my preliminary task is to produce the front page of a school/college magazine
- using DTP and an image manipulation programme
mockupmockupmockups of l a y o u t s of contents pages as well!
in the time given to produce this, i will spend half on research and evaluation of current magazines
and half on practical!
before engaging in my main task - let it begin
04/09/11
A typical student magazine – named ‘COLLEGE.’
The masthead of college is expectedly big and bold to attract attention from potential readers, written in blood red it links to this covers colour scheme of red and blue. It’s simple and affective because it’s direct to its audience; we instantly know what the magazine is about – college.
As mention earlier the colour scheme of this cover is extremely bold and eye catching, we are instantly drawn to the centre of the page which links with the title. Red connotes passion and love which is inspiring for students working for something. Sell lines such as ‘She’s 15 and pregnant’ attract attention of the reader in two ways – its blue contrasting with our red acknowledgment of the magazine which catches our eye and it’s gossipy. The simple and easy to read text is aimed at young adults who’ve had a hard day and want an easy read –it also connotes simpleness in relation to college which is more likely to attract students.
Cleverly using a young attractive female helps sell the magazine, she’s eye catching and intriguing. We then associate the magazine with intriguing intention because she’s linked with the magazine – an example of this would be her fitting colour scheme, matching the bold masthead. The denotation of the image is a young girl at college, most likely on campus. Yet it connotes and promotes health and happiness of young adults studying, something all students strive for. She’s represented fairly well, the image is not degrading in any way, she’s obviously sober and carefree – which could imply she’s on top of her work and sailing through college/uni. Students subliminally ask, how? And are more likely to buy the magazine.
Secondary leads such as gossipy sell lines, an example being ‘smoking salvia?’ tend to cheapen a magazine to sell rather than actually give information, tips and articles on college based institutions. I would find this unsuitable for my magazine because I want it to be as useful as possible.
‘College’ is obviously targeted at young adults who attend college/uni ranging from ages of 18-21 in their primary audience. Not looking at the obvious, another feature which would tell us the target audience is the main image as they have used a young adult which appeals to its audience. I am aiming my magazine at mainly 6thform/a level students from 16-18. I plan to produce a specialist magazine actually offering help, advice and articles/stories.
Although College is a specialist magazine for a niche audience of students, it is in fact just a gossip/article related magazine as it too wide spread using secondary leads to sell.
05/09/11
A specialised student magazine named ‘Wyke Word.’
The mast head for this magazine is small and cornered which is an unlikely feature of most magazines, telling us this student magazine may be for a smaller niche audience of specific schools/colleges or areas. I wouldn’t choose to publish my cover this way as I’d want my masthead to grab audience attention.
Black and white colouring seems to be used in words of importance, such as the mast head and the bold wording of ‘EXAMS’- hmghligting what this issue is about. Whilst colours like red and green are used more commonly in sell lines, secondary leads. This gives us a perspective on what’s most important for us to read on the cover. One font in particular is used for all of the writing on the cover, bar the mast head – this could to used to attract attention to the mast head as it’s so cornered and smaller than most. The cover looks dull and drab. In relation to a secondary lead we are shown a photograph of a school which is said to have just been refurbished. Not being a commonly known or publicised school this would tell us this magazine is for a niche audience of students.
Wyke’s main image spreads across the whole cover, allowing subheadings, sell lines and images over it, therefore the image isn’t that eye catching. The image of the young female student looks very natural and un-posed, showing her working hard. This connotes hard work and determination, something which would inspire any young student thriving for a goal. The seemingly un-manipulated picture seems very real to the audience, the connotation telling us the magazine is what it says it is – real, help and advice for students in examinations. No gossipy second leads or typical conventions such as a bold mast head of a desperate to sell magazine.
Wyke’s layout allows it to sell its content not its imagery and eye catching features unlike most magazines. However the amount of text to imagery or eye catching features does dull the cover down and could make it hidden on a shelf amongst the others.
10/9/11
10/9/11
This masthead is extremely simple and not particularly eye catching however it does have the unique twist of looking like a professional high class magazine e.g The Guardian. By its black and white colour scheme and fitting font – very similar to the daily mail, the times etc. It’s ironic because its a young adults student magazine rather than a professional newspaper.
This is a mast head from UK student magazine online.
A modern way to connect with students and feed them information. One thing that stands out about this masthead is the reflective effect used, this would connote to the audience that the magazine is reflective - reflects upon the weeks events. Which is useful because it means students can hear that weeks events 'as they were'.
Genre
a class or category of artistic endeavor having a particular form, content or technique.
Just like every other form of media - magazines too have genres. Every genre will have conventions that highlights which genre that particular text is - allowing consumers to buy what they like.
Magazine genres consist of -
Gossip magazines, mens magazines, fiction and non fiction magazines, womens magazines, fashion magazines, automobile magazines, science fiction magazines, western and frontier magazines, informational magazines and many many more.
Conventions of perhaps a gossip magazine would be indeering secondary leads - sell lines!
Where as conventions of a automobile magazine would have jargon - specialised words, terms and phrases associated with the topic.
My magazine will be a mixture of an informative genre as well as a 'student genre' for a niche audience of those studying - offering all they need to know but with entertaining articles and features!
15/09/11
C O L O U R S C H E M E S
Most magazine involve colour schemes to send subliminal messages! For example 'student lawyer' is obviously read by students striving to become lawyers - hence why the banner underneath the mast head, the 'goddess' lawyers scarf displayed on the front and the vote law badge are all purple.
The magazine these students are buying into is purple, there favourite lawyers scarf is purple - linking the two subliminally, which is obviously going to increase sales.
A LOT OF FASHION MAGAZINES USE COLOUR SCHEMING
Vogue is written in gold, as are there most appealing sell lines!
'Fearless fashion, magician of make up and Sienna Miller.'
Therefore all these things are associated with Vogue, people want to buy it because it's related to high fashion, good make up and beautiful model/actors!
its all done to represent the brand and sell to the audience!
MAIN IMAGES? MAIN IMAGES!
Other than the mast head, the main image of a front cover is the first thing we look at. Different magazines will connotate different meanings.
Clear directions main image denotes two young male students sitting down.
However it connotes that these two students are relaxed and contemplating. Something hardly any students are or get time to do, it subliminally tells us they've found their direction 'clearly' and they're on top of everything, relaxed.
It represents the magazine as a helpful way to find direction and stay on top of work.
This makes students want to analyse the magazine more, pick it up and buy it. Students want to be relaxed and on top of everything and more than anything want a clear direction of where their going, they want to be like these two students on the cover, which will increase consumers.
The most appealing factor of this main image to its audience (drama students) is that it's of the famous young actor Ben Barnes was once in their position. A student, studying drama and aspiring to be famous. This instantly creates a link between consumer and provider. The students want to buy it to see how he did it and find out about him. The image dennotes a young, famous actor. However it connotes much more. The image portrays confidence and inspiration, Ben looks as if he's staring straight at you. With his concentrated eyes giving a look of belief, he could inspire young students thriving to be just like him. This will make students want to buy the magazine.
16/09/11
This font portrays elegance and class with it handwriting like style and smooth large loops - some students may find this too formal and upper class whilst male students could find this too feminine.
This font is particuarly bold, which would catch attention of young students. Although simple, its faded effect still manges to interest an audience. Something a little less formal may be appealing to a wider audience.
This font is very busy and almost difficult to read at a first glance, this could prove to be challenging in sales because people are more likely to go for something that doesn't take much effort to read. As it's such a bold pattern - some people may not like it. So the font sets itself up for rejection. However it is eyecatching and may attract customers.
I would choose the second font because it appeals to a much wider audience and is also simple, after a hard days work students would want to relax and read with simplicity - not complex fonts.
Target Audience
My target audience will be 16-19 for those studying a levels and college courses rather than university students because I want to appeal to a younger audience as they need more help and guidance at this stage. Rather than university students who know what they're doing and have 'been through it all.'
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Possible mast head -
Its school related, fun and appeals to students because it highlights its advisatory articles without being too serious. Filled with rulers and notes!
OR
It has the hint of originality to make it stand out and eye catchy yet matches a level students - smart, classy and mature!
23/09/11
Possible photo shots
FINAL OUTCOME
This is my final draft of the preliminary task to produce the magazine cover of a student magazine. I decided to make an informational, helpful magazine rather than a gossipy feature with heaps of cheap sell lines. I feel there is a gap in the market for something genuinely helpful for a level students.
3/10/11
contents pages?
This contents page attracts people because of the famous singer modeling the page, this is a good idea if she's linked in with this edition of the magazine because people buying it will want to be looking at her. Another good point about this contents page is that it's not generic or boring with lists - it states popular features in the magazine and highlights specialised articles based around the magazines theme.
Images definitely seem like an ideal key feature of a contents page - they break up the writing and are a sight for sore eyes - bored eyes!
10/10/11
FINAL OUTCOME
This is the final outcome of my mock up layout of a contents page!
I tried to make it as list-less as possible and separate my subheadings out to keep the reader intrigued. I used a possible photo shot of my main image for the contents page because when researching contents pages i found the most attractive ones had pictures.
17/10/11
