Evaluation

1. Evaluation By Angela Kennedy-Macfoy

2. 1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? • My magazine, Gospel Vybz, is a new, funky magazine dedicated to young Christians and believers of Christ. I decided to have a target audience between the ages of 16-25 who are interested in both Gospel and R&B music. This is because there are not many magazines that cater to people of this age category. I chose to do this genre because I am a young Christian myself and have been struggling to find magazines that are actually targeted for this age range and collaboration of two different music genres, so wanted to explore and find out more. My front cover My magazine is conventional in the sense that my front cover has a medium close up of the main subject, like what I found in some of my research into existing magazines and what there covers consisted of. I found that using this convention helped my magazine to fit in more, according to my focus group, as they said that when they see magazines, they mostly find that there is a medium close up of the subject, and usually what they go for. Usually, the model on the front cover makes a significant pose, an example on my front cover magazine, is the mis-en-scene image of the model looking up towards heaven. I found that this was not a typical pose amongst the Christian covers that I looked at, making my magazine more unique. Here is an example of the front cover of a magazine I researched you can see that her pose it not significant to the religion in any way

3. Page numbers • With my page numbers on my double page spread, I decided to break conventions by putting page numbers in the top right hand corner on every left hand side of the page. This is not usually seen in most magazines as conventionally, page numbers are always at the bottom corners of the spreads, so as not to cause any confusion, as people usually read from left to right. However, I thought that by breaking this convention, my magazine will look different and appeal to my target audience more as it makes the appearance look spontaneous, just like many teenage people are. Also, younger people are more likely to grasp the new concept of the page numbers and embrace it than an older audience. Pg no. Here is what my page numbers look like, indicated by the orange boxes in the corners of each side of the pages

4. Page numbers continued The position of the date and other information on my spread is different , but I have kept the style of the page numbers on mine the same as this spread because it is a successful Gospel magazine and I think that the page number, magazine name and month/year published layout makes it clear for people to read and informs them of when the magazine was published, etc Here is position where the page number, magazine name month/year that the magazine was published in is

5. Masthead Here is what my masthead looks like I believe that my mast head is very Unique. I think that it stands out because of the broken lettering at the bottom of the font, which makes it look fresh, funky, cool and ‘in your face’, which are qualities found with many young people. I decided to use vibrant colours yellow, orange and purple, because they stand out, attracting immediate attention as young people like colours that are not seen as boring. The item in my masthead that makes it the most special and indicates my Christian audience, is the sign of the Pentecostal Cross, a church of Christians who use Gospel music to praise and worship Christ. I wanted to incorporate the Cross into the title so that the specific audience was identified and to show that Gospel music is used by Christians to express their feelings about their faith. To make the masthead more attractive, I decided to input the Pentecostal Cross within the ‘O’ in ‘Gospel’ , as the cross happened to be the same shape and also that Gospel music is used in the Pentecostal Churches. This also instantly catches the eye as it is very different and has probably never been seen before as shown by the title of this Gospel Magazine that I researched. None of them have a Christian symbol within the masthead

6. Fonts • The fonts that I used within my magazine , especially for headings, stood out a lot. This font style I used is called‘ObelixPro Broken’ which I obtained from a font site called http://www.dafont.com/theme.php?cat=606, where you can got to and look at the types of font they have and where I got the inspiration for my chosen fonts from. I decided to use that font and ‘A Dripping Marker’ font on my front cover because I felt that fonts such as these screamed youth because graffiti is widely associated with teenagers and young people and can instantly be recognized by my target audience. • With the font that I used for the main body text in my double page spread, I decided to follow conventions of having a simple font, as the reason for this most of the time is so that the page does not look too busy, as it may confuse the reader and distract them from what they are reading. It may also put them off if it looks to busy, as they will not know where to look first on the pages! Here is an example of my simple font Here is an example of a a simple font from a Gospel magazine. I did not use the same font, but I did want make my font simple like this

7. Colour Style As you can see from my Front cover, Contents Page and Double Page Spread below, I have tried to keep to most of the same colours of black, orange, red, yellow and purple throughput. This is to ensure that all of the pages link and are not entirely random, making the magazine consistent and themed, following conventions in the real world, as they too ensure that they keep to a theme and have the same colours used on the front cover within the rest of the magazine. This makes the magazine look professional and of worth to the public who will be purchasing it. Here is an example from ‘Q’ Magazine of a front cover and contents page that have kept with the same colours of black white and red.

8. Style of photography • For my front cover, I used a medium close-up of my model. This was because I wanted my model to have the same shot as the model on Vibe magazine, shown below My medium close-up Vibe medium close-up I wanted my image to look like the cover of Vibe because they appeal to a teenage audience, although they do not specifically cater to Christians, such as mine. It is also because attention is put in the clothing worn by the model, as it matches the tiara on her head. On my cover, the clothing worn by my model is important too because of the slogan ‘Christ Rules Everything About Me’, as I want to make it known that my audience is for Christians. I also made sure that my model would be a teenager as my audience is for young people aged 16-25, my model being in this age range. Here, I followed conventions by having a model that is representative of the age range in my magazine. Having a young person on my front cover helps my audience to see the magazine is for them straightaway. Throughout the magazine, there are photographs of my model doing fun poses, to show that you can be a normal teenager and a Christian at the same time Images on the next slide of my model of images that I used and some I took that I would have used If i had other magazine pages to put them on

9. = Pictures used

10. Writing Style • I decided to make my writing style informal. This is because of my audience, whoa re young people that speak slang and like to abbreviate words, so having it formal like the usual conventions in a magazine, would not be ideal for my magazine, as it will not appeal to my audience as they do not speak extremely informal. However, I have taken into consideration that my age range goes up to 25, so my writing style will not be too colloquial as they will also lose interest if the language is too immature for them. Here is a an extract from my magazine of my writing style that I have used Slang words used Abbreviation of words

11. Pull Quotes • Within conventions, pull quotes are usually used to make the pages of the double page spread interview less boring as the words are highlighted, put in a box, or are accompanied with fairly large speech marks to grab the reader’s attention. They are also used as a quick insight into the magazine, without the reader having to read the whole thing. The pull quote is usually a few lines, with an interesting quote, to grab attention from the audience. • I have also decided to follow this convention and use a pull quote in my interview, because I feel that using it will make my magazine really work, and make it look more appealing to my audience, than if I was not to have one. I have not copied the style of the pull quote and its positioning between two columns from the GospelLink360 magazine because I did not feelthat it looked correct on my page. GospelLink360 ‘s use of pull quote My use of pull quote

12. Cover lines • I have followed conventions in using cover lines on my front cover to refer to my cover story. This is because I wanted to draw in my audience by using the right words and phrases that will attract them and let them know what is to come if they purchase the magazine! • The cover lines that are used in Vibe and its positioning, is what I have used on my own cover to make them look similar. This is because I thought the layout of having text on either side of the models head was interesting for people to look at. I also made a word in my phrase bold, just like Vibe, because this magazine is within my target audience. • I also used GospelLink360’s cover line idea by putting the cover line underneath the name of the artist. I thought that this gives a good introduction into what the subject used will be all about, making the audience more interested, as they know who the main story will be about, without having to purchase it. The cover line is conventionally dramatic or eye catching because of the descriptive words or puns used, so as to get full attention of the audience, making them more likely to purchase the magazine, which is also why I chose to use them. Bold word, indicated by black box Bold word, indicated by the orange box Images of my similarity to GospelLink 360’s cover line On the next slide

13. My cover line GospelLink 360’s cover line

14. Ways in which my Magazine breaks Conventions • I believe that the biggest way that I have broken conventions is with my positioning of my contents page title, as seen below This is because , of all the contents pages I researched, there was not one that had the title on the side of the page, they have all been vertical. I believe that this makes my magazine stand out more than the rest because I believe that this has not been explored before, but I have had the courage to position my title in a way which could be questioned, as some people may say it is not easy to read or it just should not be done as it is unconventional. However, I believe that because of my young people market, there is a space for my contents page as they will appreciate the new look, as young people like to follow new trends, as long as they look good, which I believe I have achieved with my chosen title position.

15. Items I kept the same throughout my magazine • Colour scheme • Font on cover is same as double page spread and contents page • The young Christian model

16. 2. How does your media product represent particular social groups? • My target audience for my magazine is for young people, both male and female aged between 16-25 who have a belief or interest in Christianity and enjoy listening to Gospel and R&B music. A lot of the young people in this demographic want to know more and are curious about Christ, and want to do so in a fun way, which is where my music choice comes in. I collaborated all three music genres together because Gospel music is a type of Christian music that is upbeat and fast, not the stereotypical type of music that is usually associated with Christianity. I also incorporated R&B music because it is a type of music that is widely listened to by many teenagers all over the world. Although this type of music is normally recognised as a non-Christian type of music, there are young Christian singers and rappers who produce music with an R&B flavour, but change the meanings of their words so that it has positive meanings about Christ and being young and Christian. By having this music twist to it, I believe that my magazine will attract a lot more young people and will be able to sell more copies, as they will see it is not boring, as this type of music is current. My model represents my audience demographic because she is within this age range and is a Christian, enabling a good rapport with my audience. Her pose shows she is a Christian as she looks to the skies, but her top shows she is young because it is colourful, yet it has an inspirational message to young people with the slogan. I decided not to have a specific class of people to buy my magazine. This is because, as a Christian I strongly believe that it is not right to discriminate a class of people from buying my magazine. Jesus teaches that everybody is equal, and as my magazine is Christian themed, I would like to follow this teaching by having no specific class of young people. • My music magazine does not follow the negative representation of young people and teens, but indeed challenges the stereotype by saying, not only can you be a Christian and that it is a positive thing to have a belief and to follow it, but that you can be a teenager and love God too, you don’t instantly turn elderly!

17. 3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? • When I carried out my research, I found that the best possible publisher for my magazine is August Media. This is because they produce magazines, digital solutions, brochures and newsletters in a way that is creative, astute and imaginative. I believe that they are best because the types of magazines they produce for people are all vibrant and spirited, which works for me as my audience is young people, and this is what they like to see in magazines. They are based in the UK and do not have a selected specification of who they want to publish. My magazine can be used here because of the vibrant way that it looks, it will definitely fit in with the products that they already have. I don’t think August Media have a similar product to my own and I think that by bringing my product to this publisher it could sell more because it is a new, innovative style, with a religious twist. However, a disadvantage would be that as they have not got anything like this in the market, it may make it harder for my magazine to sell as a gap has not been made in the market for my product. • Here are some samples of the things that August Media have helped to create and publish

18. 4.Who would be the audience for your media product? • My current audience is 16-25 year old young people who are Christians or believe in Jesus Christ. Although, initially in my production stages, my audience started younger at 14 – 25 year old young people. I changed this because although becoming a Christian does not have a specific time, it is simply whether you believe or not, I felt that the level of understanding of the religion at this age may be under developed, so decided to raise the age higher to 16, as I feel that by this age, young people are able to understand what Christianity is about more clearly and will appreciate the genres of Gospel and R&B music a lot more than if my audience was younger than this.

19. 5. How did you attract/address your audience? • I wanted to do a lot to impress my audience and make them interested in my product. In order to do this, I had to make sure that I used the correct colours that would appeal to young people, and also with the types of font that I used. • I believe that the graffiti font I used helped to create a youth feeling, as it looks cool and many young people like the look of graffiti. • Here are examples of the two graffiti styles that I used as my attractive fonts in order to make my magazine look appealing This font was used for cover line that introduces my audience to the artist featured. I decided to use it as it draws more attention to what the artist is about This font was used as my title as I felt it looked different and ‘in your face’ especially when I added the vibrant colours to it

20. I managed to address my audience by abbreviating words, as this is what many teenagers do when using technology, an example being on my front cover, in which I used the actual letter ‘U’ instead of the word ‘you’, this was because my audience will feel more comfortable with magazine and will feel as if it is made specifically to them, as they can directly relate to the language used. I also decided to use this direct address as it addressed the audience directly, making it more personal. I decided that by being informal, it was the best way to connect to my youth audience. • My photography speaks to the reader by the type of poses that were taken of my model. For instance, my front cover shows that it is for Christian people, with the Christian slogan t-shirt instantly making my audience known, and by using a young person, making it know that it the magazine is for young people who are Christian. The happy expression on my models face on the front cover is a subliminal message to my readers that you can have true happiness if you follow Christ, making things even better for them when they start from young

21. With my contents page picture, I tried to be fun with it by having model sticking out her tongue, with this, I was trying to make my audience feel ‘normality’ within the magazine and to send a message that being a Christian does not make you weird and that as a Christian, you will be different in that sense, but that you can still enjoy everyday things like taking pictures and doing fun poses!

22. 6.What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? • Before I started this project, there were many different software's and technologies that I did not know about and had never used before. I had no experience in the beginning with all of the different types of technologies that I had to use in order for my magazine to be successful, but as the week’s progressed, I was becoming more relaxed with the software's and was able to begin manipulating photographs that I took with a Canon digital camera. • Photoshop was really helpful in enabling me to design my magazine. I found that it could do amazing things through watching a documentary about Photoshop and how it can make celebrities look completely different in order for magazines to sell better by creating the ‘perfect’ looking person. I learnt how to add effects to my images, change the colour of fonts and how to make the appearance of my double page spread and contents page better. I also learnt how to use layers, to give my images a more realistic 3D look, and adding something different to each layer, to make it look better. Fading pictures are a good example of making the page look more realistic, which is what I used in my double page spread

23. I also had to create a blog ,which I had never used before, in order for my work to be documented and easily looked at and commented on. Initially, I did not have any orientation of how the blog worked, and found confusing and very difficult to upload images and work onto it. However, as I started to use it more, I began to know hot to post images and documents and learnt that in order to upload my magazine items onto my blog fro Photoshop, I had to save them as a JPEG, in order for it to load, or else it would not be seen otherwise. Eventually, I was able to upload Powerpoints, Microsoft Word document, Photoshop documents, images from my camera and links to other websites. • I also had to create an account called SurveyMonkey.com. With this, I learned how to create free survey’s in which I used in order to get feedback regarding my Magazine and helped me to know what my specific audience wanted to see. Also, I got to see what audiences would think were best suitable for the production of my magazine. • Using all of these technologies helped me to make a high standard magazine that was made with feedback and opinions from other people, in order for it to be the best it can be.

24. Here are examples of the surveys that I produced with using SurveyMonkey Survey for my music magazine Survey evaluating my final Magazine product

25. 7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? My preliminary Task

26. I produced my preliminary task without having any experience of using Photoshop, and actually found it quite frustrating because I did not know how to use the many effects and tools that where available as I had no previous experience of using the software's. • I believe that my front cover is proof that I have improved on my use of Photoshop, as I have learnt to and managed to give my final magazine title a 3D look, making it more realistic, whereas, with my preliminary task, I only used texts that were 2D, making it look very basic and not like a front cover at all. • I also did not edit my preliminary task image at all ,making it boring and not eye catching at all, but with my final product, I edited my image and made my models face glow, appealing to my target audience clearly and sending a clear message of who the magazine is intended for. I did not think of my audience and what they wanted at all in the beginning, but through research and finding out more about what it takes to make a successful magazine, I thought about all of these important things and always had my audience in my mind when choosing specific colour and fonts, photographs etc. • I believe that my final product shows how far I has come with using Photoshop because of the editing that has taken place an the time and thought that has gone into producing it for my target audience. I believe that for my target audience , my magazine suits its purpose as you can tell immediately that it is for Christian people because of the image I used and the ords I used also. • I feel that my product will be able to sell because it is different in the sense that it is religious, but not boring for young people, who may find religion boring because of their prejudices and judgements that it is not ‘cool or ‘in style’, but that I break this barrier by making it look vibrant and inviting, and also fun, yet informative.