Evaluation

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

My media product hasn’t developed or challenged forms and conventions of real media products because I have stuck to the general magazine layout. On the other hand my magazine does differ from the real magazines because I have taken my own photos. I have also done some research into cover lines and what would be included in the contents page so that my magazine could look as real as possible.

My Magazine is different from the student magazine ect., because it has a different colour scheme, i have also used pictures of people. Whereas ect., has use cartoons. I think that by using pictures my magazine might appeal more because cartoons tend to look childish. Also ect., is more colourful than my magazine but again i think that if a magazine is too colourful it again looks a little childish.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My media product represents particular social groups which are teenagers more importantly students. I have represented them by keeping the topics that I have included within my magazine those of interest to my particular audience. I have done this by using the feedback I received from my questionnaire.

The images I have used are varied and show friends together to hopefully show my readers that this is a magazine for their age and social group. The language I have used would relate to my target audience because it is simple with no complicated words so that anyone of a wider audience would be able to read and understand my magazine.

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

The college might distribute it, even though we already have a college magazine, my magazine may also be sold. This way there are two student magazines and the students will have one to choose from. However mine might be better than the existing magazine because mine does not have the adult influence that the existing one does. This could mean that my magazine might appeal to the students more so than the existing one. To make my magazine more like the glossy and airbrushed magazines that appear in shops I would try to use technology that would hopefully give me the same high priced look to my magazine. This way my magazine might appeal more to my audience.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience for my media product are teenagers most probably 16+; gender does not matter because my magazine will appeal to both genders. More importantly, I have targeted students as my audience because my magazine is a student magazine. I have made sure my magazine will appeal to my target audience by, as I mentioned before, using the results I collected from the questionnaire I posted on my blog. With my magazine i have tried to make it more appealing to my target audience by including the topics of interest that were mentioned in the replies to my questionnaire. This way my magazine will be able to compete with other student magazines out in circulation.

How did you attract/address your audience?

I attract and address my audience by using language that my target audience would be able to understand and relate to within my magazine. I include in my magazine pictures of students, bright colours and topics of interest to my target audience to make it attractive to my target audience. The front cover of my magazine is sophisticated looking, as well as the interesting cover lines and the strap line. These are the hooks that make people want to buy my magazine because of the pull to read the topics that the cover lines state or to see what the interesting picture on the front page links to. Someone would like to buy my magazine because of its interesting and professional look as well as its engaging topics of interest.

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

Whilst creating my magazine I have used Word and Publisher to outline some of my posts before I actually posted them. I have also used paint and Gimp to crop and edit my photos once I had taken them. This way they are not just normal photos they look more professional and look better overall. I used a blog to keep an account of what I have done whilst creating my magazine. It is useful as this way I can look back to previous posts and read over what I had said in an earlier post so that I am not constantly repeating myself post after post. I also used a digital camera to take the pictures that I needed. None of the photos that I have used are off the Internet, I have taken them all. I have learnt how to create and manage a blog. Also, I have learnt how to upload digital photos from a camera to my computer.