Front Cover

This is my final design for my front cover, it has a picture of 'Jeanne Hunneyball' and other pictures of students to help people connect with it, aslo, there are bright colours and the coverlines give a little hint of what is inside. However, I am open to any suggestions on how I could change it to improve it or make it more interesting.

Photos for front cover

For the front cover I wanted to make the photos more interesting to draw attention to the magazine as students walk past. Therefore I experimented on Photoshop to give myself some idea how i could change them to make them more interesting

I like the black and white ones as this works well with the purple of the background. also, i like the one with the inverted colours, except I may have to alter it as this one may blend into the background and not be as interesting.

Cover Lines and Content

I want my magazine to be both informative and light-hearted, therefore I think my cover lines and the things featured on my contents page may be about help for students, styles and new fashions and about something such as the college bash or someone famous. I learnt from my questionnaire that people wanted to read fiction and about celebrities.
My magazine would supposedly cover things such as advice for new students, reviews of films and books and some kind of story, also an article about the author Jeanne Hunneyball.

Second Weekly Review

This week I am on target for my action plan, I managed to catch up all the things I was behind on last week, such as the mock designs and this week I have decided on a design to use, a name, and I have planned and carried out a photoshoot. My designs need to be tweaked and changed slightly to make it more interesting and I need to post them onto the blog, but I am waiting for audience feedback about my photoshoot and the opportunity to use a program to finalise my designs. Therefore, next week I will also be on track as I am slightly ahead now.

Photos from Shoot

I took these photos in my photo shoot, these 3 were of the 'new and upcoming author Jeanne Hunneyball'. I changed where I took the photo as it was more convenient and it was easier for her to sit and have her photo taken where it wasn't as busy. With the third image I think that jeanne looks a little strange, we tried to copy it off this photo









but it did not work quite as well as we hoped. However, the first and second image worked well. i think i will use one for my front cover and one for my contents. in the first one jeanne looks very studious but also like she is having fun. I prefer this one for my front cover as it draws peoples attention better and she is slightly more photogenic.
However, the second one may be good for a contents page or i could use this one.



















I took more photos of people having fun. Some of the photos are suitable the front cover, and some of them did not turn out as well as i had hoped. They show that college can be fun, I may try to get a photo of people studying, as this will show a contrast but also that you have to work in college. It is light-hearted, with the people laughing and thats what people wanted from the student magazine.





























I will edit these photos to make them more interesting and original, this will also help to make the front cover of my magazine more lively and attractive to teenagers.
Any suggestions about what i could do with these photos will be welcomed.....:)

What I need to do for photoshoot

For the photoshoot I need to take 3 pictures for the cover, and maybe more for extras or for the contents.
Main Image - going to be a 'budding author'

• Setting - indoors, sitting down
• Props - a book, pen and paper
• Lights - light should be bright enough, if not will use extra lights/
• Type of shot - Mid shot from eye-level or slightly low angle.

2 other images on cover

• 2 other images on cover
• One will be of a group of students standing, laughing, having fun, to show that college can be fun
• Setting - around college, castle square People standing in circle, image taken from a very high level
• Other image similar, different angle and setting

Ideas for my images

These are the kind of images I would like as my smaller images,two of them are of people studying and one of them having fun. I think however I will take the photo of people having fun from above as this is less creepy.

This is what I want for my author, they are quite simple and interesting. However, I need to take different ones as they are not suitable for what i want in my magazine.

Obviously I cannot use these photos so I need to organize my own photoshoot.

Initial Design

I decided to use the masthead "Exclusive" as it shows that maybe there are interesting things inside. Also, there is something about college students "Budding New Author". There will be images of students, laughing and having fun to show new students that college isn't as bad as they think and it isn't all hard work and no fun.
There may also be coverlines to do with student information, and interviews with someone famous. This makes it a light hearted magazine but with some informative things in it.

What I have learnt from my questionnaire

I have learnt from my questionnaire that

• the magazine should cost between 50p and £1
• it should include things about celebrities, college students and information about students. Therefore students are more likely to read it if it is light hearted not hard reading and informal.
• Purples and blues should be used in the design and there should be photgraphs and information about students on the cover - it makes it more realistic.

First idea of cover designs

These are my first two ideas of possible front covers. There is one where there will be a photo covering the front page and one with multiple photos. On both ideas there will be ideas of stories and coverlines will outline these.

In the end i have decided to use the second one, as it has a more livey feel to it, there is more going on in the front cover, which attracts more attention to it. With the other one there is just a cover photo with the masthead and coverlines over it, however, with this one there are more photos and cover lines, and the background will probably be quite plain so it does not distract attention from the images.

First Weekly Review

This first week I completed two textual studies, a questionnaire to find out what people wanted in the magazine and a few ideas of names. At the end of the week I decided I would use the name "Exclusive" for my student magazine as this is my favourite and suggests that it is full of very interesting special things. Also, I started designing, however, I became slightly behind on my action plan, however, if i work hard for the next week I will be able to catch up on my plan.

What do you think of any of these names??

Youth Talk??
Teen Life??
Look??
Exclusive??

Any other suggestions would be REALLY welcome guys!!!!! Help me out here if you've got some ideas

Questionnaire!!

This is a questionnaire about the design of my magazine, please respond people!!

Are you male or female?

What magazines do you usually read?

What would you like to see in this magazine? What kind of things you do like to read about?
[]Celebrities?
[]Fiction?
[]Current events?
[]College events?
[]Information for you as a student?

Do you read any student magazines at the moment?

How much would you be willing to pay?

Would you like to see students on the front cover, or celebrities?

What kind of colours and colour schemes do you like?

Would you prefer a more light-hearted, fun magazine or an informative one?

Thanks

Second Textual Analysis

The second magazine I chose to study was "First Car". The masthead is in a bold typeface and stands out against the fairly blank background. It takes up more space on the cover than the banner, "The Inbetweeners" which is more appealing to the reader because of the bright yellow and the bold black text. Also, it moves attention away from the masthead, because people are more likely to want to read about the “Inbetweeners” than used cars. We can tell that this is aimed at young people, judging by the masthead “First Car” as usually people learn to drive and 17 or 18. This is a niche product as it is relevant to one particular type of person.
The coverlines are also in a bold, bright typeface, making them more interesting. Also, the things are obviously things they thought will attract young people, “Competitions, Games”. All this is in the small strapline at the top of the cover, which also stands out against the masthead. The “Inbetweeners” are pictured on the cover, standing next to what seems to be an old, second hand car, which is being used as a prop that relates to the magazine. These two things are incorporated together, again to make the reader more interested, but also to make them read about the cars. If they think “The Inbetweeners” are interested in the “First Car” magazine they are more likely to follow suit and read it.

There is a large, bold, black banner at the bottom, with images making it look like a photographic film strip. The rest of the cover is very light hearted, whereas this banner is not, “Killer Moves,” and “Running for Cover”. The pictures also show car crashes and are used to show the dangers of driving unsafely.
It is a very lively and active cover which appeals to the audience it is aimed at.

First Textual Analysis

The magazine I studied first was called etc. The full masthead seems to be education/training/careers, however, it was abbreviated to be easier to describe and not put people off. However, we can tell that this magazine is going to be informative, also, the 24 in the circle suggests that there will be constant help for the people reading.
The coverlines are in bright colours attracting attention, and drawing students in, however, the word alcohol, of which the whole cover seems to be based on, it in bold font and is straight to the point. Instead of using an ordinary photograph relating to alcohol, such as some one drunk, they have used bright colours and comedic graphics which both does not cause bad impressions of alcohol, and makes it more interesting so people will not walk straight past and may pick it up and read it. Also the bright colours on top of the black sets the magazine apart.
It is easy to see that the main purpose of the edition of etc. is to encourage people to stop drinking, there is nothing that could appeal to people who drink a lot.
Having the little creatures show people that alcohol is not just a drink but is a complicated things. The small green character is asking for help, showing that they know that everyone feels small when they are asking for help.

Preliminary Task Outline

For my preliminary coursework i have been asked to design a front cover of a student magazine with a student in a medium close up, a masthead and some text. This will be done DTP and image manipulation. I have to record my progress on this blog. I have 4 weeks to complete this task.

Action Plan:

Week 1

1. Research and Planning
2. Textual analysis of 2 student magazines
3. An audience questionnaire
4. Mock designs and name of magazine
5. Record Progress on blog

Week 2

1. Finish off research and designing
2. Produce designs
3. Organise and carry out photoshoot
4. Tweak and finish designs
5. Audience Feedback
   

Week 3

1. Tweak and finish designs
   
2. Finalise front cover
3. Compare contents pages
4. Make designs of contents
5. Write progress on blog

Week 4

1. Finish and tweak pages
2. Evaluation