Reflection and Evaluation

My college magazine

Existing college magazines

• My new college magazine is very neat with an organised house style and bright colours that contrast, however in comparison to existing magazines it doesn't have as much detailed information which may be unappealing to my audience of 16-19 year olds.

• Also, the image that I have used takes up the entire front cover, something that is also seen in professional magazines however I feel that mine has a little too much background detail (i.e. the trees) and may make it seem unprofessional in comparison to existing magazines.

• I feel that mine has a more appealing look compared to the example before as the bright colours in mine may be more appealing as they could connote happiness and positivity.

• Another area of comparison is the barcode, mine is very large and takes most of the space which gave me limited capacity unlike the existing magazine. On the existing magazine the masthead is set behind the image giving the magazine a more professional look.

• A further criticism I have of my own magazine is that there is no house style established unlike the existing example. This could make mine seem unprofessional and is something that I will strive to include in my music magazine.

Existing music magazine & Draft

• Whilst I was analysing the existing magazine I developed new ideas on how I would like my music magazine to look which has me draft ideas for my new music magazine.

• My draft has the same house style as the existing magazines that is in the slide before due to the fact that its a popular magazine.

• I decided to include only one outstanding image to make the magazine look professional and neat as my target audience favoured it.

• Initially, I wanted to have the colour red as a key colour in my house style,. However I decided that because there are already existing magazines that use this colour as part of their branding and house style, I decided against this colour and chose to use purple.

• Both the existing magazines and my draft have a masthead positioned at the top; this will help it stand out. I’ve decided my masthead will be based on a music notes page. The title Harmony will be superimposed onto sheet music to represent that this magazine is about music and good harmonies.

• I have taken inspiration from existing magazines, my image will be placed in front of my masthead as it is a great use of graphics and will look highly professional.

My music magazine drafts

The types of convention I have included in my college magazine are: masthead, barcode and informal language. I changed the house style in the contents page to sustain the audiences interest, however this made it look unprofessional as if you give it a glimpse you wouldn't realise it’s part of the magazine which is an disadvantage.

The types of convention I have used are: cover lines, selling lines, barcode, and informal language. These are all the elements an typical magazine includes to assure their magazine is successful. Also I have kept the house style the same throughout the magazine to make it look realistic and professional.

Types of convention

• The drafting process helped me in many ways as it helped me create my magazine in less time and it was how I intended it to look. Also gave me more ideas on my magazine.

• My drafts helped me have an idea on how I would like my magazine to look, also decreased the duration of the construction of my actual magazine. However I have realised my actual college magazine is improved compared to my draft, as the draft wasn't very well structured and detailed. This implies that my music magazine will be better than the draft and more detailed, also due to my draft being well organised and attractive, therefore I believe my music magazine will be more easier to create as I have an overall idea on how I would like it to look.

Drafting process

As I move through my coursework it is likely that my drafts and my ideas would change. My current music magazine drafts follow certain conventions that are typical for a music magazine. I have included a masthead, selling line, main cover line, key image, additional cover lines, barcode etc. I also have a double page spread that will use an appropriate register to target my audience as well as a main image. My contents page also follows convention as it indicates what will be featured in my magazine, where audiences can find it etc. It also has images and additional information for subscription etc. There is a house style which is typical of any type of magazine and the magazine will directly address its audience through words and pictures. I feel I have effectively followed convention but I think I could improve the work by including more information regarding music artists and have entertaining competition on the front cover to appeal my target audience, also have favourable prizes such as IPods, albums etc. To motivate them into participating more often in the competition.

Music Magazine Drafts