Foundation Portfolio Evaluation

· In what ways does your Media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

On the front cover of my college magazine, I have included all the needed forms of real media product :
the masthead – the use of a bold and san-serif font makes the masthead looks fresh and modern, it has got also the biggest font size, so it stands out of all the text.
What is more, I have used the deep blue colour which every Wyke’s student is familiar to (college hoodies are blue) and in the background I have put the photograph of ASH building. Summarising, while creating the masthead I have used the convention which states that masthead should be in the biggest font size from all the text. I have also tried to use appropriate colour schemes.
the main headline – is also written in a bold, san-serif font, so it draws our attention. The colours used for this headline harmonise with the photograph image, and connote that the main topic may be related to football (black and orange – the colours of Hull F.C.)
the plug – consisted of two pictures and two headlines, , introduces the viewers to the other articles in the magazine
the strapline - gives the extra information about the magazine’s contest

· How does your Media product represent particular social groups?

The social group which is represented in my magazine is students. I have done this by using particular photo images, which I have taken by myself and then edited. Also the magazine’s layout gives us the feeling of modern school environment. For the front cover I have used three photographs. The main image presents two female students who play football for Wyke. As I already wrote in the post before, I think it was a good idea to include them on the cover, because their success represents the college values: achievement and equality (in this case gender equality – showing that girls can play football too J ) What is more, while taking the pictures I have tried to show everyone as relaxed and happy to being a part of Wyke’s community.

· What kind of Media institution might distribute your media product and why?

The institution which might distribute my media product, would be the Wyke College, as the magazine is aimed at its student.

· Who would be the audience for your Media product?

The audience for my media product would be the students of the Wyke College. It would be also intended for the college staff and for the students from local high schools, who may think about coming to the Wyke College.

· How did you attract/address your audience?

I think my magazine is addressed to every student in the college. I attracted my audience, by making the main article an interview with college ‘stars’. I believe most of the college students like to know what are the other people opinions and they are also very open-minded, so they could find interesting reading this interview. What is more by using colours of the Hull F.C. in the main headline, I have probably drew an attention of some football fans. The main image is very bright and the main headline is more eye-catching than the masthead. The next thing which might attract my audience were the photos from Halloween Wyke Party and the strapline, which reads ‘Which Uni to choose – helpful tips for 2nd year students.’

· What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

From the process of constructing this media product I have learnt that it is very important to have a good quality photos. Mine main image was a bit blurry and I couldn’t edit it or even change, because it was I already the second re-shooting. What is also important, is to make a clear draft and have the exact ideas how we want our magazine to look like and what resources are we going to use. Frome the Photoshop workshop which we had once during the weeks of creating our magazine, I have learnt how to use the clone stamp tool.

· Looking back at the preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

I think while working on this preliminary task, I have become aware of the media conventions which are essential to create any kind of magazine. It is amazing, in how many way we can attract our audience: text, colour schemes, eye-catching image etc. To use these thing properly and effectively we have to be aware of the conventions and also have some designing skill, which we are working on now by using Photoshop.