Evaluation

In this evaluation I will be recounting the ways in how my media product uses, develops and challenges forms and conventions of real media products as well as describing how effective the combination of the main product and the ancillary tasks were.
Furthermore to this I will be explaining what I have learnt from my target audience’s feedback as well as looking at what media technologies I used during the stages of construction , research planning and evaluation stages.
Following this I will be assessing what I could have done better looking back at the assignment and concluding the ways in which my media product was successful or not.


My media product uses various forms of real media products, such as websites, posters and magazines but in particular it takes on board newspaper principles to a larger extent.
The product itself uses newspaper conventions by the way in which the layout was created and also the font and terminology that was used.
To be able to obtain an accurate newspaper effect, the main part of my research was focused on the different areas of a newspaper, one of which involved looking at different typography which is found in the ‘Examples of Typography’ post.
Doing this provided me with an insight in the styles of font I should use for my newspaper, to help make it be as effective as possible with the newspaper’s theme that I had chosen to focus on.
Not only this, but it also sustains real media aspects through the language that is used in the newspaper. I.e. the text that is applied in the articles and how it is presented uses the same terms and vocabulary as real conventional newspapers.

For the website I used conventions of real media through hyperlinks in the production of my website, which are greatly used to connect pages or link different files together. This simple element is a form of true media since all newspapers with websites use several hyperlinks to enable viewers to look at the different topics and areas that the newspaper specializes in.

Since I chose to have music as the core theme to have my newspaper based on, I have challenged the norms of other real media products on the fact that there are barely any newspapers in the industry that have music as their subject matter in the modern time. I realized that the main reason for this whilst I was researching newspapers is, because most tabloid and national newspapers are quite informative and official, music is quite a hard topic for a newspaper to focus on. However I was able to get away with exploiting music as the subject matter because my newspaper takes an informal approach and contains magazine like characteristics, and this in itself is challenging forms of common real media. The colours red, white and blue I used in my colour scheme are very unusual for a newspaper of today. They are all primary and very contrasting against one another, which during my research I found that was very abnormal for a newspaper to have. From this I can see that I have challenged the norms and conventions of newspapers.
In addition to this, my chosen target market (teenagers and young adults) also challenges real media products since there are very few that have this as their target audience.
In the process of mounting my media product I have widened my skills in using real media technologies such as Photoshop and Indesign, which develops forms of real media through producing numerous different media products.

• The poster’s advertisement
• The template
• Website news
• Research

The effectiveness of the ancillary tasks (website and poster) to the main task (newspaper) is extremely useful if it were to be placed in the real media world. This is mostly due to the fact that a newspaper alone doesn’t sell out unless it is publicized and advertised, and moreover this is where the creation of the poster and website comes in.
Throughout the project, I researched websites and magazines that were relevant to the theme of my newspaper as well as tabloid and national newspapers (which are both found in the ‘Steps in creating my newspaper!’ post and ‘Ancillary tasks!’ post) to make sure that my newspaper along with the ancillary tasks prolonged an appeal, so that if they were actually established then it would be seen and come across to people as realistic and sensible.
The combination of the three together would get the newspaper recognized as well as advertising the main company, which would therefore attract more readers and a larger audience and work well in combination to one another.
One example of this is through the newspaper which is the main way of getting the stories produced by the company out for the audience to read, another way is via the newspapers website which gets updated to information and is a link way for the audience to give the feedback to the company. And finally the poster is to promote the newspaper and website to get more of audience/readers.
This is the ideology of the real media world’s way of getting known to the public, and a template to use for media.One of the things I have learnt through doing this project is that you can use hundreds and thousands of media technologies to produce the same sort of work, but with a twist. There will always be uniqueness to every product as it is someone adapting to the creator’s style.

Feedback from the audience

Questionnaire
I created a closed questionnaire and asked 20 people for their opinions after looking at and reading the finalised Newspaper, to distinguish whether or not my newspaper would be successful if it were to be properly released, published and established, and this was the feedback i got back!

1. What first impression do you get from WHO newspaper?

2) Do you like the appearance of the magazine?

3. Do you like the colour Scheme of the newspaper?

4.Do you feel as a reader that the magazine tells you the type stories you want to read about?

5.What kind of audience do you feel this newspaper reaches out to the most?

6. Do you feel that you are given relevant information to be able to see the bands named live by the newspaper?

7.Do you feel this magazine is biased in any way?


8. Having read this magazine, do you think you would read it on a regular basis if it was easily accessible?

Questionnaire Conclusion

From this feedback, it is evident that i could make changes to my product in order to please my audience to their satisfaction. I think i could make the pages more informative on the newspaper and fill up the pages abit more on the website with more information so that people could get to better grips with the bands that i advertised for them to feel like they would want to go and listen to their music and watch them perform.

However saying this, it is clear that i got a lot of positive feedback. A high volume of participants liked the appearance of the newspaper, as well as the colour scheme and the stories that i had created. Moreover, my aimed target market came across as a success as the majority of people felt like it was aimed at teenagers/adults which i had intended it would!
Planning

During my planning stages, I used Microsoft word to write up my planning, and included what I wanted done for some of it and then linked it in with some of my research as well. This is an easy, yet an effective method to make things clear and neat. However, I also used pen and paper which is just as effective to write down some ideas here and there of what I wanted to do.

Research

My research, I used a few of the best known media methods to get the information I needed. This first consisted of generating secondary research via using the internet, where I could research different websites for newspapers, and ones that focused specially on music (see ‘Ancillary Tasks’ post ) as well as national newspapers such as the Daily Mirror and the Daily Mail (see ‘Ideas for potential newspaper templates’ post) However I focused more on conducting primary research from buying local newspapers and picking up posters around my area for information and ideas for designs etc..
I had to use different programs to construct my products, as there isn’t a set program for creating these different products, which also meant learning how to use some I didn’t know which did create some difficulties. I used Photoshop to edit all of my images of which I then placed onto either Indesign for my newspaper or publisher for my website and poster. (See ‘Steps in creating my newspaper’ post)
This was a rather effective method however when it came to doing my website, it was rather a struggle as I had used publisher, which I found simple and easy enough to create my website on, but then complications arose when trying to add it to the server, I had to transfer the publisher file onto Dream Weaver so it could be put onto the server and this was a problem as pictures would be missing and hyperlinks would not always work.
My newspaper I feel personally was my biggest success, I managed to create two articles and edit the layout to my own taste adding slogans, headlines, sub headlines, banners and decorations to suit the style I wanted my newspaper to represent for my company WHO?. And advertisement all of which I create myself using Photoshop. I created my newspaper using InDesign and this was a real success in my opinion as it came out the way I had anticipated it would!

Overall

If I was to do this project again, I would do the poster the same way, edit it some ways to make it a bit more improved but use the same programs, and the same goes for the newspaper,
However for the website, because of the amount of problems and difficulties that occurred I would be very reluctant to what software I would use since I am not 100% sure why my website could not be transferred onto the server from Publisher. Personally, this was mostly a success other than the website in my opinion. The poster is of a good quality and the newspaper I feel is as good as quality considering the price to be free for consumers as the ones you see today for a music paper.
Also the idea of having a music newspaper rather than a standard newspaper/magazine might be more appealing to both a younger and older target audience, and from the feedback from the audience I would definitely be inclined to say that overall my project was a success!

Ancillary Tasks !

Website Research

Berklee is another music website which is foundationed on a music based magazine. It has an upcoming veents page which tells veiwers the latest happenings including gigs, concerts etc and gives detail of what bands are playing where, when and how much it is to get it. Moreover I thought that was would be a ideal page for one of my hyperlinked website pages as it complies with the theme and subject matters.

I found KERRANG! to be a really good website to look up and research about since i researched their magazine when i was doing some magazine research. the links they use are very simple but adequate to who they perceive themselves to be, and the overall look and appearance of the website is very loud and out going which tells the viewer straight away that it is informal and gives off a relaxed and chilled out impression.

Whilst looking through the website, i came across a page named 'Bands' which i thought instantly that i could use as a title for one of my hyperlinked pages off of the home page. The main reason for this is the fact that because my newspaper specifies in music and local bands and artists, i thought that having a 'Bands' page would be a great idea to suit the newspaper's theme.

First and foremost I needed to decide what software to use to create my website on.
I could either use Microsoft Publisher or Dreamweaver.
As a result I decided to use Microsoft Publisher as it was more beneficial for me personally as it meant that I could work on my website from home as well as at college unlike Dreamweaver which I didn’t consist of having on my home computer.
I understood that this would be a risk that I was taking since all of the other fellow media students on my course was using Dreamweaver, and that my teacher would be unable to help me in creating my website.
However I decided to take the chance since I knew how to use the software and had a better knowledge of going about designing a website on Publisher rather than Dreamweaver.
First thing I did when I opened publisher was selected a New website page.
I then designed a template so I could begin on working to manufacture the website layout and content etc. I then chose red, blue and white to be the colour scheme for the website
as this was the colour scheme for my magazine name and logo design, and so I thought that it would therefore very fitting and flow nicely.
Once the template had been created, the first piece of work I set on was creating the hyperlinks. To do this, I created two new pages of which then linked them all up together so you can access each of them from any of the pages.
Following this I could then name and design them for my first page and second page off of the home page!

Now everything had been set up for the webpage with the templates, I now could set out to deciding what information I wanted on there, and thinking of what would be the best information to provide my targeted audience with.
After doing some website research I found that on music based websites there were a lot of ‘upcoming events’ pages and a lot to do with current most wanted bands. So taking this into account alongside other factors I decided to name my two hyperlinked pages ‘Bands’ and ‘Upcoming Events’

The Website

The Poster

Designing the poster was the last task that I carried out.
The first thing I did was design a layout, which I decided that i wanted to try and make as simple as possible but loud and informative all at the same time.

However

Before i did anything, i researched posters and leaflets in my local area for example in and around my college, and since where i live is situated in quite a publicised area, full of entertainment and things to do, it was extremely easy to pick up posters of which were advertising all kinds of differemt subjects. From Gigs and Concert showings to Fast food and Holidays abroad! These are just three of the many i found.

My Research

Poster 1

I found this poster in a stack, outside a local music shop. The appearance is very simple and attention-grabbing. The MAMMA MIA! headline has been created using a TIMES NEW ROMAN type face and the divergent colours used attracts people's attention staright away, which is how i saw it in the first place.

Poster 2

This was a two sided poster i picked up from my local theatre, the cliffs pavilion.

( here is the link to there website ) http://www.thecliffspavilion.co.uk/
The first side is plain and simple, containing their logo and a sponsered theatre at the top and a big colourful illustration to what looks like the arms and hands of two men, either wrestling or shaking hands, which could represent the drama of the plays in the theatre and gives the poster its edge and identity.

Then underneath a contacting brief of their number and website.

The colours used are constrasting navy blue/black and white which makes it eye catching and appealing to people.
This contrsting colour effect follows through onto the back page, advertising their latest play
'SNOW WHITE on ICE'
The difference of this page is that it is alot more informative, giving info about the play including the dates and times of showings, who is staring in it etc...
Poster 3

This 'Healthy living' poster advertising all sorts of products was posted through my letter box, i think it much more informative than the others. It has lots of pictures and text on it, and looks like it is aimed to encourage people to live healthier and more efficiently. The chosen bold red text brings out the character of the poster and i think is the biggest influence in attracting their audiences attention.

The layout used is similar to that of a front page of a newspaper, with the name formatted at the top, a main story in the middle and other information underneath, which may promote people to want to investigate further into the advertisement.

From researching different sorts of posters and leaflets gave me the knowledge to design and develop my own poster! and this is what I came up with...

Layout Design

Editing

Then i went about creating the real thing! Combining pictures with text, creating adverts for my website and building it to look as eye catching as possible, as I knew that if it was a real newspaper, grabbing my audience’s attention would be very important necessity in order for the newspaper to be successful.

-And after a bit of treaking here and there i finalised my poster to a saticfactory leval that in my view ticked all of the aims above!

Finished poster!

Steps in creating my Newspaper !

►Step One – Create the Pages!

The very first step I took in building my newspaper was to create pages to set up and design my initial ideas of the layout I thought my newspaper should look like.

Designed Layouts

The reason behind having five pages was so that I could draft different ideas and dummy's for the design of the paper’s layout, for which I then were able to mix and match and attain bits and pieces from each of them to producing my final Newspaper page layout.


►Step Two – The Name!

After I had constructed my newspaper layout, I could then transfer my decided newspaper name which I had created via Photoshop over to Indesign by simply using the following route:

File – Place – Picture from File

Of which I could then locate the file from my saved folder and place it where about on the page I wanted it to go!

►Step Three – Adverts!

I then went on the subject of creating suitable adverts that would be of interest to 16-22 year olds as this was my targeted age group.
As a considerable amount of my age group would be students, I thought it would be a good idea to contemplate producing adverts on the subject of saving money, competitions and discounts.

Secondly because my newspaper was themed on music, I decided to create my adverts on the foundation of money (saving or winning) and music based.

From this I created my advertisements on Photoshop, some being real and some being fake but realistic, of which I then used the same method of the name to insert onto my newspaper in Indesign.

Ad 1

SAKS Underground - Southend

Ad 2

Prize Competition

Ad 3

HMV Discounts

Ad 4)

Newspaper Banner/Advert

► Step Four – Articles!

The next step I took in completing my newspaper was writing the articles to sustain the content. To do this I looked at my researched newspapers to decide on how I should format the size and style of the font.
I then worked my way around different newspaper/magazine headline and sub headlines, looking at how they are worded and phrased.

Examples:

The telegraph

'Fatigue faulted in bulk carrier accident probe'

METRO

'Pregnant woman to have 12 children'

'UFO LANDS IN SUFFOLK'

'SPUN TO DEATH'

News of the world

'PHELPS GOES BONG'

From these headlines I noticed that there was a trend of big, formal and bold fonts being used for the size and style of the headlines and moreover from this I decided to use these basics as the font for my newspaper.

The next step I took in forming my main article and side article was choosing what they would be focused about, and what I thought would be the most suited for my newspaper in the Interests of my potential readers.
I knew that they should be surrounded around music based topics such as, upcoming Gigs, latest music news, festivals, and promoted bands of the newspaper, so as a result I decided to focus my main article on an unexposed band that the newspaper theoretically would have recently discovered. I created a picture, using four of my friends as the band and edited it in photoshop from which i then used as the largest illustration on the front page.

As far as the text was concerned I wrote a captivating introduction on the front page, since I had seen when researching newspapers that this was what most do as a good way to intrigue readers to want to read more and look into the newspaper to find rest of the article.

For my Second article I focused on a subject that would relate to something that everyone could sympathise with, which was about a cancelation of a concert due to the snow, which was relevent because that was the forcasted weather. The headline i used was ' Snow Creates Cries After Canceling Crazed For Concert'

► Step Five – The Font!

Throughout producing my newspaper, I tried out various different types of font styles and sizes to which I thought would suit the paper best, making sure it fitted and complimented the theme of the newspaper, and also being aware of keeping to the appropriate norms of newspaper font sizes in particular for the different areas of the paper. For example the font size of the name would be bigger than the font size of the text.

Font Styles

I tried these font styles out;

Rockwell
Impact
Comic Sans MS
Tunga
And Bradley Hand

And I came to the conclusion that Impact would be the best matched font to use for the reason that it is modern, eye grabbing and in my opinion flatters the newspapers theme of music nicely, bringing a sense of power to the feel of the paper and moreover giving the impression that what has been written in the articles have a bigger significance to readers.

► Step Six – The Colours!

Last but certainly not least, my final step in creating my newspaper was choosing the colour scheme. Since this is very important in the appearance of the paper, and attracting potential readers, I was very careful when deciding on the colours I should use.
I wanted to be creative and unique from other newspapers, however I knew that the set of colours should go well together and thus I was quite experimental.
After trying out several different colour schemes I decided upon a scheme of eye striking - Red, white, blue and dark purple as I thought that these complimented each other extremely nicely as well as giving a pleasant contrast.
Furthermore whilst conducting a questionnaire the most popular colours wanted in a newspaper were red and blue.

My completed and finalised Newspaper;

Magazine Research!

To be able to get the best picture about what to include in my newspaper spreadsheet i need to know about not only newspaper content but also about magazine content, and since my newspaper is based at teenagers/young adults, i think that it should comprise a more relaxed, laidback and informal characteristics to it, alike most magazines.

To this, these are just some examples of the magazines that i have researched in making sure that my newspaper obliges to having these features.

Star Magazine

Abit about the mag
Star's target market is teenage girls and women in general. looking as the appearance i would think Star would be classed as an informal magazine. The colours used are bright and loud and the pictures are big and is very informal in how it is written.

Star's selling price is 90p per issue, which is at the higher end of the scale of the market between its competitors which include More magazine along with New, Heat , Gratzia and The Enquirer. There main focus is celebrity's and fashion and their target audience is teenage girls and women.

More Magazine

Abit about the mag

Their Target Market : Teenage girls and young women

Their Priced at : 80p

Their Colour scheme: Blue and white

They Focus on : Fashion, celeb, gossip

Karrang! Magazine

Abit about the mag

Their Target Market : Teenagers, Music lovers

Their Priced at : £2.20

Their Colour scheme: Red,white and black

They Focus on : Music, Rock bands and news

Abit about the mag

Their Target Market : Teenage girls and women, fashion lovers

Their Priced at : £3.20

Their Colour scheme: Pink and white

They Focus on : Fashion and Gossip

Take a Break

Abit about the mag
Their Target Market : Women

Their Priced at : 70p

Their Colour scheme: Red,white and purple
They Focus on : Real life, Soap gossip, General

From researching magazines i have been able to acknowledge and understand the different target markets there are within the magazine and newspaper industry and also know more about how many different colour schemes there are, and furthermore i have gained knowledge in being able to see the diferent price ranges and diverse subject areas which will help me to fit my newspaper to a suitable price with my chosen market and my chosen subject area.