For my Media coursework i was asked to create a preliminary task evaluation.

1. AS media
Preliminary evaluation
For my preliminary task I was asked to create a college magazine, discussing college life.
Therefore it was clear that my target audience were young people who were either
intrigued about college and would like to find out some more information about it. In
order to gather some information about college magazines I used a form of secondary
research,forexamplethe internet andfoundsomecollege magazines. I then analysedand
evaluated them. Using the internet, a secondary research source I was able to collate a
number of example college magazines to analyse and evaluate. Through comparing
college magazines I was able to understand the features of the front cover of a magazine,
analyse what was effective and what was not so effective and considered the implication
of choice of model, use of language and cover lines used.
I did this by seeing what was good about the college magazines and what was bad, and I
also compared college magazines with each other. I then researched what were used on
the college magazines that I analysed to see how the editor tried to appeal to their
audience. In my personal opinion researching othercollege magazines was very useful as
it allowed as it provided me with very important material. This is in reference to the fact
that the main image of majority of the college magazines that I researched were either
mid-shot’s or close-up’s, this showed me that those shots appealed more to my target
audience. Moreover, in order to research my target audience I created questionnaires to
influence what cover lines they would prefer me to include in the magazine, what colour
scheme I should use what kind of typography they would prefer me to use.
I found out this was beneficial as it made it clear for me, I knew what choice of colour
scheme I could use. For example I used orange, light blue, black and pink. The reason why
I chose to use these colours was because I was trying to appeal to a younger target
audience, and I felt that such colours represented what young people are about, they are
fun, bright and energetic, and I also felt that these colours would stand out against the
darkbackgroundandwould appealto my target audience. A strength ofmy questionnaire
is that it was very clear and easy for my audience to understand, however a weakness of
my questionnaire is that it was mainly qualitative data rather than quantitative data. For
example majority of questionnaire is written, meanwhile there’s very little images. This
could hinder my research because quantitative data is less time-consuming, quantitative
data is also more descriptive, therefore making it easier for my audience to understand
and answerthe questionnaire. The problem of my questionnaire being mainly qualitative
data is that it is more time-consuming, therefore my target audience would not want to
answer my questionnaire.
In order to see whether my audience found my front cover appealing I had conduct a
feedback research by creating a questionnaire. I then preceded to ask a number of my
peers what they thought of my front cover. Overall the feedback I received were very
positive for example many of my peers thought that the choice of mise en scene conveyed

2. the theme ofthe college magazine, they also felt that the coloursthat I usedwere effective
as they were bright and it caught their attention. Moreover my peers went on to say that
the language that I used was appropriate for the context of a college. However therewere
some criticisms of my front cover, many of my peers felt that the quality of my magazine
was good, but the fonts that I used could have been bolder, and that the background of
the front cover could have been clearer. As a result when creating the front of my music
magazine I would take all of my peers’ feedback into account and know what to do.
To attract my target audience I made sure that the colours I used where big, bold and
bright for example I used colours such as, orange, blue and pink, this is a strength of my
front cover as it helps captivate my audience’s attention. Another strength of my front
cover was that ‘masthead’ was written in a big and black font, this was in contrast to the
background colour which was grey. The effect this had is that it made the ‘masthead’
stand out, making it clear for my audience to see. Also the main image on the front cover
of my magazine was very clear and defined for my audience, the main image also had
relevance to the theme of the front cover of the magazine, this is as my model is holding
books and she is in a library. Furthermore the fact that the model in my main image is
smiling, this would appeal to my target audience as it shows that there is also a fun
element to college/education. A weakness of my front cover is that it is not clear for my
audience to see, this is in reference to the fact that I used a black font against a dark
background, therefore making it unclear and difficult for my target to see properly.
Another weakness of my front cover is that it is quite empty, because there aren’t that
much cover lines on my front cover. Therefore it seems quite plain and boring, this would
means that my cover lines would not appeal to a wider audience. Furthermore another
weakness of my front cover is that I didn’t use a lot of the human saturation therefore
there are some blemishes on the model’s face, which makes the quality poor and would
not attract a young visually interested target audience.
I feel that I have gained many skills from doing the preliminary task, this is due to the fact
that before I started creating a front cover of a college magazine I found Photo-Shop
extremely difficult, however I am more confident with it and I find it easier to use it now.
I now know how to place a picture from my files onto Photo Shop and I know how to get
different fonts on Photo Shop, I also now know how to use saturation. Therefore when
creating my music magazine I can use saturation to improve the quality of my magazine.
I have also learnt new vocabularies such as ‘masthead’ anchorage text, I feel this I very
important as it has prepared for when I will be constructing my music magazine.
Good.
Damilola Ogunnaike