Evaluation for question 7.
- 1. 7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel that you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? A LOT!
- 2. 2 This was my first music student magazine contents page. I have not used any of my own images in this. It therefore lacks creativity and an ability to use appropriate tools such as an SLR camera, software such as Adobe Photoshop to address an audience, also. I have learnt that writing 'page number' etc is unnecessary and saves space. The colours used are very basic and little experimentation are shown- a key skill, I feel that is needed in the construction of any media product. The layout seems very simplistic and it is limited in that it provides no extra information to, at least, some articles. My initial thoughts of how my contents page would look like saw a remarkable change, one that was influenced greatly on professionalism. From my research analysis I had realised that Hip-Hop magazines do not follow this kind of layout, it was mostly columned with one or two images. I also realised that I would restrict the number of article heading I would be able to put, and this is a considerable issue because it is a monthly issue. These two drafts clearly lacked magazine conventions and simply, as peers commented; had not enough articles for a monthly issue. Furthermore, the mise-en-scene was similar to that of the DPS image and a greater variety and mixture of mise-en- scene and costumes was needed to make this contents page appealing. The two images at the bottom, part of the guess who competition, was repudiated as being ‘unusual’ and rather absurd looking to tthat of a Hip-Hop magazine. The editors note, suggested by the class teacher, took too much space and could be used for more article headings or images.
- 3. 3 My final contents page saw a seismic change in its layout to that of my initial sketch. The content pages shows a mixture of colours used in a more effective way as a pose to my music magazine. I have used fonts that are a more suited to my target audience which I download from the internet. From the grey limited colours down to the very bright one highlights the experimentation I had to do get a good balance of colours. However they should have been sectioned of more clearly so it they be could be easily identified with the article or I could have inserted page numbers for e.g. on the images. This contents page has more of a layout but lacks the simplicity of a Hip-Hop magazine. The colours perhaps could have been more appealing and could have been more 'HipHop' looking.
- 4. This music magazine front cover has limited sell lines which would not attract the intended target audience. Furthermore, all the fonts are one colour which seems dull. The image has not been cropped properly as such the layout does not flow. This is because it seems weird how the bottom part of the model has been cropped. The magazine undermines it’s ability to sell as there is no barcode and price. In addition to this, the magazine doesn’t have a logo demonstrating how irrespective and how it had not been considerate to its target audience in missing out these key features. The colour scheme seems inappropriate to the genre of Hip- Hop, especially the orange because it stands out too much, making it look like a magazine aimed at a smaller group. The bicycle at the bottom of 'Chigwell' seemed to have served no purpose. A torso shot in this case would miss detailed facial expression and aspects such as clothing would have been a distraction to the audience. The brick background would have destroyed the central focus and risk the magazine’s ability to look professional. More sell lines could have been put in place. Also the red doesn't seem to flow. Furthermore, the picture seems, as commented by my class teacher, out of focus. In addition, the background behind the masthead could have been a different colour as it seems odd?, to some extent, as commented by peers.
- 5. 5 My intial sketch for my DPS, was rather simplistic. The idea of having three images that are the same, being different views, would have wasted space and would be unnecessary. One image would be better. Also, the positioning of this would look rather odd- unprofessional like. The sectioning of the text into 3 columns would not work since it would be too small for the fitting of the text. No enlarged quote section has been sketched which would make the text look too dense.This is shown in the first draft of my DPS underwhich i have made the neccessary changes. In the first draft of my DPS the dark blue font was difficult to read. This needed to be changed. The DPS title was not the greatest and didn't really match the article as such. This is because the article is about Joe's succesful debut into the music industry and the title does not suggest this.
- 6. 6 The final DPS could have been more attractive with extra photography and devlopment. For example as the article title is 'Rolling Juggernaut' the model could have been in different positions . This is also because the most attractive part of a DPS according to my research analysis are images. The dollar sign background could have more been transparent so that the enlarged quote could be read more easily.The enlarged quote used to break the article which would have looked better if it was red as this would show a continous use of colours. The texts of the column are not straight. This shows a lack in layout, underwhich I experienced critism from the class teacher.