Media Evaluation

Evaluation Idea

For my evaluation, I'm planning on either doing a video with a voiceover and drawings to narrate the words being said. 

or....

I came up with an idea of using large pieces of card and writing on them what I'm saying, with a bit of music playing over to make it a bit more fun.

Double Page Spread

I have made some alterations to my double page spread:

• I placed a subtle dark grey frame around the whole of the magazine.
• I moved the flag on the right picture down a fraction.
• I changed the size of the picture on the left just by a couple of millimetres.
• I shrunk the 'Exclusive Interview..' by 2 font sizes.

Contents Page

I made some alterations to my contents page:

• I shrunk the subscribe box as it was a bit too large and took up more space on the page than would be deemed suitable. 
• I created the 'Plus' section so it was left aligned, because it fit into the page more than the central alignment. 
• I placed another blue box with 'Cover Story' on for the 'Pauline Heller' story so that if the audience wished to read the cover stories, the contents would focus more on them than any other featured stories.
• I changed the quote underneath the RBCB's pictures to match the writing on the DPS.

New and Improved Front Cover

Firstly, I changed the picture so the eyes of the front character is looking at the camera, and I enlarged the main picture so it was the main focus on the page too. I lightened the colour of the union jack in the background so they're not as bright and bold, they're now more soothing.
I placed a cover line to go with the main picture to the left with relevance to Paul Weller, lead singer of "The Jam" - which links in with the title of my magazine.
The price of the magazine is now in the top right hand ear of the magazine as suggested, and the title has been enlarged. The barcode has also been reduced as well as the title for RBCB has been changed, as well as the colouring too make it stand out more.
The 'issue one' has been moved to the bottom left hand corner just above the barcode and I chose to place all the pictures together with writing above. I added the name of the '16 year old superstar' just to make sure the reader knows the cover story. I also shrunk the top left hand circle and the text in the circle. The font was also changed on the 'Pauline Heller?' story to blend in with the rest of the stories fonts.

Initial Feedback

- Change pictures of RBCB
- Place the £1.50 in the top right ear
- Relate cover lines to the pictures
- More of the postbox
- Enlarge main picture
- Change main picture so eyes are towards the audience

Step Three Draft - Finished Front Cover

For my final draft, I started adding all the details which would make the magazine more interesting to read. I added all the details which would grab the readers attention in a bright colour.

In the top left hand corner I added a bright yellow circle with a 'chance to win' inside of it. I got this idea from NME as they always do competitions to go to gigs or to win things.

I then copied an idea I saw in Kerrang! where the magazine has an exclusive interview with a band. I wrote this in yellow on the red background so it stands out.

Along with the pictures of RBCB I added a mini title to give an overview of what the pictures may be about. I then took a picture of a union jack and placed it over the post box. I lowered the opactity so the picture became slightly transparent. It then gave the effect of a flag on a post box.

Step One Draft

For my first draft of my magazine, I started off by creating a union jack as the background to my magazine. It immediately draws in the readers attention because the Union Jack is quite a bright flag and not many magazines feature it as their background.

I then decided to use the picture which represented the theme of the magazine the most. It features myself as a guitarist standing next to a British postbox. I chose this mise-en-scene as the the postbox is very British, and it co-ordinates with the colour scheme. 

I added the title 'The Jam' up to the top right hand corner. The two fonts represents the variety of music in which the magazine features. I added the strapline of 'The Best Of British'  too add to the theme of British music, and Issue 1 due to the fact that it is issue 1. The barcode was then added to make the magazine seem more realistic.



Step Two Draft

In this step, I added a circle which has the price inside. It corresponds to the colour scheme of the Union Jack and it stands out to show that the price of the magazine is relatively cheap for magazines these days.

I added the pictures of RBCB to the bottom right hand corner to show more of the contents of the magazine and to entise the reader into reading more into the articles.

Front Cover Of My Magazine

My Own Contents Page

This is my contents page for my school magazine. The white writing emphasises the main articles that connect with the pictures.
The colour of the other paged articles connect with the colour of the uniform featured in the pictures.
The pictures represent the different ages through the school that can use this magazine.

Analysis Of A Men's Lifestyle Magazine Contents Page - Men's Fitness

This is an analysis of a men's lifestyle magazine's contents page.
The whole layout of the magazine is immediately seen as male. Motorbikes, Running, American Football etc. and the font adds a masculine theme to it. With Vogue, the font was quite girly and simplistic - but Men's Fitness font has a masculine edge to it. Despite the colour scheme being the same, instead of the red taking over - the black does. The black enhances the subtitles of the contents, and draws in the readers attention so he/she can navigate to whichever page they want to easily.

The images take up 3/4 of the page which immediately grabs the attention of the reader and tells the articles via images. The captions on the images also invites the reader to read into the articles some more. The bottom left hand corner has a picture of an American Footballer with the caption "Who'll be among 2010's top draft picks?" - with this caption, this article is already enctising the reader to read the article to answer the question.

The numbers next to the captions for the articles are in bold numbers to make the magazine articles easier for the reader to find what they are looking for. The red font creates a contrast so the eye is more attracted to colourful text on a simplistic coloured background.

In the bottom right hand corner, there is the name of the photographer who took the images featured on the contents page. If the reader is interested in the images featured, this invites the audience to research the photographer to find out what other work he has done, and if they are interested themselves.

Analysis Of A Women's Lifestyle Magazine Contents Page - Vogue

This is an analysis of a women's lifestyle magazine.
The whole layout of Vogue magazines contents page is very simplistic. It doesn't have a lot of colour, and its not very "busy". The only colour on this page is red, which stands out to grab the readers attention. Words such as "Cover Stories" and "Subscribe to Vogue" are in a larger font to the rest of the magazine. The main focus is clearly directed towards the picture which takes up at least half the page. However because these words are in red and in a larger font than the rest of the magazine, it shows that the magazine has other interests than just fashion.

The large title "vogue" to the top of the magazine, followed by the numbered points below is similar to the Men's Fitness contents page. This suggests that there these are typical codes and conventions of magazines. With the numbered points, there are subtitles in red which sum up what the numbered articles will be about. For example; "FASHION" is in red, with Carteblanche and Climate Change as titles for the summaries underneath - this grabs the readers attention and draws in interest because of the contrast in colour. The capital letters used also emphasises the way the titles would be read, with capital letters - it's more like the magazine is shouting at the reader to read the article. The font used gives the contents page a feminine theme to it, it's girly and plain. This suggests that the audience for this magazine would be female.

In the bottom right hand corner, there is an advertisement for subscription to Vogue magazine, written in red capital letters, this is already entising the reader to subscribe as it has caught their attention. Along with it is an offer in italics for a free gift if the reader subscribes, which is another tactic for the magazine to increase their circulation because it suggests that if the magazine gets something, it'll give something back - which is what everyone wants really.

NME Double Page Spread Analysis

 This is a double page spread from NME. It features Lily Allen and the story of why she doesn't believe she's an attention seeker. This is an immediate summary of what the page is about, and I can tell this just by looking the the bold words that fill most of the page.


Title:
"People think I'm an attention seeker, but I'm just honest." This invites the readers into seeing Lily's personal reasons on why she is honest, and how this affects the public's view on her actions. The colour scheme of the title is like so because it makes the title stand out. The way its written in the style that no-one should be able to tell it's her, like it is a secret, but she is revealing it. This encourages the audience to read because its personal and creates the illusion that Lily is revealing secrets.

Colour Scheme:
The colour scheme featured in this double page spread is made so that it makes Lily Allen the centre of attention because she is wearing a red shirt on a white background. The contradicts the title of the article, which I may feature in my magazine.

Images:
The image featured in this article shows Lily Allen in a casual pose, showing the audience that she's opening herself up and being herself towards the audience. The image is placed towards the left, taking up a third of the page, with the majority of the page is taken up by the article.

This double page spread is quite interesting because it suggests that not only are the articles personal, but so is the magazine. This is a feature I would use in my own magazine because it connects with the reader, its personal and professional at the same time.

NME Contents Page Analysis

This is an analysis of a NME contents page. The right hand side of the page is always filled with a list of sub-headings which helps the reader navigate around the magazine and find the information they're most interested in faster. Inside of the sub-headings, there are even more sub-headings inside making it easier to find specific information.

Down the right hand side is an index of bands which feature in the magazine, this is in every magazine. This enables the readers to find where the specific information about a specific band is in the magazine.

In the center of the contents page, there is bold writing which highlights the main feature of the magazine - accompanying it is a picture of whatever the main article is on. In red, there is the page number, which links to the red bubble in the bottom right hand corner. This features in most of the magazines. The few words featured below the bold writing gives a quick summary of what the main story is about, and this gives the reader insentive to carry on reading the magazine.

In all the issues of NME, on the contents page, an advertisement for subscription is always published. The background is in contrast with the main colour because its the opposite. The yellow writing stands out on the black background to draw attention to it. This is because they want more readers to subscribe so there weekly circulation goes up.

Analysis Of My Masthead - The Jam

My magazine is called "The Jam". It's connotations are that British people are associated with jam, and also in music, "jamming" is when a group of people informally get together to play improvised music. Because my magazine is British artist based, I thought this title fitted in quite well with it due to the title being associated with British themes.

NME Masthead Analysis

 NME magazine has a very effective masthead. It has used a strong squared off bold font which gives a serious feel to the magazine, which the magazine is trying to achieve because it is serious about music. The recurring red title makes an impact on every magazine because it draws attention to it no matter what, which makes the reader want to read into the magazine more. The colour also symbolises love and passion, which is what this magazine has for music. The white outline shows a barrier to this passion, so it is protected, a calm exterior with a fiery interior. The other technique they have used is a subtle but effective one, by renaming the magazine "NME" instead of New Musical Express, it shows that the magazine can hide more that what meets the eye and this will make the reader want an in-depth look. This could also connotate that despite the magazine catching up with modern times, it will always have its history of New Musical Express - which reflects the efficiency of the magazine.

Kerrang! has a very similar masthead to NME. Once again it is very strong, squared off bold font. The serious feel of the magazine appears once again. However, this time the font has a scars running through it, which represents the genre of music because rock is usually rough, hardcore music. As you can see from these two examples, the colours used are neutral, either black or white, this makes the audience focus on the features of the magazine because it doesn't need an interesting, colourful font to attract the readers. The exclamation mark also suggests that the magazine is serious about music, it shows the dedication to the magazine.

Kerrang! Contents Page Analysis

This is an analysis of a Kerrang! contents page. This page does feature some things which are similar to my previous content page analysis. The "contents" heading clearly wants to stand out so the colour of the background and font is different to the miniature articles on the page. The same technique applies for the sub-headings which features in NME too - in the sub-headings, there are sub-headings, which makes it easier for the reader to navigate throughout the magazine to find articles which interest them the most.

Along with the highlighted sub-sub-headings, underneath the main article they have numbers that contrast to stand out and smaller pictures relevant to the captions underneath. These help convince the reader to read these articles. Like all contents pages, there is a larger picture which is the main story featured in the magazine.

Once again, like the contents page of NME - highlighted down the bottom right hand side is an advertisement for the subscription for Kerrang! magazine. It is in a different font and colour scheme to draw attention to itself to intise the reader.

However, this contents page differentiates to the NME one because up the top left hand corner, there is a personalised note from the editor of Kerrang! - this could possibly encourage more readers because it makes the contents more personal to the reader, and lets the reader know that any suggestions made will be read by a member of the editorial staff. In the top right hand corner, there is a different quote in every issue which is slightly comical. This suggests the magazine has an enjoyable and entertaining theme to it.

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