Feature Article: Finished Product

Contents Page: Finished Product

Front Cover: Finished Product

Looking back at your preliminary task (the college magazine task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

I think that I have learnt a lot in the progression from my preliminary task to my final task, I think that this development can be seen in my before and after pictures. I think that it is evident that my photography skills have improved, choosing a photo that is a mid to close-up shot for the front cover helps to attract attention to the product. It also makes the artist more instantly recognisable.

It is interesting to see that the layout of both my before and after images haven’t changed that much. Both have master heads at the top and headings down the side, I think that this shows my awareness to the forms and conventions of a magazine before I made the preliminary task. However, even though this main layout has stayed the same, the finer details such as the amount of writing, the style of text and the image placement have become more sophisticated and complex.

I think that my fonts and mode of address have become more centered on my target audience, this will help the product to sell as the audience will see that this magazine has been personalised for them. I didn’t add this personal touch to my preliminary task as a wide range of people would be reading the magazine, each with their own ideologies and preferences.

I used the stroke device to help make both my masthead and images stand out. Along with this I used the drop shadow tool; this helped to make the masthead stand out and made sure that it no longer blended into the image.

I used space reduction to help make the spacing of my lines more effective, this would mean that there would be less white space on the page and therefore would make more of an impact on the reader.

I manipulated many of my images, making them black and white. I did this to create the effect of a newspaper; this would appeal to my reader. I also ‘warped’ some coloured blocks to create the post it style box that is featured in the corner of my magazine. This had the effect of a reminder and advertiser for my audience, as it would attract them to what was written inside and consequently any deals or competitions that the magazine was advertising.

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



During this project I used and learnt about a lot of different technologies, these included Blogger, Photoshop, Microsoft Word and Excel. To take my images I used my Nikon D3100.

This was the first time that I had used Blogger. I found this an interesting experience; I think that because this is a free internet application there wasn’t as much control over how the blog looked, and how things were constructed on it. I began to develop problems with the fonts; the font kept changing as I was writing the posts. However, overall I think that it is a useful application and I think that with more practice using it (and designing the background) it would be easier to understand and use.

I think that Photoshop was really helpful during this project; I have used Photoshop previously so I know how to use most of the tools. To make my product I used tools such as text (including font, size, colour and shadow), brightness and contrast and desaturation. I think that I used these tools to good effect to make my final product. I found that the text tool was the hardest to use, this is because my text wasn’t fitting in the area that I wanted it to. To try and fix this I was transforming (Ctrl + T) the text and adjusting the size so that it would fit in the space that I wanted it to, however this meant that it wasn’t the same size as the rest of the font on the page. This made it look disorganised; to fix this I made all my font sizes smaller.

I used Excel to create my original questionnaire and to process my answers. I think that though this was an effective to use to do these things, however, it did mean that my participants were limited to people who were close to me. This meant that some of them liked the same things that I do and follow the same ideologies, which in turn meant that the questionnaire was not reliable.

How did you attract/address your audience?

My audience would by my magazine because they would be interested in the artists that it featured. They would also like to keep up-to-date with the latest news from their chosen fandoms and charities. The interesting interviews with obscure and need to know questions; the interesting images and the latest reviews would keep them interested in the magazine.

The unusual black and white image will ‘grab’ the audience along with the bright and eye-catching red and blue texts. The main cover photo uses an indirect line of address with the model not looking at the camera. This creates an interest for the viewer as they wonder what she is looking at. My cover lines do not use second person pronouns, question sentences or commands. I have chosen not to include these points as I want the cover of the magazine to speak for its self, I also want the text to mirror that which is seen in literature that my audience would read.

The colour scheme will attract the target audience to the magazine as it is interesting and unique, most magazines will not be brave enough to include colours such as black and white in their colour schemes as they will consider them dull and boring. I have used these colours to make the magazine stand out form those which have lots of colour. The font style will also attract the target audience to the magazine as it resembles that of a typewriter, this is because it is a unique style that is interesting and iconic.

The mast head will also attract the target audience to the magazine this is because it has denotations of factual written accounts of important or historical events in the order of their occurrence, and connotations of literature for example The Chronicles of Narnia. This is appealing to my audience as they are literary people who enjoy reading and learning.

The content of the magazine, implied by the cover lines, will be appealing to the audience as there are competitions with prizes that the target audience will want; as well as news, interviews and information that the target audience will find appealing.

My magazine adopts a casual mode of address to communicate with the target audience. It uses slang that is specific to the genre of music that the magazine is based on. This is mainly seen in the feature article, which is because the interview was written in a relaxed tone. This attitude is appropriate for the audience as it is similar to language that they watch on You Tube, this makes them feel comfortable while reading the article and therefore, encourages them to read more of the magazine and to buy more issues of it.

The photographs are appropriate for the magazine as they fit with the feature article. They also show a progression from the images that they audience would normally see of the artist featured. This tells the audience that the magazine is something that they wouldn’t be able to get anywhere else.

Colours are appropriate as they highlight the magazine as being different from others that are on sale. They are also appropriate for the target audience as they have connotations or old newspapers and old pieces of literature.

The unique selling point of my magazine is the music that it contains information about and the exclusive interviews that it contains. This is because this style of music is mainly seen on the internet therefore; a hard copy of information on it is a rare thing.

I know that my audience would be interested in this style of magazine as, while producing my final product, I constantly asked for feedback. I did this to make sure that the magazine was what the audience wanted and to make sure that it would be able to sell.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The demographic audience for my product would be 14-18 year olds (mainly female), who are middle class. They would be in either be in formal education or in higher education. They are the kind of people who would be aspiring to go to university for either academic or non-academic subjects. They are people who enjoy learning and bettering themselves.

Their psychographic suggests that the life style choices that they have made make them interested in the world around them. They are active in making a difference in the world; supporting charities such as the This Star Won’t Go Out project; they also support civil rights and fair trade petitions such as the petition on showusthereport.com trying to make Warnerbros chocolate (sold in connection to Harry Potter) slave and child labour free.

My audience would shop at places such as Top Shop and the Body Shop. This is because they will be conscious of how they look and the way the workers are treated. They will also shop online as this is where they will spend most of their time. Websites they will shop on will include Qwertee, Etsy and Red Bubble. They will be people who watch You Tube and subscribe to Vloggers such as; Vlogbrothers, Nerimon, Charlieissocoollike and Owolssayhoot. They will also use social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter; they will also keep blogs on Tumblr. My audience research suggested that my audience members would check their emails regularly. Therefore, I can assume that they would also check their social networking sites regularly. This means that my magazine could be publicised on social networking sites, encouraging people with similar ideologies to buy my magazine.

They will like films such as Harry Potter, The Hobbit, The Hunger Games and Marvel films. They will also be avid readers of literature, both old and new. This is because they love becoming immersed in a different world.

Their favourite TV programme would be something along the lines of Sherlock by the BBC, this is because it is taken from a good piece of classic literature and has been changed to make it more relatable to a modern day audience. This skill would be appreciated by my audience as it is encouraging more people to read classic works.

Their role models would be people such as author John Green and his brother, musician, Hank Green. They would admire these people as they have made a living out of what they enjoy. This would be considered inspirational for my readers as they are young and looking at what they could achieve in the future.