Evaluation of Preliminary Task

After making my preliminary task before my main task, I needed to make a 'school magazine' and I chose the genre myself, which happened to be fashion, something I researched a lot into before. Moreover, on my real task an evaluation needs to be made, therefore as a preliminary task I decided to evaluate my first piece of work as well.

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

Front Cover 

Direct Address is used here as the image is looking straight at the reader. This does this so it gets the attention of the reader. It does that by creating a ‘relationship’ between the image and the consumer going to buy the magazine. This is conventional as this is seen throughout almost every magazine as it captures attention and almost creates a relationship between the image and the audience.

However there are many problems within this magazine as I was quite unskilled with using applications such as InDesign for the first time and therefore made my work look below a wanted standard.This  is unconventional in many ways. Especially due to there being no skyline and having the Masthead going through the bottom instead of the top. Not only this but it lacks the Masthead that has vibrant colours capture the attention of buyers. It is very dull in fact.

Despite the fact I have inserted articles to do with the school (Stockley Academy) as they are relevant, it lacks the eye catching colours, fonts and text sizes. Therefore, even though all the magazine information is there (I have also included brief Sell Lines to show the reader what to expect when they buy the magazine) the audience will not be interested.

This Colour Palette is unconventional aswell it does not have the normal ‘three’ colours, instead only having black and white which may not get the readers attention. It also has sell line colours with the dark background colour which makes it hard for the reader to see and it does not stand out.

Overall this can be seen as an extremely unconventional front cover and I definitely know what to do for my main task to capture the audiences attention, but also keep the conventions in place.

Contents Page

In this contents page I have used an unconventional colour scheme of just black and pink compared to the conventional 3 colour palette that is meant to be used. Which are also very dark colours for a fashion type magazine. I have used bold titles to describe the headings, for example, the two important ones on this page are obviously the magazine name ‘Fabulous’ and the name of the actual pages someone is looking at which is ‘Contents’. 

       The images are used were relevant to what the task of a ‘school magazine’ was. This is due to
me using some pictures of actual students in the school. I have promoted ‘social media’ that 
the magazine uses to get recognition. This is effective as it makes it seem like a real magazine 
because they always try to broadcast their magazine to social media websites.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My magazine represents the younger generation fashion. This is seen in both the front cover and contents page due to the content it includes. It includes images of teenagers in school, due to it being a school magazine and uses relevant images for this. Also in the contents page, there are links to social media pages, teenagers mainly use them, therefore they are included.
I make this very clear throughout due to the young adult wording and is more of a casual approach, not a formal sort of magazine which is usually associated with adults. The vivid colours and childlike picture approach make it fun for the young reader and allow their attention to be on the magazine for longer periods of time. 

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

There are many institutions that may take my magazine, such as teen, fashion or gossip magazines. My magazine applies to all these and may more sub-topics and they may be distributed due to these topics being extremely popular in younger generations.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

My audience are girls who are currently in school and enjoy reading and talking about fashion. They must be interested in it to be able to understand the magazine. Although it attracts a particular group it does not prevent other people from reading it, I would like to think that my magazine works for everyone. 

How did you attract your audience?

I attracted my audience by attempting to use unusual colours that are used in a magazine, such as black and white or black and pink. I also tried using simple language to try and attract lots of different age ranges. However, my conventions weren't very professional and due to this not many people may be attracted to this preliminary task. Despite this, I know know what to do for my main task. 

What have you learnt about the technologies from the process of constructing this product?

• From constructing this product I have learnt how to use the Adobe In-Design software to create the layout of a magazine and its conventions used.
• I have also learnt how to Photoshop pictures after taking them and uploading them onto In-Design for later use.
• Learn how to plan for a magazine by finding pictures and information online, mostly using Google. 
• How to present my research from popular applications such as Scribd. 

Magazine Contents Page Analysis

Due to my preliminary task consisting of producing both a front cover and contents page, I also had to research the conventions of a contents page as they are not the same as front cover conventions. Therefore I again researched the conventions and found my answers on SlideShare.

My first attempt at analysing a contents page was again to my favourite magazine category, fashion. Therefore alike my front cover I chose Vogue. I found out many new conventions and how images and text must be placed to fit the appropriate conventions. For my Preliminary task I had decided to do a fashion magazine therefore I wanted to learn as many conventions as I possibly could.

For my second analysis, I went to a completely irrelevant genre and chose a sports magazine. This is so I could familiarise myself with different types of media based terminology and wanted something a bit different to analyse.

Magazine Front Cover Analysis

For my main task in my AS media work, I had to create a music magazine, including a front cover, contents page and feature article. Although, without any practise I wouldn't be able to create the front cover that I really wanted. Therefore, looking at other magazines as inspiration had to be my first logical step for my preliminary task of producing a front cover and contents page for a 'school magazine'. And with this idea I began analysing.

The first thing I did was to actually understand what the conventions were. Therefore, I researched many conventions, especially on websites such as Slide Share.

This website really helped me, especially since I did not know of conventions before I began researching them. Although they did not provide me with all the information I needed, it was definitely a starting point before I asked my teacher to give me good definitions of different conventions.

After doing a lot of research on the different conventions I needed to put them into practise. I began looking for front covers which would be my starting point for analysis. With these pictures I could see the layout of the magazine and the conventions that follow it. This would be great for my main task in the future and therefore I kept this in my folder for reference.

This was my first attempt at analysing a magazine. I chose a fashion magazine due to it being one of my favourite types of magazines, therefore I chose one of the most popular magazines ever made, Vogue and analysed it. Most conventions were followed and I spoke about this as seen in the picture above.

I then chose to analyse another magazine to make sure I knew of different conventions. Therefore I picked a music magazine (since my main task was to do a music magazine) and learned of some conventions. So, after analysing both magazines I was aware of what I needed to be included in my magazine.


With the front covers that I did, I also made GRANITE tables (genre, representation, audience, narrative, institutions, technology, evidence). This began giving me the connotations that I needed to make my own magazine successful. It discussed the various ways that my magazine should be suitable for my audience and how they have used particular conventions to show this. This is an extremely useful way to keep me informed of what to include and what not to do for my preliminary task.

Magazine Publishing Industry ((welcome!))

Welcome to my Blog all about Magazines for my AS Media Course!


The magazine printing industry is huge and accounts for more than 230,000 jobs just throughout the UK. Mostly men work in this industry with women nearly catching up by a few percent. This industry is so important due to two thirds of the population reading some sort of publication every single day. It is such a competitive business due to so many different magazines being produced every single day.

Why might magazine sales be falling in the UK?
There are many reasons as to why magazine sales might have dropped. But the biggest reason of them all has to come from competition around the world. Everyday new technology is made, such as digital magazines which may succeed in impressing the public rather than just a normal magazine.

-But also the simple fact that the public does not want to spend money. Social Media has been introduced and most of the population use it as a quick way to get up to date with what is happening in the world, without cost.

Also, not everything in a magazine is correct or available. For example, one magazine does not include everything a person may want, such as fashion and sport in the same magazine. Which may end in them spending more money than they have to when they have alternative ways to achieve this.

Types of Magazines  
There are over hundreds of magazine categories, but here are some examples of the most popular ones read around the world:

• Fashion Magazines
• Gardening and Wildlife Magazines
• Cooking Magazines
• Car Magazines
• Pregnancy and Baby Magazines
• Sci-Fi and Mystery

After researching many of them, it is clear to see the many conventions a magazine holds to be successful. As an example I decided to pick a pregnancy magazine to explain some of it's conventions and why they may be used:

Direct Address - This is so the reader is engaged by the main picture used, so the audience understands what type of magazine this may be.

Body Language - The way the main picture is seen also describes the magazine itself. For example in a pregnancy magazine it is most likely to be a pregnant woman smiling. She would be smiling to express to the audience what a happy time it is going to be for them.

Colour Schemes - The colour schemes that may be used would be bright and vivid colours to again express to the reader what a good time it will be for them. It attracts them to the magazine.

Masthead - The masthead should be big and bold so that the audience knows if it is the right magazine for them to read. It should be something that relates to pregnancy.

Cover lines - The cover lines should be surrounding the magazine with relevant news and information about pregnancy and babies.

Celebrities - They are usually used to attract more customers, if celebrities do it, they will do it.

Feature Article - The feature article should be something that will really engage the reader and make them want to buy it, just for the simple fact that its exclusive in only that magazine.

Help - Advice or help should always be included in these types of magazines so that the audience and reader is able to help themselves from it for a healthy pregnancy.

Competitions - Competitions are used for a reader to have the chance of winning something, which is a form of entertainment.

Entertainment - All magazines should have cross words, or something to engage the audience whilst they are reading the magazine.