SOPHIE PADMORE: November 2015

Friday 20 November 2015

Evaluation Draft: Question Four

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

Various different media technologies were used in my research process in order to display the information in which I had discovered. I have used different sites in order to present my work in effective and dynamic ways. I have used Prezi during this process as I need a way in which I could present a large group of information separately but grouped together under the same title. I chose to use Prezi as I felt that I could achieve this using the technology. I was able to present the information clearly and make it easy for others to understand my work and navigate through the different sections of analysis with ease. I used similar sites, such as PowToon for the same reasons. I believe that this worked well as I achieve what I was aiming for.

When creating my actual magazine pages, I wanted to make my work seem as authentic as possible so I aimed to create the highest quality images as possible to present in my project. I used a Nikon D3100 DSLR camera to take all of my original images. This allowed to me to create the desired effect. I went on to use Photoshop to edit my images before inserting them into my work. This allowed me to push my images even further.

Evaluation Draft: Question Three

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

The feedback towards my final edits was positive as most liked the way in which my worked looked, as well as the subjects within the project. Most believed that the articles and content of the magazine was suitable for the genre of the magazine and the theme created through fonts, colours and images supported the magazine and the ancillary texts well. While most of the feedback was positive, there were still improvements pointed out by my audience. Some believed that the colour scheme used in my work was too dark and didn’t portray the right atmosphere. Others also pointed out that my magazine seem too up-market and would put off a large amount of readers. From my audience feedback, I have learned that even if I follow conventions and create my work in my highest possible standard, it will never appeal to everyone. Although some feedback was slighting negative and critical, I believe that my work appeals to the majority of my audience.

Evaluation Draft: Question Two

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

When carrying out the initial stages of making my magazine, I looked into how I could make links between my magazine pages and the ancillary texts in which support them. I researched into how other, existing magazines achieved this in order to give myself ideas on how I could create the links within my own work. I looked at how various different aspects could create the links, including fonts, colours, images and layout. From the beginning, I planned to have a set theme that would run throughout my work made up of these features. I have used various different fonts within my work but the font styles used have been carried through and used on both my magazine pages and ancillary texts. During my planning process, I also stated that I would use a colour scheme within my work that reflects the magazines content. I planned to use earthy colours such as greens, browns and blue’s in order to support the subjects of my pages. Throughout my magazine, all of my original images have been used, these also feature on both of my ancillary texts. I also had a main set of images that support my main article that are the focus in all of my works. I believe that this has helped me massively when creating links between my main body of work and my ancillary texts as it clearly shows that the ancillary’s are related to the magazine. All of this has added together to create my theme. I believe that this has allowed me to create clear and strong links within my work. The strong theme is also effective as it creates great aesthetics and draws in readers.

Evaluation Draft: Question One

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

During my research process, I looked at the common conventions found within regional magazines. I went on to look at existing magazines and how they use or manipulate the common conventions in their existing products. I gained ideas and inspiration from this process and incorporated these into my own work. I also looked into general conventions found in all magazines, these include features such as barcodes, release date, issue number and price. All of these feature on my work. I wanted to include these in order to my magazine seem as authentic as possible and replicate existing products. When creating my ancillary texts, I carried out the same process. I looked at conventions of both magazines and websites and went on to display examples of both on my blog. I used these as a guide for creating my own products. I feel as if both ancillary texts reflect existing products and are close to authentic websites and billboards.