Sophie's Evaluation :P lul: January 2014

Preliminary Task to Now, and How I Have Improved

The Preliminary Task allowed me to notice and recognise the conventions of a magazine page. Through this I was able to convert these traits into my own magazine to enhance the believablility. I used these traits to my advantage, and I used them effectively - such as using pull quotes to entice the reader, and sell lines to attract attention from a wider range of people.

I was also able to recognise the importance of audience feedback. From seeing that if I had used advice of those I was trying to target my problems page would have been more effective and realistic.
For example, I learned the importance in colour scheme and house style - and that if the whole layout and theme doesn't correspond with each other then it doesn't look professional or thought out - which is not what I wanted. Furthermore I was able to deduce the importance of font and how that can appeal to my target audience - I used this to my advantage by keeping these things close in mind when making vital decisions about my magazine.

From making the problems page I was able to see which software was best for what; helping me to reduce time-wasting. This really helped me because I was short on time towards finishing my final pieces and without that help beforehand I wouldn't have finished in time - hereby enabling me to use more advanced software such as Adobe InDesign to enhance the quality of my magazine pages and make the whole thing more believable. Through this software the knowledge my Preliminary Task gave me beforehand, I was enable to make my magazines look more like products from the real media.

Before and After Photos - Feature Article (Screen Grab)

Before and After Photos - Front Cover and Contents Page

Front Cover:

Contents Page:

The Use of Technology

I used Adobe InDesign to make the magazine look professional and realistic. I developed many skills through the use of this programme - such as how to use the software effectively and how to notice the traits of an effective magazine through the appearance of my own.

I used a Canon SLR Camera to take my photos - I developed my photography skills with this camera because it's an advanced camera and so I had to develop my skills in order to get the high standard photos I wanted.

I used Pixlr Express to edit my photos. This website had many different ways in which to edit my images, and so to develop my skills I had to play around with the website to gain some experience and knowledge of which effect does what. Through trial and improvement I was able to gain good skills in the website, and so was able to edit my photos to a good quality standard.

Editing Tutorial

How Pacific Appeals to my Target Audience

Pacific appeals to my target audience in the way that it is structured and in the tone of language that is used. It is informal language but produced in a formal way - making it easy to read but knowing that this a professional magazine is running through the readers mind too.
My readership is very eager to be kept up with whats new, not just what artists are new but what is new with older artists. This way they are able to keep with both ends of the musical spectrum - making them more eager to read the rest of my magazine. This is done through keeping the pull quotes vague and making the artist's summaries on the front cover and the contents page enough to give you a glimpse into the article's content but not enough to give away the better details - this is what keeps my readership coming back.
With regards to the house style, repetitiveness is strongly against to my readership. Being wilder and more rebellious than most other magazine's audiences they like to be kept on their toes, and so having the same thing written many times over isn't appealing - through this deduction the masthead was kept off of the contents page.
My target audience is appealed to my magazine because of the images - clear and concise. No blurs or bad editing, but pictures that are memorable and simple - showing off their assets. Henry's tattoo's for example are a massive hit with my readership, because they all like tattoo's and piercings, and so they are more in tune with Henry than a different audience might be.
The font attracts my readership, being easy to read and not overly quirky allows them to be impressed with the simplicity of the body text along with the fact that some magazines of a similar audience and genre go over the top in trying to be 'different', and this magazine makes different look effortless.
On the front cover especially, words such as 'exclusive' and 'us' make the audience feel as though they are involved with the creating of the magazine and so they will have something of an emotional attatchment to it. Through this use of language we are making them think that they are the first and only ones to recieve this information and so they come back for more to find out the latest gossip and information on their favourite artists and who is playing at which festival etc. This attracts my target audience because, as stated earlier, they are eager to keep up with what is new, and what better way to do that than with something that you are familiar and comfortable with.

The Audience for My Product

The audience for my product hasn't much changed throughout the creative process. The target audience has extended to older people (now 16 - 28), due to the mature way that my artist speaks and the layout of my magazine. It still appeals to both genders in that it has blue (associated with males) and the yellow (lighter, brighter, women find it more appealing) and then the monochrome scheme which would attract both genders. The house style still appeals to both genders, with not only the colour scheme but the layout isn't block text ('military' - masculine connotations) but it isn't swirly fonts or butterfly stickers (girly - feminine connotations). This way my audience is still wide in that both genders are interested in it, but niche in the contents that it provides the readers with.
Due to the age of Henry Belcher (my main artist) he fits in with the target audience age range, and he fits with their personality - that he is mature in conversation (older stem of the target audience) but not in the way he acts (younger stem of the target audience), the way he dresses can appeal to all areas of the target audience because he stays with the fashion but not so much that he wears the same thing as everyone else - through this he is able to stand out and so the rebellious parts of the target audience are more in tune with his decisions. Henry's personality is able to attract all areas of the target audience, being good looking he attracts women, being funny he attracts men, being mature he attracts older audiences and also through the tone of language that he uses.
Through this analysis I can conclude that the target audience for my product hasn't really changed - only the fact that a larger age range is able to be interested in the magazine has been altered through the creative process.