Student Magazine: Evaluation

In what ways does your media product support use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
One of the ways how my college magazine supports the use and and development of real media products, is that i used several categories from my own pre-conceived media language.
My first catergory that i used in my student magazine was a Masthead. This meant that i had to layout my magazine with a strong message that challenges the normal publishing boundaries. The website that i used to gain ideas and new inititives was http://www.dafont.com/. The websites i visited gave me an invaluable insight and ideas to achieve my goal of producing a magazine with new, fresh and modern approach so i could capture a new audience. I wanted to challenge the publishing boundaries. My desire was to break away from convention.
I also used this website to get my ideas for the print script and general layout of my magazine front cover and contents page. The website was also benefitical for my puff and straplines. My actual passion for this magazine was to attract the indie and more underground scene, and not conform to the mainstrem, so therefore i chose an elaborate and more 'roughed up' font. I believe i have achieved this in my final product. In my media product, i also wanted to create a 'unisex' magazine which meant i had to include different peices of information that would appeal to both sex's of college students ageing from 16-19. For both sexes i included a 'winter wear' section. This meant i had to use my own evidence and research, to take certain pictures of men and womens clothes and include them in my magazine. This challenged other real media products as i aimed the clothes at a specific audience and also, unlike other magazines i made the items of clothing a 'fresh' new look,

ready for winter. As it was from my own point of view, it may appeal to college students even more. This is because I am a big follower of fashion and i know what looks best on somebody. I also used various research such as websites and fashion magazines to give me the best idea, particually for the womens section. Another thing i included in my magazine to make it stand out and challenge different media magazines, was that i offered the reader the opportunity to win tickets for a new college band 'Skeleton'. This challeneges other magazines as it gives the chance for the new band to get their name heard of, and hopefully their fanbase will increase because of my magazines advertising and prises. One of the other things how my magazine competes with the market, is that we had to take a mid close up image for the main cell. This challenges other leading college magazines as it uses proffesional image structures and shot types- a mid close up. We also experimented with other shot types but found that a mid close up was the most efficient as it gave expression on the main cell's face. It was also easier to photshop.

Who would be the audience for your media product?
One of the reasons why i felt it was necessary to aim my magazine at college students from the ages of 16-19, was because i feel it was vital for college students such as myself, to have something to read, entertain and take advice from, as the years you spend at college are usually the most important years for education in your life. Before i started designing and finalising the magazine, i wanted to give the front cover an 'indie' and 'underground' look. To do this i needed to go and do my own research. This consisted of asking fellow students who i thought would fit the slot for the 'indie effect' of my magazine. Another way how i researched this look that i wanted for both my front cover and contents page, was to search several websites and band images such as 'The Kooks', 'Oasis', and 'The Arctic Monkeys'. After researching the more major label bands, i also wanted to futher my research to the more 'underground/unsigned' scene. This gave me the idea of a more 'roughed up' and 'dirty' effect rather than an indie and more 'clean' front cover and contents. I also felt that i could get to the readers more with this look, as i wanted the first impressions to almost be like ' People over 25 would be disgusted with the look

of the front cover, so thats why i want to buy it'. I also wanted the magazine readers to be of the C2-E on the jicnar scale, as the magazine brings out a more 'lower class' effect e.g. with a fading, dented and rough masthead which stands out to the reader due to the strong red blend. At first i wanted the magazine to be aimed at underachievers and tradititionalists, because this also gave me the image of a 'roughed up' and indie style of approach to my front cover and contents.

How did you attract/address your audience?

One of the ways how I addressed and attracted my audience and collected research, was by doing several questionnaires, freebies, stand out font titles and college student dialect/language.

In my questionnaire, i asked general questions such as: "What music are you into?" and "Are you interested in the latest celebrity news and gossip?". The reasons for asking these sort of questions was because although the magazine was generally based on doing well in lessons and achieving good results, i also wanted the magazine to be as entertaining and down to earth as possible. This is why in my final copy, I included all the latest music and gossip, but within the college students. I feel this is a good way of attracting college students to buy this magazine, as it informs them about how to do well with lessons but also about new music within the college.

Another way how I attracted and adressed the audience for my college magazine, was that i used different dialect to address my readers. By this i mean using unique and taboo/slang types of languae, which would mostly appeal to college students aged from 16-19 because its the sort of dialect they use on a day to day basis. On the front cover I included the quote 'Keep Dressin Through The Reccession, And swagga Like An Old Man'. I feel that this would appeal to a person like myself as it includes a young and 'college' dialect, that only most young people can understand and appreciate for what it is and means. I also reffered to 'Swagga' rather than 'Swagger'. This was because i wanted the reader to be in the C2-E jicnar scale, rather than advetising what is in the article in Standard grammar, which would then aim my magazine at the top end of the jicnar graph.
On my front cover i gave my fonts and title a more 'younger' feel. By this I mean I linked the more 'indie' feel of the main cell, music and article listings by making giving the font a more rough and batered feel. This will address the reader and will stand out more than other college magazines as the colour of the 'phobia' title is in a deep red blend which can stand out from a long way away.

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

One of the technologies that i have learnt over the course of constructing this product, is Photoshop. By using this, i could construct an image, crop, rotate and be able to higher and lower the density levels and picture quality. This resulted in my final picture having a more effective finish which will stand out to the reader. As i hadn't used photoshop before, it gave me a great insight in picture creativity and with experience, i will hopefully be able to use each tool correctly, to create an even better finish.

Another one of the technologies i used over the course of constructing this product is Quark Express. We used this site to mainly focus on the contents page for our college magazine. With Quark Express i felt it was easier than photoshop as it was much more simple to constuct lines, text and images into a desired place. Although there wasn't the facility of changing the quality of the picture e.g. removing unwanted spots on a persons face or airbushing something to give it a more 'unique' finish, i feel in the future i will use this site to construct an even better contents page for my next media project.

Another technology i used to complete the college magazine, was a Digital SLR camera. We used the camera for the completion of both the main front cover picture, articles featured in the magazine, and contents page. As i hadn't had much experience on using a such advanced camera before, I suddenly became aware of all the features it had to offer e.g. different zoom levels and portrait image control etc. I feel that this gave our final college magazine a more detailed and professonal finish, which will stand out from the rest. In my next media project i feel i now have the experience of using all the features on the SLR camera, to the highest extent to achieve what i want.