Evaluation

Evaluation 

For the second media task we had to come up with ideas, a front cover and a mock up of a contents page all based on a college magazine. 

But before we could do all of that we firstly had to make a Google account and create a blog on blogger. My blogger address is dannyrotheryasmedia.blogspot.co.uk.

This is the mock up:

 

This is my real front cover:

Both the mock up and the front cover are very similar but I have added a few more extra things like an issue date (October 2013). I have added a few more stories and changed the colour of the words ‘FREE’ and ‘WIN A £30 ITUNES VOUCHER. I have done this to make them stand out and hopefully attract more buyers. It is a free magazine with the chance to win a very good prize if you enter a competition.

I believe that my magazine uses quite a few conventions of existing magazines. I have a masthead that is placed at the top of the magazine and is very big and bold. I have a date/issue number that allows the reader to know what issue they are actually reading and have they got the latest magazine.

I also have got a barcode; I have sell lines that relate to my product as well, they are about exam tips, new café menu for lunch times and reviews on universities which would be a regular update for my magazine. I have stated in one of my sell lines that ‘this month we look at Hull’.  Graphics are another thing that are included on my front cover, not a lot but there is a big blue circle that has ‘FREE’ inside of it and the footer is just a blue rectangle that has the competition headline inside. I have chosen to include graphics because it fills the page up and it also stands out.

Another thing I have done is I have included most of the sell lines down the left hand side of the page. This is called the sweet spot; when people look at a magazine cover or any other page they look at it in a ‘Z’ shape. They will read the masthead first then move down to the left hand side of the page and finish up at the bottom of the page reading the footer.

The audience for my magazines is for students of Wyke College, both first and second years. It includes stuff that they would find useful like help on exams and reviews of universities.

The front cover model is of a student holding books and looking happy. This could represent students as willing to learn and they are enjoying life at college.

I attract the audience by making certain features of the front cover stand out. The colours of ‘FREE’ and the competition at the bottom are very different to the graphic they are in. This catches the eye and makes them feel like they are more important than the sell lines in white.

Every piece of work that I have done has to be uploaded to a blog. When Tim said we had to create a blog I had a vague idea of what one was but had no idea how to upload and work it. Then once I created one I got the hang of it straight away. I found it easy to upload a photo and write and change to font/font size when creating a blog.

Another thing that I have got the hang of now is using the basics on Photoshop; I can now cut round a person easier and place things over other layers.

Looking back at the perfume task I feel like I have learnt quite a lot. I have learnt that I should focus more on the products outside of school as well not just leave it to lessons. Another thing I have learnt is to make sure I keep up with the work and always should be updating my blog if I have done a piece of work. I should research a lot as well. For the perfume ad I don’t think that I did enough research on existing products and I feel that because I have done a bit more research this time it has really helped me create the finished product.

If I were to do this product again I would spend more time outside of school on it. I should not just leave it quite late to actually get the photos, which I only got last week and quickly made a mock up on Thursday. I would also update my blog more often so I have the stories in order and not in any old order. All of this would help me keep in order and not in a panic on deadline day.

 I think that I would change a few things on the front cover now I look at it, like the big blue circle. Maybe I should choose a different graphic instead.