Prelim Evaluation

1.      When designing my college magazine I searched for other professional magazine covers that I could use for inspiration. The main example that I chose to follow was Vogue magazine. I decided to chose this magazine as the main sell lines are featured predominantly on the left hand side, I think that this is important for a magazine as we read left to right and would therefore immediately stand out to potential buyers. The mast head of my magazine is conventionally different as the position of my model would have clashed with it. I therefore decided to move it to the bottom and make it stand out with a band of contrasting colour in the background. My magazine and Vogue are different as my student model is left of the front cover whereas the vogue model is central breaking the 4^th wall with the readers. I decided to place my model in this position because it is a college magazine and I wanted to make this obvious with the prop of a book, in order to attract many different ranges of students at the college. The mid shot of the model also makes the readers relate with the model and increases the chance of students buying the product. However, the complete opposite of the Vogue model appears more glamorous and chic but I did not think that doing this would satisfy my target audience and purpose of the magazine. The use of lighting is High Key lighting and in my opinion creates an idealistic opinion of college where everyone studies together and looks fashionable and creates hysteria around the image. I chose my model to wear the outfit that she did as it is casual, practical and what regular college students would wear however, as there are many sections in the magazine based around fashion I made sure that the outfit was recent and popular so that it would appeal to both sexes in different ways broadening the target audience. Jennifer (model and student) is wearing a white top which connotates innocence for a college magazine and makes her look studious. In reflection, I think that the sell lines on my magazine would have benefitted from being a darker colour as they appear to blend in with the colours on the image however; I chose the colour purple as it contrasts with the white background and it connotates royalty and to show the interesting topics featured inside the magazine.  The language that I have used in the sell lines include some abbreviations, E.G ‘Gossip’ as the target audience would relate to this and probably use them themselves however, mine differs to Vogue as my magazine is not a competitively well known fashion magazine.

 The contents of my magazine is completely unconventional, I used the reveal magazine as an example, therefore I included an editors letter as I thought it was important as it was the first issue after the summer holidays.  I added three columns as I thought it would be easier to read and break up the topics. However, I would probably only do two looking back. I decided to use the same colour scheme as the front cover, as they are the college colours and by doing this it would avoid clashes in colour. I decided to use a different font that was more like handwriting as it appeared more inviting and personal. The topics down the left side are really the most important as they are what’s inside. However, I would edit this differently by using a larger font and page numbers, I did not do this as a result of a difficulty with technology. I used three images that represented the topics of the sell lines in order to give a direct insight to the stories to come, and to further advertise them to the reader. To improve the contents page I would follow conventions further and include different models from other social groups in order to attract more students.

2.      My magazine was not a particular representation of any social group and was not only supposed to attract one group of people. Looking at video footage of different social groups I have decided that my model appears to be Indie, however, she does appeal to many other groups for a number of reasons; being pretty, fashionable and to some extent is a general stereotype of the American prom queen, (blonde, pretty). I decided to use Jennifer as my model as overall I believed that she would sell more magazines than limiting the target audience by putting a ‘Goth’ on the front cover. After looking more closely at my magazine I have decided to think that the magazine is more likely to appeal to female students rather than males as a result of the colour tones, text language and topics featured in the magazine. Therefore, to improve and make it appeal to males I would include subjects such as sports and music.

3.      The magazine is really targeted at college students so from the age of 15-19, girls and boys as it uses young language and includes college related topics. The target audience would be for students that are interested in college related gossip, prom photo’s, and help keeping on top of things if they are in their first year. Most teenagers are interested in similar topics however music genres are different and so are opinions and fashion tastes so it was difficult to appeal to all audiences. The magazine had to also appeal to all social classes, so therefore the language couldn’t be too intellectual, and ‘far fetched’.

4.      I attracted my audience by using a pretty model on the front cover of my magazine, of a similar age of the target audience so that they can relate to the model. Young, trendy colours were used as they can draw attention to the magazine and intrigue the target audience. The casual yet fashionable costume of the model is extremely important in attracting the audience as it can make females aspire to be like them and attract males to the physical appearance of the model. The less formal language used on the front cover is ideal for teenagers as they don’t especially speak sophisticatedly, stereotypically.

5.      By making this magazine I have learnt a lot about different technologies, how to use; photo shop to design the front cover, In design for the positioning of the contents and photos, professional camera equipment that I used to take my pictures, the apple macs, and blog spot in which the required element gets uploaded to. I feel that by using these software programmes my product has benefitted as it looks more professional and attractive to readers. The use of all of these programmes I believe will help me at University if I study media or a related subject as it is professional and will look good on my reference.