Evaluation - School Magazine

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge the forms and conventions of real media?
At the beginning of the project, we did research on various school magazine covers and contents pages. This research meant that i was able to use real media in my work as i got ideas and developed them from it. I found many different ideas and examples on the Internet which in turn, helped me to finalise my decision of basing my magazine around art.
The front cover of my magazine includes a large, bold heading and subtitles written in red font. Here, i use conventions and forms of real media as i got all my ideas from real life magazines. Red is known as a bold colour and is regularly used in magazines to make story lines stand out. Although some parts of my colour scheme go well, i think i could next time improve and need to think carefully about which colours go well together.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?
From looking into my research, i decided that i wanted to base my magazine around art and different artists. Having this idea in mind meant that i could base my photographs and contents page around art. My main aim was to attract art students to the school i am representing. I believe i successfully did this as my title and photograph were based around art.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
The kind of media institution that i would distribute my media product would be in a school and independent institution. I want to attract my target audience which is students and to do this, my media needs to be distributed and placed in relevant, specific areas. As well as in the school, the magazine could be distributed to local companies and other local schools. This would promote the school and also promote artistic values.

Who are the audience of your media product?
The audience of my media product is students or young people who are interested in art. I could also address my magazine to parents or the local community as it would promote the school. The more interest the magazine brings to the school the better.

How did it attract/address your audience?
The first thing i tried to do to address my audience was think about my models very carefully. Every model i used was under the age of 18. This was because i wanted to promote the fact that my magazine was a school magazine. Young students in the photographs will ensure that readers know this.
Next thing i thought about was colours and titles. I wanted to use friendly, warm colours so that the school would come off as more appealing. The title also promotes the fact that i am addressing artists. The subtitles attract the audience as i used them to show what is inside the magazine. This, i would hope, would fascinate more readers and make them want to know more.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Throughout the process of making the school magazine, i was able to learn and develop skills in using different technologies. One thing i learnt was how to successfully use a camera in order to take appealing and relevant photographs. I learnt that within my next project it may be best to shoot my models outside so that i could use more natural light. When i got my photographs, i was taught how to use photo shop and indesign. Both of these programs allowed me to develop my photographs and add text to my magazine. Without the two programs i would not have been able to finish my product.