Student Magazine Project

Connotations of an existing Student Magazine

Connotations of an existing Student Magazine (front cover).

Connotations of an existing Student Magazine double page spread

Purpose of the research conducted Student Magazine Project

On the slides 4-5 I have discussed the areas based on the Student Magazine project. The same process was used, within the Mix Mag project, in terms of understanding the codes and conventions of how a particular magazine was formatted. This overall was another piece of secondary research, as I was using existing magazines to help me annotate and discuss certain aspects of that product. As I have previously done a similar task based around the printing industry this task was much easier to complete in comparison to the first task. Having previous experience meant that I was able to bring fourth the current skills I already had in order to complete this exercise. As this is the second time completing a task based in this area it now means that I have even more experience for future references. Not only could it be based on a magazine product but it could also be used in various formats such as; posters, leaflets or banners. Having that standing skill of being able to annotate a magazine piece can therefor mean that I have the option to transfer that skill onto other similar products.

Task 5 Student Magazine

Task 5 original

Task 5 annotation (secondary research)

The reason for this assignment was so we could have a more understanding of the student magazine project. As the client wanted us to do a magazine based on the SSFC, it was important to understand various aspects of the Sixth Form such as the; Background history of the organisation, courses offered by SSFC, the organisational structure, student bodies/committees, and additional facilities. When doing the report I found it easier to break up each aspect which I would then use secondary research to help discuss the specific topics. The strengths of this report was that, personally, I thought I showed a clear understanding of the different aspects based on the College. Using clear subtitles also shows that I am ensuring all aspects are covered and explained to detail. My weakness however, would be that I only used limited sources which were the actual College website and Wikipedia. I thought that by keeping them limited would give me only factual information which would be more reliable. However if I were to do this project again I would definitely expand the sources I use as I could find out new, interesting information giving me the option to have a wider idea on the concept.

Job Roles Student Magazine

Job Roles report

These are some screen shots I have taken from the Job Roles report. As you can see I am discussing various job roles with the other roles being; Layout and design manager, News/Features Editor, Sports Editor, Entertainment Editor and Marketing and Advertising Manager.

Job Role Annotation The reason for this report was to understand various job roles, with the result of you being able to choose the job role which you think would be best suited for you. Throughout each job role there were five questions that were needed to be taken into account when describing and explaining each role. These were; what qualifications would be needed to fulfil this role in a professional context?, what skills are needed?, who will you be managing and why?, what are the main responsibilities? And who are you responsible for?. This report would be seen as secondary research, the reason being is I used various websites to help be have a greater understanding of the role. The core information I had provided would then be interpreted into my own words and overall opinion. The strengths would be that I covered all roles with detailed explanation, however I think I was very dependant on the Daily Mail when researching the job role requirements in terms of qualifications and skills. So in the future if I were to do this similar researching method again, I would expand the sources I used to gain extra knowledge.

Questionnaire templates and results

Student Magazine Questionnaire template

This is a print screen showing the a questionnaire that I created for the Student Magazine. The two questionnaires shown are both primary researching methods. The reason being is that I have formed the questions myself with it also being based on the product which I created myself.

Student Magazine questionnaire results

This report is based on the results I received when gathering all of my questionnaires back. This was primary research as I did it myself from my own assembled results. Overall I think there was some very mixed opinions on the various aspects discussed, which may be used in the Student Magazine. I came to my own judgment that not always the highest option is something that will be useful within the magazine. The justification of their answer made me think that the option they chose was more reliable than students that ticked a box and didn’t provide a justification. I think this questionnaire has been very beneficial for when coming to do the magazine, there has been mixed views and will be very useful for when the ideas are discussed with my peers. The weakness of this questionnaire would be that students didn’t always justify their answers which didn't give me a lot of feedback to review and discuss within this report.

Focus Group feedback

Focus group feedback document This is a document based on the write up results from a focus group I out-took in relations to my Student Magazine. As you can see I have broken up the documents is segments, with the first sub-title being based on the specific questions that were asked. This report was overall primary research, the reason being is I created the questions myself and used students from the College to answer them. If I were to use focus group responses from the internet then this would be secondary research.

Focus group annotation

The reason I out-took a focus group was to see the ideas students would prefer to others, helping me make a better decision when coming to select what events would be published in the finalized student magazine. My strengths of this focus group would be that I was being specific when referring to the questions such as; which 3 events interest you the most and which 3 events do not interest you?. However my weakness would be that I wasn't very specific when I got the peers to justify their answers. I think if I was more specific when asking them to justify it would have been more beneficial when writing up my questionnaire for the student magazine. I also think that I could have asked more questions, opening the variety of questions used and the different aspects they could have been based on.