Evaluation by Niamh Sygrove FINAL VERSION

Evaluation by Niamh SygroveWhat creative decisions did you have to make at the different stages of your magazine production? How did your magazine change as your work progressed?Throughout different stages of my magazine, I came up with creative decisions, to make each part of my magazine effective and look good.

My first draft cover is the left image. The second draft/final design is the right. There are some changes that have occurred as my work progressed. In the first, I ensured there was a clear title, headline, price, issue number and special text on the left. I improved this within the second cover. I did this by making the text stand out more. The white is brighter and outstanding on this cover, and is portrayed with black shadow outlines. Also, the black text comes across neater as its displayed darker and bolder with more artists featured in the section. I also decreased the font size for the issue number and price, because they were too big in the first draft. I also decreased the barcode size and rotated it, so it had the same effect as it does on Clash (the music magazine mines based upon). Mine isnt full with detail, but I felt if I added more information, it would crowd up and become messy. Because my magazine was based on Clash, I looked at how they did their covers and they had lots of space because not everything needs to be filled.

This is my overall contents page. It is my first and only final design/draft, because I believe that I didnt need to make any changes within this part of the magazine. I ensured right from the very beginning, that there was a clear title at the top of the page indicating what this section was about, that there were page numbers like there would be in a common magazine, that the magazine name and website were indicated at some part of this page, that the page numbers for other sections were included (because its a contents page), that there were brief details of whats on each page to ensure the reader on what they will be opening the magazine up to, and that there were a few images for a more professional feel and look towards the contents page of the magazine I created. Because my magazine was based on the music magazine Clash, I looked at how they did their contents page and how they included some images in a certain layout, and included different shapes and colours (like Ive done with the photo sections that have circles with page numbers inside them), to fill in a lot of the white space, but not making it too overcrowded with text and images at the same time.

My first draft double page spread is the first image above. The second draft/final design is the image below the first draft. There are some changes that have occurred as my work progressed. In the first, I ensured there was a clear title for the article, a quote from the actual article introducing the entire article, a brief introduction for the star, page numbers in the bottom corners and exclusive contest text at the bottom on the right page. I improved this within the second double page spread. I did this by making the text more in line with each other, so that it wasnt all over the page and so it didnt look messy. The whiteness of the page has been coloured in more with orange and blue to avoid bareness within the double page spread, and is portrayed with black and orange outlines. I also decreased the font size for the article introduction, because it was too big in the first draft. Mine isnt full with detail everywhere, but again like with my cover, I felt if I added more information, it would crowd up too much space and become messy. Because my magazine was based on Clash, but my particular cover girl was based on Lana Del Rey, I looked at Clash to see how they did their double page spreads and then I looked at magazines that Lana had been interviewed for and based my article on that (my influence eventually came from Lanas interview in NME magazine).How effective was your research into similar magazines and relevant target audiences. What did you learn from your research into these two areas?My research for magazines and target audiences was effective. I successfully collected a bunch of research that gave me ideas for every section of a successful magazine. Most research was found from Clash, because its one of my favourite magazines, and I believe its one of the best for covers, fonts and layouts. Its also good because I wanted to base my cover girl on Lana Del Rey, and when I found Clashs cover with Lana on, I knew Clash was perfect to base it on. Many music magazines go for specific genres, and Clash definitely fit mine best; simply for people in the magazine and for target audience. My audience was based around females (but could be males too) and the ages of teens to young adults. This worked because Lana has a huge female audience with some males liking her. She also appeals to people around 16-25 mainly, so I knew to base my cover girl on someone like her. This then affected the rest of the magazine and of course gave the contents and the double page spread the same type of feel. Generally, if someone likes the cover artist on a magazine, they tend to like the inside as well because they then go looking for that particular person inside the magazine, and thats why my research was very effective within my magazine. How closely does your magazine follow the forms and conventions of existing magazines?My magazine followed the forms and conventions of Clash. My magazine took aspects from different Clash covers. For example: the idea of the barcode being thin and sideways from Matt Healys cover, the plus sign idea from James Blakes cover and the idea of the artist list on the left side and the cover girl style from Lanas cover.

My magazine also took aspects from Clashs contents page. For example: the idea of the different coloured circles with page numbers in and cover story details in my magazine is similar to how Clash did theirs. Theyve also included certain artists pictures just like I have done in mine.

My magazine also took aspects from Clashs double page spread, alongside with a little difference in the way that NME produce their pages. For example: the idea of the blue and orange colours in text and shapes next to the black and white image, was taken from Lana Del Reys NME issue. I have also used a similar layout, with a large image covering the entire left page, and then the entire article on the right page with the different colours that I previously explained.What audience research did you conduct and how effective was it in the production of your magazine?I got lots of audience research, especially through Survey Monkey on the internet. I got family, friends, people from twitter and other media students to take part in the survey, so that I had different aged people taking the survey, and also different genders and from different locations in the world. This was effective because it meant I could get a range of results and see what a lot of different people like. It also showed that if two people from different countries chose the same, it would become a popular trend worldwide and would be effective within the magazine. It also helped me confirm my decision on the genre of the magazine and how much the price should be, what sort of person should be on the cover, what should be featured e.t.c.How successful is your finished magazine? I believe my magazine to be successful, because I believe my cover to be clear and informative; especially that you can know a lot of the magazine like whos in it, interviews, reviews e.t.c. with little text to clog up space and make it look messy. I believe my contents to be effective as its very colourful (but doesnt clash) and includes different articles and has a set text style thats neat and clear, with images to show what the magazines going to be like before read. I believe my double page spread to be effective, because its black and white, but with some colour in areas making it stand out and giving the black and white parts itself a big highlight in the magazine. It worked successfully within NME and I believe Ive followed in their footsteps doing this process.