1. Evaluation
Erin MacCallam

2. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
On my front cover I have stuck closely to conventions used on ‘Guitarist’ magazine, for example the colour schemes and the layout, as they have a similar target audience to my product. I have changed it slightly though I have gone for slightly darker colours than that media product would use because I want to portray a mysteriousness about the genre and the magazine itself to intrigue readers.
On the contents page I have tried to keep it as simple as possible while keeping it stylish because from the research I have done this would appeal to my target audience. This is different from most magazine contents pages as they tend to have a lot more information included.

3. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
From the beginning of my research and planning I had stated that I wanted to aim my product at older adults who are relatively wealthy and extremely passionate about music. I wanted to make sure there was a theme of sophistication running through the design and layout of the magazine because that is what would appeal to my target audience and ultimately a reflection of who they are. The band represent middle –higher class people as they are smartly dressed and are holding expensive instruments and they represent the group of people who would read and be interested in my magazine.

4. Who would be the audience of your media product?
The audience for my product would be people between the age of who are middle class and would most likely work in either the A or B job category. They would be wealthy because they would have to be able to afford the instruments that are included and highly regarded in my magazine. My target audience would also be very passionate about music especially the genre of jazz but more interested in factual information rather than gossip about the celebrities. The target audience is also people who play music themselves (as I have included pages about improving your playing) and people who understand the differences between the brands of musical instruments I have included.

5. What kind of media institution might release your product and why?
A media institution that is likely to release my product is Future plc because they publish magazines that have a similar style to my magazine such as ‘Guitarist’. Their magazines are more widely focused on being formal and factual rather than full gossip and rumours and that is what I aimed to achieve in my final product. My final product is aimed at more niche audience than ‘Guitarist’ is, however some fans of the ‘Guitarist’ will be interested in jazz and the style of my product therefore the audience can be easily transferred between the two.

6. What have you learned about technologies from the process of constructing your product?
Throughout the process of constructing my product I have learnt that not everything goes exactly how you want it to. The first technical difficulty that I came across was the issue of having a black background in my photographs meaning I could not have any black writing which is what I wanted on my contents page. On Adobe photoshop I learnt how to crop the model out of the background and place him onto a new white background so that I could include black writing. This was difficult because I also had to blur the edges to make sure it didn’t look too photoshopped but I was happy with the end result! Luckily I found InDesign simple to use and understood how to use each tool to create the look I was hoping for. I also managed to find out the exact numerals to create the colour gold so I was able to include gold on my front cover and double page spread. However one other difficulty encountered, was adding the photographs because the software made them stretch, but one of my peers knew how to alter this and with a few attempts of cropping and rearranging, the pictures eventually fitted together perfectly, aligning well with my text. Overall I really enjoyed creating my product on Adobe photoshop and Indesign and would definitely use those software's again.

7. How did you attract/address your audience?
I attracted my target audience by making sure I used a colour scheme, layout and specific content that would appeal to them the most. I chose to use a colour scheme of dark reds, golds, and blacks because I found out from my questionnaire that this would be the most appealing colour scheme for a factual jazz music magazine.
I also made sure the musical instruments were a focal point in my photographs because that is what my target audience would be most interested in and the instruments would be the main selling point. Therefore I edited the colour and contrast on the images to make sure the instruments really stood out. As well as the colour scheme, I appealed to my target audience through the font and layout of the product. I made sure I used a serif font to give connotations of sophistication, and used a small variety of serif fonts to keep the audience intrigued (rather than just using one font). In terms of layout I made sure that it wasn’t overcrowded, I wanted it to look simple but stylish because that is what would appeal to my target audience the most.

8. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Since constructing my preliminary task I have definitely progressed in design and layout. I have learnt that it is important to stick to one colour scheme that appeals. I have also learnt to use at least 2 different fonts on my front cover to make different texts stand out. As well as the actual design I have learnt to use Adobe InDesign to the best of my ability and use the specific tools to create the look and style I was aiming for. My preliminary is aimed at young teenagers but I don’t think I designed it correctly in order to appeal to them so appealing to my target audience was something I made sure I did when constructing my final piece. I have also learnt in more depth, the importance of how codes and conventions convey meaning, therefore I constructed the design of my product with more thought on exactly what would appeal to my target audience.