Evaluation

 Before I actually made my final media product, I considered the different conventions of a typical magazine cover, and researched different types and styles that are commonly used. I created a mood board and spider diagram of inspirational magazine covers and different idea’s I had come up with from seeing different styles on other magazine covers. I decided that to make my cover appear realistic I had to stick to the conventions of a magazine cover and try and put my own touch on them. Throughout the making of my magazine cover I think I did this effectively and it proved successful when trying to make the cover appear realistic.

My media product represents particular social groups by using different colours and the stories used. I used a range of bright colours to make the magazine appear friendly and diverse, so that a certain group didn’t feel singled out in a sense. I also included stories like ‘read about how Emily settled in to college’ and included a quote about how she was nervous. I did this so when the readers looked at the magazine, they realised they wasn’t on their own and it was comforting to read about other people’s troubles etc.

The audience for my magazine would be college students (16-19 year olds) interested in what’s going on around the college and all of the different events and competitions that were happening. I used colours that wouldn’t be stereotyped to one specific gender, therefor it appealed to everyone and wasn’t misjudged to be a ‘girly’ magazine etc. I also included ‘best revision tips’ so that if people were worried about passing exams, they didn’t have to feel embarrassed or pressured  about going to their tutors or teachers about it if they could organise themselves better with the help of some simple tips. This I think would appeal to the target audience more as especially when you first start college it’s nerve-racking and some people don’t like asking for help, so this would benefit the shyer people amongst the student body.

I attracted the target audience by including enticing elements on the cover for example competitions etc, as this is a fun way to get involved in the college environment and also get a prize. I also used capital letters in all of the font as it is eye-catching and young adults don’t want to stand around having to properly look at something before they buy it, they would prefer to just glance at something and read a small part of it, then that makes them want to buy it and read more. The bright colours I used I think is the most effective way to attract the target audience, as most magazines around are for older people and are not as colourful or child-friendly in a sense, therefor the fun element of this cover I think makes the audience drawn to them and interests them as it appears interesting and fun.

I have learnt that to make a successful magazine cover, you have to follow the conventions of a typical media product in order to make the cover appear like what you see on the shelves. I initially wanted to use three landscape images of each of the wyke buildings on my cover, however I realised that this would not follow conventions, therefor I used a medium shot which is seen commonly on most magazine covers. I had my model hold a folder, which connotes studying and learning, therefor emphasises the important of this, and also the importance of being organised at college. Also, when using photoshop, I realised that in order to make my cover appear more realistic, the use of lines was important as it made the over appear more neat and official when everything was in line etc.

When considering my perfume task, I feel I have progressed quite a lot as I have followed the conventions a lot close this time and I feel it made my finished cover appear more realistic than my perfume advertisement did. Also, I thought about the colour theme more as I made it more appealing to different groups of people instead of aiming it at a minute group of people. Also, I included more enticing texts into the cover to make it more interesting instead of all the interest having to be on the main images.

 If I was to do this task again, I would maybe incorporate more of the wyke building into the main image, as you cannot really tell where the image is taken. I would also make the feature stories more interesting for the different social groups for example, informing more events. I would also maybe use a wider range of colours to make it appealing to a larger range of people, as different people find different things interesting.

Overall, I think that my magazine cover went well and I followed the conventions well whilst still trying to put my own personality into it.