Portfolio Task Evaluation
- 3. The colour scheme on these two magazine front covers are similar as both front overs contain mainly bright colours to attract readers but also make the magazine more appealing to the eye. Both Magazine Front Covers include a variety of article headings to inform the reader of what types of articles are inside the magazine. This will attract readers a it will interest them as to what is further inside the magazine. For the article headings I had chosen suitable colours which wouldn’t change the colour scheme or make it unattractive to the reader. The main image on both Magazine Front Covers is a male model standing in a casual pose. This is to make the magazine more inviting and welcoming towards the target audience. It is also to make the magazine look more appealing to the readers. The positioning of my main image has allowed me to place the article headings around the image which is similar with the codes an conventions of existing Health Magazines. The masthead on my Front Cover is placed at the top of the cover in a large red font to make the cover noticeable and attractive towards my audience which is a way of following magazines codes and conventions. The masthead of the existing front cover is also placed at the top of the front over but is slightly covered by the main image to give it a more interesting look.
- 4. The colours used on my magazine content page are also bright in order to give the magazine a more satisfying and suitable appearance to the target audience. This is following the codes and conventions of a real media product. I have made the layout of my magazines content page in a neat and tidy manner. This was to make the content page more eye pleasing but also to make it easy to read and navigate. This challenges the real media product which is featured on the right. I have included the page numbers beside the article headings but also on the images too. This also challenged the conventional content page design. I have included my images in a suitable position to make it easier for my target audience to read and navigate. This also challenges the conventions of a real media product. I have divided my content page into two section to make it easier for my audience to read and understand the information included on the content page.
- 5. The masthead of my double spread is the same as on the Front Cover and Content Page because this will make the article stand out and it will also make it more appealing to the readers. The masthead is also large to make it stand out more to engage contact with my reader. The masthead will make the readers want to know what the article is about. The main image on my double spread will make my article stand out but it will also interest my audience as it will show them the difference this teenage boy made by making one life changing decision. I have included 2 more images which are relevant to the article but they can also be motivational towards my audience. I have continued the traditional double spread article layout by making my interview in column form which will make it easier for my audience to read and understand the article. It also makes my double spread article look more professional which is important when it comes to the design. I have chosen the colour red for the questions to make them stand out but also to separate the questions from the answers. For my double spread article I have chosen a topic which is relevant to the magazine genre in order to impress my readers.
- 7. The masthead I have chosen for my Magazine shows that my media product represents particular social groups. My magazine is aimed towards teens between the ages of 16 and 20 who are interested in Health and Fitness. I included before and after images of a teenage boy on my Magazine front cover to create a connection between my magazine and the target audience which is teenage boys who are interested in Health and Fitness. This also shows that my media product represents particular social groups. For the main image I chose to have a teenage male as the model as I felt this would tell my readers more who the magazine is targeted towards. I had the model without a top as I also felt that this would tell my readers that the magazine Is about Health and Fitness. I chose an unfamiliar face as I felt that this would attract more readers because it would make my magazine different from other magazines.
- 8. My Magazine is aimed at teenage boys between the ages of 16 and 20 due to research I carried out in the early stages of my AS Media Portfolio Task. I chose to create a Magazine aimed towards male teenagers rather than male and female because I feel that I have more knowledge when it comes to males and their interest in fitness. This knowledge gave me a strong advantage when creating and pitching my magazine. I asked 10 teenage boys what they thought about the design and presentation of my magazine. I did this by creating a quick survey and then analysing the answers provided through bar charts.
- 10. From the results I have collected from the questionnaire I recently designed I have come to the conclusion that I have done the following: • Chosen a suitable and attracting main image for the Front Cover • Chosen an attractive style of fonts for my Magazine • Chosen an attractive and interesting title for my Health Magazine • Chosen a suitable and eye pleasing colour scheme for my Magazine. As you can see the fonts chosen are what were most disliked on the magazine. My magazine target audience were not fully satisfied by the fonts I have chosen. Although by the results I have received I believe I have designed an appropriate media product which is successful towards my target audience (teenage boys).
- 12. After doing research into existing magazine corporations I think that American Media Inc. and Rodale Inc. would be interested in distributing my media product for the following reasons: My media product is similar to the media products these two existing magazine corporations distribute as both companies publish successful Health Magazines. American Media Inc. publishes magazines such as National Enquirer, Star, Globe, National Examiner and Muscle & Fitness. Rodale Inc. publishes successful magazines such as Prevention, Women’s Health, Runners World, Bicycling and Organic Life. Some of the magazines mentioned previously are similar to my magazine as my magazine is about Health and Fitness. Rodale Inc. publishes more Health magazines than American Media Inc. so I think that American Media Inc. would be interested in distributing my media product as they may want to distribute more health magazines to make themselves more known in the fitness genre.
- 14. Typical Teenage Boys.Between the ages of 16 and 20. Currently in School/College. Interested in Health and Fitness. Keeps up to date with all of the latest Health and Fitness tips/advice. Enjoys reading articles on Health and Fitness. Interested in Social Media such as Facebook and SnapChat. Enjoys completing workouts and exercises. Has an interest in any sports Interested in the latest workout equipment
- 16. The Codes and Conventions I used to attract my Target Audience are: • Bright Colour Scheme – I used a bright colour scheme in order to make my Magazine Front Cover more welcoming and comforting towards my audience. • Large Masthead – I used a large masthead on my Front Cover to make the magazine stand out more but to also make it more pleasing to the readers eye. • Article Headings – I used multiple article headings in order to make the Front Cover more interesting and to give my readers an idea of what articles are inside my magazine for them to read and enjoy. • Eye contact from the model – the model is looking directly at the camera which is a way of engaging in contact with my magazines audience. • Double Spread Article Heading – I included the double spread article heading on my front over to show my audience what the article inside is about but also to make it more interesting for the audience.
- 17. To address my Target Audience I completed the following: • I used a bright colour scheme in order to make the magazine more welcoming. I used colours such as white, black, red and yellow to show that my magazine is lively towards the target audience. • I had chosen to use a typical teenage boy as my magazine model as the magazine is aimed at teenage boys and I felt that this would be the best way to engage contact with my audience but also to grab their interest. • I used a language that my target audience would be able to understand. I made sure that the magazine wasn’t boring for my audience with the use of the language. • I included images that would interest teenage boys who are interested in fitness such as a teenage boy working out.
- 19. I used Adobe Photoshop to complete the development and design of my Magazine Front Cover, Content Page and Double Spread Article. By using this I learnt how to edit images such as the contrast of images. I also learnt how to edit texts such as inserting a stroke and also Bevel and Emboss. I also learnt how to position text to make it attractive towards my audience and I was able to test out different colours on my magazine before completing the final design to see what colour scheme I was most satisfied with. I also learnt how to be able to separate the page in a way that still makes the design look appealing and attractive towards the readers.
- 22. Draft 1 Draft 2
- 23. Final
- 25. By looking back at my Preliminary Task I feel that I have developed in different ways when designing a front cover such as choosing a colour scheme, choosing fonts, photography and layout. The colour scheme choice has improved from my preliminary task and my font choice also has as the font choice in my preliminary task is more plain and the colour scheme is more dull. I feel like I have learnt more about layout as the layout has improved and it is in a better form for the readers to understand. I see that I have definitely improved in layout for the content page in the progression from my Preliminary Task to the full product as the layout of my preliminary task content page is very plain and uninteresting but the layout of my full products content page is a lot more appealing and exciting towards my audience. I have also improved in image choice as I have chosen images in my full product that are more relevant to the genre of the magazine and they let the audience know more of what the magazine is about.