Evaluation

Imran Rashid

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

My magazine (front cover, double page spread, contents page) overall is a very conventional media product as it effectively uses the conventions of a music magazine. For example, my front page feature the usual conventions found such as a main central image, title at the top, price and many more. This makes the cover looks very professional and classy.

I did a lot of research into magazines and I found most magazine follow the conventions, therefore I decided to follow the conventions for my music magazine . Another aspect which is very important is deciding which colours would be best to use. This is where my research was very valuable as I saw the common colors used in an RNB/Hip hop genre magazine were black, grey, white and red. In my opinion this was effective; as a result I choose my colour theme to be white, grey and black.

My double page spread features conventions such as a main image, page numbers, article information ( interview speech......), headline and quotation

My content pages features conventions such as contents at top, list of pages, images, page numbers, issue, date and promotion or advertisement.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My magazine represent young people mainly teenager. This is shown by the featuring of young people in the magazine also the genre of the magazine is RNB/ Hip hop this is usually associated with young people. The magazine is both for males and females. This lead to me using neutral colors such as black, grey and white in my magazine so the colors are founding appealing to both genders. My magazine represents low and middle people this is reflected from the price and the overall content of the magazine such as the language, Font style and structural layout. Elements such as the title “Addict” is young and modernized which indicates the class being aimed. There is a lot of experimenting with colors and a lot of contracting colors used to make sure the target audience are attracted by the magazine.

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

Media institution such as intermedia partners who distribute Vibe magazine will be the kind of media institution who distributes my product. It needs a big company and as I seen the success of a very similar magazine in vibe (RNB/Hip hop) it is very important to find the best media institution which I think companies such as intermedia partners, Alpha media and Harris publications

Who would be the audience for your media product?

My Target audience is young people mostly teenagers. The reason for this is the genre of RNB/Hip hop attracts mostly young people so it would be naïve to select a different audience. The topics discussed and the layout is not suitable for the older generation neither children. Finally as it’s an RNB/Hip hop magazine it targeted at people who listen to this type of music. A person who prefers a different genre such as rock or heavy metal will not be interested in this magazine

How did you attract/address your audience?

The main feature which attracts my target audience is the use of colors, language, layout and design or creativity. The contrasts of colors used between the black, white and grey make the magazine eye catching and appealing to the target audience. The languages used is not to complicated and set out in a colloquial style. This allows the target audience more comfort when reading through as they are understanding the information more easily. Also the layout is key as I didn’t want an impression that the magazine was to much information which will instantly of directed my audience away. Therefore the layout had to be spacious and combine well with text and images making it look simple and effective. Finally in my opinion I was creative with the fonts and different shapes such as stars and boxes. As a results my audience identified the creativity of the magazine and the audience targeted often appreciate creativity so overall it will bring a huge interest from the audience.

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

I have learnt a lot about technologies from creating my product. Before I had experience of using Photoshop but my ability level was low. For the creation of the products I used a combination of Photoshop and macromedia fireworks to create my products. I found out that Photoshop was the best software to edit images therefore I edited all my images or graphics there. On the other hand I used macromedia fireworks to edit text and create the structure of the magazines as I thought it was very effective on this software and much more simpler to use. I learnt that constructing the products requires a lot of time as well as learning how to use the software. My ability now to use Photoshop has increase and I now understand how to use a new software introduced to me in macromedia fireworks.

Looking back at your preliminary task what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it the full product?

I have learnt a lot since my preliminary task. With my preliminary there was no research therefore I missed out on key convention which overall made the product produced unprofessional. Also I used inappropriate colors and fonts which didn’t combine well with the image. But in the creation of my full product I realized the most common colors used and as a result I knew how to make the magazine look professional. Finally I used a lot of word art in the preliminary which immediately gives a wrong impression as word art looks unprofessional. Secondly by using word art the audience know that not a lot of effect or thought went in to the creation of the product.