When constructing my contents page i found it more difficult than my front page. This is because our school magazine does not have a contents page. I wanted to keep a sense of simplicity to make it understandable and clear for teenage readers. I also wanted something that would stand out and sustain their interest. I used an image at the bottom of the page of some year 11 leavers getting their shirts signed. This would increase the interest of my teen audience, and therefore encourage them to read on. I simply placed my articles in boxes, and used the free transform tool to slightly slant them. The font used is simple, yet my boxes are of varying sizes to attract the eye of my readers.

Preliminary task- front page

When constructing my front page i had to take into account the conventions of my original school magazine aswell as the needs of my target audience. After conducting a questionnaire based on the needs of my target audience (students aged 11-18) i found that 83% percent of this audience were more interested in humorous articles rather than serious ones. Based on this i included humorous articles about interviews with the teachers for example "Liddel: on life love and lasagne" aswell as "Teachers biggest fears". I found that 79% of my target audience would read my magazine. I decided to use blocks of text in coloured boxes rather than a page of text as used on our original school magazine. This was to increase the interest of my target audience. I felt that i needed to also include various images to sustain this interest. I included pictures of the year 11 prom that took place in summer, aswell as a picture of one of the science teachers at school to highlight the article about him. I feel that although my magazine appeals to a teen audience, i would need to keep some conventions of the traditional school magazine. I did this by keeping the school logo and slogan at the top of the page.

Seventh evaluation question- Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

I believe that my knowledge in technologies, ability to research, and appealing to target audiences has drastically increased since i did my preliminary task. For this task, i have researched my target audiences needs alot more thoroughly. I have also looked at existing magazines and have been able to use some of their conventions for my own products. I have realised how important it is to create a connection with the reader, and make sure that everything is positioned and designed appropriatley to appeal to their needs. In terms of technology, my knowlegdge of photoshop has expanded. I now know alot more tools available to me when using photoshop, and have been able to use them in creating my own products.

Sixth evaluation question- What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

From constructing my final product i have learnt a great deal about the photoshop software. I had not used this software before constructing my final products, so had to learn how to use it. Fortunatley, i was able to get access to photoshop at home on my own computer, but it was a different version to the photoshop i had been using at school during my lessons. This faced me with a difficulty, as i had to learn how different things worked that i may not have used in one of the photoshop versions, and things were set out differently.

Primarily, i needed to be able to use the magnetic lassoe tool as a large part of my work involved cutting out images. I found this tool difficult to use as it requires patience and steadiness. Eventually i was able to use this to place images i had already cut out on to different backgrounds as seen in my final products.

The gradient tool was fairly important for me as the backgrounds i used in my front page and contents page had a faded effect. This tool was effective in choosing a balance of colour, creating the right contrast with the content of my page.

I learnt how to use the exposure tool to fade images, as seen in my double page spread. This tool was difficult to use as it appeared complicated at first with various levers that i could slide up and down. Eventually, i combined the exposure balance level with that of the offset, and managed to fade my picture to an appropriate level.

I also became familar with the free transform tool, which was fundamental in creating my final products as it helped me resize and reposition them.

Fifth evaluation question-How did you attract/adress your audience?

I have attracted my audience through various techniques such as use of colour, literary technique, layout and models.

Firstly, the colour scheme i used is fairly vibrant, therefore can attract teenagers who are likely to gain a sustained interest in bright colours.

Secondly, the use of models was effective in attracting the attention of my target audience. The models i used were of the teenage generation, therefore act as an aspiration for my readers. The unique dress sense and outrageous poses of my models will grab the attention of my readers as my models are not stereotypical. However, they do conform to the rock genre in that they play rock music, as indicated by their instruments. They also dress in a fashion that conforms to the culture of rock. This will increase the interest of my readers and they will want to read on.

As seen on the left, the font i used for my masthead appears to be slightly faded. This breaks the conventions of more sophisticated magazines where the font would not be block capitals, nor would it be faded. This differentiation increases the interest of my readers, and is almost a type of subliminal rebellion.

I used literary techniques like "Loves london" and "WIN!" to attract my readers attention. The informal langauge is proven to interest teenagers, and this can be proved by the success of informal music magazines such as Kerrang, NME and Q.

Fourth evaluation question- Who would be the audience for your media product?

My intention was to create a final product that would attract both males and females of the teenage audience. I feel that i have been successful in doing this by using a diverse range of models, both male and female, aswell as using stories that could appeal to both sexes for example local gigs. Specifically my magazine will be aimed at ages 15-21. In my final products i use several conventions of music magazines that are aimed at teenagers. I did research on magazines aimed at this age specifically because i knew that i would be aiming my product at this audience. In magazines aimed at adults, i've found that they appear more simplistic and may bore teenagers. To avoid this, i have tried to make my final products fairly "busy" and rich in visual information. However, i have tried to make them clear and easy to understand. I feel that by having images of male and female models distributed evenly around my three final products i have been succesful in creating a product that would draw attention of both genders.

Third evaluation question-What kind of media institution might distribute your media product why?

I feel that in order to distribute my magazine effectively I would have to use a well-known company, so that I can trust it's reliability. http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/ deal with the distribution and publishing of magazines like "Kerrang" so I know that my magazine could be effectively distributed with this company. Also, I feel that this company would be successful because they have had experience in targetting the teenage audience. I can measure the success of this company by the success of magazines like "Kerrang" and how well it has appealed to teenagers.

http://www.specialistmags.co.uk/atoz.php?letter=i&sal=index would be another company I would consider using to distribute my magazine. This company have dealt with media distribution worldwide, particularly of magazines. I feel that the professionalism and popularity of this company could result in a high success rate for my magazine. This company have had experience in distributing magazines to shops like WH smith, Tesco and Morrisons.