Evaluation

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

To understand what my magazine would need to make it appealing to my audience I needed to know and understand the conventions within a magazine, to achieve this I researched conventions of magazines. I studied several different types "Cosmopolitan" generally aimed towards the female audience. "Karrang" a music magazine catering for fans of rock and punk. "Empire" for all the movie lovers out there. I studied these different styles of magazine so that it would make it easier to pick out the conventions within it. Such as; Issue number, date, price (which incidentally I forgot), barcode, main image, masthead, strapline, font and colour consistency.

* How does your Media product represent particular social groups?

With my college magazine being that a college magazine it has to represent students. To portray the students of Wyke college I used a student from Wyke to help me with my production. The clothes in which my model uses are strict laboratory equipment therefore doesn't cause discrimination based on what my model wears to my audience.

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

The institution that would be more likely to distribute my magazine would be the college, as my target audience is Wyke students therefore it makes sense that distributing them there would sell more copies. However students parents may want copies of the magazine, along with students or teachers from other colleges perhaps. This could be because they are interested or want to compete against the magazine.

* How did you attract your audience?

I attracted my audience by designing my cover to stand out and attract more attention possibly making more people buy it. I changed stories that could be quite possibly boring and make them come across as interesting. I edited my image making it look 'cooler' then it once would have thus maybe sparking interest in some people. I used bright colours and large text so that it stands out.

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

I have learned how to use several different technologies due to constructing this product, some I hadn't used before others I have expanded my knowledge on. I used Microsoft publisher previously but using it more I learned new things. I also used paint again which I had previously used. I had never used photoshop and was a little intimidated by it at first though once I got used to how it worked I found it pretty simple to use. Blogger was also a new experience for me I have never had a blog before even on websites such as myspace I hadn't really used it.

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

Throughout the progression of the preliminary task I have expanded my knowledge on a number of different computer programmes. I have learned a lot about the media and how conventions of magazines that I once took for granted all mean something and takes a lot of thought and effort to create something that will attract a target audience. The knowledge and skill that I have learned will also help me in my main task.