Evaluation template

Evaluation template

• 1.
  Throughout the makingof my magazine front cover I think I considered a lot of the topics that we needed to such as; Genre Codes & Conventions, Target Audience, Visual Codes, Layout & Design and finally, the language. Before I began making my front cover for my magazine, I looked at three examples of magazines that are already out there and I established the generic codes and conventions of each of them. Firstly, I had to establish what the genre was going to be for my magazine front cover. I decided on a fashion magazine for women, but for the older generation. I chose this because I thought there are so many magazines out there which are aimed at teenagers and young adults, that I thought it would be nice if there was something out there for the middle aged, older adult’s category. This led me to agree on the target audience I was going to aim my product at, my target audience would be 40+, but I think it is mainly aimed at women in their 40's and early 50's. Taking into account that my fashion magazine was aimed at the older generation of women in their 40's and early 50's, i think my magazine front cover aims itself at not only the demographic (popular), but the psychographic (individual) audience as well. I have shown this within the magazine front cover by the type of language used. The next thing i had to do was to decide on my use of visual codes, for example: what images i was going to use, and then to decide on the things i was going to write on the front cover of my magazine. When choosing the images i was going to use on my front cover, i was considering someone who was of an older age but still looked good for her age, someone that was an icon to women, and this is how i chose Sarah Jessica Parker as the image for the front cover of my magazine. I chose her because i believe that she never lets her age bring her down, as she is always dressed well and fashionably, but not forgetting that she is quite old but still looks young. I thought she would be a good person to use because i think that older women would look up to her and think; 'i want to be like her', and this would be a benefit to my magazine because it would make people attracted to my magazine, and there would hopefully be high sales. I decided that Sarah Jessica Parker was going to be the only image i had on the front cover of my magazine because i thought it would be effective if i made her fill most of the page, with just catching phrases around her of what people can expect to find within the magazine. Another thing i had to consider was the use of language i was going to use on the front cover of my magazine. At first i was slightly confused as to what to write on the front cover of my magazine, but a flood of ideas soon came rushing to me. I personally think i made good use of sell lines by using things such as; 'How to feel young and look sexy again.' i think this was a good choice because as you are getting older, all women wish they could feel young and sexy again. I also used things such as; 'Your spring must-haves' and 'Hundreds of ideas for updating your look.' I think the use of 'your' shows that it is directly involving the audience and this shows a psychographic factor - aiming at the individual. I think i have made good use of persuasive techniques through the use of some of my writing; 'Best Beauty Buys' this shows the use of alliteration. I have also made good use of punctuation such as; full stops, exclamation marks and commas. I have also noticed that i made use of slogan, which i did not originally notice. My slogan is; 'Fashion For You', this shows that i am directly involving the audience by the use of 'you', which would draw more attention to my product. Overall, i think i let myself down a little on the language side of the magazine front cover because i think i could have made better use of modes of address, such as; the use of rhetorical questions and quotations, if i had the chance to make my magazine front cover again, i would definitely make sure
• 2.
  iincluded these. However,i am pleased with my use of sell lines and all the persuasive techniques i used within my magazine front cover. Finally, i had to gather all my images and text together and decide on the layout and design of it. I had to decide on a font style, size and colour, in which did not take me too long because i already had an idea in my head of what i wanted my magazine cover to look like. I ended up choosing a pale pink colour for the background, with the use of black and lilac font for the text as i thought these colours went well with the colours of Sarah Jessica Parker's outfit. With the image i chose, i wanted it to fill most of the page so i did not have to include anymore images on that page. I did make it fill most of the page with little gaps around the edges as room for me to write my text. I also made the image overlap the title 'Glow' slightly, as i had seen this happen within the magazine front covers i analysed before starting my own magazine front cover, i think this makes it look extremely effective. I have also made use of a barcode at the bottom of the magazine front cover because this is what you would find on a magazine front cover in a shop. One thing i should comment on that i am not happy with is the top of the picture looks slightly pixelated from where it originally had a white background. However, i did not have the right software on my computer to repair this, but if i had the chance to do it again i would definitely try and find a computer that did have the correct software as i think this let my final product down a little. Overall, i am happy with my choice of colours, pictures and fonts. To conclude, i believe the aim of my product has targeted my audience well by the use of sell lines, colours and images because i believe this would attract the correct age group that i was intending on. Overall, i am extremely happy with how my product has turned out but if i had the chance to do it again there would be a few things that i would want to change, such as; the pixilation around the top of the image i have used and i would also think about my use of text in a little bit more detail as i forgot to include the use of rhetorical questions and quotations. However, i am happy that i used a slogan that i originally did not notice until completing this evaluation. Overall, i am really happy with how i have included all the topics within my magazine front cover that i was supposed to.