Evaluation draft 1

For my pre-production I created two front covers for two contrasting genres, one of which being a fitness magazine which is the one I have decided to choose as my main front cover and a current affairs magazine/life style on the region of Manchester this magazine is aimed at Mancunians ages 28-45. I created the magazine covers my self and took all photography my self. My research into existing products revealed the key elements to which a magazine is made up of (the codes and conventions). This consisted of things such as the masthead, its positioning being at the top, being big and bold, easy to read etc. Another thing it revealed to me is that there should a feature article photograph, strap lines that cover the front cover providing lots of content, a barcode and a price tag. The fitness magazine I researched gave me an insight to as which types of articles I should feature, since it was a fitness magazine I created my front cover with lots of tips and tricks on how to gain muscle fast and different workouts, the research I did helped me come up with relevant and suitable content for my magazine. The audience research I conducted helped me in the making of my magazine because my interviewee was part of the target audience it was aimed at and therefore helped me create a suited magazine to that target audience. My target audience is aimed at boys aged between 16-25 that have an interest in keeping fit and going to the gym. During the interview I asked questions about the aesthetics of the magazine and my interviewee responded by saying he would like to see a nice big picture as for him the picture is one of the first things you look at. My interviewee did not mind what model was used on the front cover i.e. using a celebrity he just wanted someone young and good looking to aspire to I agree with is because it gives the target audience someone to relate to as he is younger than usual fitness models, he also helped me decide on a colour scheme using red, yellows and blacks mainly as these are attractive colours.

For my production I created a double page spread article, this featured a six-pack work out article, I feel like I have addressed my target audience because I have used the right tone and mode of address for my target audience, the content produced is also for that target audience because a six pack is at the top the list when it comes to wanting a great body so I feel as though this is well suited to my target audience. The person used for the photographs of the workout (myself) is a younger person this allows my target audience to relate to the article more. I have followed the codes and conventions by researching other articles it has helped me see what kind of content should be included in mine. My product would be consumed at home, online or as a weekly edition sent home as a subscription magazine. This would allow my target audience to read my magazine where ever and whenever they want. I have represented my target audience as mature, fit and healthy challenging the stereotype of the youth being hooligans and a drunken mess etc. I have given my target audience a good representation as being grown up, organised and committed to going to the gym instead of being on the streets. From my preproduction where I used Photoshop to create the two magazine covers, I continued to use Photoshop improving my skills as I go along with the feedback from my teacher. My first draft of the production was successful however my text ran across the middle of the page where the fold would be my teacher informed me that text should be clear from this area so I changed the layout slightly removing the text from the fold line. After my first attempt I felt the white background was too plain so I added a slight green gradient that showed to be very effective.

Overall I feel that my production and preproduction were very good and very well made, especially my double page article. I really feel as though my outcomes are both professional and high quality, my only concern is the model used for the fitness magazine isn’t someone well known, he doesn’t actually have a great body, he’s fully clothed and overall I don’t feel as though it is a very good picture to start off with. I feel that I rushed the image when taking it when I should have taken my time to set it up and try a few different models and poses. However the photography for the double page article in my opinion is very well done, it gives a simple yet informative technique (along with the description) of how to do the exercises. I have learnt quiet a lot from the technology used such as Photoshop or an actual DSLR camera, how to use the camera and its different modes and mainly learning about composition and position when taking photographs. The editing aspect of it was fairly easy I already had some knowledge of using Photoshop however I learnt more about layering, colour schemes and positioning text and images by experimenting a lot more than I did before. Although I had a slight knowledge of Photoshop I further learnt about what the different tools do such as the lasso tool, the magnetic lasso tool to which I used to crop images. I also learnt about different effects the main one being sharpening the image to make it more aesthetically pleasing and on my second magazine (lifestyle magazine) I learnt how to make an image black and white and keep some aspect of it in colour to produce an effective image.

A good first draft Yousuf although it is a bit short.

Literacy points- "Myself" is all one word.

WWW- good references to the research undertaken and explanation of why your production work is suitable for the target audience.

EBI- You should acknowledge both a prime target audience and a secondary audience too, so maybe people who have an interest in Manchester or Northern culture as a secondary group. For your fitness magazine, you have referred to the target audience as boys aged 15-25. There aren't many 25 year old boys!
Be more specific about which magazines you researched, name them and explain how you have used the information you have found to inform your own production work. You should also refer to the interview in more detail and explain how your interviewee gave you information about the colours, content, mode of address and not just the choice of model.

The biggest are for improvement however is ion the evaluation, what you have written is far too vague. You must refer to specific aspects such as the use of colour, the codes and conventions and the mode of address and explain using examples how and why these are appropriate for the target audiences and for the genre of the product chosen, you can't really just say that you're pleased with what you have done.