and miniskirts, heels, Nike hoodies, hats, crop tops and many more for costumes to suit my genre and attract the audience.

Nonverbal communication

The front page cover is the first thing the audience sees, so I had to make sure that the first view is the best view and because the magazine can’t communicate with my audience verbally I had to make sure that my nonverbal communication was on point. This included the facial expressions of my main cover image, I chose the image of my model looking surprised and amazed which gives the impression that my magazine is unbelievable and persuades my audience on having a look at my magazine.

Moreover, the picture on my contents page looks more interesting because everyone in the picture looks like they’re having fun and gives the impression that the magazine is fun. Furthermore, the use of eye contact with my models and the camera makes it look like the models are looking straight at the audience as if they’re trying to engage with them.

Finally, the quick and catchy short headlines makes it easier for the audience to skim read whilst having a quick look at my magazine, with this it makes my magazine look straight to the point.

Linguistic Techniques

The use of linguistic techniques makes my magazine more interesting and appealing to read. The following are the type of techniques I used and examples are as followed:

Metaphor – “…unlimited prizes”. Although this says unlimited, it’s obvious that it can’t be true it just shows that there are enough prizes for everyone.

Slang and social networking language – the word “word” used in my magazine relates to topic those who are older than my target group such as over the age of 25 are least likely to understanding the meaning. Moreover, the word “contex” use in my contents page says contex to emphasis the fact that my audience shorten their writing to mean a word for example instead of “text” they say “txt”. This makes it more suitable for my audience, having slang in my magazine.

Hyperbole – over exaggeration was used when I highlighted that there are “…pages of unlimited prizes”. This was done to grab the audience attention. If I had said limited instead then it would make my audience feel like there isn’t any point of buying the magazine because there’s a chance they won’t win anything

Finally, Standard English wasn’t used in my magazine because it will seem boring as it is aimed at those of aged 16-24.

Main issue

For my double page spread, I made it seem like there is an argument within the music industry and my target audience are interested in topics like this.

Question 6

After making my college magazine, I learnt new camera skills and Photoshop skills for me to enhance when making my music magazine.

First of all, the type of camera I used was a photography camera and it’s called Canon E05 400D, this was used to take all of my pictures for my music and college magazine.

When taking the pictures for my college magazine I done it outside of college and the sunlight affected most of my pictures but I didn’t know much then  but I learnt that when taking pictures I need to make sure that the sunlight don’t effect the lens when taking pictures or the images and outcome won’t look as good.

I didn’t have enough time to take images outside for my music magazine so I chose to do everything in the room where there is a plain black background so that when I do take the pictures it’ll be easier for me to crop out the background and do something with the images rather than having a busy background.

When using the camera, I knew what button to press to take the picture and that when the red light flashes that means it’s in focussing. On the other hand, I didn’t realise this before I did my music magazine because all I was taught was the button to press when taking images and when safety tips,

The downside to using the camera was that I didn’t know how to put the flash on when making my music and college magazine so if I did knew how to put the flash on the outcomes of my pictures would’ve looked more clearer, Moreover, I learnt that rather than zooming into my models, moving closer to them will achieve maximum results, I needed this idea because most of my shots were medium close ups.

Once I done taking all my pictures and before I made a start on my music magazine I needed to open up the pictures on the computer to have a view on how it came out. To do this, I had to get the card reader and USB port from my teacher so that I can put the memory card from the camera (of which all my images were saved on) into the card reader and connect it into the computer with the use of the USB port. I learnt that the card reader is an easier way of collecting and getting images saved on a memory card.

When this was done I then picked out the best quality pictures I took and decided which ones fits best on my magazine. Before I done this, I made it easier for me by drafting out my magazine front page, contents page and double page spread.

After doing this, I then made a start on editing the images by adjusting the photo colour of the image because some of the photos were either too yellow (like my picture on my front page college magazine), or were too dark. So for some I had to adjust the contrast so that the colour was balanced and better.

I then used the magic eraser tool to slice out the outline of my model, and then I used the magic tool to delete the leftovers of the bit I didn’t want. To change the colour of my background for my music magazine double page spread I right clicked the palette with two squares – one white and one black to represent the background and foreground.

When making my masthead for my front page I change the style of the font and added stroke to it, making it look bolder and eye catching. To get the star in my “e” I searched on Google for a star then added it on to my edited masthead and then I cut out the fill of the star so it’s blank and there isn’t anything but an outline of a star there.
Moreover, to get my barcode, I had to also search on Google for a clear one then I added it on to my documents and opened it up in Photoshop, using the move tool palette to move the barcode into the front page cover.

Different fonts were used throughout my magazine such as Arial black, or Arial narrow. This made my magazine look more interesting and I learnt how to change the font of my text or add a new text by clicking the T on the tools then typing in my text and right clicking my highlighted text to change the font from the drop tool bar at the top. When I wanted to type in my text box, I was having problems with doing so because every time I clicked the box, it kept on creating a new text box – which I didn’t want so I had to delete it and start again till I got a hang of it and made sure that the text box I drew was selected for me to be able to type into it.

throughout most of my texts and pictures I used stroke effect to make things stand out more and look more clearer to my audience.

I done this by double clicking the layer and then on the window whch pops up, I then clicked stroke and changed the number of which the stroke was set on and added different colours on each of my strokes.

For the text on my front page cover “Ollz”, I made it look like it was tucked in my duplicating the layer of my main picture cover and placing the text in the middle of the duuplicated layers so that one picture is undeneath and on top of the text. For the text that what on top, I started erasing it all of but leaving the model’s headphones and head in the picture, this made most of the text visuable to see. I also added shadows to it so it looks like it’s glowing and looks more interesting towards my audience.

For most of the colours in both my college and music magazine, I used the eye drop tool to match the exact colours of my pictures.  

For the large quotes on the double page spread, I used the same blue of my male model with the use of the eyedropper tool. I learnt that I had to make my text writing a small font because I had been working on it at 20% so it looked small. So when I enlarged the size – using the navigator, I then realise how big or small it would look when printed out.

 

Question 7

After and whilst making my preliminary and main task, I learnt a lot of creative skills and this helped towards the development of my realistic imagination and planning skills.

Contents page layout

Firstly, when making my college magazine I figured out that my contents page numbers and text sizes were too big, not only were they too big but the amount of pages on my contents page went up to the 20s and for the price I gave it, it wouldn’t be worth it. I learnt that the amount of pages on my music magazine in the future needs to be reflected in reality.

I learnt that to have an idea of how many pages a magazine has, I should look up a random amount of them and get and average page number from them so that when I make my music magazine I wouldn’t make the same  mistake I done with my college magazine.

I also learnt that to know when the text of my magazine is too big or small, I should print it out and have it next to a real professional magazine and compare the sizes. So if mine looks too big compared to the professional one then I know I will need to reduce the size of my font for when I make my music magazine.

Limited colour scheme

Secondly, when making my college magazine I noticed that I didn’t have a limited colour scheme, same with my music magazine.

For my music magazine the colours were clashing on my front page but I made up for it in my double page spread by only having the font which combine with what the models are wearing so it doesn’t clash. I did this with my college magazine but I didn’t stick to a specific amount of colours throughout the page so I now learnt that having the same colours from the photos as well as kicking a consistent colour scheme will make my magazine look more appealing.

Time management and planning

When making my college magazine, I had about 10 to 15mins to take the photos of my models, and this was without the use of props. When doing this I didn’t have enough time to get every single pose I had in mind which showed that when doing my music magazine I will need to be ready and focused and make sure that my models know what they are doing so that it saves more time for when I take the photos.

For my music magazine, I again only had about 15mins to take the pictures but some of my models weren’t dressed so most of the time I had was spent on the models changing, this was why I didn’t have enough time for me to take enough photos and had to rush what I did. Moreover, when I did the photo-shoot again, I learnt that my models must need to be ready and dressed and I must have the props set out for them for when the pictures are being taken so that time isn’t wasted on nothing.

Finally, I also needed to make sure I booked a date and time of when all my models are free; this was just learnt through common sense because when I did my college magazine, I only used models that were in my class and were around in the playground.

The ability to use conventions

When making my college magazine I didn’t really have an ideal image of what conventions a college magazine consists of. I only knew that the bar code is at the bottom, the mast head is at the top and that was about it.

On the other hand, when making my music magazine, I learnt that the font of the text needs to be realistic and simple but bold.

The right amount of pictures

When making the contents page of my college magazine, I used a handful of picture – just about the same amount as my music magazine contents page. This shows that I didn’t learn anything through making my college page but I knew that the contents page is the page which is full of pictures and page numbers.

Moreover, when making my college magazine cover I had a big image as the background which isn’t normally done in professional magazines so I didn’t do this again for my contents page in my music magazine.

Sorting out canvas

I learnt that when opening up a new canvas it has to be A4 (from international paper) for my contents and front page, but A3 for my double page spread and by doing this I had to open up an A3 canvas and rotate it 90 degrees so it’s in the right position.

Framing pictures

The use of framing within my college magazine was too big whereas on my music magazine the pictures were framed better.

I also learnt on how I can find out what the speed of the shuttle was and what made the camera I used was by opening up the picture I took on Photoshop and looking at the details till I get this:

Photoshop skills

When making my first product (college magazine) I had no idea on how to use Photoshop because it was a new programme to me, I only knew how to open up an image or how to add text because it’s similar to the paint programme but more professional.

I learnt new skills on Photoshop from fiddling around with the tools and listening to my teacher while she taught us and my friends who were more familiar with the programme. Through this, I improved my technique and knowledge on how to work out this programme and do better for my music magazine.

For example instead of using the magazine wand like I did for my college magazine) I learnt that zooming in and using the eraser brush is more reliable. 

Finally, I learnt about more tools such as the air brush tool which I had no clue about before making my music magazine, the downside to this was that because I only just learnt about it, I didn’t really know when to stop using the air brush tool or when it was too much. So now I learnt that when air brushing I need to be careful not to get carried away and always zoom in at least 150% and look back at the image at normal size so I don’t mess up the effects of the image.

Ability to balance work

Media is one of my 4 A levels and is also one of my 3 A levels which includes coursework. When doing my media work, as well as my other subjects I learnt that there isn’t enough time to mess around so every time I got home, I had to go straight to work or every time when I was in lesson or in a lunch break I had to do my work as soon as possible so that i would be able to meet my deadlines.

Overall
Overall, the most significant thing I learnt from my preliminary task to my main task is my evaluation skills. I didn’t do as much evaluation as I did for my music magazine so I learnt that when doing my evaluation I will need opinions from others as feedbacks for me to know what I will need to improve on in future. This is because if I had my own idea and opinion, there is a high chance that I could be basis upon my own work so having other people’s onion is a good idea for my evaluation

Post Production Feedback

I added my production on to Facebook so that those who like my kind of music and I believe were interested in my music magazine can give me some feedbacks on what I produced.

After I got their response I pointed out the strengths and weaknesses of my music magazine.

Front Cover

Strengths:

The audience liked the colours I used on my front page cover and how extreme it looked. Most said the text of which I used looked professional and they liked the way I had “NEW” in capitals because it stands out and makes it look like it’s the latest updates for my music magazine.

Moreover, the audience liked the facial expression of my main cover model because it makes the magazine look for and interesting to look at. When told where I took the photos and it was all in the same room, they didn’t believe it because “it was edited well”.

In addition, my audience liked how I added famous artists into the music front page magazine cover because without most of these artists they wouldn’t really find it as interesting.

Finally, my audience stated that my music magazine looked unique and different from must music magazine because it’s eye-catching and colourful so makes it more appealing for them. In addition, the amount of pages looked appealing to most of my audience and they liked the amount of pages my magazine had.

Weaknesses:

Most of the people who commented on my front page cover believed that I edited the model’s face too much; they said that it was air brushed too much. They also thought that it would have looked even better if I added more pictures into the front page cover.

This shows that when I am editing, I should be very careful when air brushing. I should also zoom in at 200% then go back to “fit screen” size so that I can see how it looks close up and normal to avoid mistakes like this.

Although some people believed that my magazine looked unique with the outburst of different colour used, some thought that I used too many colours on my music magazine and it clashed with everything else on the front page which didn’t allow them the chance to know where to start because everything wasn’t in sections it was all jumbled up with different colours. They even added that the use of different colours didn’t make my masthead stand out.

Finally, another issue raised was the focus of the model’s eyes was perfect therefore when taking the pictures I must make sure that I keep still and make sure the model’s still so that when I take the photo, it won’t be affected when they blink or move.

Contents

Strengths:

The enlarged image on the right of my contents page looked exciting, it looked like the models were having fun and was also holding a microphone so gave them the impression that this kind of music is fun or this music magazine is interesting and exciting.

Some also liked the fact that the colours used in both my front page cover and contents page didn’t change because it is still dark like my front page cover. They liked the colours also because it wasn’t too feminine or masculine.

People claimed to like my contents page because the use of font designs because although my contents page looked simple, the fonts stood out – making the text stand out more for them to read.

                                                                                                                   

Moreover, they liked the fact that I used images with page numbers on it because if they didn’t want to read what’s on specific pages, they still got the images to look at and guess what it’s about. This allowed them to find it easier to know whether they’ll like what in the magazine or not.

Weaknesses:

I was told repeatedly by some that my contents page was too plain and didn’t look interesting because there wasn’t ‘t enough images in the contents page when must ideal magazine have like 7-11 photos in their contents page and I only had 4.

I was told that it was plain due to the fact that the colours weren’t bright and appealing to some.

In addition, I was also told that the spelling of the word “contents” wasn’t right because I spelt it as “contex”, I did this on purpose because when teenagers my ideal audience) type online or through technology communication they tend to not write standard English so I was just emphasising this by having the word “contex” rather than “contents”. If I had made it more clear that I can spell contents by adding “contents page” somewhere small on the corner then it would’ve make a difference.

Finally, I was told that there were a lot of empty spaces in the contents page which let down my audience interest.

Double Page Spread

Strengths:

The people who made comments on my double page spread liked the idea of having a sequence of images, running through the top of my double page spread. They also liked the fact that it wasn’t dark like the other two pages so there was something different to it.

Moreover, others thought that the use of stroke on the fonts made it more interesting and eye-catching to my audience so it wasn’t too dull. In addition, they also liked the idea that the two models were looking down at them in the main image so it looks like “they’re (the two models) trying to communicate with them”.

In addition, a few of my audience liked the fact that I didn’t write a lot because they don’t like reading and it made the article look straight to the point.

Finally, the audience liked the fact that I didn’t use too much colours on this page so it was clashing and it made it easy for them to read the page, they also believed that the colours used was balanced so attracted both genders.

Weaknesses:

There was too many free space there, I should’ve either added a text there or done something to the left hand side of the page’s background so they wouldn’t be able to notice the fact that the page looked a bit dull due to the amount of free space.

Furthermore, the amount of text which was there wasn’t enough for some and also, the use of two text fonts wasn’t attractive to them because it was hard to read the handwriting style.

When the pictures were at 100% they did not look very well cut out. So it’s the same issue of me needing to zoom in more often to check how it looks close up and normal.