Evaluation

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

My media product uses the conventions of real media products such as a logo, masthead, coverlines, and I put a barcode on the front too. I also put a date underneath the masthead so people were aware what date the magazine was out for. Finally, I put the price on the front in a puff. 

However I did not put a strapline along the bottom as I was not sure what to put there, and there was not enough space for the writing to be clearly shown.
Although I put the price on the front which is following the usual conventions of a media product, the price is not usually written in the puff which shows that I have challenged the form of a real media product. 

2.      How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My media product represents teenagers as quite a positive group of people. They are shown in a way that indicates that they are a hard working in the school environment, which is different to how the majority of the world will show teenagers as.

On the front of my magazine, the boy on the front is not in uniform however he is in smart clothes. He seems very happy to be at the school which makes people think that he is really enjoying himself at school.

The boy is 17 years of age so everyone in the school can relate to him because he is happy and around the same age as everyone else. The smile makes the boy seem as if he wanted to be there at the school and was actually really happy and excited to be at school.

However it also shows teenage girls to be quite big gossips because I have even allocated a whole two pages to gossip around the school. 

3.      What kind of media institution (publisher) might distribute your media product and why?

My school would create the school magazine by asking students whether they would be interested in creating it. This is because a public schools may not have the money to pay people to create a magazine.

 

However a private school might pay someone outside of the school to make a school newsletter so it is to an outstanding quality.

4.      Who would be the audience for your media product?

People at the school from ages 11-18 have the option whether they would like to read the magazine. It is avaliable and targeted at everyone between those ages because it has information about the whole school which informs them about the year ahead.  

5.      How did you attract/address your audience?

By writing the schools name on the front and having a boy from the sixth form seem happy and inviting, I would hope make people want to pick up the magazine. If they see a familiar face on the front they may be interested to see what is inside and who they know, as well as finding out information such as school trips, because everyone would like to know where they're going in the year ahead.

Having the schools name on the front ensures people that the magazine is for them to read.

 

6.      What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

I have learnt how to use Adobe Photoshop to a much better standard. I learnt how to use much more of the tools and this made my image seem much more effective as a front cover.
I had never used InDesign before, and this was the first time I had ever heard of it or even used it. I found it quite difficult at first but it seems like it might become easier to use.

Until I began media studies I had never been on Blogger but now I know how to use it to a relatively good standard.

Change

I changed my mind from doing my school magazine as a Christmas themed magazine to a back to school magazine. I have got a boy from the sixth form to pose infront of the front doors of the entrance of the school. He is holding the door open as if to welcome people into the school.

At the top in the left hand corner, I have got the Chislehurst school logo and then next to that I have put the masthead 'Chislehurst Times'.

Down one side of the image, all of the coverlines are going down the page. Underneath the coverlines (in the bottom right hand corner), there is a barcode. On the opposing corner, the price has been placed.

The reason why I changed the theme is because I felt that the winter or christmas theme was going to be too difficult to associate with school, whereas 'Back to School' is easy to link with school as that is what it is based on and there would be more to write about.

My School Magazine Outline

For my school magazine I might make it Christmas themed as it is coming up to Christmas. 

The Colour Scheme

Because it is a Christmas themed magazine, the colours are going to be blues, whites and silver. This is because those colours are usually associated with Christmas when put together.

Front Cover
On it I would maybe place a student (dressed in woolly clothing, like a scarf and a hat) next to a Christmas tree and holding a present under some holly to fit the theme. This would be my central or main image.

The masthead on the front of the magazine would be something like 'Chislehurst Times'. This is because the school is called Chislehurst School for Girls and it makes sense to link the schools magazine with the schools name.

As a magazine always has to have a date, I would place the date in the top right corner, underneath the masthead. This is so people will see the date when they look at the magazine it will be one of the first things they see. This allows them to know how up to date the information inside will be. 

The cover lines will be telling people what is on the inside without telling them the whole story, this way people will be aware or what they're about to read. It may also interest them and make them want to read the inside!

Although school magazines don't have bar-codes, I will add one in because it makes the magazine seem more professional. 

Questionnaire

What is your favourite season?

Winter

Summer

Autumn

Spring

How much would you be willing to pay?

30p

50p

£1.00

£1.50

Amount of pages you would like? Please tick.

5-10

10-15

15-20

20-25

Other? Specify.

What would your preferred colour scheme be? Please write on the line below:

______________________________________________

What type of content would you like to read about? Please tick and write any other suggestions you have on the right hand side column.

Gossip
Interviews
School trips
News
All of the above?

Should the magazine be aimed at parents/carers also, or just the students?

____________________________

Idea's on the name of the magazine? Please write below.

______________________________

Do you feel that any year-group is under-represented within the school? Please write which year group on the line below.

_____________________________



RESULTS

1. What is your favourite season?
My questionnaire results showed that the majority of people who took the questionnaire preffered winter as their favourite season.
This will mean that I might base the magazine on Christmas because Christmas is in winter and it's a fun festival which everyone celebrates!

2. How much would you be willing to pay?
Almost everyone who did the questionnaire said that they would be willing to pay between 30-50p rather than £1.00 or £1.50. This means I will price the magazine at 30p.

3. Amount of pages you would like?
 The questionnaire revealed that most people would like 15-20 pages inside the magazine.

4. What would your preferred colour scheme be?
Most people said that because winter was their favourite season was winter they would like wintery colours so I have chosen to use blues, whites, and silver.

5. What type of content would you like to read about? Please tick and write any other suggestions you have on the right hand side column.
The majority of people who did the questionnaire wanted the magazine to include every topic I suggested (gossip, interviews, and information about school trips), minus the news. Suggestions that people left was events and puzzles so I might include what events are going on within the school.

6. Should the magazine be aimed at parents/carers also, or just the students?
The magazine will be aimed at students rather than parents too because that was the majority vote.

7. Idea's on the name of the magazine?
Many names were suggested:

• Chislehurst Weekly
• CWeekly
• Chislehurst Times

8. Do you feel that any year-group is under-represented within the school?

I asked this because if a year group felt that they had not been appreciated enough in and around school we could write a positive article about them to represent them and give them recognition. However, no year group felt under-represented by the school.

School Magazine Annotations

Masthead: the masthead is bold and bright which is very eye-catching against the background.

Social Media's: at the top of the magazine, Facebook and Twitter's icons have been put there which is implying that the reader of the magazine should check them out and/or follow them on their social media's.

Main Image: the main image of the magazine is a young school girl which would link with audience because it would catch a certain group of people's eyes. The young girl is very happy and she is in her uniform so parents (probably mothers) might be interested in the magazine to see what the young girl has been doing what has made her happy.

Cover-lines: the sell lines are all showing the reader what will be on the inside before they buy it, therefore the magazine is selling itself by showing the most interesting parts of the content inside on the cover. This particular magazine is showing parents what their children might be doing in school and giving them advice or hints on how to trick their 'FUSSY EATERS' into eating things which they wouldn't usually eat.

Sell-lines: the sell-line is just underneath the masthead and in this case is informing who the magazine is aimed it. 'PARENTS GUIDE TO PRIMARY SCHOOL'.

Strap Lines: the strap line is (in this case) showing an extra feature of the magazine so people think they're getting extra.

The multi-coloured 'CONTENTS!' shows massively on the baby blue coloured background which makes it more noticeable and it's bigger than the rest of the writing on the page to make it obvious what is happening on this page.

The page numbers are really clear and allow the reader to know what information is on what page. It is red, making it stand out on the page after the title, making it easy to read.

The bold subtitles explaining what is on each page is bold, making it easy to read and informative so people don't have to go through the whole magazine to find what they want to read about. This makes it simpler and people will be more interested in reading it.

The small paragraphs underneath every subtitle explains what is being talked about on each topic. This informs people whether they want to read that page.

The pictures show what is going on within the school on the previous week or month (since the last magazine).

Masthead: the masthead is bright in comparison to the background and it is easy to see. This allows readers or potential buyers to know what the magazine is about.

Sell-lines: the sell-lines are often a catch phrase or something to make the magazine memorable. In this case, the sell-line is a website (presumably the magazines website) and the date.

Cover-lines: the cover-lines are bigger than a lot of the text on the page, yet smaller than the masthead. This shows what sort of topics will be within the contents of the magazine articles. Underneath the cover-lines there are short sentences to explain the topics. For example, there is a coverline saying 'Working Nine to Five', then underneath it states 'The benefits of being a working parent' which would involve the audience (the parents) and they would want to know the benefits of working on a 9-5 schedule.

Main Image: the main image is two children reading books. This may interest parents before they even begin to read the coverlines. As it is in the middle of the page, it will be one of the first things which you see when you look at the front cover.

Audience: the target audience for this magazine would be parents of primary school children. This is made obvious by the way there are young children reading books and the masthead states 'Primary'.

Strap-line: the strapline is showing what is extra in the magazine which you wouldn't get in the magazine usually. It is being used as advertisement in this case.