Evaluation- Question 7

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

Looking back at my preliminary task I can see a great improvement, the photography is more advanced and looks a lot better; this might be due to the fact I have progressed in my AS Photography lessons. My Photoshop skills have improved a lot and if I were to do my college magazine again I would change the edit slightly as I think the filter could be dialled down slightly or maybe I would use a different one. The fonts and synergy are more fitting to the genre of the magazine and I think looks more professional than my college magazine.

Here is my college magazine cover and my music magazine front cover, if I was in a shop I know which one I would pick up and that would be my music magazine, it looks a lot more professional and catches your eye more than my college magazine which just looks amateur. More Photoshop skills were used for my preliminary task as I had to add a filter, crop the subject and insert it onto InDesign, with my music magazine I used my photo that I edited originally and all I did was adjust the levels and brightness and contrast. This shows that my photography skills have improved a lot and I didn’t need the aid of Photoshop as much as I did before. I think the content on my music magazine has developed and more like something I would read in a real music magazine, my college magazine has some good text but I think you can see a development.

My InDesign skill have improved a lot, the fonts, colours and layout are a lot more appropriate and goes well with the genre compared to my college magazine. Even though my music magazine is in black and white, I think that those colours look more professional and better suited for a music magazine whereas the colours on my college magazine are too bold and not subtle or clever. I added a lot more details in InDesign that an average person might not even notice and with my college magazine I didn’t which shows that my thought process has become more in depth and because I have learnt more about InDesign I think about all the little things I need to add.

Overall I think you can see a great improvement from my preliminary task to my music magazine, the biggest is that my music magazine looks a lot more professional and I am really pleased with the outcome, I am glad I did my college magazine how I did cause it helped me learn and get the outcome I wanted for my music magazine. My music magazine looks like a new magazine and is similar to NME, it represents teenagers in a positive way, it would be produced by IPC Media and has a young specific audience and I have enjoyed doing it and learning new skills along the way.

Evaluation- Question 6

This is the sixth question for my evaluation

Evaluation- Question 4 and 5

Evaluation- Question 3

This is question 3 for my evaluation.

Evaluation- Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My music magazine represents young teenagers, both boys and girls in a positive way. It does this by showing a teenage boy playing the guitar rather than doing something more stereotypical or in a negative way, going out getting drunk and smoking. Girls are shown to be strong with piercing eye contact and still be girly by holding a necklace; this is apparent in the front cover of my magazine and in my double page spread.

My double page spread has a stereotypical representation of a musical teenage boy, who loves playing the guitar and writing songs, this is a positive representation compared to what teenage boys can be shown as. The only clothing you can see is him wearing a hoody that can signify violence and bad behaviour but the hood is covered showing he doesn’t act like that. The boy has an Afro, which can make him seem sensible, and kind, which is another positive representation. The main image is of the boy looking at his guitar, which shows his dedication and passion for music, which is inspiring for the audience and will make them, want to read the interview. The three photos on the left side of the page also show a positive side to him, one photo is similar to the main image and is of him looking at his guitar, another is of the guitar which shows his love for it, and the third one is of him smiling showing a happy side and lightens the mood of the page. The main colours are blue and grey which together look quite modern but also shown as gloomy, the photos are all in black and white though so the audience will be able to see past that.

My contents page has a few different photos on it, one of them is of my double page spread promoting it, one is of a girl dressed quite fashionable, one of the boy from the double page spread suggesting he is important within this issue of the magazine, one of the girl on the front cover of the magazine also showing she is important within this issue and one of four girls; all dressed casual and similar. None of these photos are showing a negative side of teenagers, there is dominance in girls on my contents page attracting the female audience but also attracting the male as they all look nice. Most of the photos have direct address making a connection with the viewer and also shows that they have a passion for what they do which is play music. None of the photos are of the artists smiling which can make them seem moody which is a negative representation but I think they look determined and strong which is positive. Red and grey are the main colours, which are a good contrast; red can be seen as a passionate colour which shows passion once again.

My front cover I think shows a positive representation of teenage girls to the audience, there is one photo and it is of a teenage girl and she has piercing eye contact which again is drawing the audience to the magazine and doesn’t show a stereotypical ‘lazy’ teenager. She is holding a necklace with a butterfly pendant which suggests she is still a kid at heart which makes her more relatable, it also shows that she is into girly things which is hard to tell with the photo being in black and white. Her clothes are quite casual and boyish which contrasts with the girly necklace and shows she is not all about what she looks and how she dresses, it’s her music and style which is important which shows a positive representation of teenage girls.

I think my music magazine shows teenage boys and girls in positive ways, it shows their passion for music and not the stereotypically aggressive teenagers the older generation seem to think we all are. Clearly my magazine is aimed at teenagers so it would be pointless to show them in a negative way. Music magazines generally show a positive side to teenagers compared to others like gossip magazines, my magazine as well as most music magazines really highlights the passion which is positive and makes the target audience want to read it.

Evaluation- Question 1

Final front cover

This is my final front cover, I have moved a few things around, added a thicker stroke on the image of John Gould and have added some text on the left which links with my contents page, I am pleased with the result and I am glad I chose to use this image and keep it in black and white. NME magazine was my main inspiration for this, I have seen old issues of the magazine which are in black and white and thought it looked nice which was one of many reasons I chose to use black and white as well as others. I am really pleased with my front cover and think it goes well with the rest of my magazine.