Evaluation of my school magazine

In my media magazine I researched many codes and conventions of magazines before I used them in my magazine. The research task consisted of looking at magazines which were already on the market and looking at the codes and conventions used in them. The next step after I researched was to start making my magazine. In my magazine the title is straight across the top of the magazine in the top left third which is a common code and convention of everyday magazines and which is also on my style model “Fusion”. The front cover is made up of a main image to grab the reader’s attention. Just below my title I have a main headline which also is in other magazines. Down the left hand side I have subheadings of what else is included in the magazine and a small description of what is on that page. Also on my front page of my school magazine I have a barcode and a price and that is what else is on a front page.

My media school magazine represents older school students who are in high school because the colour scheme I have used is for a much older audience and it has much less bright colours than what is expected in a young children’s magazine. The topics on the front page also suggest that it is for older school children because it talks about the film Avatar and that is aimed at my target audience. I have also got the topic of the music charts on my front page and young children are not usually interested in the music charts whereas teenagers are very passionate about the music charts. The image I am trying to portray of the school is a positive cultural image because of the topics of music, film, sport and books etc.

The type of school that would distribute my magazine would be one that is very cultural and diverse because my magazine contains different information on films, books, music and other news. My school magazine would be aimed at students more than parents because it contains information on teenager’s interests and maybe it is too young for the older audience of parents. My magazine would appeal more to upper school students in Years 10, 11 and 12 but some Year 9 students might be interested. I have used grammar like “school mag” to suggest it is more informal and to aim it at teenagers who may abbreviate words. Another abbreviation I have used is “celeb gossip” to make it suitable to my audience. I have included into my magazine a competition to win an Ipod. This makes it more appropriate with the audience I am targeting because Ipods are very common amongst young people and they can play music which is a key thing in teenage culture in the world today.

I have used Photoshop and the cameras to put my magazine together. I used a medium close up for the picture on the front cover of my magazine. I then manipulated my image on adobe Photoshop to make it neater and fit onto the front page of my magazine. I used the magnetic lasso to cut the body out of the background to move it onto my front cover. I used the flash on the camera so that the person I used wasn’t dark on my image. I used many layers to manage and construct my magazine. I used the noise tool to construct a barcode for my magazine.