Evaluati

Created
by on
Fahmid
a
Yasmin

What do you feel

you have learnt in
the progression
from your
preliminary task to
the

Since the preliminary task there has been a huge improvement

for example when I first started this year I was clueless I
literally did not even know how to use the basics of Photoshop.
However this whole journey has taught me how to crop images,
what props to use to portray a person in a certain way and how
to edit an image to make it look a professional standard. So the
preliminary task was to create a school magazine and this is
how my final product looked:

As you can see my preliminary task does not look

professional the colour schemes does not fit the schools
theme it clashes as the colour scheme of the school is
mainly navy blue and I decided to use the colour of
orange and white. I clearly did not know how to use
colours and colours are very important when making a
magazine as this can enhance the image or make it
tedious. Also for my school magazine I have noticed that I
did not use a real life model which is not the brilliant
image for a magazine as it does make it look like an
image from the internet. Also the front I used clash with
the image as it blends in with the clothing of the model. It
is not clear the front and it is not out there it is not
particularly noticeable.

The contents page is dreadful the text is not lined up the

contents page over all does look like it has been rushed.
And it looking rushed does make it look like it has been
put together without any thought.
Using the colours of
white and blue does
not show any link to
the front cover as the
colours are so different
there is not a
persistent
theme. The content
page having no link to
the front cover does
show
that the images, text
and colours have not
been planned.
This image is
really poor it
should of
been cropped
and edited.

Since the preliminary task I have familiarised on how to use

Photoshop I feel that if I was to recreate my school magazine it
would look completely different. I would of done a lot more planning
and more focus on the audience on their likes and dislikes.
Also what colours work and what colours do not I would of done a lot
more experimenting. I do feel that from doing the preliminary task
that I have learnt a lot, the preliminary tasks does show the
mistakes and there are huge improvements but these mistakes were
acceptable as when I created the final product which was the music
magazine. I learnt from mistakes and did not repeat these mistakes.
This journey from the preliminary task to the final product has been
a significant development.
So doing the preliminary task does make a vast difference as if I did
not do the preliminary task I would of not achieved what I did with
the final product.

This clearly shows my journey and the progress I

have made. My preliminary task does look rushed
and unplanned whereas my final product has
been significantly thought about the colours
work ,my model fits in with the genre of music
also my image has been thoroughly planned and I
did take this shot more then once.

How does your

magazine
represent particular
social groups?

Throughout my target audience research I have been viewing social

behaviour and what types of music do teenagers and young adults listen too.
My audience are of middle/working class background teenagers and young
adults. I think when people think about teenagers from a working class
background they straight away think of gangs and underage pregnancies.
The connotations of these classes are hugely negative as the media does
influence the views of people. It is true that people do struggle economically
however in reality these people may not have money but do have big
dreams. And people from this background do achieve their dreams as for
example the RnB industry is filled with artists from working/middle class
backgrounds as they really express their views and themselves.
My social group contains the majority of ethnicity including: Asian, African,
British white/mix race.
My cover star originates from Asia and her appearance does compliment
this she does look Asian. So the audience can connect her roots with her
successful music career.
I think my magazine in particular represents the Asian community as Asian
are really underrepresented in the music industry there are not many
successful pop /RnB artists especially females ones. So I wanted to change
this as people do view Asians negatively they view them as fresh and
uneducated. But my magazine intends to represent the Asian community
more positively especially females as the females are not represented they
are successful females with great talents and this is represented throughout
my magazine.

In what ways does

your media
product use develop or
challenge forms and
conventions of real
media
products?

Masthead: My masthead does not challenge any convention as it

is quit typical because just like most magazines the masthead is
above the main image and it is either the main image covering or
the main image is behind the masthead. For any type of
magazine most magazines follow this convention. I followed this
convention as it works because the masthead always stays the
same so this gives identity to the magazine. And that is what I
wanted for my magazine so thats why I did not challenge
conventions because this convention works for any genre of
magazine. However I think my font is not typical it is different it
does make my magazine look expensive and it does fit the genre.
I challenged conventions as most fonts are typical and bold the
font is usually an Arial and they are not edited like mine.

My masthead is very different

compared to the typical
masthead that is used
regularly for all types of

Name: The name of my masthead is different it does challenge

conventions as RHYTHMIX the name in itself gives a sense of
different music and different rhythms. This names suits my
magazine as I wanted my magazine to be like Billboard in the way
that they represent all kinds of music and artists because they
feature what is No.1 in the charts so that can be any artist from
any genres of music.
This is what I wanted for my magazine because I think that my
target audience who are males and females aged between 16-30
they do not really listen to all types of music. So it would promote
them to listen to all types of music as the name RHYTHMIX
Similarly like
represents all genres of music asbillboard
any genre
of music
have rhythm.
I have
a
section dedicated to
the top 100 songs
but mine has been
chosen by RHYTHMIX
just like how
Billboard choose
their top songs.

Main image: I think my main image does challenge conventions

as most magazines in this day and age does unfortunately
degrade women. Especially with female artists even though they
are successful they still feel the need to degrade them and
sexualise them. Magazine companies do this to appeal to the
male audience as if they are attracted to the women on the front
cover (cover star) they are more likely to buy this magazine.

Main image continued: However my main image challenges

conventions as its not degrading my artist she is completely
covered. She is not being exploited or sexualised in any way. I
wanted my magazine cover to be different as I did not want to
follow conventions as I feel that being unique in itself and
challenging conventions gets more noticed then following the
same convention time and time again. Also my main image is very
mysterious as my artist is not revealing much and this is thrilling
as readers are intrigued they want to read more and find out this
artists story. Also my main image is representing the successful
young female artists and it shows that you can be successful
without striping and degrading yourself. And my main image does
appeal to the male audience as my male audience are successful
men that look for success in a female rather then their face and
body. I think challenging conventions is good because it can
represent that you can be successful without demeaning yourself
and it will show the young females to chase their dreams no
matter what the media portrays the norms of being successful. In
addition I want my main image to influence other magazines to
show them they dont need a model who is sexualised because

My main inspiration for my

main cover was the Adele
cover for Billboard. I really
like this cover as she is not
degrading herself she is on
the cover for being
successful. And this cover
really compliments her as it
is quit weird and whacky and
they want to portray different
sides of Adele. And my cover
is weird in a way that she
being successful is not giving
to much away about herself
and her having her eyebrows
up does show she is
confident and it is showing a
different side. Both main
images the model is directly
looking in the camera this is
showing confidence and
power.

Who would be the

audience for
your magazine?

A little bit about my target

audience this slide includes their
likes/dislikes and social
class/income/jobs and my typical
magazine reader.

My typical reader
would be young
females and males
aged around 16-30
years still in
education or at
work. But they are
still interested in the
latest artists and
music. They are
sociable people but
they are also
hardworking people
with dreams and
goals. Most of them
would be on social
networking sites and
do look for the latest
trends.

Here is some feedback

from a member of my
focus group and they
would fit into my
target audience.

ow did you attract/addre

your audience?

The sell lines

attract the
audience as
they give hints
to what the
magazine
contains. The
sell lines
mentions artists
like Nicki Minaj
which my
audience would
As this sell line mentions Free this would catch
be interested in.
the attention of my audience as my audience
being young they are the sort of people that
would attend events like; Concerts for example.
Another reason this would grab the attention of
my audience is some of my audience may not
be employed due to them being in full time
education. This would attract them as they are
getting something for free also something they
would go to.
Even if my some of my audience was employed
they would still feel like that this would catch
their attention as they would feel the same

This sell line

draws the
attention of
the audience.
The word
Exclusive
shows that
the audience
is getting a
special look
into this story.
It is showing
that this is a
first look to
this story. Also
the next part
of the sell line
is interesting
as the
audience
wonder what
the story is.

The masthead is distinctive and the

colours used attracts both females and
males because black is a neutral colour.
In addition it fits in with the genre of the
magazine as it shows that the magazine
is classy but yet different and fresh.

The use of social networking sites

featured on the cover of the
magazine. This grabs the attention of
the audience as they would typically
use these sites on a daily basis. So
they are more likely to visit
RHYTHMIXs social networking sites to
always keep up to date.
The main image of the front cover the model is directly looking at the
audience, so this in itself is creating a communication with the audience as
they feel would feel like there is a mystery behind this artist. The male
audience in particular would recognise that this is a uncommon magazine .As
now more then ever there is female models on magazines which they are
sexualised and this has become a convention but my front cover is
empowering this female. And this would attract the male audience as it is

What kind of media

institute might
distribute your
product (magazine)
and why?

IPC media would be the best media institute to

distribute RHYTHMIX. As they have the huge
audience already as they distribute other music
magazines like; NME and UNCUT. However
even though NME and UNCUT is nothing like
my magazine it would be a good opportunity for
IPC to try something new. I think IPC would be a
good distributor as they have been successful
distributing those magazines. And I think they
would distribute RHYTHMIX effectively.

What have you

learnt about
technologies from
the process of
constructing this
product?

Using cameras is essential as it is the make or break of

the images. The images bring the whole magazine
together so it is worth using a high quality camera.
I have learnt:
To use a high quality camera as it does make the image
regardless of how much make up and lighting you use
the camera needs to be able to show this. I only got this
using a high quality camera which was a Nikon. I would
recommend this camera and as it is clear.
That cameras are not as easy to use the settings need to
be adjusted to bring out the best in the images.
That images need to be taken in really bright lighting and
it is crucial to have a white background and it brightens
the image.

Adobe Photoshop was the vital technology used in the construction of the
magazine. Adobe Photoshop is a excellent programme to use when editing and
constructing any piece of media product. It provides a professional looking
finishing and most media companies use this programme. I have become
familiarised with the Photoshop however this certainly was not the case when I
first used it. I was completely lost I did not even know the basics of Photoshop.
For example I did not even know how to layer and the importance of layering.
However now I know it is crucial using layers I previously thought that layering is
a thing to do but there is more to it you can lock and duplicate layers which
helps in the editing.
I have learnt so many things using Adobe Photoshop:
I have learnt how to quick up the process of cropping by using the magic wand
tool which quickly selects the parts which you want to crop.
I have leant how to brighten the image by using the lightening tools and the hue
saturation effectively.
So I am pleased on how far I have come in this journey, I think now I have to
some extent mastered Photoshop.

Social Networking sites were so significant when creating this media

product so sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram were the main
sites I used. It was such an eye opener for me as I was receiving
feedback from people that would fit into the audience that I was
targeting. They gave me feedback on how to improve my magazine
and what images they liked and disliked. I received huge responses
and I could first hand see what my audience liked and disliked so this
helped me as from their responses I improved my magazine.
The Social Networking App that helped me the most was WhatsaApp.
Without WhatsaApp I would not have improved my magazine the
way I did as WhatsApp allowed me to communicate with a lot of
people and it allowed quick responses. As most have WhatsApp and
significantly use this app for communication on a daily basis.
Consequently it helped me as I got quick responses and great
feedback.