Previous Students Work Table/Evaluation

Feedback Sheet – Student Work

Please refer to photography, colour, layout, font style, framing and cropping as well as font style and actual text in your response.

Please remember to be constructive in your criticism as this is work by students – not professionals.

Name of product	What I thought were the strengths	What I thought were the weaknesses
Twenty One	The strengths of this magazine are pieces of the images as on the front cover the pole is in good and you can see the waves in her hair. The 1st and 2nd image on the contents page looks as though it finished to a high quality in comparison to the rest as the 1st image has a studio background quite common in a magazine and the second has a more out door feel and this is another thing that magazines use as they usually capture celebrities in ‘outside world’. The 3rd image of the person is quite good. The photography is really good for the double page spread as the lighting has highlighted all the detailing in the image The image on the double page spread is again finished to a high standard as the lighting captured detailing in the dress and in the floor. The front page has a mid to long shot. The white and yellow on the front page are good colours to use as they stand out against the background and they also attract the reader to actually look at the magazine. The white and pink on the contents page and double page spread stand out well against the grey background. The layout is very good as it looks as though it has been well thought and structured. The writing layout has been done so that if your eye is not drawn to the text something beside it will draw your eye to it for example the writing in the middle (Back with vengeance with her new album) as the lines on her dress draw you into the text and then the big bold text (album) is in another colour from the rest of that text which will also draw the reader eye to the text. On the front cover there has been 5 different types of text and I think they have don this so that it separates the different information. They have used 5 different types of text again for the contents page and it separates the layout of the magazine. The double page spread has 3 different types of text and they have done this to show different features of the magazine for example a quote. The image in the front cover frames her arm point out to the masthead. The framing on the double page spread makes your eyes follow out as she has her hands stretched out. The text itself for the front cover is long enough to entice the reader in seconds however it’s not on enough to bore them (front page & contents page). The text intrigues the reader with what she has done in a short space of time.	The weaknesses of this magazine are the quality of the outline of the person as arms look a little pixelated and bumpy, the makeup on the face is also different from her skin tone. They have also left the red eye colour in the image, which makes this look less professional. The background looks out of place in comparison to the other two (3rd image on contents page). The eyes on the double page spread image are again all red and you can see the shine in the models face. The colours used in the magazine don’t match throughout as in the front cover they have used white and yellow text and then in the contents page and the double page spread they have used white and pink. The layout on the front cover is the only critique for the layout as the writing that is overlapping the person at the bottom (the 201 best songs of 2010). There may be too many different types of text for the reader to deal with. The text doesn’t fit in with what normally happens at the beginning of a magazine, as the journalist would normally talk about what happened before the interview started.
The BOOTH	The photography used in the front page is good as the shot is a medium shot, which gives enough detail to see what the person is wearing.  There has been three colours used in the magazine and this fits in with the conventions, as there isn’t too many colours to overload the reader and enough so that certain features stand out.  The font style that they have used is quite minimal and this fits in with the conventions of the magazine as the text needs to look plain and simple and it’s the content that needs to attract the reader. On the front page they have framed the picture with text around it and they have done this so that the text will lead the reader’s eye to the image and vice versa. For the contents page they have used red lines to frame the sub-headings. The text itself relates well to the images. They have used text elements for example they have used rhetorical questions to question the reader in the contents page (Are Glee really becoming a musical sensation?!?) The colour palette is minimal and all the colours match well together and they have used the same form throughout. They have used a white background so that the image and text stands out more than if it was a coloured background. The main sell-line is located underneath the main image and separate from the other text.	The Photoshop skills are not very good as you can see the edges have a low quality finish on the person on the front cover.  The layout is a bit jumbled up and even though the sell-lines are not touching it is that close that it gives the impression that they are over lapping each other. The font style on the double page spread is too similar as they have only used two types of font and because the only different font was for the title and the rest of the txt was the same text and the only difference was the size and some of the text was in bold. The amount of text was too much for the reader to deal with and even though it is text led I think to make it better they should have either put less text in or space it out a bit more. On the contents page they have numbered the pictures so that they link in with the text beside it however in some of the red writing doesn’t stand out that well for example on the 3rd image on the contents page.  The sell-lines on the front page have different font style and this doesn’t really fir with the conventions and to be honest it doesn’t really look eye catching or professional. The essential information located on the front page underneath the masthead is to big as conventionally it should be smaller.  The main sell-line is overlapping the images and you cannot really read it because it is black.
MASH	The image itself is quite good as it fits in with the normal conventions of the magazine front cover as the shot style was mid shot just like a normal magazine. They have used the same person in the magazine however they have dressed her in different clothes so that the images don’t look too similar. They have sued the same colours palette on the double page spread as the front page. The layout on the front cover is quite good as they have enough space between the sell-lines, main sell-lines and masthead. They have used different styles of font styles on the front cover, contents page and double page spread. They have framed the	The image quality on the front page is not very good as you can see the little lines where they have tried to get rid of the background behind the model. The picture quality is poor again on the contents page as the images are blurry and on the 3rd image you can actually see the white bits of the background and this is because they have used a grey faded background and I think to correct this they should either change the background colour to a more conventional white or they should try again at editing the image on Photoshop. On the double page spread they have got a picture on the right hand side of the screen and the picture quality is really bad as it is out of focus and blurry and they have got rid of the background of the model however when doing so they have not got a clean curved edge. They have used the same person in the magazine 3 times in the magazine. They have used different colours for the contents page in comparison to the double page spread and front cover. The layout of the magazine is good however I would have added more sell-lines so that it fills some of the blank spaces and they should have added a little explanation underneath the main sell-line so the reader will understand more about what to expect inside the magazine. The front cover styles are not very professional on the front cover and contents page.
DYNAMIC	There is a lot of pictures used in the magazine. They have used their own pictures on every page. They have used a lot of colours and this is to help the reader distinguish the different features. The text layout on the magazine is really good as it is the correct size for the things around it. They have used coloured boxes to frame the writing they want the reader to read and I think they have done this well and they have followed this theme throughout the magazine. The sell-lines on the front cover has been placed in a nice layout, they have also used different colours to show different stories and the text is big and they are the same size. The masthead is set out in a conventional layout. The essential information is set out in the conventional layout also and it has smaller writing than the rest of the text on the contents page. They have put the main sell-line right under the main image so that you the reader know that, that image goes with that writing.	The picture quality is not very good because when the person was getting rid of the background around the hair it is all bumpy and the finish is not very high. The pictures on the front cover needs to be toned down as her face is too light. On the contents page they have used internet images except from 1. The images from the internet don't match each other as the shadows differ from each picture and so to improve this I would research the images again and try and find images that have more or less the same shadow effects to make it more professional. The images on the double page spread could be improved by simply changing what the model is wearing just so it looks as though she has spent longer on the photography. They have used 10 different colours of font and I think this would be too much colour for the reader to take in. The layout on the front cover is a bit chaotic as they have added a multi-coloured background which makes it look overcrowded and so I would recommend to get rid of the background, I would also make the other images on the front page smaller so that the reader actually reads the big writing first, the layout or the images on the contents page could have been arranged better and the box on the double page spread could have better positioned as it is overlapping the title and the text beside it. The writing for the main sell-line has been put in nice text format however the colour of it is too dark for the image that is behind it.
QMR	There is a lot of images on the magazine and most of a high quality. They have stuck with the same colour scheme throughout the magazine (black, white and red) and they have stuck to the conventions as normally magazine only use three colours. They have used contrasting colours for the double page spread text as the background is white, the main text is white and they have used a drop cap in a different colour (red).The layout of the magazine is quite good as have an enough text to entice the reader but not too much to put the reader off. They have framed the contents page quite well by using a big bold red line and 2 big pictures. The text fonts they have used are conventional for a magazine as t is quite minimal. The main sell-line is in a bold red colour to attract the reader.	The front cover image is a bit blurry and the same can be said for the two small images on the double page spread on the right hand side. To make this better I would use more types of font styles just to make the front cover more interesting and appealing to look at.

What I have learned from looking at student work:

I have learned from looking at other students work as I have now learned from actually looking at work at what to do and definitely what not to do for when producing my own magazine as there are 5 little things that can either make a break your magazine: photography, layout, colour, framing and cropping.

How I will use this new knowledge to help me create my own product:

I will use this by remembering how others achieved the high standard for example when creating a photograph I should definitely make sure that the standard of the images have been finished to a high standard because if this is not achieved it can make a high quality image look unprofessional and unfinished.