In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
My front cover includes many conventions of a real media product; in my magazine I used a masthead, which was ‘6th Avenue’. I chose this title based on the knowledge that I was making a sixth form magazine for the school and also based on the area that the school is in, Camden is a trendy and fashionable area and I think that the title reflects this because ‘Avenue’ is typically related with New York which is a trendy and fashionable City. I included cover lines which were a preview of what was to come in the magazine. My coverlines were bold and short and all relevant to my audience because the subjects in my cover lines were all ones that my audience had chosen in the questionnaire. I used an image of a female Camden student while in Cantelowes Park to reflect the image of a social school; by having this primary image I used the conventions of a real media product because during my research I found that it was common to have a primary image which reflects the audience of the magazine, attracting them to the magazine. I decided to keep my front cover simple and not include a strap line; I didn’t include a strap line because during my research I found that it was not a common convention of a school magazine. I did not include a secondary image as I wanted the main focus of the front cover to be on the primary image of the CSG student and a secondary image would not support the idea of my simple front cover and I personally thought that it would make my magazines layout look less professional.
My contents page followed the conventions of a real media product because there was a consistency between my front cover and my contents page. I included the same font and colour scheme; this was a deliberate decision as I created both documents on indesign and was able to view my front cover to make sure my theme was consistent. I kept the same colour theme on both the front cover and contents page, the colours being white, blue and green; this is a common convention of a magazine. I used two images in my contents page from Camden events in order to represent the social side of Camden as used in real media conventions. I included an image of a group of sixth form students at a Skern activity and a picture of a female sixth form student at a Camden event. I made sure that I had accurate alignment as this is an important factor in creating a professional magazine. I included images of both boys and girls so that CSG wasn’t portrayed as a single sex school, but a mixed sixth form. I also tried to include a variety of ethnicities in my contents page to illustrate that the sixth form is multicultural
Who would be the audience for your media product?
The audience for my media product would be 16-18 year old male and female sixth form students at CSG. During the research process, the students had a significant role in the planning process because in the questionnaire they suggested ideas as to what they wanted the contain and the conventions they wanted it to have; so as my audience their role was to give their opinions in order to make the magazine a bigger success and a more targeted read for them. My audience would be those students who are interested in the Camden life and want to be up to date on the latest events, trips and gossip.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this process?
Whilst constructing this product I learnt how to use two new programs; Indesign and Photoshop and I also learnt how to use Google blogspot. When using Indesign I learnt how to align with the guidelines in order to make my work look more presentable, I also learnt about the use of font memory and using fonts to create a more unique media product. When using Photoshop, I learnt about how to brighten my photos and to change the saturation, hue and many other settings in order to change the tone of my picture e.g. making the photo brighter to appeal to a teenage eye. I learn about the use of blogs to present work in a more organised and attractive way. During the process of constructing my blog I learnt about how to upload photos, upload my blog posts and also how to change my background and theme to make my blog look more attractive.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
My target social group for this magazine was 16-18 year old males and females at Camden School for girls sixth form. My magazine represented the target social group well because it was not a childish magazine, it had appropriate colours; my colour theme consisted of blue, green and white which were the colours that were the three most popular when I conducted my survey, I wanted to connote a mature image so I thought that it would be sensible to choose 3 main colours and not make it look too messy or childish for people of this age range. If I were to have included many different colours in my media product that were not necessary, it would have made my final product look unprofessional and not appropriate to my target audience. On my front cover I used an image of a female CSG student standing in Cantelowes park smiling, I used this image to help convey the idea that CSG is a friendly place and because I wanted my main focus to be on the students. In my contents page I decided to include an image of another CSG student at a Camden event and a group shot of people at Skern to once again convey the friendly image but to also show that CSG is not only a school but a community. I tried to represent young people as being happy and friendly by the type of images I had in my magazine and by the use of colour and subjects I decided to include; I also tried to represent mixed genders in my magazine. With the images I used on my front cover and contents page, I tried to represent the ethnicities in Camden by including sixth form students with a variety of ethnicities.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Camden school for girls would distribute my media product because the magazine is aimed at CSG students who are interested in extra curricular activities going on in and around the school. At CSG, one of the main aims is to create a friendly community, so I think that the school sixth form would want to distribute my magazine because this would be something that everyone would be part of. At CSG the only other magazine like this is sixth sense which mainly includes features about the educational side of Camden; so I think that there would be a very positive outcome from distributing the magazine, and also circulation would be high because the magazine is free. I think that Camden would pay for the production of the magazine because there is defiantly a space in the magazine market for my school magazine in Camden
How did you attract/address your audience?
I attracted my audience by including events in the magazine that they had all been a part of to intrigue them and create interest in the magazine; the events included pink day and skern. I used the ideas that the students had given me in the questionnaire to make them feel part of the magazine e.g. using the colour scheme they had chosen and including subjects that they wanted. All my images used were ones from Camden events; by including features like this I hope that this means I attracted my target audience. My audience could interact with the magazine because firstly there was a free poster for them to have and secondly I included horoscopes, Camden events for them to attend and pictures of the students.
Look back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
When looking at the preliminary task I can see that my school magazine is of a higher standard. In my first exercise I made no effort in editing or alignment whereas in my school magazine I used my increasing knowledge of graphic design to create a more effective magazine. In my practice task, I made no effort to consider the representation of the people involved. I learnt however that this is a key element of media and therefore took care in the way I wanted the school and the students to be represented and spoke to my audience. For example, as the sixth form is mixed gender I made sure there were a mixture of boys and girls in the photographs to avoid any misconceptions
