Evaluation Question 7

Please listen to this podcast of my answer to question 7. Below is a transcript with images for you to look at while listening.

Question 7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

When you look at my two magazines side by side you can clearly see that one looks more professional and well made than the other. I think the areas that I have improved the most in since my preliminary task are use of colours, Time Management and product development.




In my planning for my preliminary task I only made 7 blog post whereas for my main task I made over twenty. My main task posts weren't just better because I had more of them; they were also better quality. They were shorter and more concise making it easy to track my progression in the production. In my preliminary task I didn't think much about timings, making it hard to set myself deadlines. In my main task however, I made a detailed time plan that I stuck to, thus making it easier to keep control of what I was doing and when.






My photography skills have improved since the preliminary task. As you can see, I only used one pose and location for my preliminary task, this meant that I didn't have a lot of choice when it came to selecting a cover image. I kept  this in mind when it came to taking photos  for my main task and ended up taking over 100 hundred photos, which when narrowed down to usable good quality photos, came to 25 different shot types to chose from. This helped as I had a lot of trouble choosing an appropriate cover image, without the variety of photos I would have had to my photoshoot again and waste valuable production time.

In my preliminary task I used only the magnetic lasso and shape 

tools to create my cover. This made my cover looked washed out and a bit boring. Whereas on my main cover the colours stand out more. The same can be said for my contents page. Also on my preliminary magazine, there are mistakes that you wouldn't find on a professional magazine, such as bit of background left over on the image. I however learnt from these mistakes and made sure not to make them again. 

Using InDesign in my preliminary task was a great help, as without experience I would have struggled when it came to my main task. I was glad to have a practice run where I could learn the basics and then develop my knowledge on features such as the text warp in time for my main task.

Overall I have found that my main task required more attention to detail than my preliminary task. However I think that I have managed to produce a professional magazine that attracts it’s audience well. And I feel that achieved the targets that I set my self at the end of the preliminary task. 

Evaluation Question 6

Evaluation Questions 4 & 5

I feel that I was mostly successful in attracting my audience. As when I showed it to members of my target audience I received a lot of preferred readings. For instance on my front cover my audience was drawn in by the simplicity of the design as they felt it was less cluttered then most other magazines. My audience also liked the title ‘Siren’ as it connoted both power and beauty which is how my audience see themselves. The use of colour through the magazine was successful as the black, red and white made the magazine recognizable as a rock magazine, and the purple then narrowed the genre down even further to female rock. So my audience felt it was clear who the magazine was targeted at. I made my models look strong and confident and my audience appreciated this. As they said that they looked powerful instead of superficial and objectified. Something that they didn’t like in other magazines.

However I also received some aberrant and negotiated readings; mostly concerned with my fonts. As my audience felt that they styles of fonts could have been more consistent, however I was trying to show the variety in rock music through my fonts and not make it all look the same. However one member of my audience liked all the fonts used but she thought that one or two fonts could have been used more so that they didn’t stand out so much as looking ‘odd’.

The majority of my audience liked what I had done with my magazine, and they thought it was successful as a rock magazine. There were only a few criticisms. This means that I have been successful in attracting and addressing my audience, and I have created a magazine which suits it’s genre.

Evaluation Question 3

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Although the genre of my magazine is ‘heavy female rock’ and my audience are non-conformist, radicalists I have decided that a mainstream distributer would be more appropriate as my audience don’t have that much disposable income, they’re more likely to buy the magazine from an accessible store than a upmarket boutique.

My magazine is similar Kerrang magazine which is distributed by frontline, a mainstream company, despite it being recognised as a somewhat ‘alternative’ magazine. Kerrang is available from most major retailers such as Tescos and HMV, so my magazine will be to as my audience may not have the means to travel far to purchase the magazine, but it will also be available at alternative clothes shops, as my audience will also shop there when they have the money.

Vice magazine is an independently distributed magazine and aimed at a very non-conformist audience. Although my audience is also non-conformist it wouldn’t be appropriate to distribute my magazine in the way that Vice does. Vice’s audience is slightly older than mine and have more income since 79% have university degrees. They are also higher on the Jicnar scale than my audience is. Therefore they can afford to travel to get an exclusive copy from high end shops, my audience is more likely to shop on the highstreet therefore my magazine needs to be available on the highstreet.

Like Kerrang magazine, my magazine will have a multi-platform strategy. It would have its own website were my audience can read exclusive articles and find out tour dates for their favourite artist. My website also includes an online shop where my audience can buy things such as concert tickets which would be hard to come by elsewhere. It will also have information about the latest magazine so that my audience can use this to help them decide whether they want to purchase the issue. As my audience don’t have that much money they may not want to buy the magazine if it has nothing that they want to read about in it. There would also be a radio station as my audience may find it difficult to listen to the music that they like on other radio stations and it can also help them find new songs to listen to.

This strategy for distributing my magazine will make a positive impact on my magazine profits. As my magazine will be widely spread the charge for advertising would be higher as it reaches a large audience. There would also be money made in advertising both on the website through banners and side advertisements as well as on the radio. Profit can also be made by charging record labels a small fee to sell their tour tickets through the Siren website. 

Evaluation Question 2

Evaluation question 2 from Eirinn Winchester

Evaluation Question 1

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

To answer this question I have made a video. Click below for it to play. The quality can be improved by clicking the small cog shaped button in the bottom right hand corner and then selecting 720p HD. 

Here is a transcript of what is being said in the video:

In my magazine ‘Siren’ I have included a number of different conventions to make it recognisable as a professional music magazine.

On my front cover I have obscured my masthead in a similar way to both Decibel and Kerrang magazine, the magazine’s that I Researched earlier in my project.

I have also included Screamers, reversed out coverlines and a main sell, as well as a price, issue number and barcode.

On my contents page I have used subheadings to organise the content, I have seen this used in almost all other magazines.

My double page spread include magazine conventions such as drop capitals, pull quotes and columns. I used only one image down the right hand side of the page to match my research into magazine’s like Decibel which had one image down the side of the page.

All of these features set my magazine out as professional looking and realistic.

The genre of music that my magazine represents is metal. To show this in the front cover I have used a dark background, a model with a serious almost angry face. And I used the colour red in places to represent the aggression and anger which is associated with the genre.

However I also wanted to challenge the metal genre. When most people think of metal they conjure up images of tattooed men with beards and motorcycles. Instead of sticking to this stereotype. I only used images of girls throughout my magazine. I also used feminine colour purple in my magazine.  This is because I wanted my magazine to appeal to young female adults who like metal music.  Although I kept more masculine colours such as red and black as these have connotations of power, the women who would read my magazine also like to be seen as powerful.

The fonts that I have used in my magazine interchange between serif and thin to sans serif and bold. The bolder thicker fonts are representative of the metal genre. But I also included some of the serif, thinner fonts because they are more associated with magazines aimed at women.

On my double page spread I have both used and challenged metal magazine conventions. I have replicated the pose in this double page spread by decibel magazine, however I have used females instead of males. I have also replicated the distressed texture in the background and powerful and controversial pull quotes, to show that women are just as good as men in the rock world.

Final Magazine