1. Evaluation Bethany Sharkey

2. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? I used the magazine Spin for my inspiration for my magazine. There are many similarities in my magazine to the Spin cover I used a tagline for recognition of the magazine A large clear image of an artist in the centre of the page which is usual for music magazines There is an issue date and price of magazine Large, clear font for the headlines so it is eye-catching, and bold colours for intensity Well-known music artists name to persuade the audience to buy it The similar use of the headlines, stories, all relating to the music for a specific target audience The make-up on the front cover model, is colour co-ordinated with the colour of the font

3. For the front cover image, I wanted the model to be wearing bright, eye-catching make-up because the image was such a close up on the face. The sweet, innocent look that my model has, suggesting the genre to my magazine; pop. I have used a young person for my model which will appeal to my target audience as they can aspire to her. A common element in magazines are the headlines. They need to be large, not consist of too many words and give enough information for my audience to know what the story is. I used well-known artists and used the phrase ‘+MANY MORE!’ which keeps the audience interested. For my title, it was important to make it bold and clear as it is the first thing the audience will look for. I used black for my font as the colour contrasted well with the other colours on the magazine. I chose the name Vibe as it was related to the semantic field that is music. The barcode of a magazine is vital as it needs to have one in order to sell, so I placed it at the right hand side of my cover, and also included the price like popular magazines such as NME.

4. Similarly to the NME contents page in my contents page, I listed all of my articles and page numbers down the left hand side of the page and included headings which information about the story underneath each one. I also included images which related to the articles on the left hand side. I included the page number on them to show the readers which article it is associated with. I used the same colour scheme as I used on my front cover which is a common convention in magazines. When researching contents pages, I found that it was a common feature for each category to be split up into separate sections, with headings such as ‘Live’ and ‘On the Cover’. So this is what I did on my contents page, I included these headings. All magazines include the name of the magazine at the top of the page, so I followed this feature. Another feature is that magazines tend to have either ‘This Month’ or ‘Contents’ so again; I used this just like in the Kerrang magazine.

5. How does your media product represent particular social groups? My magazine targets social groups that are interested in pop music that is around in the charts at the moment or have been. They will need knowledge of artists and the way they appear, so it was important to represent this in my cover. The model was beautifully made up with a natural look, which would make the females in my target audience aspire to the model, and my magazine. The artists and the stories I have used are the elements that show that my magazine would be aimed at teenagers, mainly aged 13-19. The shot angles used show a close-up, full image of the model from the front. It gives a light, positive feel to the overall image, which is important because of my genre; pop. This is a common feature in magazines, for example Billboard. The costumes I used for the front cover model was in keeping with the Christmas theme, so she was dressed in a fur coat relating to the winter. She wears red lipstick as this is stereotyped as a Christmas colour. The language that I used is simple and not too sophisticated therefore it is appropriate for the age group my magazine is aimed at.

6. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? When I was researching magazine publishing companies, it was difficult to find a suitable one for mine as there was not that much to choose from. I chose IPC and the company publishes magazines similar to mine, such as NME which is aimed at a similar target group as mine.

7. Who would be the audience for your media product? The target audience for my media product is teenagers age 13-19. To show this, I have used models of a similar age category; aged 17 throughout the magazine. Some of the artists that I have used are Miley Cyrus and Pixie Lott which represents a young target group. In my images I have used young models of singers/band members which represent the target audience of young teenagers who have a high interest in pop. I have not stereotyped my magazine to have an all male/all female audience, so I have included artists that both will enjoy. But it will be mainly teenage girls who buy this magazine as the pop genre has a majority of females.

8. How did you attract/address your audience? On my front cover, I attracted my audience by using bold, bright colours and clear, striking images. I used large lettering which will immediately grab the audience’s attention. The storylines that I have used are what teenagers want to hear about and are interested in. The magazine name is short and memorable; ‘VIBE’ which will address the audience. On my cover I have created a tagline what reads ‘Britain’s Biggest Music Weekly’ which makes my magazine sound like it is the best music magazine around therefore my audience are attracted to it. I used the word ‘WIN!’ and put it at the top left hand corner so my audience’s eye is immediately drawn towards it. It makes the audience feel they are getting more out of the magazine. For my double page spread, I used a clear, eye-catching fonts and colours to show the simplicity and casual-feel of the artist himself. I have used colourful texts to attract my audience. I have used one large image which shows clearly who the artist is, and used several other images which are smaller. Because my target audience is young, this is ideal as they don’t want to be feeling like they are reading too much.

9. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? I have learned a great deal about Adobe Photoshop whilst doing the coursework, and over time have a lot of knowledge on how to improve my magazine. Just a few of what I have learned and used in Photoshop are airbrushing my models, adding texts and changing the fonts and colours, using levels to adjust the highlights and shadows on the image and adding different layers. I also used what is called Blogspot, it is a website used to post the process of my work and how it has developed over time, showing the step-by-step method I went through. With using the internet to research existing music magazines, it has given me ideas for my own magazine and I have shown these examples in my blog.

10. Looking back at your preliminary task (the school magazine) what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product? When I produced my preliminary task, I was new to Photoshop and I was not very manageable with my time. Because I worked in a group for this task, it meant the work load was shared out and we could get more work done, however when I was working on my own for the final task, everything was down to me and I was responsible for the outcome of it. It was vital that I did research for my task instead of heading straight to my own design. I did not realize how much detail and precision is needed in order to make a magazine look appealing and realistic and to get this right is very important. From using the studio for my photo shoots, I have learned a lot about lighting and the setting up of the room. I learned the simple features of a camera and how it is important to get the right angle when taking a shot. I have gained plenty skills to do with Photoshop, mainly because of online tutorials that I would view in my own time, to get an even better knowledge on what to do and how to do it.