Self evaluation
The school magazine template that I designed with Ellis, my partner for this media task, is displayed above.Our masthead of the design challenges conventions of a real magazine as it has both vertical text linking to the horizontal text, shown through the T shaped blue box. We decided to go against the norms to ensure that our magazine stood out and engaged our target audience, in particular the students
From the previous format research I learned that defying the norms can result in your front cover being modern and current. One of the ways we did this was through using multiple pictures rather than just one main image, this result in the magazine catching the students attention. However we also wanted to interest the parents so made sure we had a balance of text and images. This is a successful aspect of our design as we attract a wider target audience.
One of the norms we developed from our research in our own design was the content of the text on the front cover. We wanted to advertise the school to enable the parents to build up a good impression, which is why we selected the new uniform as a way to convey the professional new look of the students.
The research has helped me to learn and understand the typical format of a front cover, and has given me ideas on how to defy the norms. This has resulted in me thinking outside the box when we created this design. One key factor I wanted to ensure was that the front cover applied to both parents and students as that was one of the flaws in the other magazines I have analysed, therefore the research has enabled me to analyse my own thought process when designing a front cover and has guided me on how to make the front cover professional.
In addition to this we designed a school contents page template as a way of visualising all of our ideas. By doing a contents page we were able to try and obtain a consistent branding and try and use ideas from research as a way to compliment the front cover. I have used the norms through adding in key aspects like the flasher because this is a way to entice the audience in, I also stuck with the format of listing the pages as this is a substansial aspect of the contents page. I am to keep the colour scheme consistent when it came to the front cover and the contents page because this is a way to make a brand more memorable. Overall I am happy with the mock up of the contents page as I feel I have been able to create something that compliments the front cover.
We also were asked to get peers to evaluate our own design, because this would give us other peoples opinions on it. Allowing us to see what improvements could be made:
Peer Evaluation
I asked three people for their opinions on my front cover to get a wide range of opinions. Henry said that the masthead was really well thought out and made the magazine engaging. However one of the criticisms he gave me and Ellis was that the magazine was too cramped for a front cover, and was too crowded. In upcoming lessons me and ellis will consider this and will alter our magazine front cover so it isn't crowded.
Next, I asked Millie who also said that the masthead and the layout is different and original. But she also had mutual feelings with Henry thinking that the page is too crowded. Having said this she said that the cramped look was the only flaw in the page. Finally, Holly said that it is clear who the target audience is, parents and students, from the modern layout. She also said that our design was well thought out and was something that would engage her. Her negatives included that there was too much text on the page, therefore making it look more like a contents page.
Asking peers for their own opinion has given me and Ellis an idea on what to alter for our design to improve it. We will ensure that we make these changes in upcoming lessons to make our front cover more successful. I personally think that the getting peers to evaluate our design was a good idea as it picks out negative aspects that I wouldn't of picked out myself. Therefore giving a universal opinion on the positive and negative factors of the front cover design.
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