Evaluation: How good is my first draft Double Page Spread?

Evaluating your own work is an important part of media production work. You need to be able to work out whether your product will be successful enough to appeal to your target audience and therefore make any money.

Task:
1. Save your photoshop file as a JPEG image.
2. Paste it onto a landscape Word document.
3. Find a professional magazine to compare it with. Ideally, this will be the double page spread you originally found to inspire you to plan your flat plan layout.
4. Label the conventions used by both your double page spread and the professional one. Conventions are the things all double page spreads will use such as: title, main Image, graphics, text boxes, columns, page numbers, branding, a quote taken from the text and fonts.
5. Explain how both pages appeal to their target audience. Compare the two products in terms of appeal.
6. Evaluate the success of your product. What improvements do you think you need to make.

Need extra help with what to write in your evaluation in your exercise book today? Answer these questions in turn:
a) Describe the target audience of your magazine and the professional magazine. Refer to demographics (age, gender, occupation, lifestyle, income, social groups). 
b) Explain how both magazines use colour to attract their target audience. Who do bright, colourful pages appeal to?
c) Explain how both magazines use font to suggest the tone of their article. Comment on whether the font seems sophisticated or young and upbeat. For example, swirly traditional fonts may suggest tradition whereas bubble fonts suggest youthful fun.
d) Explain how both magazines use their key image effectively. Who appears in the magazine reflects the aspirations (ambitions) of the audience. People like to read about people who inspire them. Comment on who appears on both magazines and why they will appeal to the readers of that magazine.
e) Explain how both magazines have used language register to appeal to the target audience. What tone is created by their style of vocabulary and sentence structure?
f) Explain how both magazines have used white space, page furniture, sub headings and graphics (including logos, boxes, quotes in bold larger fonts and page numbers) to help the audience navigate the article easily.
g) Explain how both magazines have branded the magazine on the double page spread. What does the logo and font say about the style of magazine?
h) What changes do you think you need to make on your first draft to improve your final double page spread?