Audience Feedback And Evaluation: Preliminary Task

Preliminary Task Evaluation

Audience Feedback

“The front cover looks good although you could have had a better masthead. The cover line could have been cleared by using a different colour to the background image. The contents page looks good. You could have been consistent with the font and colours. The layout is neat and it is easy to see what is in the magazine.”

Zahra Noor

In my Preliminary Task I had to create a college magazine using both PhotoShop and InDesign. My college magazine had to consist of a Front cover page and a contents page; all the photos included had to be original photography from me. For my front cover I needed a medium close-up (MCU) of a student, cover lines/teasers, masthead, date, price, and all this had to be created on PhotoShop. For my contents page I had to include sections such as features/regulars, images, number of pages, an editor’s letter and I had to create all this on InDesign.

What went well?

Page Layout

My page layout on my front cover has a simple yet effective structure, with a bold masthead, cover lines on the right side and a barcode/ date. The page layout has a vibrant and simple colour scheme of orange and black.

Cover lines

My cover lines were simple, straightforward and teasing. They would attract the reader and almost force them into wanting to read on and buy the magazine. An example would be “TOP STUDENT WINS JACKPOT”.

Layout in InDesign

My layout in InDesign and my contents page was different, as it had two large images across each other and a column of feature articles and a column of reviews. My title had a bold eye-catching colour and font. My background was also just simple.

What Do I Need To Improve On?

Front Cover Image/Masthead

I would improve my masthead by making the font a lot bolder and clean; I would have the font size a bit larger so it covers more of the page. As for my front cover image, I would use an SLR camera so the quality of the image would better and clear, I would also use lighting in my image and my background would be one colour.

Contents Page

My contents page would be a lot more organized according to columns and titles; I would include all number pages and more interesting articles. I would make sure the colours and fonts are a lot more vibrant and attractive. I will include quotes and my title would have a unique style to it.

Images/Time

My images in general would have a big improvement as I initially rushed it all with under one hour and I didn’t plan what I would do. I would make sure I take pictures in a studio and make sure my images relate to the magazine. As for timing, I had to complete this task fairly quickly and I didn’t have enough time in planning this magazine; I had to go straight in and do the work.

Three points for development when producing my music magazine

1. A thorough plan into what I am going to exactly do in every sector of creating my magazine

2.  Use an SLR camera/Studio to have high quality images

3. Work hard on my layout/connotations/Journalistic skills