Reflecting
back to my original proposal and what I wanted to achieve, I can now compare my
product to this and discuss the negatives and the positives and what I would do
to improve them. Despite the negatives, I do feel that I have fulfilled the
brief, and met my target audience’s needs. Although,
it did take a few changes and improvements to my own original ideas, to result
in a successful product.
I
aimed to keep the length of my article between 800 and 1200 words, once I
finished my article it totalled up to around 1000 words. Therefore I managed to
comfortably stay with the word limit. I also stuck around my word limit for
each paragraph; I intended to have 100 words for each paragraph to keep them
short so that they weren’t lengthy and
wouldn’t become boring to
read. I feel the length of my article was appropriate as it created 10 short
paragraphs that don’t seem as daunting
for the audience to read. On my dps I only have one large image that covers a fourth
of the spread, I don’t feel this is
enough imagery to be visually pleasing for the audience; although I did slip a
small image into my breakout box. I feel the radio of text to image wasn’t as pleasing as I first imagined. If
I were to create this again, I would definitely add some smaller imagery to my
dps to make it a lot more visual and less about the text. I wanted to address
teen girls about their body confidence, this was to make them more aware that
there is no such thing as perfect as everyone is individual and individuality
is what is important. I also wanted to send the message to them about eating
disorders, and that the media create a false image of celebrities. I believe
that I portrayed this message successfully, as well as meeting the brief and
entertaining the target audience. I think I related to the target audience well
as I was quite chatty and used informal language, I chose to use this tone so
that it would sound like I was a friend having a discussion with them. I also
used 1st person plural, so that what I was including myself and
talking about my issues with body image, as well as addressing the audience’s. I did this so that the audience
didn’t feel that I was judging them and
lecturing them about how to feel about themselves, I wanted to make the audience
feel comfortable and take into consideration about what I saying. This way I
felt it would be easier to get my message across. I feel I had advantage when
writing my article, as I was aiming it at an audience much like myself. This
allowed me to share my experiences as a teen girl with the audience to make it
relatable. As I openly spoke about my views about body image and how I felt
about myself, I feel the audience may have respect for me for opening up,
therefore respecting my article and becoming more interested. Within my article
I included statistics from the questionnaire I gave out, this way my audience
will know that they are not alone in how they feel about themselves. The
results show that the majority of teen girls also feel the same way about their
image; hopefully this should create a sense of relief for my audience, as they
aren’t alone. Reflecting back on my
article, I think I could of included quotes from an discussion I could have
created with other teen girls on their opinions about how society has effected
female’s confidence in
their body image. I also think I should of challenged participants on how they
think our generation could tackle the pressures of body image demands. I think
this would have been interesting for the audience to have another voice about
body image and not just mine, as different opinions would create more
reliability.
I
used two main images on my product, I also included a very small image which I
just slipped into my breakout box. The images I used were symbolic and
reflected on the target audience. The model I used for the front cover was
female, she was within the age group of my target audience, I chose her as she
represented the majority of my target audience, and would be relatable for
them. I specifically chose her as she was blonde and I had done a lot of
research on Barbie and wanted to portray her. My friend created stitches across
my model’s mouth so that it
looked like she had sewn her lips together. The image portrays a dramatic
message about the extremes girls will go through to lose weight. The front images
on magazines are unusually a window to the future self, but in this case I did
the opposite and produced an image that would shock the readers that it could
happen to them. I used the rule of thirds and placed the model’s eye line just
slightly under the top third of the magazine, this was to show she was strong
and portraying an important message yet she was still vulnerable. My model
portrayed an emotional response so that the audience would feel empathy for
her, hopefully reflecting on them. The image is narrative, it gives an insight
as to what I’m going to address
in the article. If I was to create the front cover image again I would have
asked my model to wear clothing that was girly and lighter, this is because I
don’t think she
portrays the Barbie image enough to link with the article. The heavy black
jumper she is wearing also makes the cover look to dark and not girly enough.
The image on my dps is of a Barbie with a tape measure wrapped around her waist
and trailed across the page, this image needed to be girly and pink to relate
to my article and my target audience. I placed her hair out so that it looked
sweated and natural, and I trailed the tape along so that it would flow across
the pages and link with the article. This image is symbolic with the Barbie and
the tape measure. If I was to create my product again I would include more
imagery to make it look visually please for the audience.
As
well as my product needing to look aesthetically pleasing for the audience; I
needed my product to be factual, in an interesting way that would that would
create interest for my target audience and keep them hooked on the article.
Therefore I needed to concentrate on the language I was going to use, and how I
would write my article, so that it would be very relatable for the audience. I
wanted to make sure I kept the reader’s attention, so instead of addressing
them in a factual, lecturing way, I took the approach of using a more relaxed,
chatty tone. This way the reader won’t feel intimidated by the article, as they
might of done if I had addressed them more efficiently and serious. By using
language and tone that the reader themselves would use, they will be able to
feel that they can relate more to the article as it’s just what they are like.
Although in some parts of the article I needed to address the reader as less
chatty and more serious, this is because in my article I had included some
severe facts and discussed these. If I had carried on talking in such a chatty
way, the reader might not have taken the matter as something so serious and not
thought about the consequences and dangers it comes with. I used first person
single ‘I’ within the article, this was so that the readers could see that they
weren’t alone with how they felt as I was backing them up saying I also feel
that way. I could also give a lot of advice and make them feel involved in my
issues too. As a young teen female, I feel it’s important to confine in other
peers so that we aren’t all alone with our thoughts about ourselves, thinking
we must be the only one to feel this way. I also used first person plural ‘we’
so that the audience would feel they are part of a group and more involved with
all the other teen girls, I was hoping that this would make the reader feel
less self-conscious as they weren’t alone with their feelings. I used second
person ‘you’ in my article to address the reader, so that I could create a more
bossy tone to make them realise that it was a serious matter and the dangerous
could happen to them. Second person can also work in a way which in which it
makes the reader feel they are special as I am directly talking to them,
whether it’s complimenting them, or telling them what to do. Although I aimed
my magazine at female teens, I knew I had to sustain a chatty tone with lots of
colloquial language, but the matter I was addressing was quite serious and I
wanted to get my message across so I had to keep resulting back to that bossy
serious tone. I used some emotive language such as ‘beautiful’ in my product so
that my audience would reflect on these words and their image. I also tried to portray
the word perfection as mysterious almost like ’what is it’ this was so my
audience would question the word and its meaning, hopefully understanding that
it really is what you make of it, that there is no rights and wrongs. My kicker
for my article is more of a desire, it suggesting that we can have the luxury
of having both food and body confidence. I wanted my kicker to be desirable so
that my target audience could make it happen, for example body confidence is
not about stopping eating and losing weight, it’s about being able to be
comfortable and happy with what you already have. By offering a suggested
solution to the readers that they could have both, will hopefully draw them in
and shock them with the facts and statistics about diets and weight loss.
Hopefully creating a result where they are happy and healthy. I feel the speed
in which my article will be read is slowly paced; this is because I made my
paragraphs and sentences short. This should be more approachable for the reader
as it doesn’t look as daunting, also a slower paced article may mean that there
is more time for the information to be processed. If I was to do this article
again, I feel I could have used some alliteration as it helps to make the text
flow better and sounds more exciting, although I did still want to keep the
tone quite serious as of the issue. I possibly could have included some
ellipsis to create slight suspense and questioning.
I
used the three colour rule for my product; I used the colours pink, white and
black. By using the three colour rule it doesn’t make the magazine look
complicated and overcrowded. I chose these colours because my target audience
is female and between the ages of 16-19, therefore I wanted to use feminine
colours. I chose white as it is pure, peace and blank, I also think the colour
works well with any others that I was to choose. I also chose black as I
thought this was more professional and plain, I then chose pink because it is a
girly colour and would stand out next to the white and black, pink connotes
very girly things, such as love, flowers, warmth, cute and summer. If I was to
do this differently I wouldn’t have used the colour white as it was hard to
incorporate as my backgrounds were white.
I
wanted to carry out the girly tone on my magazine; therefore I chose some
simple girly fonts. Some serif and sans serif fonts, such as;
ARIAL BLACK
IMPACT
CHALKDUSTER
American typewriter – this is a serif
font; it is tall and slim with finals on the ends of the letters.
I think the fonts I used were
successful as they look enjoyable and are easy to read. I liked mixing up the
different fonts so it looked similar to a scrapbook with the different layers
as well as different fonts; I believe this will make my target audience more
interested in the magazine. Although I had to be careful when picking my fonts
as if I had used too many then it wouldn’t have looked professional. If I was
to create my product again I would have probably stuck to two fonts to keep
that professional look, I also think I needed to pace out the text on the front
cover because when I showed it to my target audience they said that although
they liked it, they did find it hard to read.
The layout of my product was important
to look appealing to my target audience; it needed to look full and interesting
but not too overcrowded. When I approached my target audience and asked them
what they thought of my product, they said that they liked hoe the text on the
front cover would wrap around the models face and create lots of room. They
also said that they liked the how the image on my dps would trail across to the
other page, and would lie behind my article. I used margin guides to create my
four columns, although after I had placed my article and created a border of
lined paper behind them, I tilted them inwards to draw attention from the
outside of the dps, I also think it makes it look different and helps add to
the layered look. When I presented this to my target audience they said
‘interesting use of tilt on the article’. They also said that my front cover
looks really professional and the layout is effective. It took me a while to
decide on the layout for my front cover as I wanted it to link well with my
dps, as it was quite dark because of my models jumper I found this hard. I wanted
to make the Barbie on my dps very prominent as I feel the Barbie had a big
impact on my article, therefore I made my Barbie a lot bigger and separate to
the text. If I was to do this again I would have planned out my front cover
better to match with my dps.
the sell lines on my front cover are
important, this is because I need to ensure that the sell lines are applicable
for what my target audience wants to read about. In order to do this I created
a sell line, which was rewardable, this was to help persuade my audience to buy
he magazine to get the reward. I also used question sell lines and exclusive
sell lines; all these kinds of sell lines are used within the professional
industry. I chose to use these sell lines to also acquire professional standards.
One of my sell lines was the headline of my article; this was so my audience
would be able to see what the article inside was about. I tired to incorporate
commands, repetition and alliteration to make the front cover appealing and
fun. If I could have done this differently I would have possibly included some
rhyming.
Overall I think that I have met the
brief and the requirements that my target audience need. I also feel like I
managed to get my message across to them, as well as creating a fun interesting
magazine. The main improvements I need to consider if I was to do this again
would be, more imagery and less confusion with the fonts and colours.
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