Evaluation

Evaluation:

The brief was to create a front cover and a mock contents page for a new college magazine, using Photoshop and Publisher. The front cover had to feature a image of student, The photo itself had to be a medium close up photo (just above the shoulders). All our work then had to be published on Blogger.com. We had to create hand drawn drafts and IT drafts for our assignment. When creating the magazine I had to take into account L.I.I.A.R. (Language, Institution, Ideology, Audience and Representation.)

The first task I set myself was to do research on college magazines and begin an analysis of the covers. Online I found two magazine covers on featuring a student and the other featuring a elderly man (possibly a member of staff). Whilst looking at the covers, I realised that the cover was aimed at a audience of students. The Mast head was appealing as well as the cover lines, I had to apply this when designing my cover. When looking closer at the magazines I looked at the features of a magazine and looked at what goes on to the cover of a college magazine. As the magazine was aimed at a college I realised there was no use for a bar code or a selling line, because the magazine would have been free to distribute around the college. On the other hand I decided that it would be a better idea to have a student on the front cover rather then a member of staff, like the covers I was looking at. This would appeal more to the college which is mainly students.

My initial idea was to have My model stood on the balcony in the ash building therefore giving the image the college is modern and sophisticated. However my plans changed when I had the idea of putting my model at the bottom of some stairs, the ideology behind this is, the magazine is called aim (Aim Higher) therefore having a student at the bottom of satires symbolises there climb and effort to achieve what they want to achieve. This was a big change to my beginning plan, However it seemed to work quite well. When taking the photo I decided that I would have my model in the lower right corner of the cover, therefore allowing more room for cover lines and also allowed the mast head and subtitle to stand out more. When I had been looking at magazine covers they all used quite unique designs for there font. This made me decided to design my colours and fonts around the time of which the magazine would have gone out. Therefore the colours I used were; Orange, Yellow, Brown and Black. This gave the feel of Autumn to the magazine again this worked well as the magazine would have been released in Autumn. I also chose quite classy and sophisticated fonts to the cover. I had my model hold a green folder the colour, I used green to give the college a fresh and chilled look. I also applied the colleges name and logo at either end of the sub-title giving the reader a sense of been part of a group.

For the wording of my cover I decided that my target was the students, so to try and appeal to them I keep referring to them an example of this is my sub-title, ‘The Mag Made For Students, By Students’. This gave the audience the impression that the magazine has everything they want to read about. The cover also featured cover lines which implied things that would interested students, such as revision tips. However I also thought about what to put word wise on the cover, because it was Autumn some people have exams in January therefore by giving revision tips now students may be more interested.
For the contents I carried on the theme of Autumn and had the title and text in a brown shade. I also had the colleges logo as the bullet points. To try and appeal to the audience more I would have had photos of college events in the left hand margin. The top part of the contents would have articles/feature which would appeal to students more and the lower half would have all articles/features in numeric order.

The magazine cover looks realistic, with the exception of a bar code, left third and selling line. The cover does have some of the conventions of a real magazine, it has things which appeal to its target audience such as, cover lines, sub-title and a masthead. I used Photoshop to allow me to change the scale of my photo and create the over all product, using Photoshop I also changed the contrast of the image and applied the text. Publisher was used to create my basic drafts, by using text boxes and word art, I was able to create mock ups of what the overall magazine would look like.

Final Magazine Cover

The Final Magazine had some changes made to it. The first was the location in which it was shot, I changed from the balcony shot, to a shot near stairs there were two reasons I did this. The first reason was that the shot on the balcony made the magazine seem to bright as I had no control over the lighting within the area. Also the picture was better taken near the stairs. The second reason is to do with the connotation of the image, in the background of the magazine I have a image of stairs, the magazine itself is called AIM, therefore the stairs symbolise the climbing to the top metaphor of the magazine.

The text of the of the final product, I decided to stick with the idea of Autumn colours therefore; the mast head, Sub-title and Cover lines are all in browns, oranges and yellows.

The area in which the magazine photo was taken along with the colour of the text add a more sophisticated look to the magazine and add a traditional twist to the front cover.

My model is holding a green folder to give the reader a feel for student life, a fresh image. I also stuck with the idea of the logo at either ends of the masthead and sub-title.

IT Draft (Contents)

The IT draft of my contents page it a replica of my hand drawn plan. The theme of colours has been copied onto the contents page.

I decided to change the regular bullet points to the Wyke logo again to distinguish the origin of the magazine but also to give it a modern edge.

I have placed where the photos will be going and also the angle of the photos again to give the magazine a sense of individuality.

Another changed made form the hand drawn plan to the IT draft is the bullet points of the pages, instead of been at different sides they are now just stick a little bit more out of the page.

IT Draft (Front Cover)

The IT draft for my front cover, is quite basic as it shows relatively where every thing would go. Since doing my hand drawn draft I have changed the way in which the cover lines would go, I have moved them from the right side of the page to the left side of the front cover.

My model will be placed in the right side of the cover, allowing move room for the rest of the text. The masthead, Sub-title and logos would go in the top on my cover so they stand out more. The cover shows the layout for my magazine, and where everything will go. I created the IT draft on Microsoft Publisher, using text boxes.

Hand Drawn Plan (Contents)

The contents page would feature the title of the magazine, the same colour of the front cove, keeping up the theme of autumn. As would the colour of text in the contents.

The contents itself would have a margin on the left hand side which would have photos of college events different for each issue, therefore again getting in touch with the target audience.

The text would feature the more appealing part of the magazine i.e. Revision tips as its nearer to the January exam. These articles are place directly in front of the reader when the magazine is opened. On the other hand the other articles would be put in numerical order on the left hand side of the page at the bottom of the page, much like in a high street magazine, a reader could look at what article or piece they wished by turning to the corresponding page.

Hand Drawn Draft (Front Cover)

For my magazine front cover I was initially going to have a model standing on a balcony in the ASH building, giving the college a sophisticated and modern look.


The masthead will be in the central top area of my magazine, making it eye catching. I chose to use colours like orange, yellow and red. I decided on these colours, because of the period of the year the magazine would come out, in this situation autumn time.

The magazine was to have a sub-heading, underneath the mast head saying "The Mag made for students, by students" this slogan would appeal to my target audience of students as they get to decide what is put in the magazine. Also would feature the colleges name and colleges logo to allow people to identity where it originated from.

Along with everything above I also feature cover lines introducing the reader to what is inside the magazine making it seem more appealing and more enticing to read.

Like in the brief my model would be in a medium close-up shot in which I would also add a folder to give a more student orientated look. My model would be smiling to create a positive image of the college its self.

College Magazine Analysis 2

This magazine has a big and bold masthead to grab the readers attention. The advert has a continuous theme of bold bright colours. The advert also uses a array of different font types, therefore making the magazine stand out more.

The magazine has a main image of a young woman (student) she is on a white back ground making the model stand out. the magazine also uses model credit e.g. Freshman & Aspiring Actress, this gives use more details of the model/student. We also have a deadline of the issue.

On the issue itself it uses things that would appeal to students such a fashion and health, the magazine seems to be aimed at a more female audience.

The model is wearing fresh, bight and vibrant. Therefore giving a happy and calm image of the college, but also allowing people to believe to that the students and college are a happy and friendly place. The colours also give the reader a happy attitude.

College Magazine Analysis 1

The Magazine has a masthead, this is the name of the magazine, this allows the reader to know what they are reading, also this can be quite eye catching.

It also features the magazine issue deadline, in the upper right corner. This is often featured with the price of the magazine.

This main image of the magazine is, an elderly man with a younger child with a different ethic background, as the title suggests the the image is taken in a different country e.g. some where is Asia.

The man is holding flowers, this could be a symbolic reference to the image of peace they are trying to create.

We could also say that there is link between a child on the front cover and that 'children are out future' therefore we should support them in LEDC's (Less Economical Developed Countries).

We as consumers can tell the magazine image has been taken in a foreign country as there is the presence of other people who look like there are from the same ethnic group as the little girl. The building behind the woman also looks quite orientated and basic , symbolising the poverty of the country. The colours in the image are all quite bland and may symbolise the basic lifestyle of the people, the only colour which really stands out is that of the flowers. The flowers may also symbolise hope for the little, this may be because the woman is her to help her and the flowers are seen as a form of peace and protection.