EVALUATION: Thinking about audience- Making meaning

Throughout both the preliminary and main task activities made creative decisions based on ideas I was developing about my readers. I developed these ideas through my research on my ideal reader. This involved me asking certain questions to myself about what my ideal reader and what would they’d be like, do, live like, all these things came into account as I was developing my ideas. Then after I developed my ideas I was able to make decisions on whether a certain issue would or would not appeal to my ideal reader. In addition to this, with the knowledge behind my thinking now complete I was able to influences different parts of my magazine whether it be the style or even making creative risks in the hope that it would be a positive attribute to my target audience. I was also able to address the micro detail of shot composition in my work. Most of my Imagination and creativity was put into the thinking of how detail, such as pictures, could be made to make meaning. I did this with most of my images in the main task as it was a broader task and it was something I didn’t think about in my premliminary task which could have made it better. In the main task, I anchored pictures as I learnt it conveys more information and is more valuable than just a picture itself for the task in hand. I also framed some pictures, like in my preliminary task, as I found it was credited and gave an impact to the person looking at the pictures. Similarly in both tasks, research and developed ideas of readers were crucial to creating layouts for both tasks as they were two tasks for two different target audiences. Pictures had to fall into the right place where appropriate, I felt that this was done effectively in both the tasks and was done appropriately with other elements in mind such as text. Most of my images in both tasks were iconic and I felt this was important to explain here as through my research and creating target audiences I felt that iconic images was best suited for the task in hand as music magazines and school/college magazines have images that’s says what it does on the tin and no thought is needed to interpret the pictures. For example, whilst researching magazines I found that on an issue of classic rock it has the lead guitarist of Metallica. Fans of these magazines wouldn’t need to much think to work out who it was and why he’s on the front cover. Another aspect of micro detail that I feel I covered well in both tasks was the mode of address for each magazine. For the school/college magazine I felt that the tone had to be informal as students get bored easily with constant formality so I cam e up with approaching it informally. Through feedback I felt was a success. For the music magazine I knew it that the mode of address had to be centered crucially round my target audience. As I aimed to the punk music market I knew I had to make the tone very punk friendly and entertaining to read. I took a couple of attempts, but after constructive criticisms from my teacher I made it article the best it could be.
Audience feedback throughout this section of my tasks, I felt, was very important as for the school/college magazine feedback came from my target audiences as I asked my peers. Also I felt that it helped me improve my work to the best it could be. My audience feedback confirmed expectations rather that generate surprise as I knew that all my attempts needed improvements in one way or another as nothing was perfect. It confirmed expectations of improvement s I needed, which I wanted as I wanted to keep improving and updating my work as I wanted to succeed. Audience feedback was a very key part of my task, especially through the process as it is important to involve the people around you and survey your work to see errors you have not noticed and to make things to the best of my ability.