Evaluation

I feel that my magazine follows the real conventions of a magazine as i have used the majority of the main conventions such as a masthead, sell lines, main image, and logo. My front cover follows the Z rule, as my masthead is placed at the top of the page and my logo is placed at the top left hand corner. Less important things to do with the magazine are placed in the bottom right hand corner, like the barcode and the price, as this is the last thing that the audience will read on the front cover.
Sell lines and cover lines are used to show relevance to the magazine, and also show what the magazine has to offer, I included sell lines and cover lines in order to attract the audience to read my magazine. I used appropriate vocabulary such as "EXCLUSIVE", to attract the audience. I also used page numbers to anchor the text, so the audience can navigate to certain articles.
However I have challenged the conventions, as i have not used a consistent font type,  for the cover lines and sell lines. This can appear very un-professional and un-realistic, as a result, the audience may not find the front cover appealing and untidy. I also found it hard to place the sell lines around the main image, as the text proved hard to read in some places. As a result of this I had to place the sell lines, in the bottom half of the magazine, which made my magazine look vacant, and may not appeal to the audience. 
I designed my magazine so that it would appeal to all social groups. Chislehurst School has different social groups, and i tried to design my magazine so that it would appeal to all. My main image on the front cover shows 3 girls in uniform, they all appear to be from different social groups. My magazine addresses both parents and pupils, as the articles that are featured in the magazine are both formal and informal. The articles feature upcoming events for the pupils, and school information and trips that the parents will want to have more information on. For my mast head, and cover line i have used different fonts to attract different social groups. 
My media product is a school magazine, which means that the distributor would be a fairly small publishing company, as my magazine is only distributed to pupils and parents from the school. I will not use any big companies such as IPC Media, as my magazine has a small audience of pupils and parents. 
The target audience for my media product is aimed at a small target audience, who would find it interesting, and benefit from the articles. My magazine is not going to be distributed to a mass amount of people, only a small audience, such as pupils and parents.  Pupils are part of my target audience. My main image of the front cover shows 3 pupils in uniform, which would attract young pupils as they are of the same age. My contents page consists of more images of the 3 pupils, which again shows that pupils of Chislehurst are a main target audience. Some of the articles appeal to the students as well, such as games and fashion tips. The articles also keep the students up to date with advice for revision and exams. Pupils are also a target audience as they will be interested in what their peers have been up to. Parents are also a part of my target audience, as some articles feature information on upcoming events, such as fees for school trips. The parents would also like to read the articles to see what the past term has offered their child. 
In order to attract my target audience, I have followed the conventions of a magazine to the best of my ability, by following the 'Z' rule. I used a large masthead to attract my audience, i made sure that my mast head is easy to read from a distance, and the font would attract both genders of pupils and parents. I also used sell lines that would attract my audience by advertising the big articles of my magazine, I also used appropriate vocabulary, such as "exclusive" and "new issue!", to attract the audience. If i used normal vocabulary it would not appeal to the reader as much. I used blue colours for a lot of my fonts, which could look as if my target audience was males, how ever I used white font to balance this. 
From constructing my media product i have learnt how to use programs such as Photoshop, to produce my Front Cover. I used tools on photoshop such as the magic wand tool. I also changed and corrected the lighting and colour of the main image. I also added special effects to my image, and learnt how to over lay pictures to create special effects. I used InDesign to produce my contents page. I learnt how to use the programme efficiently, and effectively, in order for my magazine to have a professional finished look. I can use these skills and apply them to when i create my next music magazine. When I create my music magazine I feel that I will be more confident in using different tools to make my magazine look realistic. 
Overall i feel content with my front cover and contents page outcome. As this is my first time using photo shop i feel that i have used a consistent colour scheme, and used high quality photos. I feel that my magazine appears professional and realistic.