Summary and Evaluation of my Research and Planning

The first part of our coursework task was the preliminary task, which consisted of us producing a fairly simple front cover and contents page for a school magazine. I took pictures in locations around my school to fit in with the theme of promoting education as well as healthy eating (see water and apple in photo) and having fun. I was not very confident with the production of my prelim as I have never used computer programs like Serif before, so I was unsure of how to use the software. I found it quite easy to get to grips with the simple tools but I was wary of the more complicated/advanced tools and so the final product didn't look as professional or "real" as I perhaps hoped it would. So before I start to produce the pop magazine, which is the main part of the coursework task, I need to have a lesson learning how to use the programs properly so that I can create the best possible looking magazine I can.

Within my research, I have looked at many different aspects which affect the production and publication of magazines. For example, we looked at how different genres of magazine appeal to different genders and to different age groups and who exactly their target audience is. I also looked at the conventions of certain magazines and how some magazines choose to subvert conventions despite the fact that a lot of magazines don't tend to sell very well this way. This has allowed me to conclude that the pop magazine that I am going to produce will definately follow conventions rather than subvert them. We then moved on to research into semiotics and how certain signs and looks can denote one thing but connote something completely different.

My research helped me to decide that I want to produce a pop magazine for the main part of my task because it covers some very interesting topics such as the decline of pop magazines. This has enabled me to create extra blogs and to also gain a greater understanding and idea of exactly what a pop magazine should look like. Although most pop magazines have declined and been abolished in recent years, 'Top Of The Pops' magazine is still being sold monthly, and so I have decided that I am going to structure the basic framework of my magazine around this style model.