Evaluation

Evaluation.

My audience for Aspire could have been one of two; The more sociable students or the more academic. The more sociable and party-loving audience would want articles, images and cover lines based on outside activities such as the Wyke Halloween party. The more academic students would like things such as enrichment course information and possibly tips on how to write essays. So, to decide, I did a survey. The results were close and therefore I couldn’t risk only targeting one audience. If the magazine was to be real and distributed, only half or so would find it interesting. Therefore, I tried to create a balance. The main cover line is ‘All work and no play?” which is to advertise fun things within the college and the first cover line is the Wyke Halloween party. Then, there are the cover lines for organisation and information about NUS extra. Two cover lines for each audience to create the balance.
The main image is a happy student with a folder. I picked the model to be smiling, not just to make the magazine not seem depressing, but to show that Wyke is a happy, great and enjoyable place to be. The folder is important because it makes the student appear academic, intelligent and organised. Something that makes the college look good too. My model is wearing a black hoodie (although the hood is not visible) which most people associate with ‘ASBO teens’ and troublemakers. I wanted to show that my model is successful, bright and happy and that just because she is wearing a hoodie doesn’t mean she makes trouble. Plus, the casual dress represents teen.
My magazine isn’t so different from the ones I researched. Ridgewater magazine and College are two very different magazines, but I think I’ve managed to find an equilibrium between both. I found both had the normal ingredients: top-left masthead, plenty of cover lines, one main cover line and a smiling student on the front. I used these ingredients in my magazine.
I, personally, think I used my time wisely. I took my photos a week before the due date giving me plenty of time to create the magazine. Before that, I did a plan, and IT draft, a survey and a spider diagram. The survey enabled me to see what people wanted in the magazine. The drafts made it quicker for me to create the magazine because I didn’t have to spend ages choosing what it was going to look like when I was manipulating the photo. The only thing I would have changed is the font of the title. I didn’t have much time to choose, and I don’t particularly like it. I chose that one because it appears modern which is definitely what I wanted my magazine to be. Once the magazine was done, I had a whole day to do the evaluation and upload my images to Blogger. However, I would have preferred to have more time to write this evaluation, so it is something I will remember when creating my Music magazine – finish the magazine even earlier.
In all, I’m rather proud of my magazine. It has all of the ingredients of a magazine, and it even looks like one. I think my time management was good too; especially since I spent many hours at home in bed from flu.