My Products

Evaluation Q1

Evaluation Q2

Evaluation Q3

Evaluation Q4

I also used my own camera to take the pictures for my product. The camera I used was a Canon EOS 600D Digital SLR camera with an 18-55mm lens

Evaluation Q5

How did you attract/address your audience?

I researched different dance music magazines to see what styles the cover, contents page, and double page spread adopt. This enabled me to see what kind of things dance music magazines feature on their covers etc. I also took inspiration from one of mixmag's many different styles so I knew it would attract my audience.

Dance music magazine covers are always very colourful because they want to reflect the environment where dance music is most prominent - in clubs. Each mixmag cover has a colourful house style, for example; purple, white and black - red, white and black - yellow, white and black.

To attract the same kind of audience, I used a similar style to another mixmag cover:

 I felt this was a good idea because these kind of styles obviously work in attracting an audience because mixmag is "The World's Biggest Dance and Clubbing Magazine". For my product, I used similar fonts to those found on dance music magazine, and I used a colourful house style; red, white and black.

 To ensure I have attracted the correct audience, I asked members of my target audience some questions regarding the front cover:

1. What genre is my magazine?

2. Is my front cover conventional?

3. Is my audience well represented on the cover?

4. When you first look at the cover, what stands out to you?

5. Would you buy the magazine?

Evaluation Q6

Evaluation Q7

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

Preliminary Task - College Magazine     Main Task - Music Magazine

For my preliminary task, I had to plan and create a college magazine, following the codes and conventions of college magazines. This was to prepare us and give us an idea of what we would have to do to create the front cover, contents page, and double-page spread for a music magazine. Also, by doing the preliminary task, I was able to develop my already sound Photoshop skills even further, which definitely helped when constructing my final front cover. The following picture shows the skills I have developed from the preliminary task and throughout the main task:

Doing the preliminary task and constructing the college magazine taught me a number of things.It showed me the importance of having a good photograph because the photograph on my college magazine if pretty bad because some parts are over-exposed, which is not particularly good for a magazine cover photo. Also, it showed me that I needed to have more sell lines that are smaller in size, because I only have two on my college cover and they are too big so they take up a lot of room. Also, the model's clothes do not go with the house style, whereas on my music magazine cover, they do. After researching music magazines that were of the same genre as mine, I realised that they had a lot of sell lines that were quite small so I needed to do the same to follow the conventions of music magazines.

Comparing My Products

Comparative Table

This table shows that I used a good range of conventions on both covers, but the quality and conventional placement of each convention on both magazines differs, with the quality and placement of course being a lot better on my music magazine. The conventions on my college magazine are lacking heavily in quality and good placement.

Evaluation Questions

1. In What Ways Does Your Media Product Use, Develop or Challenge Forms and Conventions of Real Media Products?

2. How Does Your Media Product Represent Particular Social Groups?

3. What Kind of Media Institution Might Distribute Your Media Product & Why?

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

6. What Have You Learnt About Technologies From The Process of Constructing This Product?

7. Looking Back At Your Preliminary Task, What Do You Feel You Have Learnt In The Progression From It To The Full Product?

How I Made My Double Page Spread

How I Made My Front Cover

Third draft of my front cover

Double Page Spread First Draft

Contents page 1st draft

Second draft of front cover

Unused front cover images

At first I wanted to have my model holding a guitar but I was visualising what it would look like on the front cover, in my head and realised that it would not look very good or of a professional standard so I decided against using this prop in my shots. I wanted to use a prop in my image but as the genre is dance music, it is difficult to know what to use that is available because artists do not really use instruments.

I decided that a medium close-up shot of the model's head would fit with my layout because there is sufficient space around the model's head to place the magazine conventions. Having said that, this picture is not a good picture because the pose is not really a good one for my type of magazine so I decided not to use this one.

I was going to use this image for the same reasons as the previous image but the pose is not an appropriate one for my type of magazine.