Evaluation of college magazine front cover & contents page.

I am now going to evaluate the magazine which I have created.

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

I feel that the print which I have created does fit in with many conventions of real printed magazine's. I feel that it does this because it has noticeable masthead, located in a place which is noticeable to the audience and will make the magazine more recognisable. I also feel that the magazine fits in with the conventions of a normal magazine because fits in with a consistent house style which most printed magazine's do.  Also the font works well as it has a contrast to the background colour so is easy to read and is also very clear, the magazine also includes various cover lines as well as a main, mid shot image which is generally used on a magazine cover.

My magazine also develops on the conventions of many printed magazines as the front page also included a competition, which I feel draws in the audience and works well.

I feel that the magazine also challenges magazine conventions because it includes I have made the cover & the contents page very simple, which is not always the case with printed magazine's. I did this so that the text was not over powered by too many images, i feel that this works better because the text and font styles are more clear.

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

I feel that my main product and my ancillary texts work well together as the subjects of the texts which I have included are related to 'student life' and the way in which students perceive various things.

For example, I included the story 'Revision tips' as this would be very useful to someone who is at college as exams are a big part of 'student life'.

I also used the idea of students going on to uni and included the headline 'Sex, drugs and Rock & Roll. Is this what uni is all about?' because students are often connotated with having a party hard life style but the magazine will tell the students what the uni is really all about, I felt that this was an effective idea as it would inform and educate the audience.
What have you learned from your audience feedback?
I feel that my audience feedback was good and informed me of various things which could be changed and what they felt would be effective. I was told to 'add more different colours' into the product as it would make it more eye catching. I feel that this should be taken into consideration for the main coursework task, as I feel that alot of colour will work well in a magazine. Also the audience felt that the magazine cover image could have been in a better quality, I agree with this and will definitely resolve this issue for next time.
They said the simple design worked but for the music magazine main task it will work better if it has more elements as it will draw readers in slightly more were as for a college magazine the 'simple' idea works.
How did you use new media technologies in the construction, research and planning and evaluation stages?
When doing the research and planning for my college magazine I used media technologies by using virtual copies of the magazine to make the analysing of the magazine easier. When creating the magazine I used digitally taken pictures to make the magazine look better and more original, also I used photo shop to create the magazine as it made the creation process easier. I also used media technologies throughout the process of designing and creation process as well as the evaluation of the magazine by posting each part of the process onto a blog.