Success!

I have completed all tasks for my preliminary tasks, completed final drafts of the magazine and evaluated my project.

That is all from me on this task :)

Ollie

Evaluation Questions

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

The key conventions that are frequently utilized in student magazines are:-

• Cover Lines
  




• Masthead
  




• Images of stories w/ captions
  




• A background graphic or image





• Strap line(s)
  

In my magazine, I have made use of all of these conventions. I have included 3 cover lines to summarize the most exciting articles within the magazine and also inserted two images with captions relevant to topics on the contents page to draw the reader in. I have of course made a Masthead with a different font to the rest of the magazine to give my magazine an identity and make it stand out. For my background I have simply used a photo to fill the entire page behind text and graphics, much like other magazines such as “First Car” magazine (which features a picture of “The Inbetweeners” standing around a car). Finally, i have also used a strap line, listing features within the magazine.

• How does your media product represent particular social groups?

In my magazine i have represented both Students and general teenage/young adult life along with one of the older generation (e.g the Tutor drug scandal cover story). I have represented teenagers as a "partying generation", including pictures of the college "bash" featured in the magazine and the dangers it played in the article; in this case a picture of a knife (falling into the violent stereotype). On the front page and contents page, there is a near equal split of text to image ratio, just like the audience questionnaire respondents would like.

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

A magazine publishing company such as OnCampus (who specialize in the UK student media market) might be interested in publishing a magazine like mine. However, more likely to publish my magazine would be the college student council as i would not need such a large market as that potentially offered by a large publishing company. The student council or college would be suited to publishing my magazine as it is after all aimed at students coming to this college and those interested in what goes on in and around Ludlow college.

• Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience for my student magazine would obviously have immediate appeal to students, predominately those from Ludlow College, of the ages 16-18 years old. There might also be appeal from teachers at college who want to see what is going on, but the audience is focused towards teenagers and students from the area. This means there has to be lots of content suited to this age of audience (Sport, gaming, television, music, gigs, parties etc).

• How did you attract/address your audience?

On my front cover is where i made the most effort to attract my target audience. I have included topics/cover lines/stories that appeal to my target audience. Many teenagers and students are interested in music, games and sporting activities, so i made sure i included these in my strap line at the top. As well as this, it is the teens when people do their most partying and evenings out, so made sure to include an image relating to the recent college bash to draw students in. As a popular subject in college that many students are passionate about, i included a photography competitor to get creative people interested in the magazine with an incentive of a prize. Everybody likes a bit of gossip, so i also made sure to include cover lines on knife and drug scandals. The language is generally clear and not over-complicated so it is easy to read and can easily identify with the reader.

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

Throughout this process, i have learnt to use a blog and all its functions effectively and efficiently to be able to receive and give constructive feedback on designs and word processed work. I also became more comfortable working with microsoft publisher and office picture manager to edit photos suitable for publisher.

Finalized Front Cover + Contents Page

Here are my finalised contents and front page i will be using, complete with coverlines and pictures in place.

3rd Weekly Review

This week, i am right on schedule and ready to evaluate and finish everything in the coming week. I have managed to get sufficient replies from my questionnaire to be able to do and analysis (and so have done so). I also have managed to produce a first, second and final draft of my contents page within the space of a week. The second draft was a complete overhaul of the original, only retaining a few features from the original, the third being a slight improvement after some omissions from the second draft.

To date, i have a completed Front Cover + Contents page and sufficient research and analysis. Next week, i plan to evaluate my work.

Contents Page Final Draft

Comments on my 2nd draft of my contents page seem positive, but as Lorna Clark pointed out, i has omitted page numbers on a few articles. Someone else also pointed out the gaming enrichment article's text needed some adjustment so i did so accordingly.

Here is my final draft.

Questionnaire Analysis

I have collected the following results from my questionnaire.

Gender: I had an equal balance of males to females answering my question and their genders seemed to indicate that females were more likely to read magazines including gossip and fashion advice and men were more likely to read practical or music orientated magazines.

Current magazines: None of my questionnaire respondents currently read a student magazine, which indicates there is something lacking. Other magazines that were read included things related to technology (photography or computer) or social life (gossip and fashion).

Audience Interests: As indicated by the current magazines they read, most respondents indicate they want to see articles on music, local events/current affairs and a section on jobs and useful things for students.

Text/Photos Ratio: The respondents gave me a fairly equal balance in preference for this question. Some believed more text than photos was good and others believed the opposite or 50/50 split. I think i will stick to a 50/50 split for my magazine.

Price: In terms of price, respondents were happy to pay anywhere from 70 pence upwards, some weren't bothered but for the once who where, i think i would set the price of my magazine around 80 pence if possible.

Fortunately, everything that i have already included within my magazine front cover/contents page includes the wishes of the respondents, so i do not have to change anything. Otherwise, i would have to change my current designs to suit the student audience.

Contents Page Draft 2

After some constructive criticism from others, i decided to amend my contents page accordingly.

 

Tell me what you think of the improvements.

First Draft of Contents Page

Here is my first mock-up design of the contents page for College Life.

Let me know what you think :)

Week 2 Review

This week i have effectively completed my front cover design, but with the possibility of adjustments later on. The photo shoot i completed ahead of time and have already incorporated the chosen favourite into the design, so i was able to participate in other peoples' photo shoots to help them. Next week, i should be able to analyze my questionnaire, providing i have enough responses by then. I have also experimented with masthead fonts, but could do with a few more responses before deciding on which one to use.

New Masthead Fonts!

Please let me know which of these fonts you prefer, i think they are an improvement on the plain font of before.

New Magazine Drafts + Colour!

With the general favourite picture being the one of Imogen smiling towards the viewer, i have decided to continue using this picture as my front cover. I have had no negative response to the name "college life" either so i will continue to use this.

Here is an improved colour draft of my design, along side some new layout types. Please let me know if you prefer the coloured layout with greyscale image, or both coloured image and layout. Also, please say which layout you prefer.

Week 1 Review

This week i have accomplished most of what i intended to set out to do.

I have completed two textual analyis' and posted them up on this blog, i have created a suitable audience questionnaire and gathered some replies from that, i have done a photoshoot a week ahead of time and found suitable candidates for the front cover and finally i have produced a mock-up draft of my front cover design for people to cast opinions on. I am a little behind on research and planning, but i will be able to finish that soon enough.

I am happy with my progress and hope to accomplish as much, if not more, in the following week.

Magazine Front Cover Draft **Picture subject to change**

Here is my first front cover draft of my magazine with some filler cover lines, title, price etc.

Let me know

1. What colour scheme do you think would suit this?

2. Do you think the name "College Life" is suitable? If not, suggest a name.

Let me know in the comments box.

My Magazine Front Cover Photoshoot

This week i took some photos with my two models: Steve Lambert and Imogen Brown.

I think the smiling version of Imogen makes the best candidate for the front cover so far, as there is plenty of space to put cover lines, headline, masthead etc on it.

The more moody, sombre shot of Imogen works well too, though some people feel that the nature of the shot (her looking away) means that it doesn't address the audience and so is not suitable.

The one of Steve is low angle and so parts of his legs are in sight. It is a little far out, but i think it still remains mainly a mid close up. I don't think there is enough space on here to put masthead, headlines etc however?

Let me know which one is your favourite in the comments below and i can make an informed decision as to which to use on my front cover.

Audience Questionnaire

Please complete in the comments section below. Copy and paste then put an "x" inbetween the brackets like so: [x]


--------------------------


What gender are you?

[] Male
[] Female

--

Do you currently read any student magazines? If so, which?

[] Yes, i read ________
[] No


--

Do you read any other magazines that aren't student magazines?

[] Yes, i read ______
[] No


--


What features/stories/articles would you like to see present in a student magazines?

_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________


--


What balance of photos to text would you like to see in a student magazine?

[] 50/50 split
[] more photos than text
[] more text than photos
[] not bothered


--


How much would you be willing to pay for a student magazine?

[] Under 50 pence
[] 51 to 70 pence
[] 71 pence to £1
[] over £1
[] Not bothered

Second Textual Anaylsis

The second magazine I decided to analyze was called "First Car"

The masthead is bold, capitalized and stands out against a black background. Unusually, though it does draw a reader in, it takes up less space than the Headline and so fades into the background. This is because the headline makes use of bright yellow with bold black and capitalized text along with the same style text as the headline for the smaller text present in the headline. This use of colour in the headline detracts from the Masthead; this could be because the content of the story inside "The Inbetweeners interview" is more likely to draw readers in than "First Car".

The background image (and more obviously, “First Car”) indicates that the magazine is designed for a young target audience from 17 years old onwards. The image consists of 4 young men (the Inbetweeners) standing around a car (prop) with mismatching colour door to the rest of the car; remaining consistent to the theme of "First Car".

At the top of the page, there is a small, thin strapline with bold black writing standing out against a white backdrop. These all summarize what will be in the magazine as well as potentially drawing people in. The prospect of winning something "Competitions", things associated with the younger generation "Games & Gadgets" and those looking for their first car "Advice & Tips" "New & Used Cars" all fall into their target audience's interests. As well at this, the tagline more explicitly indicates a young, motorist audience ("The magazine for young drivers")

The cover lines are in bright yellow to stand out against an otherwise busy layout and background, with slightly smaller white plain font for the captions beneath them. This draws the reader in then enables them to read further into what it's about if they so wish.

There is a large black banner at the bottom complimented by rounded off images which make this looks like a photographic negative strip complete with developed photos. The cover lines beneath the images keep to the same colour scheme as the headline (black with a yellow background) and have captions below them relevant to the image and cover line.

The magazine front page consistently highlights pages numbers of the stories and articles of interest which makes the magazine easily accessible for a stereotypically lazy teenager/early twenties man. The magazine also makes an attempt at being trendy and with the times as the image, headlines and tagline being diagonally rotated/tilted a little to conform to a new artistic style.

First Textual Analysis

The magazine that I decided to analyse first was called ‘etc.’

The masthead’s font gives the impression that its intended audience are those in education, training or careers, simply down to the fact that it says these exact words. However, this is shortened to “etc” in order to not detract from the style and put people off. We can tell that the magazine will be informative because:
· The “24” in the circle on the masthead implies there is a 24 hour feed of information within the magazine.
· There are words like “careers”, “work”, “Uni” and “lesson within the cover lines and headline which are all related to education.

The headline “Alcohol – A Chemistry Lesson” is within a bright green graphic made to look like a sign held by a little water droplet man. Along with the size of the text (Bigger than the cover lines) this makes the headline stand out and indicate to the reader that this is the main story of importance for them to read. This also anchors the magazine and sets the theme for the graphic on the front. The graphics consist of bubbles, pipes, a heart, a fan, pressure gauges/dials etc. – all these relate to science and indeed Chemistry, the main story within the magazine.

The cover lines are white placed on a blue background (rectangular graphic) to make them stand out to the reader. However, they are not over-done as to draw too much attention away from the main headline.

There are lots of brightly coloured graphics in the layout and seems to appeal more to younger readers, with lots of little water droplet characters with faces gracing the front of the magazine. The black background adorned with lots of vibrant greens yellows reds and blues livens up the front of the magazine and makes what could be an uninteresting magazine about education appealing and accessible.

At the bottom, there is the web address and issue details in plain white, as to not overpower the rest of the page and at the top is a discreet logo and a quirky “3 quid a pop” price tag.

Preliminary Task Outline

For my preminilary coursework task in AS Media i have been asked to design and produce the front and contents pages of a new student magazine. This magazine must feature a photograph of a student in medium close-up as well as text and a masthead appropriate to the publication. This will be done through the use of an image manipulation and/or DTP program.

Action Plan:

Week 1:

1. Research and Planning.
2. Textual Analysis of two existing student magazines.
3. Audience questionnaire.
4. Mock designs and name the magazine.
5. Upload/write up the week's progress on the blog.

Week 2:

1. Start producing designs/general style.
2. Organise and carry out photoshoot.
3. Finish off any incomplete research or planning.

Week 3:

1. Implement photoshoot images into the design.
2. Finalise design and style.
3. Complete first draft of front and contents page.

Week 4:

1. Finish and evaluate final drafts of front and contents page.
2. Complete all unfinished tasks.
3. Ensure all progress has been blogged.
4. Put evaluation Questions and Answers on blog.