My Evaluation

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My Magazine Evaluation Finally


My magazine is based on a majority of genres that concern the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Compared to other magazines, that only advertise one particular genre I have tried to take strong ideas used in there to bring together my colorful magazine.

Forms and conventions used in my magazine are commonly used throughout the page. Compared to other Gospel magazines such as “The Gospel Link”, “Gospel City” and “The Truth”. I used the use of a younger person, to symbolize that she is reading a bible instead of using pictures of a bible. With clothes that promote the message we are trying to portray with the magazine. The main image includes the girl smiling to give the feeling that the magazine and music she listens to is what brings her joy. Her eyes are looking forward which creates a relationship with the targeted audience and allows the reader to see that her joy is sharable. The main title of the magazine is done in bold blue writing this helps catch the reader’s attention and is also quick and snappy for them to remember. The color of the text used is different random colors because I think the writing reflects the type of music we are advertising.

I wanted my Magazine cover to not have too much going on in the front like others already mentioned but be bright, youthful and straight to the point. I also adjusted the color of the background because this allowed me to be more creative in choosing the color of my font’s. The text I used where generally the same size, and texture because it helped improve the quality of presentation. I also used special effects on photo shop software to make the writing stand out from the image and be clearer to read. My main colors used were orange and blue because those colors were also used within the background and costume of the person. I also adjusted the color of the background because this allowed me to be more creative in choosing the color of my fonts.

I think my magazine cover is original within the Christian faith because it not compacted with huge amounts of information, but gives you the fun best bits about the magazine, I think encourages young people to want to open it up and read more. By the girl symbolizing hey joy in reading the bible, a dancer posing advertising her love for Jesus and an average youth wearing a Christian made ‘ hooded jumper ’ I think this helps represent the type of group it stereotypically belongs to (Christian’s). However because it has images that also reflect fashion, dance and a variety of music it opens up the social group to a wider audience with or without religion.

The audience for my music magazine cover as stated above is anyone preferably from ages 11 and up. This includes young adults in their 20’s and up, because recent sales within the Gospel Industry show that adults of all ages enjoy the music sounds of the younger generation.
Over the period of creating our magazines learning the tools on photo shop wasn’t a hard task for me but more of a refresher. This is because I had to use Adobe Photoshop and Fireworks at school for Graphic Design. Due to having this past experience I was able to take advantage of the software and get straight on with the project. However I did learn I could do more with the fonts on my font cover magazine by changing the texture and creating borders around the text. This tool I think benefited the front cover because it helped the image of the magazine not appear to blend in with everything but make it clear some of the text was layered and not merged or pressed in with everything.

If I was to create to another magazine I would a few changes. Firstly I would change the amount of information and sub pictures on the front. I think if I added more of a variety of pictures with different ethnic groups on the front it would attract a wider audience. As well as give a little more information as to what is exciting inside because I know sometimes people want it to be right in there face instead of going to read it and get surprised. Secondly I would change the style of the font and colors, because I think it’s important the writing is clear as soon as someone glimpse’s at it and not have to come closer which I know may sometimes be the case with my magazine.

Overall I’m proud with the outcome of my magazine considering the amount of times it’s changed and developed. I also enjoyed learning how to use the big Mac computers in the computer and editing suite.

Photoshop Tutorial

I found photo shop tutorial very interesting as the application was new to me. However i found when constructing my magazine i didn't use much of the applications tools e.g. magic wand. This was because my image was excatly how i wanted it to be. But when  it came to my writing i used loads of the font tools and effects. This helped me make the writing stand out and hopefully attract readers.

magzaine evaluation

In what ways does your music magazine use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of a real music magazine?

My magazine front cover has all the typical features and conventions of a real magazine. My magazine music genre is gospel music which is not very common; I felt this gave me a bit more freedom and creativity with the front cover. The main is of a group of young people in very sophisticated clothes (Sunday wear). The image is in a very natural background with clear windows, which gave it a very modern feel. I choose the main image because I wanted to capture a specific audience. The masthead of my magazine is bold and eye catching as it is an usually colour for an magazine title, it is also in capitals letters. The cover line of this issue is ‘Christian swagger’ which also have a question under it ‘what is the new Sunday best ‘. I choose this question so it would capture the audience attention and make them want to read on more. I wanted my cover to be simple but yet attractive, and to have cover lines limited as I didn’t want it to look cluttered. I also added a free T-Shirt promotion to attract buyers. The fonts on my front cover are all the same but in different sizes and colours. The two main colours on my magazine are pink and purple which I found worked really well together. I also added a particular style to the font so it would stand out more.

 How does your music magazine cover represent certain social group?

I think my magazine cover is very original as it contradicts society views on youths today. On the front cover my main image is a group of black youths dressed in formal wear. Now in the media you don’t see that very often and that is one of the main reason why I picked that type of wear. To in some ways to get the older generation thinking. The image also relates to the younger generation more as the boys are wearing ‘Era caps’ which most young boys wear. I also wanted the magazine to represent young Christians, so all promotions and cover lines are linked to a gospel artist or organisation. My magazine cover also represents youths as the colours are very light and not dull compared to other older generation magazines.

What kind of media institution might distribute your music magazine cover and why?

The institution which might distribute my magazine cover would be WWMD (world wide magazine distribution). WWMD is a joint venture business owned by major UK news wholesalers. They distbute all different kinds of magazines, in different types of shops. For example DIY and garden centres, music stored, model shops and gaming stores. I would also want the magazine cover in WH smiths so it can get out to more of the general public. I think my magazine could also be available through mail order/subscription as this will help local churches get copies for there youth.

Who would be the audience for your music magazine cover?

The audience for my magazine cover would be youths and teenagers who are interested in a certain type of genre music, gospel music. Also youths who are interested in furthering their faith and want other features the magazine offers. For example advice column , daily readings and events list. There is a lot types of gospel music from country gospel to gospel rap. This ensures that the magazine can reach all races and different backgrounds.

How did you attract/audience your audience?

To attract my audience I used a usual colour theme .pink and purple which is bright and unique. Also my main image was original and instead of just being cropped and cut it remained the same. I also think the formal wear will attract my audience as it will be different from normal hip hop magazines. I also think the free t-shirt promotion will also attract teenagers as they like anything for free. Also the t-shirt is from a well known logo this will help with magazine sales.

 What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this magazine front cover?

In our media department we were very lucky to be using the brand new apple Macs for our editing. This was very high quality. It was also the 1st time I used the Photoshop application which I found at the beginning very confusing, but I got the hang of it in the end. With Photoshop you can do all the basic like crop, cut and fill. But you can do so much more especially with font which I found extremely useful as I didn’t really need to adjust my image at all. I also like that it allowed you to control the layers in a mini window.

 If you were to make another front cover, what do you think you would do differently?

1. I would use a different image, so I could do more special effects and use Photoshop more to my advantage
2. I would do a more darker cover (as in colour) to see what It would look like
3. I would have half of the group dressed up in everyday wear so it would contrast the formal wear

4. I would change the title font.

final front cover

This is the final copy of Faith magazine issue 2

Magazine Evaluation

The ways that my music magazine has challenged forms and conventions of real magazine covers, i.e other gospel magazines, is through the use of younger generations being on front of the cover. 

A typical gospel magazine will have a well- known gospel artist on the cover or someone that is well known amongst the gospel community. However, my magazine develops forms and conventions through the use of young people to get the point across that young people are also, as well into the word of God, just as any other person. 

As i have said, the younger generation have more emphasis on this magazine cover, so i think it represents the younger generation as the cover contains youth at the age of 16 and above. How i think this is done, is through the images of average teenage girls and certain slang orientated words, e.g, "skank". 

I think the audience for the music magazine cover will, mostly be aimed at the younger generation, however, it is available to all age groups. 

I tried to attract my audience by advertising a brand called Anointed Vessel, that sell t-shirts that mention the works of Jesus, for example, the t-shirt that i used for my cover the slogan was called, "Jesus dies for myspace in heaven". These t- shirts are aimed at all ages, however it is very popular amongst the youths. Hence, why i used these t-shirts. 

What i have learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this magazine cover is, every detail count. I used a lot of experimental colors for my background, and some clashed, and some also went together with the text. In other words you have to be precise. I have also learnt, the dynamics of placing text in front of photos and vice versa. The technology on Photoshop was different to any other program that i have used, therefore, making it more complicated. However, i have learnt a lot using this program...

 

magzine cover

This is my finial draft of my magazine cover, which i am very happy with. I feel that i can capture the correct target audience.

Magazine Cover

Here is the end result of my magazine. 

My magazine cover was not how i initially wanted it to go, reasons being i wanted to have more of a vibrant cover and diverse/multicultural people also. This wasn't very successful as i could not find a wide range of people. However, my front cover was the resort that i would have gone to originally if i had not come with an internaional theme. 

I feel that my front cover shows unity and togetherness that is seen as something important within the christian faith and community. 

Overall, i am relatively happy with my cover.