Final Evaluation

Overall Evaluation

I feel that in comparison to other existing magazines and conventions, my cover has a variety of conventions. The conventions that I identified back when I was researching that I feel are clearly on my cover are:

Ø  Mast head

Ø  Main image

Ø  Headline

Ø  Cover lines

Ø  Barcode

Ø  Secondary image

Ø  House-style

Ø  Punctuation

I am happy with the overall outcome of my magazine, as I feel it is easily recognised as a magazine cover because I have used the correct conventions and have considered the Gutenberg diagram theory when editing and have tried to make conscious decisions in the positioning of objects on the page.

I think if I were to do the cover again then I would have taken the main image picture at a different angle, as there isn’t a real focus on the front cover, unlike other covers that I analysed (Vogue). The problem I faced was that the masthead covered too much of the main image than I intended and ended up covering the models head and I didn’t feel that layering the model on top of the masthead would be a good decision due to the magazine not being well-known enough yet. I did attempt to edit it on Adobe Photoshop, but I couldn’t work the software completely without some part of the cover deleting. That is another thing I would change if I were to do it again; I would get some knowledge of Adobe InDesign, as I started to use it but couldn’t get to grips with it due to never having used the software before. In the end I ended up using Microsoft Publisher to put my magazine cover together as I know the program well and it was also the only software that I could easily access both at school and at home, where I spent the majority of my editing time.

I feel like I made the right decisions with my cover lines, as they’re relatively vague when looking at other existing magazine covers, but that’s due to the target audience and the purpose of my magazine, as it is completely different to others.

I spent the majority of my time planning and looking at existing magazine covers to understand the conventions made up on a cover. The most useful piece of research that I did was the ‘Readership Profile’ as I could see why other magazines are popular and who their primary target audience is and how they adapt their covers for them. Also, speaking to my target audience was extremely beneficial as it gave me building blocks to think of the headline and cover lines that feature on my cover. It also helped that I am a part of the target audience age range as it meant I could also use my logic in the editing. An example of this, was when deciding what the main image should be, as it had to appeal to both genders.

I took a variety of pictures for the main image, but reflecting back on the project I could have asked the target audience for their feedback and seen which one they would have rather seen as the front cover, but due to the time scale of the project, I wouldn’t have had enough time to then edit the cover. I do feel that I had enough time to edit my magazine cover, as I already had an idea of what I wanted it to look like due to my mock-up of the cover; due to me having spent less time on taking photos than I probably should have, meant I had time to try out the cover in a number of different ways to see what worked best in my eyes. Again, if I had more time then I would have liked to have the target audiences feedback to then edit it from critic feedback.

One problem I came across during the whole process was the photography for the main image and secondary image. I recently got a new camera and I haven't had the chance to have a play on it and get to grips with how it works. So the project enabled me to do this and start building a photography portfolio. I quickly overcame this problem after taking many pictures that weren't what I intended to take and weren't of the standard that I wanted for the front cover.

Reflecting back on the whole process I think I have produced a worthy magazine cover. I think it is clear who the target audience are and have ensured that they will be interested in reading the magazine. I feel that I understand all of the conventions that make up a magazine cover and why they are recognisable. Other than the previous things I have mentioned, I wouldn’t have changed any other elements in this project, but in the future I definitely would consult the target audience before any decision making to make sure I have made the right decisions.