Media Studies Evaluation
1. My media magazine was designed incorporating a number of media rules used in existing magazines. In particular, rules that helped me position images and text on the front cover. The first one used on he cover was the principle of thirds. This may have been more obvious if I had positioned the middle person higher on the page, so that all the eye line of people featured on the cover were level and lied on one of the thirds. This makes eye contact stand out more to draw the audience to the magazine. I also think the principle of thirds is used on the contents page to some degree in the way that the band members are positioned at the sides. This is more of a positioning reason over an attention grabbing one. This rule is not used in the magazine double spread though because it would have been difficult to use it and fit the text in at the same time.
Out of all the theories included in my magazine, one that features in all of them is the Guttenberg diagram. The contents uses this in a more conventional and obvious manner. At the top left is the page title and the page list ends at the bottom right. However although the cover uses it, it isn’t to great effect. The title is too central and in the bottom right two images are positioned of band members. It could be argued that it links the members to the magazine series rather than a one off issue though. The double uses the Guttenberg diagram to some degree in the way the text is layed out.
Balance is a major feature of the magazine as a whole. The way the colours contrast on the cover and balance out using weight (darker colours) adds a great effect to it. An example of this used on the cover is the black band across the bottom of the magazine being balanced be the large yellow font at the top the magazine. Also the person positioned in the middle of the colour is balanced by the other two band members either side in farther positions. The contents page doesn’t seem very balanced but in my opinion if it was it wouldn’t have the same effect. The double spread is balanced by dark colours in the top right corners and light colours in the bottom left.
However I didn’t just use these positioning media rules, I tried to include framing terms such as depth of field. There was a deep depth of field on the contents page (the two people at the sides not the image as the background).
The magazine also follows a consistent house style. It uses orange and yellow as a consistent colour scheme. These aren’t usual colours for a music magazine to have its colour scheme based on however I thought these were eye catching colours that fitted in with the magazines nich’e subject (rock and roll). The font is also consistent using “stencil.” Mainly because in the way I have used it in the magazine, it can be recognised by it like a logo. Another feature of the magazine is the way that the people on the cover make eye contact with the reader, similar to the way existing magazine set their covers up to.
2. My media magazine was aimed at a younger, teenage audience. The magazine doesn’t target the audience using stereotypical language or images as I think it would have narrowed the audience too much and given the wrong impression of the magazine. However the magazine can be classed as niche so it represents the audiences’ interests. The magazine is accurate but it is arguable that it can’t represent all of its audience accuratley. For example, the magazine is about rock and roll which some readers may just have as a part time hobby.
The language used in the double spread is positive about the magazines subject (rock and roll) and as result gives a positive representation overall. The article tries to advise the reader to stay humble even if their life takes a positive direction. “We owe what we have to them (the fans) and try to repay them for their loyalty” is an example of a quote that backs up this statement. An apparent weakness in the double spread is the lack of depth the interview goes into with each person in the interviewed band. This could be seen as an argument for why the magazine represents its audience so positivley.
There is an element of representing the audience as a bit rebelious as the colour scheme isn’t a conventional formal one. It uses bright colours to stand out from other magazines. The type face “stencil” is very similar to modern graffitti which could also be seen as a negative representation.
3. Examples I researched for my magazine came from the magazine “Classic Rock.” This was because it was a similar niche magazine to what I had decided to do. Because of this the same distributors of this magazine (which are ), would distribute my magazine. However niche magazines are normally subscribed to because of their smaller audiences so mine probably would be as well.
4. The audience for this magazine are teenagers aged around 15-19. I think this is a suitable age to aim the magazine at because although it doesn’t contain any inappropriate or offensive language that isn’t suitable for a younger audience but the actual subject of the magazine appeals to the chosen age range. As a result it could be aimed at a younger audience interested in music as well. The magazine is nich’e focusing on the rock music genre. This type of music isn’t particulary aimed at a specific gender so I didn’t feel the need to do that to my magazine and therefore narrow down the audience at that level. However in the proposal I did say it may be aimed more at the male gender. This was because more males filled in the questionnaires than females. But then again it was just a vague plan and I did say the colour scheme would be orange and red as well and now it’s orange and yellow so that text is easier to read. The language of the magazine is simplistic so that anyone can understand and appealing to an audience not as interested in reading as well.
Although the band in the magazine isn’t real the magazine isn’t aimed at a local area and instead a more varied national one.
5. The target audience will initially favour the magazine because they would like the rock and roll theme. However because this is a nich’e magazine it needs to maximise as many potential readers as it can get.
A wider audience is attracted to the magazine through a number of methods. The initial one is the colour scheme. Orange and yellow are bright colours that stand out against existing magazines of the same subject and attract the audience directly to it. Another feature is the way the band members on the cover are positioned to make it seem as though they have constant eye contact with someone looking at it. This draws people in to lookat the magazine further especially if the person making eye contact is someone recognisable or famous (not in this magazine). Cover lines and feature articles with a reference to their page number on the cover are another form of drawing in an audience. The magazine uses guidelines such as the Gutternburg Diagram so that the reader is attracted to the magazine cover but then wants to read the articles inside as well. My magazine doesn’t use the full potential of the primary optical area because the top of the magazine is more spread out. However the cover does feature three story headlines in the terminal area so that it is the last part the reader will see, they will remember. Once somebody has noticed the magazine because of one of the previous methods they notice a cover line they are interested in and go to that page to see if they are interested in the magazine.
6. This media product was made using two programs. These were Photoshop and Publisher. I used photoshop to create the cover and contents page of my magazine. This because of the way images and text can be positioned or overlapped using layers. Photoshop is a difficulter program to operate in comparison to Publisher but has more capabilities. It allowed me to alter image contrast and colour so that if a picture I had took for my magazine was too dark it could brightened to make it more visible. I also prefered making mastheads and coverlines on the program because there was more variety and more effects could be added e.g. Adding an outline to them.
Using Photoshop on the contents allowed me to make an image of someones head transparent allowing it to be a background and at the same time writable and readable on. Resizing images in Photoshop also gave a better result than in Publisher because the images didn’t pixelate as much.
The dobuble spread was created using Publisher. This offered numerous benefits such as positioning images, text and boxes. The main reason I used it for the double spread is because it was easier to set up to A3 paper layout. Using Photoshop it is more difficult to position images so that they aren’t where the page folds where as Publisher offers pre set guidelines. Publisher also offers preset shapes and diagrams which could be included in the double. An example of where this was used was on the orange boxes behind the text so that it was easy to read and met the colour scheme. It was also easier to position and manipulate items on the program in comparison to Photoshop.
Elements such as removing the back ground of images on the double spread couldn’t be done using only Publisher so a combination of Publisher and Photoshop was used. I think this technological skill was the most valuable learned for the subject media because it allows me to cut out images and remove the background in both programs depending on the project breif.
7. Over the project I have learnt many new skills and improved on existing ones. Using “Photshop” was a skill that I had before the project although I do think that I’ve improved using the program. Simple things such as ones mentioned earlier e.g. adding an outline to text. When comparing the preliminary task created in the program to the final magazine there is an obvious difference in quality down to the skills I learned in the subject. So learning how to use all the capabilities of the program better made a difference.
Once I’d completed the preliminary task I also had a better understanding of how to frame the initial pictures and what sort of background to take them on. I learnt that using a plane coloured background an image is easier to cut out. Learning shots such as close ups, and mid shots improved the quality of picture a lot.
The next area of media we learnt about was the main three rules: Guttenburg Diagram, Principle of Thirds and symetry. In my preliminary project these were vaguely used without knowing it, however having learnt it before my final magazine layout it altered it a lot. The places where cover lines on the final magazine cover were placed weren’t at random; they were at the primary and terminal optical area to maximise audience interest. My preliminary task had a large white background which, looking back makes it seem unbalanced by the colour. The blue may have matched it in darkness however there wasn’t enough of it.
Also the preliminary task isn’t consistent or in a house style where as the magazine does. As a result the final magazine is a lot more organized and recognisable to say someone who would subscribe to it (which for this magazine is more probable because it is niche).