Final Evaluation

Introduction
For this piece of coursework I have created a new brand of music magazine. I chose the genre alternative as it is a style of music I am particularly interested in. To appeal to those listeners, my target audience consisted of late teens to early twenties. The brand of music had to follow through on each task; creating a front cover, contents page and double page spread. Before I could begin to make my magazine pages, it was essential I did a series of research and planning tasks in order to create the best possible end result. These tasks were particularly important as it helped me gain knowledge on the publics opinion and what is expected from an alternative music magazine e.g. the codes and conventions. The planning tasks enabled me to create drafts in which I was then able to refer back to when creating my final pages. Throughout the research and planning tasks I was given a preliminary task, in which consisted of me creating a college magazine front cover and contents page. By spending time on the research and planning helped me create my final music magazine front cover, contents page and double page spread. As an overall, I am pleased with my end result of Revolution magazine. 

Q1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? 
  

Q2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Q3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? 

Q4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

Q5. How did you attract/address your audience? 



  From my focus group, I was able to get my target audience, being late teenagers to early twenties to give their opinion on Revolutions magazine pages. For this task I asked a series of questions, this included the following;

   

·      Would Revolutions magazine attract you if it was on a store shelf, and if so, why?

·      Do you have any specific likes about the overall design?

·      Do you have any particular dislikes about the presentation?

·      How would you change them?

·      Does Revolutions contents pages attract you to any certain pages, and if so, why?

·      Would you say the double page spread is simple and easy to guide around?

·      Would you say the pages relate to the genre well?

These set of questions allowed me to get feedback on all aspects of the magazine. As a general I received good pointers, and aspects of which they thought I could’ve improved on. They mentioned, too much open space on my front cover, black typography and too much continuity for my contents page. However, for some of these points, for example the too much open space for my front cover, was a look I was trying to achieve. I was aiming to keep it simple, which stuck to the genre. The choice of black typography was a feature I would improve on if I were to do this project again.

A point that was mentioned frequently was the choice of colour scheme. Some people liked it in some areas, for example my double page spread, but not so much on others, for example the front cover. However these views contrasted throughout the group. As some of the female members view was that the front cover was bright and would catch their eye if they were to see it on a store shelf.

The contents page received the most criticism out of the three pages. With the exclusion of the images, they believed that the page showed too much continuity. That they would have preferred different types of typography and features, which would encourage them more to different pages. If I were to adjust the contents page in the future, I would focus more on the typography to draw the readers in more.

When asked if they thought that the pages related to the genre well, they all agreed with a yes. This was one of the main questions I was hoping for good feedback from. It is essential that with any magazine that it continuously relates to the genre, so that it attracts in the right audience.

As a whole, I believe my focus group was very beneficial. They gave me both positive feedback, as well as points for improvement. Throughout the video, they debated, argued and agreed, which all helped collect a series of opinions from a teenage age perspective, to help evaluate Revolutions final pages.

Q6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Throughout this process I have involved myself with many different types of technology, these include; Photoshop, InDesign, Cameras, Blogger, Prezi etc. One of the main areas I have been able to continuously learn about is photography. I believe I have been able to gain knowledge about photography from my preliminary task to put towards my final photo shoots. A factor includes lighting, how the right lighting makes an image appear a higher quality and professional. It allows the subject to be the main focus and enhance the best features about an image. I have learnt that the positioning of the subject also helps with this. It is essential to plan any photo shoots before hand. In order to find the right location for the subject to be featured. It creates the more appealing photographs and allows only what the viewer wants to see in the frame. By taking photographs from different angles, gives the image a different perspective and story to the subject. I learnt this from my first photo shoot for my front cover. The final thing I learnt about photography along this process is the actual use of the camera, for example the different modes in order to create the perfect balance of zoom, focus etc.

Two programs that I was new to at the beginning of this course are both Photoshop and InDesign. Throughout this coursework I have gained knowledge on both about various features, which have helped create my magazine pages best to my drafts. From this process I have learnt that when editing an image on Photoshop that it is essential to keep it as natural as possible, therefore only editing the essentials. Over editing can ruin a picture. Various features I used on my images included, adjusting the brightness, the vibrance, cutting out subjects and refining the edges. These features only slightly adjust the image to ensure the picture is still natural and realistic. This is something I have learnt from trial and error. However, Photoshop is not only used for editing images, but includes other features which allowed me to adjust text positioning and spacing, background textures and use grids. From my research, I found that everything about a magazine has to be visually appealing to the viewers. For example, I had an issue with the spacing of my letters for my masthead of ‘Revolution’. They appeared uneven gaps, which when looking at the word as a whole looked lopsided and unprofessional. However, Photoshop allowed me to adjust specific gaps between each letter and the size. I believe that learning these little features along this process helped create the best possible end result.

InDesign was another program in which I had never used before this project. I used it to create my double page spread as it works better with text than Photoshop. Within InDesign I learnt how to spread my image across a double page spread, allow text to flow from one text box to another and finally, my biggest challenge was applying text around the subject. Due to several reasons, it continuously made my computer crash, making it harder to achieve what I was aiming for. However, from help from my teachers and lots of trial and error, I was able to over come this and was finally able to make the text surround the subject. The process to do so included several layers and setting changes. Another challenge I faced throughout this project, technologically was editing the background on my front cover. I was unable to find a feature on Photoshop, which created a textured look that suited my overall design. After testing out many possibilities e.g. altering textures already made, I came to the decision of using the paint feature. This allowed me to paint onto my front cover with different shaped brushes; I chose lightly coloured splats. The end result made the front cover look more appealing and interesting.

Other technologies I used within this project include, blogger, prezi, powerpoints and slideshare. The website blogger showed me the benefits of blogging work rather than handing in paperwork. It was an easier way to keep up with work, as it is already dated and placed in order, I was able to add small blog posts to mention how my work was going along and helped present screenshots of my progress and my final products. Throughout this project I have learnt a lot about the website blogger, including how to place in videos, in which I was need to do in my evaluation. The final piece of technology I came into contact with is the website ‘Prezzi’. It allowed me to present, similar to powerpoint but in a more appealing and interesting way. I had never used the website prior to this project so I needed to learn all the features. This included, adding text, altering layouts, changing the order of the path and adding in images from both file and from the Internet. Prezzi is a more beneficial way of presenting information than powerpoint, as it allows you to branch out from one text box to another, and highlight certain features on an image to then link with another piece of text.

Throughout this project I have used a number of different technologies, many of which I have only learnt about from the past few months. However, throughout mostly trial and error, I was able to find the features in which helped construct my magazine pages to its best possible quality.  

Q7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Conclusion
As an overall, I am pleased with the final outcome of my music magazine. I believe that the brand 'Revolution' has followed all the conventions of a music magazine within the alternative genre, but still developed and challenged some of these features. Throughout both drafting and constructing my magazine pages I continuously made sure I was relating to both my target audience, being late teens to early twenties, as well as the genre, being alternative. The most beneficial part of this project has been the research. Throughout all my research I was able to pick up ideas and features that I recreated but adding a 'Revolution' twist. As a general, I am confident in the way I think I have attracted the right audience. To do so, I included, the younger generation artists, pastel colours to appeal to the genre and text that would be specifically aimed at my target audience, meaning it is what they would be interested in to read. 

As an overall I believe that I have produced a high quality music magazine the would be ready to put on store shelves. I have followed the feedback and research I have carried out, in order to make a magazine that is different and would stand out against any other magazine on the market. My research specifically has helped me create a magazine in which follows all the typical codes and conventions to make it as authentic as possible.