Final Magazine Cover.

After much research and planning, this is my final cover. I changed this before printing, as I added text using DTP for the story lines on the cover. I am satisfied with this cover, as it is simple, smart, and a product of my research which I believe appeals to the target audience in the right way.

I.T Draft

I.T Draft Of magazine cover.

This is the I.T draft of my magazine cover which I created. I will next produce the final version of this using Photoshop and DTP. I will use colour, text, and image to create an appealing look and cover to suit the target genre, which is a college magazine, and my target audience-students and teachers.

Draft of contents page

Draft Of Contents Page.

After researching differnt styles of contents pages and looking at the features each contained, I designed a mock up of what the layout would look like for my magazine. I did this based on my research, and the ideas I selected to use from them.

When looking at the two other contents pages I had researched, I liked the idea of the paragraph of story titles, and then page numbers beside them, which is why I decided to include this in my mock-up design. I also liked the idea of the large font at the top of the page for the 'contents' title, which is also included in my design. The things which I did not think were appropriate was the large image in the centre or at the side, as I thought it may be too distracting for the reader of the magazine, as the purpose was to give information and news about the college through the magazine, and the magazine would be there to provide that information simply to the reader. I thought that too many unnecassary images would get in the way and the right message would not be successfully delivered, so I did not put an image in my design. I also decided against the colourful headings for the story paragraphs, as there would not be specific story 'types' in my magazine, so would not need to be sorted out into columns/headings of any sort.

My finished design for my contents page is basic, to-the-point, and provides all the important information for the reader telling them where they can find what they need. I believe that it is successful, and would be attractive if designed.

The reasearch that I did was helpful in the process of my contents page design, and gave me useful information and knowledge of what I would need to include based on the theme of my magazine.

Contents page analysis

Contents Page Analysis.

Contents page 1.

For the magazine, I would also need a contents page, stating the stories inside and the pages they are on. To do this, I would first need to research different contents pages, and study the features they contain.

The first page that I looked at, probably for a story style of magazine, had a large image on the left hand side, which I thought was a key feature, as although it took some attention from the purpose of the story titles and the page numbers, it was eye-catching and still acheived a smart look to suit the page, the cover of the magazine and the target audience.

Next, was the titles of the pages, which were in appropriate thin yet bold text, with the writers underneath in normal text. The numbers next to them were in a bright red colour, to suit the image, and still look smart, as it matched with the black font and white background.

Overall, I thought that this page was well set out and appropriate for the genre of the magazine, as it was basic, yet had eye-catching key features such as bold text, bright complementing colours, and also a smart, attractive image, to give artistic features and grabs the readers attention when turning to the page.

Contents Page 2.

The second page that I looked at was advertising a cooking magazine of some sort, and used bright, colourful titles in bold, with bright images, one placed in the bottom left corner, and one in the centre, with a large, also bright title above it, saying 'Contents'.

The main titles are in bold to give a sense of importance to the audience, and then the brief information underneath is in normal font, as it is less important and will also be found on that page. The background was white and plain to draw the attention to the large image based on the theme in the centre, and the page titles and numbers which were bright to complement the white background. There are also annotations at the side of the image for information on it, and to give an extra feature to the page.

Overall, I think that this idea works well, as, like the first, there is a plain background to complement the bright colours which stand out for importance and effect, and the large picture in the centre with the large title above it really stand out so they are the first things you see, giving the reader an instant interest in what the page is about. The pages are numbered and start a new paragraph when reaching the bottom, which is convenient as the text does not have to be made smaller, and each different type of story is labelled with a different coloured heading above the paragraph. It is a basic yet effective and eye-catching magazine, which is helpful to the reader, and they will not help but notice it when turning the page.


Both of the ideas have individual key features which fit the different genres the magazine is based on. As my magazine is based on college, I will consider what fits the best when creating the mock up of my contents page.

Photographs

Photographs For Cover.

For the cover of my magazine, I decided that I would take a picture of my friend Sophie, posing as a student to represent the other students reading, and would suit both audiences of the students and teachers. She was dressed as she normally would, as that is how students at the college dress as their is no uniform, and held a book and pencil in her hand as though she was revising, again for representation to the student readers.
The shot that I decided upon for the cover was the mid shot, as it was close enough to pick out the main features of the subject in the photograph, and yet not too close to divert attention from the image as a whole and lose its purpose.
After the planning stage of the photograph itself, I now needed to take the picture. I decided to take three pictures, and then choose from the three which one I thought was the right one for the cover.

Final Image.

This is the photograph that I selected to use as my final one, as I thought that it was a clear picture, accurately taken as a mid shot, and had the right features of the chosen shot to carry off the needed effect for the magazine.
The picture was taken just above Sophie's elbow, as a mid shot, and had just enough space above her head to comfortablly fit her into the picture without cutting any of her body off that should not have been. The angle the picture was taken from was also suitable for the photograph, as it was straight on, and the quality of the picture was clear to the reader.

Spare Photographs.

The next two pictures are the spare photographs which I decided not to use for my magazine, as they were not the right type of shot that I required, they did not have enough visual quality for the cover to the reader, and had either too much or not enough space around the photograph to comfortably fit Sophie's body into the picture.

Costumes & props

Costumes & Props.

During the creation of my final image, I had to go and take photographs, using angles which I thought were appropriate, of my friend Sophie, for the main image of my magazine. I told sophie to stand thinking whilst scratching her head with a pencil, as I thought that it would be a bold, eye-catching pose that would look good in the centre of the page. The only props she needed was the pencil she was holding, and the background in the 'blue room' that she was standing infront of. She wore a hoody and leggings, though the shot was a medium shot,as I thought it was the most appropriate, and only came up just above her waist anyway. I decided to take the picture of her wearing her casual clothes, as it is representational of a college student, as they do not wear uniform, and the clothes she had were smart in the way they were suitable for the photograph. Therefore, not many props were used at all, though the photograph was simple, successful and appropriate.

Cover Ideas

Magazine Cover Ideas.

Idea #1

For the first idea, I created a plan quite randomly of how I would want my magazine to be laid out. I decided from looking at different covers on the internet and from my research, that I would have the title going accross the page at the top, with a small space above it where I would advertise competitions and quizzes. Next, I decided that my image should be on the left hand side of the page, underneath the title, with only a heading to represent the image above it. I then decided to place my story titles around the main image, and then had my debate story along the bottom, as I thought it was important and eye-catching.
To create the title/masthead, I firstly looked at different texts on the internet, and found one which was quite square shaped, and was very basic and smart looking, like the one from the 'Secondary Teachers' magazine, which inspired me to create a similar look, as it was smart , legible to the reader, and had the appropriate effect needed to make the magazine look good. The word 'magazine', underneath, I decided to do basically, as I thought that large or more creative font would be too distracting and complex for the reader to understand, and would lose attention when read.
The next thing I did was decide which fonts to use for the titles, which were mainly smaller, thinner fonts for less emphasis, but I included some bold font for attraction.
The final thing which I decided to do was place an issue number at the top right hand corner, so that the reader knew which issue they were reading, and would make selecting the issue easier for future reference.
The colours which I suggested for this cover, were navy blue for the background of the cover, a light/lime green for the masthead, and for the stories or other titles, I decided black and white colours would be appropriate, as they would be bold enough and easy enough to read, without distracting from the other features of the magazine.




Idea #2

For this idea, I decided that I would do a more basic layout after considering my ideas from the first, concluding that they were too complicated and should be more basic for the target audience, a college teacher/student, to read. Therefore, I decided the layout would include the main image being placed in the centre, the main storylines below underneath each other in lines accross the page, and at the top the masthead, with a banner like the first, advertising competitions and quizzes, as I thought this was a successful and eye-catching idea to the reader.
The first thing I did upon creating this cover, was to again look on the internet for more fonts, but this time i decided upon a more 'fancy' text which may still look smart. I found one which I thought was appropriate, and applied it to the 'college' title. I then found an italic font, similar to the first, and used it for the word 'magazine' underneath.
I then drew lines to divide the different stories at the bottom, as though they were in long boxes, and did them with heart shaped bullet points as an idea to throw in. Again I used the issue number feature for the magazine, as I thought it was successful and easy for the reader. And finally, I found a more scripted font for the competitions and quizzes banner at the top, for a different effect.
The colours used for this idea, were white for the masthead, white again for the boxes containing the story titles. I thought that blue/purple would be effective for the text over the top of the boxes, and blue/purple for the cover background.




Idea #3

For this final idea, I chose a mixture of both of the previous ideas, and had the main image on the left hand side, the masthead/title at the top, the issue number again in the top right hand corner, and the titles around the image. However, for this idea, I combined the idea of the boxes containing the stories, and the stories grouped around the image. Therefore, I decided to make random diagonal shaped enclosed spaces containing the stories inside. This was for a more modern, unique look to the magazine, appealing to the younger generation, the students, whilst also having the basics for reading, such as the teachers.
The first thing I did, like the other two ideas, was look for appropriate fonts for the masthead and stories. I decided to find a basic yet detailed font for the title, again combining both previous ideas to hopefully create a successful look for the magazine. After searching, I found a sketchy style large bold text. Next, I chose the font for the word 'magazine', underneath. I decided just to keep this simple and go for a very plain , round style of text, and was happy with the one that I had selected.
I decided not to include the competition banner at the top this time, to see how a different look would affect the magazine. In conclusion to this, I chose to include this as a title like the rest on the magazine, to see how effective it was.
I next created the text boxes with the diagonal lines, deciding that all text w0uld be in capitals to give an 'urgent' look to it, exept for the bottom story about the database, as I included 3D text for that also.
The colours that were used in this idea, were the sections of the story titles were green + yellow as they were bright, contrasting and attractive colours. Also, I chose for the background to be blue, and the title to be black with a white background, for a newspaper effect, representing importantce in the title, taking this from my research which gave me the inspiration for the idea.



The final stage of my planning and creating of my magazine ideas, was to create a final draft of my magazine design, meaning that I had to choose an idea that I had created, or design something different that I would like to use for my magazine cover.
To create the final draft, I looked back through my three ideas, thinking about which key features I thought were successful and unsuccessful for the magazine to fit the target audience, and the features appropriate to them.
I started to look at the first magazine, and decided that I liked the type of font that I decided to use, as it was basic yet appropriate for a college magazine, and was legible for the reader. I also liked the central position of the font, so decided to keep that too. I decided that the different fonts and text were a bit too much like a music or teen gossip style of magazine, and thought it would be inappropriate for the type of magazine. I also thought about the same concept when looking at the competitions banner at the top, so decided not to use that either. Finally, I decided not to use the issue number, as it would be inappropriate to the particular task that I was doing, as I was only making one issue, and thought that it too shared the gossip/teen magazine value.
I also decided against using the colour choices of the first, as since the ideas had changed, the colours would not fit and some were too bright to work.

I next studied the second idea which I created. I decided after looking at the key features in this, that the rows at the bottom with the font in were easy to read and a successful idea for the magazine, and decided to use this in my final draft. However, I did not decide to use the font, as it was slightly too complicated for the theme of the magazine, and would not be as appropriate as a more basic font. I also decided against using the issue number, as in the first, and again, the competition and quiz banner. Although I chose to keep the story rows, I decided that the heart shaped bullet points were inappropriate to the magazine, and that I would use basic bullet points if they were to be used in the final draft.
In the colour ideas, I decided to keep the white box colour for the story titles. I decided after looking at the other colours that they would not fit the ideas collected so far enough, and thought that they would be too bright for a college magazine, and the final draft.

The final piece that I studied was the third idea. I used the exact same font included in this for the final draft, as I knew that I wanted a basic font which would be easy to read and straight to the point for the reader. I also liked the idea of the stories around the image, so I kept that too. Finally, I kept the idea of the text all being the same font, as I thought it was simple and easy to read. I did not like the capitals used in this however, as I thought it did not give as much of a friendly approach as lowercase would. I did not keep the idea of the image being on the left, however, as I thought that it should be striking when looking at the cover, and thought that a central position would be more suitable to gain this. I also decided against the diagonal boxes, as although they were modern, they did not suit both audiences, and made a more complicated look for the cover. It looked more like an inside page/plan of a page than a cover.
The colours which I decided to keep from this idea, were the black with white background title colours, as I thought that they were attractive, and gave the previously mentioned effect similar to a newspaper. I discarded the other colour ideas in this cover, however, as I did not have 'sections' for the story titles anymore, they were in boxes, giving it a different look, and I thought that the green and yellow contrasts suggested would be unfitting with the new combination of colours I had chosen so far. I also thought that the blue background was unfitting, as the other colours may have clashed with it.

Final Draft.

Now that I had picked out the key points of each idea, I would now put them together to create my final image. Here is what it looks like, before the I.T copy of it is made.





I am happy with the result, as everything is easy to read and information on the cover will be easier to find in the magazine because of the cover layout. The boxes for the stories rather than columns are more basic , yet are a successful way of making the stories stand out rather than the spaces they are confined in. And finally, the main image is positioned well, as it gives emphasis to itself and is one of the first things the reader will see when looking at the magazine, as it is placed in the centre.
Using the combination of colour experiments from the previous 3 ideas, I decided to use the following colours for my final draft:

Title/Masthead - Black with white background
Cover background - Light/lime green
Boxes for story titles - White
Story titles - Blue
Main story titles - Pink/purple

I chose this combination of colours, as I believed that the masthead or title would have the desired newspaper effect and would be attractive to the reader, giving it importance and making it iconic so that the reader would remember that if not anything else after reading for future purchase/reference. The background was chosen to be green, as a representation of the typical colours used in Wyke newsletters/information sheets, and ofcourse the Wyke College sign, making it symbolic to that. Also, The boxes for the storylines were chosen to be white, as they would look smart, stand out and be bright, so that the text inside them could still be seen. The story titles were chosen to be blue, because blue and white match, meaning the boxes and the text would compliment each other so that there was no colour clashes, and was chosen also as it is a smart colour, giving it a sense of seriousness. Finally, the main story titles were chosen to be pink/purple as they are the main priority to stand out, and would match with the green background, particularly if pink. Overall, although some changes may be made in the process of the I.T creation of this cover, I am happy with the result, as I believe it is appropriate, smart, and fitting to the target audience and genre of the magazine.

Camera shots

Photography-Camera Shots.

The next thing that I will look at for my magazine, is the type of shots that can be taken with a camera. This is so that I can decide which I think will be the best for my front cover image for my magazine.


#1- Extreme Wide Shot (EWS)

This shot is taken from a distance to show the surroundings of the photograph, and is not intended for the main subject of the image. It is used often as an 'establishing shot'-the first shot of a new scene, to show the audience where the action is taking place.

It is also known as an extra long shot (ELS) or extreme long show (XLS)





#2-Wide Shot (WS)
In this shot, the subject of the image takes up the full frame. In this example, the girl's feet are almost at the bottom of the frame, and her head is almost at the top. She does not take up the whole width and height of the frame, since this is as close as we can get without losing any part of her from the photograph. The spaces below her feet and above her head are known as 'safety room', as this is just the right amount for the girl to comortably fit into the picture without getting cut out of it.

Some people would see this shot as a Very Wide Shot (VWS)-much closer to the subject than an Extreme Wide Shot, yet still much further away than a Wide Shot. The emphasis here is, rather than seeing the subject, focused more on placing her in the environment. This also allows plenty of room for action to take place, or for multiple subjects to appear on screen.






#3-Mid Shot (MS)
The Mid Shot shows some part of the subject in more detail, whilst still showing enough for the audience to feel they are looking at the whole subject. This is an approximation of how you would see someone if having a conversation with them, as you would not pay attention to the lower part of their body, so that part of the picture is not needed.
This shot is best used when the subject is not showing too much emotion or concentration. The purpose is to deliver information, which is why it is frequently used by news presenters. Often, you will see a story begin with a MS of a news reader (providing information), followed by closer shots of interview subjects (to show emotion and reaction).
As well as being a comfortable, emotionally neutural shot, the MS allows for some movement and hand jestures.





#4-Medium Close-Up (MCU)
The medium closeup is half way between a mid shot and a close up. This shot shows the face more clearly, without getting uncomfortably close.





#5-Close Up (CU)
In the close-up shot, a certain feature or part of the subject takes up the majority of the frame. A close-up of a person usually means a close-up of their face (unless specified otherwise.)
Close-ups are useful for showing detail and can be used as a cut-in (Like a Cutaway, but specifically refers to showing some part of the subject in detail.
Can be used purely as an edit point, or to emphasise emotion etc. For example, hand movements can show enthusiasm, agitation, nervousness, etc.)

Close-ups also exaggerates facial expressions which convey emotion. The viewer is drawn into the subject's personal space and shares their feelings.





#6-Cut Away (CA)
A cutaway is a shot that's usually of something other than the current action. It could be a different subject (eg. this cat when the main subject is its owner), a close up of a different part of the subject (eg. the subject's hands), or just about anything else.

The cutaway is used as a "buffer" between shots (to help the editing process), or to add interest/information.

#7- Over-The-Shoulder Shot

Looking from behind a person at the subject, cutting off the frame just behind the ear. The person facing the subject should occupy about 1/3 of the frame.

This shot helps to establish the positions of each person, and get the feel of looking at one person from the other's point of view.

A variation of this shot can be a bit wider and include the shoulder of the person facing the subject

#8-Point-Of-View Shot (POV)

Shows a view from the subject's perspective. This shot is usually edited in such a way that it is obvious whose POV it is (see the example below).

These are all shots from different perspectives and angles to give different effects, depending on the theme and situation of the photograph. I will consider all of this, and whether it is appropriate or not for my magazine cover.

Story structure

Story Structure.

The next thing that I research will be the structure of the stories featured in the magazines and the key conventions each share.

-Grazia Magazine.


The first magazine I will look at is 'Grazia Magaine'. This is a celebrity and fashion magazine, and is aimed at older women or young adults that are throughly into the fashion industry. It is a more expensive magazine, meaning that is is only bought by a selected audience.
Because of the fashion genre that this magazine delivers to the reader, the main purpose is having the 'latest look', and being ahead of society. This could explain or reflect on this particular page layout for the featured story, as everything is not how you would usually see it in an average magazine, and has a uniqueness about the layout which is instantly noticeable.
The first thing that catches the reader's eye when opening the page, is the large image on the left page. Underneath it, is the main title which informs the reader what the writing on the far right of the second page is about. This is to grab the reader's attention instantly when turning to look at the first page, and then making it able for them to look accross rather than turn the page, for elboration on this image and title, making it easy and convenient for the reader. When looking accross to the second page, the reader will notice that it is structed by having two paragraphs of plain, small text at the top, with a coloured box of more text underneath, containing perhaps the more important or key information. In the middle, are two pictures; the first of a group of girls maybe on a night out, and below this, the second image, which shows a collection of makeup. This bottom imgage is informing the reader of what is needed to get the desired look, and the above shows the people that have used this idea. This is all very unusual, as in a standard layout of a story for a magazine, there would usually be maybe a couple of images, one at the top left and bottom right, with wrapped text around these images, the title placed accross the top centre of the two pages. However, this layout does not only include two pictures of the finished 'look', but also a picture of what is needed, so that the products are visually recognisable to the audience when purchasing these things, and lots of information at one side of the two pages about the actual look itself and how you can create it.
The layout design for this magazine is very unique, using randomly placed images and text at one side of the page. It uses one whole page for just the main image and title, to attract the audience's attention, and uses the double spread page as convenience for the reader to find out more. It is a very successful way of displaying a page, and is unique in a way that it will not have been done in this way by any other magazine. These are all successful key features that I will think about when designing my own story page for my magazine, as I know it is convenient and popular to the reader, and attracts their attention instantly.



-What's On Tv Magazine.


This second magazine, named 'What's On Tv Magazine', is suitable for all ages and audiences, yet is probably read by older women that work and miss or want to find out about their favourite T.V programs.
This magazine is very different from the first, as is cheap and affordable to buy, and has a theme of infroming the reader about television programs, rather than the latest look in fashion or what a celebrity is doing. It is not trying to be more unique than other magazines, as is purely to inform and entertain.
As there are many T.V programs that are featured in the magazine with big storylines, etc, each story is mainly just on one page so to fit a lot of other stories in, unlike 'Grazia Magazine', which casually includes double spreads for attraction and convenience, a feature this magazine cannot always afford to involve.
When turning to this single page, the first thing the reader will see is probably the large title in the colour yellow to attract instantly, with extra text at the side to give added information. However, the large image of Simon Cowell, used as a page background also grabs your attention, so either could be seen first. Below the image of Simon Cowell are two others beside each other, of contestants on the show being promoted on the page. The use of this many images is common in a T.V magazine, as visual impact is a key feature for advertising.
In the centre of the page is a big white box, filled with information, interviews, and quotes about the new show featured. This contains the majority of information the reader will need, exept for the top and bottom of the magazine, which has a title at the top informing what the page is about, and a competition at the bottom, to give added interest and attraction to the reader as an extra feature of the magazine. There is also a website next to the white box for the reader to find out about more information on the magazine, and catch up with more stories. This gives the reader more to read about and find out about the magazine, meaning it is getting more promotion for everyone that visits the site, and is giving the reader more for their money, as they do not just have the magazine to read.
The way that this magazine is laid out is very different from 'Grazia Magazine', as thing are not randomly placed and does not contain an image and a title displayed accross a whole page. 'What's On T.V Magazine' has a very average, straight-forward layout for the reader's convenience and to get straight to the point with what they need to read, as this is the main objective of the magazine. It uses extra things like competitions and their website to attract the reader to buy their magazine again and keep them busy, and has a central area where the majority of their needed information about the program advertised is contained. There are a selection of images placed together, one being a background for decorative effect, and to show the importance of the celebrity involved in the program, and annotations underneath the images with comic quotes for the reader's entertainment. This magazine, though holding a very different purpose from the first, has elements of attraction, information and entertainment all in one page, making it successful as the first, with a basic, to-the-point design. This is an easy accessible way to find out what the audience need to know, and will also be something important that I will consider when creating my magazine.

Mastheads & Use of colour

Mastheads & Use of colour.


For this topic, I looked through different styles of magazine and studied and compared each masthead, and how the colours of both this and the background for the magazine pages were suited to the target audience. I looked at the position and size of the masthead, what type of font it was written in, and how it was appealing to the reader.


-'Take A Break Magazine'.

This magazine, 'Take A Break', is popular with many readers, and is a leisure magazine to read when you are 'taking a break' from work, household jobs, or the general stresses of everyday life. It is a lifestyle magazine about the people involved in the community around us that we live in, and contains stories about their lives. It rarely involves celebrities, as they do not represent the genre of the magazine or the theme aimed for the it. The main audience for the magazine is women, as they are the most likely to be taking a break from household jobs, etc, and to take that time to read the contents of the magazine. The editors know this, and create their ideas based around the idea of women taking the interest in what is inside.

The text used in the masthead, as with the rest of the cover, is in the style of a tabloid or newspaper, to give the reader a sense that it is something important which should be read, and to enable easier reading. The primary colours are red and white, again to represent importance and to attract. The title of the masthead is an original logo, which has been designed to be the same in every issue and cover, so that it is instantly recognised by the reader so that they know which magazine is 'Take A Break'.


The particular font used is big and bold, yet softer than the rest of the font style for the stories on the cover, to give a more femenine look, so that the gender of the magzine is instantly recognisable whenever it is on the shelves.



-'Kerrang Magazine'.
This next magazine is named 'Kerrang', and features rock and heavy metal artists for young adults and anyone that enjoys it and wants the 'inside scoop' on what the bands are up to. Unlike 'Take A Break', it uses mainly black and white for both the text and background, and has images placed over the masthead. The music which is being advertised is stereotypically seen as being rebellious and individual, which is how the magazine is portrayed to the reader. It does not have femenine, soft fonts, exept for the featured artist text in the centre of the cover, and is set out more like a poster, with the raw contrasting colours and bold font. The audience suggested by this magazine is males of a varied agegroup, although could be read by both genders.
The masthead for this cover, though covered by the image, is still designed to be bold, so that it is recognisable to the reader. It is simplistically designed, as almost a 'bar' going straight accross the page, with a white background and a small shadow underneath.It is not made to be neat, as would not match the desired style for the audience.

The font used shares the same idea. It is not 'curvy' and slim, but large and sketchy, as though it has been printed onto the page by somebody and has lost colour in some parts. It is black onto the white background to give contrast, whilst still complimenting the background, and, like 'Take A Break', gives a headline look from a newspaper, a sign that the contents of the magazine is important, just like the first.
Another feature to the font, is the lines going through it, as though it is a window that has been smashed, again to represent the rebellious side of the genre, and to be popular towards the male gender, as stereotypically it is something a male would do.

Overall, in contrast to the first magazine, 'Kerrang' has a totally different approach and effect to the reader. The first magazine is light and uses slim text, whereas the second is the total opposite, using simple colours and messier font. The differences between the features of the two magazines are clear, The only thing they have in common being the tabloid resemblance, and the iconic masthead and titles each contain. Overall, the two magazines share similar features, though are designed for different genders and audiences, which is what makes them popular in their own right.

Mood board

Mood board.

I also Created a 'mood board' below, using images from the internet which I thought represented the topic and what may be relevent and important to include in my magazine. The idea for these images was influenced from my spider diagram.

spider diagram

Planning Stages.
Spider diagram



I created this spider diagram as a quick memory draft of all the ideas that i came up with after researching magazine covers and stories on the internet. I also looked at which colours would go together, and how text and images were placed together on the page with a suitable background.

'Secondary Teachers' Cover, Issue 60.

'Secondary Teachers' Cover, Issue 60.



This cover is from a previously created, ongoing school/college magazine called 'Secondary Teachers', which aims to guide teachers through educating young students. I will analyse this cover towards the planning stages of my own magazine, and take note of the ideas involved and things which I think are important.

At first glance of this cover, the first things noticed is the large masthead stating the title, and the bright image of the many eyes, all different to represent the eyes of the students. This is suggested, as we next notice the text on the bottom right, which says in bold lettering 'All eyes on you.' Both of these first features attracts the attention of the reader instantly, as they are curious to know what type of magazine it is, or what message is being put accross. The next natural step the reader will take if there interest is there, is to read the smaller text underneath the heading. The language of this text is personal and written asif the magazine editors are talking directly to you, which partly diminishes the idea of formality to the reader, and makes them feel included in the magazine. Unusually, although bright, the final features that may be noticed and read could be the smaller headings at the top with inclusions of what is inside the magazine, mainly because of their size, though the colours used are bright and attractive so that it is not a forgotten area of the cover by the reader.

The main features of this cover are the large texts for both the masthead and the subheadings, and also the large image placed central, along with the bright but sensible colours. The image is placed in a position for the reader to always see it, also because of its size,which is something I will consider for my own magazine. Another thing I will think about is the colours I will use for my magazine, as in this cover there are a lot of navy blues and primary colours to relate and resemble school life or the students and to grab the reader's attention successfully, whilst still having a professional and appropriate finish. Finally, the masthead is an important point to think about, as it contains the title for the magazine, and must be the right size, colour, and position on the page to be noticed so that the reader remembers the magazine for future reference.

I think that this magazine cover, although simple, uses all the right conventions to contain the reader's attention long enough for it to all be read and remembered, whilst involving the reader and making it personal to them. There are the right type of colours, sensible size choices for the text, masthead and image used, and the right language of the text to connect with the reader, all things which I aim to do in my magazine.

Brief

Brief

Preliminary exercise: using DTP and an image manipulation program, produce the front page of a new school/college magazine, featuring a photograph of a student in medium close-up plus some appropriately laid-out text and a masthead. Additionally you must produce a mock-up of the layout of the contents page to demonstrate their grasp of DTP.

Main Task: the front page, contents and double page spread of a new music magazine. All images and text used must be original, produced by you - minimum of four images.

Presentation of your Work
The presentation of the research, planning and evaluation may take the form of any one, or combination of two or more, of the following:

• a presentation using slide show software such as PowerPoint;
• a blog
• a podcast.

Conventions of a Contents page

-Appropriate legible font for title
-Short key points/titles
-Page numbers opposite
-Small images for guidance (Optional)
-Suitable colours (White background with black writing, etc.)
-Titles set out in bullet points/paragraph/clear style to read

Conventions of a school/college magazine front cover, using LIIAR.

Language- This includes not only text in the inside pages, but also the masthead, images, colours, and cover lines. (E.g; relevant pictures which appeal to the audience, and suitable, appropriate colours for the layout of the magazine as a whole. (Idealistic colours=white background with black text). The way each of these are presented and created depends on the audience, which, in this case, is school/college teachers of a varied age group. For my magazine, I will use language which is both appealing and understanded by the audience, in order to create a successful magazine.

Institution- Unknown. (For my magazine, I will be controlling the production process, which means whatever choices I make will affect the final outcome of the magazine).

Ideology- The explicit and implicit values of the magazine and its agenda. This asks what are the bigger and smaller features of the magazine and what is its aim, which is to guide and educate the college/school teacher reading the magazine. When creating my magazine, I will have to decide which features will be important to include for the purpose of the reader, in order to portray the correct message.

Audience- The final product of the magazine is based around the genre of the magazine, and the audience, which is the group of people it is aimed at. This is made clear whenever analysing text, as the language used also gives a clue towards which type of people it is aimed at. When creating my magazine, I will think carefully about the presentation of both the language and magazine layout as a whole, in order to appeal directly to the audience intended.

Representation- This is what people/issues are included, and how they are portrayed. The central group of people involved in my magazine will be students, however I will not portray them as they are stereotypically seen by people in the media as trouble-causing bullies, but rather as good, hard-working, ambitious young people.