Evaluation (School Magazine)

Preliminary Task- School Magazine 

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

• For my media preliminary task I have been set to design a school magazine. For this particular task I had to produce a front cover accompanied with a contents page. I feel that the final look develops the form of the chosen media product, it has a typical look for any general magazine and features what is expected, from the the image and its size, where it is placed, the title, wording and headings. To fit the conventions of a magazine I added additional features such as the issue number and date; making it that more realistic.Throughout the layout of  my magazine both front cover and contents page I used a designing technique called the rule of three which is placing items of the page into thirds. Using this simple yet effective method shows that in my media product conventions and forms are not challenged. With that I did try something different with my photographs by cropping them ovals with a boarder, instead of just placing the pictures. I wanted something a bit dynamic as well as different. Through the magazine I wanted to portray the school as fun and welcoming.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

• Any type of media product will appeal to certain groups. The school I  used/ created for this task is a new school so I wanted the look to be new, modern and fresh but the content is going to be informing and something that will be beneficial for groups who have children and looking for a school. So therefore can relate to both generations. I have used warm friendly colours which are inviting. However on the other hand the font used may at first glance look more appropriate for girls and classed as feminine.And a couple of people have picked this up whilst looking at my design. My main reason for selecting that particular font as I personally thought it  will relate to school because it has a handwritten look. And my font research led to this. So in future design making this is something that I will need to think about as my aim is to attract families for young people. 

What type of media institution might distribute your media product and why? 

• For this type of product I would need a publisher to distribute copies. So for a school magazine there are a number of options. It can be done through the school itself and this will be positively the cheaper method however since the school is new, they are not publically known so it will be difficult to get the product out. Alternatively they can go through the council and I think that this is the best option. I think that through the local council they can target areas near the school and also they can be distributed in other institutions that are owned by the council for exhale leisure centres and libraries. Since the magazine is not selling for a price and the purpose is to inform about the new school another option could be distributed through local 'freebies'. So for Rotherhithe Technology College it would be Southwark News. However the school would need to get permission and get in contact with the newspaper also using a newspaper to help distribute magazines, the scale of the amount of magazine the school can actually print out also need to be considered. On the other hand will be a good way to reach a wide range of people. 

Who would be the audience of your media product? 

• The main audience for this product is parents of 11- 16 year olds. As they will approving for their child to educate at this newly opened school. But at the same time will be a product that will attract the prospect pupils themselves. So therefore mainly the magazine is for families with young children between the age of eleven and sixteen. The magazine is not gender specific and the aim is to appeal to both males and females. As the school is located in Rotherhithe the magazine is targeted for families within this local area- this links in with the is idea that copies should be distributed in Southwark newpapers. So by trying to appeal to different social groups I have not so much differed from the normal magazine construct but through the photographs tried to give off the impression of a fun filled school. 

How did you attract/address your audience? 

• Mainly during this task I wanted to attract my target  audience through the photographs used, and the way they have been edited and put together on the page. The pose of the front cover photograph I think is one of the most important components of my work. The picture feature on the front cover is the first thing that will notice and see of the magazine so this must make a positive impact. So through the particular chosen pose in the photo I wanted to portray the image of a school that is inviting, fun and a school for everyone and follow up my original plan at the start of the course:

The picture used for my front cover has a inviting simile additionally the pose is open adding to the inviting concept. The colours of clothing and the background again add to this effect and to convey this emotion.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
 [SEE SLIDE SHOW]

BLOGGER: During this task I have been using a blog to display my process of the making of my school magazine. This is my first time creating a blog and I think I adjusted quite well to it. It is quick to learn how to use. I have had to ensure that I have communicated clearly to readers of the blog, through what I have written, imagery and slide shows.  Through using this networking site I have most firstly improved on communicating skills and learnt how to express ideas in different ways.

PICASA: This is a software allows you to organise, edit and share photos. Regards to my coursework I used this programme to manipulate my original photographs. It is a similar programme to Photoshop. However I have used this programme before making this magazine and therefore a programme I am familiar with and could use at the best of my advantage. 


InDESIGN: This computer software was new to me, and I was advised to use this programme for the actual designing for my front cover and contents page. It took a period of time to get used to. There are a number of tools and icons that I had to learn in order to use the programme to benefit me as much as possible. With this programme I chose the font for my logo and text used in my designs, I placed boarders around particular photographs and also cropped photo graphs too, which I can apply to future designs.


PHOTOSHOP: Similarly to Picasa I used to this computer software to edit the photographs I had taken, Since I had not used Photoshop before it did take time for me to adjust to the various tools. As it was part of the Adobe package it became easier to use as the two programmes have similar tools.  Having two programmes to edit my  photos is an advantage as I do things with photoshop I couldnt do on Picasa.


Not only did I learn how to use various computer programmes for this task, for the photos themselves I learnt about lighting and shadows in my photographs and this is something that I would need to improve in future tasks.