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.