Contents Page

I have started my contents page, above shows the basic layout of the text and images. I am now aiming to involve the use of colour and bringing forward the cover lines as the focus of the page.

Front Cover

Above is the potential front cover of my magazine. Using photoshop I wanted to balance the use of colour to make the magazine appealing. I learnt the importance of cover lines as they give the audience a first opinion of the magazine. When creating this front cover I became aware how easy it is to use to much text or how using to little text and having a simply an image can make the cover borrowing. I am happy with the outcome of my front cover however I am open to advice and any further improvements that could be made.

Front Cover

I have began working with my front cover now that I have selected the colour of the title and the picture which I want to use. Here is the progress I have made so far feel free to give advice.



Playing with colours



FONTS

Photoshoot!

I decided to create a collage using some of the pictures from my magazine photoshoot. Above shows a variety of pictures some of these are photos which won't be included in the magazine but allow you to see the fun involved when taking the pictures.

Playing around on photoshop

I decided to use photo shop again to improve my skills with the programme. I chose to use the image of actor Kristen Stewart from the well known Twilight series after the recent release of Breaking Dawn. By using photo shop I was able to select specific parts of the original photo that I wanted to use and create my own image. I learnt how to use image adjustment tools such as brightness and contrast, I was also able to understand how to cover parts of a photo and introduce new objects into the photo. For example text over a photo.



Analysing responses from my Questionnaire

1. If the front cover of a magazine is boring would you continue to read the magazine?


9/10 said 'b) No, the front cover must catch my attention'
1/10 said 'a) The front cover is not important to me, I would continue to read the magazine'


2. How many student magazines have you read?


7/10 said 'a) 0 - 5'
2/10 said 'c) More than 10'
1/10 said 'b 6-10'


3. Do you prefer a magazine which is...


6/10 said 'a) focused on pictures'
3/10 said 'balance of both'
1/10 said 'b) focused on text'


4. What price would you be willing to pay for  a magazine?


5/10 said 'b) £1 - £2.50'
4/10 said 'a) £0 - £1'
1/10 said 'c) £2.50 - £4.00'


5. What is your favourite part of a magazine?


5/10 said 'Fun facts, photos, light articles'
2/10 said 'Reality Stories'
2/10 said 'Horoscopes'
1/10 said 'Fashion, beauty tips'


6. What do you dislike about magazines?


6/10 said 'Too much text and advertisements'
3/10 said 'Lack of colour and design'
1/10 said 'Celebrity columns'


7. Would you prefer a contents page which is...


7/10 said 'a) Brief'
3/10 said 'b) Detailed'


8. How often would you like a magazine to be published?


6/10 said 'c) Monthly'
3/10 said 'b) Weekly'
1/10 said 'd) Seasonally'


9. If you enjoyed reading a magazine are you likely to read the next issue?


9/10 said 'a) Yes'
1/10 said 'c) I don't know'

Layout

The image above shows two potential layouts for the front cover of my student magazine. I have chosen these two layouts as I think that they make good use of the space. both allowing alot of room for a main photo and advertising the lures to the audience. They also make the brand identity clear, including an editorial. The layout on the right appears to be stronger, however I like both designs.



Above shows two layouts of my contents page. Through these layouts I have chosen to use a simple yet effecive layout (on the left) and a layout which stands out and is different from the norm (on the right). I think the layout on the right can be used to reflect students as their fashion and tastes are individual and unique. The layout on the right allows more room for information to be displayed which is a key part of the contents page.



Photoshop

Above is my first ever attempt at photoshop. This picture above is the result of a quick play around on photoshop with a crab. It was an enjoyable experience where I was able to learn how to use the programme. However in the future I would like to spend more time when using photoshop so that I receive a good outcome. I am aware that the photo above has areas which are need further improvement through editing. This photo is a learning progress and I aim to acheive better results in the future when using photoshop.

Review

So far the blog has been a success. I have been able to stick to my action plan for the first week :D
I have had a good response from my questionnaire and hopefully will have a few more answers before I begin analysing the results.

PLEASE ANSWER MY POLL>>>
This week my main focus is to design pages and create my magazine name.
Thanks for all the comments so far!

QUESTIONNAIRE 

PLEASE ANSWER!!


1. If the front cover of a magazine is boring would you continue to read the magazine?

a) The front cover is not important to me, I would continue to read the magazine
b) No, the front cover must catch my attention
c) I don't look at front covers, I will read any magazine

2. How many student magazines have you read?

a) 0 - 5
b) 6 - 10
c) More than 10

3. Do you prefer a magazine which is...

a) Focused on pictures
b) Focused on text

4. What price would you be willing to pay for  a magazine?

a) £0 - £1
b) £1 - £2.50
c) £2.50 - £4.00
d) £4.00 - £7.00
e) More than £7.00

5. What is your favourite part of a magazine?

................................................................................................

6. What do you dislike about magazines?

................................................................................................

7. Would you prefer a contents page which is...

a) Brief
b) Detailed

8. How often would you like a magazine to be published?

a) Daily
b) Weekly
c) Monthly
d) Seasonally
e) Annually

9. If you enjoyed reading a magazine are you likely to read the next issue?

a) Yes
b) No
c) I don't know

Student ID (Contents Page)

This is issue 9 of Student ID by Ludlow College. The contents page is clearly organised into three main colomns with a bold title saying 'Inside ID'.  This type face is common across the content pages in all issues of Student ID.  The audience are drawn to the column in the centre of the contents page which is the most important feature of this page emphasized by the colour pink. The contents page gives the readers the cover lines of each double spread page. The cover lines make the audience feel as if the stories are interesting and exclusive in this specific issue. In the column on the left readers are also given an editorial. The contents page includes a short letter from this issues editor expressing her thoughts on topics within the previous issue and her own personal message to students. I think that the editorial allows the students to relate to the editor on a personal level, the editor writes her name at the end of the letter. This means that students can understand the approach taken to creating this magazine and they may feel comfortable to write back to the editor suggesting their own ideas and thoughts of the magazine. This is important as editors and creators of the magazine need to understand what their audience wants from the magazine. The editor gives a positive response to the previous issue suggesting that there was high circulation and success with that issue. The third column gives a brief insight of the content of this issue by using pictures. This is useful as readers don't usually spend a lot of time reading the contents page, through pictures they can quickly see issues presented on each page. Overall I think that this is a strong contents page which is presented well and brief which talks about important topics. I think that the graphics on this page could be improved to make it more enticing and exciting for potential students reading the magazine.

Common Sense (Front Cover)

This is the March 2004 isssue of the student magazine common sense. The front cover of this issue is very strong. The name of the magazine is presented on a masthead, the masthead uses a variety of colour which contrasts with the simple title Common Sense. The front cover has a good layout using an image as the main focal point. There is a mid-close up shot of a teen girl who appears to be emotional. The image is well construced as it uses an eye line shot. The girl's attention appears to be  caught by something, this makes the audience interested to see what the girl is looking at therefore they must read the magazine to understand the situation which is exclusive to this magazine. The image of the girl is shown in black and white which is a strong contrast to the colour background of the magazine. Lures are used on the front cover, there are several enticing cover lines each different colours which will attract a potential reader make them want to open the magazine and find out what happens in these stories. It uses a calm collective mode address, appearing to its audience as a magazine full of good storylines which relate to the lives of students. The brand identity of this magzine is formed by the masthead and layout which is common across the issues of Common sense. Common sense which would appear as a popular magazine that appeals to its audience and has a good reputation.

Example mags

Above is an image of four student magazines which I came across online. I chose to include these images in my blog as they represent student magazines from across the globe. From each magazine I can see how a variety of cultures are represented. This is useful for myself when preparing my own student magazine as I can identify what I want to be represented in my magazine and if it will be influenced by the society which I live in.

Comparision of Student Mags

'STUDENT ID'

• This is a Spring Edition of Student ID priced at 60p. The magazine includes lots of humour through the use of jokes 'If Mars had earthquakes they would be called marsquakes' 'Why do they call the small candy bars the 'fun sizes' wouldn't it be more fun to eat a big one!'
• Topics relating to students: Fashion - dressing to suit your personality, famous examples like The Spice Girls, quitting smoking, learning to drive, music idols, seasonal trends, upcoming films, sport
• Interviewing teachers and creating data from answers
• Political stance towards teens
• Spotted pictures of students within their year, during social life

'COLLEGE LIFE'

• This is a September 2008 issue
• Strong academic focal point
• Formal presentation in comparison to Student ID
• Pages dedicated to teacher life 'New Staff' 'Heads of House'
• Religious background displayed through pictures and recent events such as Confirmation service
• Diversity of activities supporting academic life, midsummer festival, poetry prom, sports and school trips.
• The target audience is likely to be friend's of St Edmund's college, parent's and family of students also potential students

'COMMON SENSE'

• This issue is March 2005
• This magazine using lots of expression through colour and images making it immediately stand out
• Focuses on several issues on one page, this can be confusing for readers meaning that certain stories may be skipped and not read
• This magazine begins with a very strong presentation although on a few of the pages, there is no use of colour making stories appear like articles within a newspaper, this is not attractive to readers
• Includes useful information for students: features important celeb stories, student views of society, information about popular food restaurants such as Pizza Hut, MacDonald's and Nando's. Information about universities and a popular page for teens 'What's Hot'
• The page layout of the page can become monotonous, this could be improved through a variety of styles and layouts for pages in the mag
• Controversial student story, helps students who can relate to similar problems and allow them to understand other people of the same age

ACTION PLAN!!

During the next 4 weeks I will:

7/11/11 -Set up blog
             -Write out my Action Plan
             -Analyse atleast 2 student magazines (conduct textual analysis)
             -Create my questionnaire

14/11/11 -Analyse results of my questionnaire
               -Design and draft layouts
               -Organise photoshoot and take photos

21/11/11 -Design and draft pages
               -Test pages
              
28/11/11 -Make final changes to pages
               -Evaluate final pages

Introduction

Hello blogspot, my name is Loanna Katana and I have set up this blogspot because I am going to produce a student magazine for my AS Media Coursework. Feel free to comment and give advice.. enjoy :)