Opinions on work completed

Once I had completed my main and ancillary tasks I decided to show my designs to a variety of people, most being from my target audience, talking to them about aspects of my project they liked and things they thought I could improve on. This produced qualitative data, providing a fair view on how my audience could react to my newspaper if it was distributed. I planned to ask 10 people, but due to time constraints chose to try and ask 5. I decided I would ask them to pick 3 aspects from one of my projects that I had done well, or could be improved. I was also interested in their ages, and how it influenced their reception of the media.These were the results;

Emma Ferguson - newspaper (18yrs)
*The product you have created can be identified as a newspaper immediately which is good, from use of columns and other things such as the headings and use of pictures.
*The colour red has been used cleverly to back up preconceptions of newspapers being in red, white and black. Essex is represented by red which shows the area of circulation.
*The advert for the meal deal could be improved by spending more time on photoshop developing a logo, this would make the newspaper look more professional.

Martin Wilkinson - website (16yrs)
*Because I'm not a college or university student the title of 'Big Steps' does not appeal to me, it sounds more adult and daunting.
*I like the use of red and black dots, it breaks up sections without using typical boring lines. I think this makes the website more appealing to students.
*The links are clearly at the top of the page, so the audience doesn't have to search around and find them.

Alex Shaw - newspaper (18yrs)
*The picture used for the headline of the paper clearly shows what area the paper will be distributed in and what the article will talk about, as it is a subject well known in Southend College.
*The black and red footer containing the lures is effective, with a point of the article being featured in the dots whilst the text gives slightly more detail and persuasion. Given the target audience, the  subjects of sex and music will both attract this audience to read.
*The voucher for the meal deal could be improved by using images from the internet combined with editing from mac software.

Caroline McCloud - poster (36yrs)
*I first noticed the title 'Big Steps' which is good as it is meant to catch the readers eye
*Looking at the sub heading 'Essex's Leading Student Newspaper' I would therefore not pick to read this newspaper, simply because of my age. Saying this the headlines used to persuade people to buy the paper are good, they would attract my attention as they do not seem obsessively student focused and cover a range of subjects.
*The use of red and black dots contrast to the white background. The white background is brightened up by the circular and waved effects. 

Jody Simpson - poster (20 yrs)
* The effects used on the poster are good and do not overpower any text or message of it, but complement it. I feel the effects used have input in showing that audience the newspaper is aimed at. 
*The variety of headlines used ensures that a wide range of students would be interested in this newspaper, and the headlines are written in bold and are snappy so it would take little time to read.
*Using Valentines Day as a theme obviously relates to the time of year, and will attract many readers (probably girls). I like specific features such as this. 




My Verdict. 
it is obvious from the feedback that I could have spent more time designing an appropriate logo for my Valentines promotion on my front cover, however I did receive some compliments about my newspaper.  A vital aspect of a newspaper is obviously being identifiable as a newspaper, which mine was. Out of the 5 people I asked, 3 were of my target age group. They all stated they would be interested in the headlines, and thought the colour scheme was suitable for the area and target audience which was very good. The other 2 were younger, and older. Their feedback was interesting as they both said they found their chosen media visually appealing, however at the mention of 'student' or the title 'big steps' it became obvious the newspaper may not be targeted at them. Overall I am pleased the colour scheme was well received, with the motif of dots also being noticed and seen as effective. The text was seen as short and relevant which I also found pleasing.