Preliminary Task: Evaluation of School Magazine Products

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of a school magazine?

In my preliminary task, I used forms and conventions of a school magazine; one way I did this was by using a medium- close up image as my main photo for the magazine. I know this is a convention because other magazine covers that I researched in this genre use a medium – close up image

  

 

I therefore chose to use this shot so that it looks professional and more appealing to the target audience.
 

A way in which my product develops the conventions of a school magazine is how I have put the schools website address on the cover. This is so that it is relevant to the target audience because if they want to find out more about the school and what it is offering they can click on the hyperlink if the poster is digital, or they could search it if it is a physical copy in hand. I haven’t seen this convention used in school magazines so used it in mine to make it unique and stand out by differentiating it from others.

One of the ways my product challenges the conventions of school magazine front covers is the layout because I have challenged the way in which my masthead is positioned and have placed it on the right hand side with the logo on the left. I have also made it so that all the writing is on the right hand side and not going on the picture. This is so that it is presentable and easier to read to attract the target audience of school pupils. In school magazines which I have researched, none of them have a kicker on the cover. So from this research I have differentiated it and added it in a gap on the cover. I chose to break away from conventions because it makes it different and stands out so it is more appealing.

How effective is the front page of your magazine in focusing on the ethos of the school?

My front page focuses on the schools ethos in many ways. First of all, the photo used is of two pupils smartly dressed in their school uniform this links with the “Respect, Dignity and Pride” shown on the schools website. The pride of the year 11 GCSE results which have got them into sixth form are mentioned in a kicker and also as a story headline on my cover page to show the respectful opportunities given when ‘aiming for the highest’ in what you achieve. This little quote is the schools’ tag line so that you achieve the highest.

 

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

From my audience feedback, I have learnt that my magazine looks like it is aimed for more female than male because of the faded pink background colour; however, I deliberately did this because the school house style colour is blues so it is already gender orientated. I also found out that i have considered the schools ethos in my preliminary task. Another person commented on how i have used a picture of two people rather than one so it looks better and differentiates it from others. 

How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

In order to make my cover page and contents page, i went on to Google images to find pictures of other school magazines to see their layout, the pictures used and the way they structured it. This helped me for my preliminary task so i could use ideas. I used DaFont.com for my fonts to use within the cover and contents pages so that it looked more professional and not standard fonts. Also I used Adobe Fireworks to cut images, background colour and pictures, structure the pages and to add the fonts and effects.