Evaluation

In 1997 Bentley suggested the creative process is “The making of the new through rearranging of the old” I then looked at common conventions and started to apply this to the creating of my contents page and front cover. I first looked at the Bodmin College magazine to get a better understanding of common conventions; I then came to the conclusion that the magazine wasn’t fit for purpose, as it didn’t appeal to its target audience. I decided that I wouldn’t follow this magazine as a guide when I came to creating my own. I produced a survey using survey monkey to find out what the target audience, I found out that people liked the stories, but didn’t particularly like how they were presented on the magazine. However, I did follow some of the common conventions, for example; my title was the correct proportion of the page, this is so it’s clear and stands out. I also stuck to using the main background image, which was a medium long shot. I used this as it gives the impression that the magazine is more professional, without looking too busy.

For my magazine the primary target audience was the student’s at the school, aged 11-19. This means I want my magazine to appeal to them. I found out from my survey monkey results that the most common age of people reading the magazine was 16-17, so I was looking to make the magazine appeal more to them. I want my magazine to disprove the theory of Stanley Hall (1904) who said, “the common mood for teenagers is depressed and ‘criminal activity’ would increase during the ages of 12&24”. My survey has already begun to do this, as the common target audience is 16-17.

I think that my front cover and contents page worked well because I stuck to the common conventions, by doing this the magazine they became more appealing to the target audience of 11-19 year olds. Although I think that my improvements can be made for the main task I feel that my colour pallet on my magazine worked well, and the colours complemented each other. Also the stories advertised on the contents page and front cover were stories that were going to interest my target audience, especially 16-17 year olds as it came out that they read the magazine the most.

The use of similar fonts over both my contents and front cover is effective because it makes the two pages go together and look more professional. It also makes the pages look less busy.  This is particularly relevant to my target audience, as they will be looking for a fairly easy, simple read in their spare time, nothing that is too strenuous.

When it came to choosing the images I used images that are of students from the college, who come within the target audience, this is effective as students may see people they know and become intrigued as to why their friends or associates are on the cover, and/or contents page of the school magazine. 

To conclude, the contents page and front cover are suitable target audience, as they include the common conventions needed to make a good magazine. Secondly, what made it good was the fact that it was relevant to the target audience of 11-19 year olds. I feel the imagery and colour pallet was average, but was suitable and relevant to the target audience. For the main task I will try to make my magazine look a lot more professional and together, I will also select a better choice of font and space out the writing so it doesn’t look too hectic on the cover.