Sunday, 9 February 2014

Peer Review 2 for my Double Page Spread


Before I handed in the double page spread and its accompanying page to the exam board, to definitely ensure it was up to the standard that was required of it I created another peer review that was composed of my classmate and lecturer so they could offer their final verdict over the presentation and if any last minute changes needed to be adhered by.



I began my peer review by asking Taylor if she had any outstanding criticisms concerning the third page of my work as ultimately I was more concerned about identifying the inconsistencies in my product then focusing upon the positives. After she studied it thoroughly she concluded there was no major issues she could identify in my final draft - if she was to recommend anything to me at all she suggested moving all the text of the writer review box in a symmetrical line so they were all directly positioned and spaced from one another. Besides from that slight adjustment there were no other concerns she could raise for me to tackle. However she undoubtly praised what I had produced, stating that the images were effective and related directly with the nature and content of my article (which revolves around eating disorders) and how the use of the writers photograph was a beneficial way of relating to the audience by showing the reviewer is a normal person just like themselves. Furthermore she stated that me changing the colour of both the additional boxes so they were in the identical shade of grey was more then worthwhile and commented similarly to what I had said in that there was less competition between the two text bodies for attention, the array of colours could have been potentially off putting to the reader and discouraged them from reading the article.

Lastly i got the expert opinion from my lecturer as I felt she could give me the best most accurate point of view over how my double page spread appeared via the marking criteria and if it looked of a professional standard. She began by giving me a marking specification sheet which she filled in accordingly to what grade she would say each of te following elements in my spread were like (this included text and font, image quality, continuity, use of proper language etc) When she was finished it was revealed i was firmly in the level 4 criteria which is excellent as i truly am aiming to achieve an A on my products so this more then exceeded my espxations. I asked her to really work at picking a fault out as i was intending to create an almost flawless product. The only thing she could pull me on was the kerning of a few of the sentences (partiularly in the writer review area) which once were sorted would allow my spread to be as professional and mainstream as what I could have produced. She praised the use of how I had considered my layout, especially concerning the placement of the additional text boxes as these could have easily conflicted with the main text body causing confusion amongst the readers.



Essentially the most important and therefore critical set of opinions I had to gain was in relation to the two primary pages of my double page spread as arguably these were the most important in the entire construction of this product as they would be the main attraction and selling point of this article as a whole, undoubtly these pages would be the first seen by the reader when engaging with the content. In that respect it had to be as intriguing and eye-catching as possible to gain full acquaintance from the audience otherwise potentially they may not be interested and could be discouraged from reading the products altogether which would be disasterous for me. To begin with I gained the review from Taylor my class mate who I relied heavily upon for nearly all of my peer verdicts as she was the closest in vicinity to me plus she was working on an extremely similar brief to mine at the time. Overall her positive feedback regarded the image in essence, she was happy that I had swapped it over for the original as although she liked the one I had been drawn to incorporate into my final design, she explained the posture and body language emitted from the model on this specific photograph was more effective then the previous as you can truly identify the sheer pain and distress that is going through her mind due to her illnesss. Understandibly if Taylor herself could notice the torment then I was persevere in the idea that my target audience would as well, she was herself a neutral party so it made her comment more truthful with less bias (for example had she been working with me this kind of regard would be fairly frequent as she would want to make the product sound amazing) however with her creating her own work I felt this opinion was free of manioulation. Secondly she noticed how the pull quote had been slightly moved to the side of the girl, she described how she believed this would be beneficial to me as the red and black did not clash anymore (as they had previously when the quote overlapped the leg of the mode) and were more easily distinguished then before which would allow the reader to be able to clearly identify what is being said. Taylor liked how emphasis had been placed upon the words 'Anorexia' and 'Choice' through the use of italics, she felt this helped to highlight two this girl in the photo did not wish to become like this and she could emphasise with her. This is the general reaction I was hoping to provoke from my audience from the beginnings as stated in my brief as if they could recognise through the use of language and images that anorexia is not a condition or a lifestyle an individual chooses, then the moral codes and ethics of my message can be reinforced that much more strongly. Lastly she added she had no major concerns to pull me on - she had already been happy with how the article had been presented in a flowing form and she was pleased I had kept in the drop caps for conventions.  SHe suggested positioning the headline very slightly to the right but other then that she had no issues. She commented that my product as a whole was extremely effective in what it was attempting to portray and she was throughly happy with it.

I gained the professional wisdom from my lecturer on top of my peer review as with Kaye being more informed of the media world due to her job I felt her opinion would be the most critical to obtain she would be able to remark on minor details that would otherwise be missed by my class mates. Almost immeditely she stated the pull quote had to be moved over slightly to the left and down a few spaces just to give it more distance from the image so they would not overlap, yet they would still remain in close vicinity allowing the audience to recognise they wee still related to one another. She was pleased I had decided to go with the photo change as it was she who had recommended inserting this image in place of the previous, she liked how it displayed itself on the page and how it would instantly attract audience attention due to the underlying posture and expression that emitted from it - it was too hard to simply overlook what had been presented. She re-read through the article to ensure there was no spelling errors or grammatical mistakes, she identified a few which allowed me to remove and correct them. Kaye had no negatives revolving around the article, she was happy with the flow in the article, the consistency of the elements and the use of additional information (such as the writer/photographer names, kicker) as this formatted with traditional mainstream magazine conventions. There also no concerns over the font style opted to display the headline, she believed it worked efficiently with the product and did not seem 'out of place'. In conclusion her final statement was that besides from the insignificant alteration that had to be made to the pull quote, she was overall ecstatic with the quality of the product I had produced and she gave it a teacher assessment review it came out as an 8/10 at minimum on the mark scheme.

In terms of my feedback I'm thoroughly impressed with how the review process went, i was expecting more harsher comments over the ability of my work so its made me more determined that my products will be the best that I can possibly create them. Only a few minor details were apprehended upon which will be easily corrected so there will not be extra work for me to complete. Once these alterations have been made my double page spread will be officially complete, this will allow me greater time to focus upon dedicating myself to the construction of my documentary video.


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