Content Page Practise

i decided to chose the content layout on the left as i could fit in more picture and i thought the design was more interesting than the other one. i took pictures of people from St.Edmund's and collage them into a content page. i think it is a good layout because i have the information i need and i made the content page full just like a real magazine. i used the same font for the title as i did on the front cover. however i changed the font for the content because other fonts wouldn't fit in all the information. i also included articles that people wanted, such as celebrity gossip and new movies. please give me feed back and tell me what you think of it.

Front Cover

I finally chose a name for my magazine, i decided to call it Student World as it will include the life of everyday people at St. Edmund's. i chose to do the title font in Angelic War as i thought it looked the best. As the photograph is big and stands out i decided to not have much writing over it. i chose a pink background instead of the others as i thought the other backgrounds clashed to much with the photograph.

As the picture was too big and at a angle the layout that i was going to do (which was the one on the left) didn't quite fit. so therefore i decided to change it a bit, instead of adding cover lines i put them on the strap line on top of the page. i also added the price which was for this week free. and i also added a banner at the bottom of the screen just like the layout plan.

please comment and tell me what you think of it. x

fonts

as i haven't thought of a name for the magazine yet i am just testing out different types of font that would sort my magazine. the options are "Angelic War" which is ain the various collum, "Simply Glamorous" which is handwritten, "Jellyka Delicious Cake" and finally "Seven Swords"  please vote and tell which one you think will look the best. thanx

title picture

I played around with photoshop for my front cover. I wanted to see what background looked the best so I changed the colours of the background to pink, green and purple. As I am having trouble thinking of the title for the magazine I will leave it to later to add the cover lines and title. Would you please vote and tell me which cover picture you like the best. Thanx

Layouts

These are the ideas of the front cover and the content page. please comment and tell me which ones you prefer.   

Photoshop practise

i played around with photoshop using a photo of the cast of twilight. I cut out only two people and made the image larger so it would fill the whole cover. i will use this idea when i come to do my own front cover. however i think i made the people to thin and therefore i will keep this in mind when making the real thing to make the people look realistic.

Results For Questionnaire

From looking at the comments we can see that the majority of people read magazines once a week. Four out of five people said they wouldn’t read a magazine that had a boring front cover. Therefore I will try to make the photo for the front cover eye catching and interesting. Most people say the articles they find most interesting are celebrity gossip and real life stories, I will try to include real life stories and maybe stories that are relevant to students.  The price range will be 0- 50p because a low price will attract more customers.  From the people who commented most people don’t have a favourite magazine.  Most people prefer a normal font as they find it easier to read.  People prefer the text on the magazine to be black.  However for the cover lines I might use another colour like dark purple, as that was a favourite colour for one person who commented. The photo on the front cover will be a mid-close up.  The type of magazine people are most interested in is gossip and movies. 

Questionnaire

1. how many magazines do you read in a month?

• 0-1 a week
• 2-4 a week
• more than 4

2. would you read a magazine that has a boring or simple front cover?

• yes
• no
• i focus more on the content than what it looks like

3. what articles do you find most interesting to read

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

4. what price range would you like a students magazine to be in

• 0p-50p
• 50p-£1
• £1-£2
• more than £2

5.  what is your favourite magazine

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

5b. why do you like it

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

6. do you prefer a normal font like: Arial and Verdana or do you prefer a more interesting and unusual font like: Jokerman or Chiller

• normal
• unusual
• don't mind

7. do you prefer a particular colour for the text in the magazine

• yes
• no
• don't mind

7b. out of these colours which one would you prefer the text of the magazine to be

• blue
• green
• purple
• white
• black

8. what type of images and shots would you prefer to see in the magazine

• close up
• mid -close up
• long shot

9. what type of magazine are you most interested in

• gossip
• sport
• student
• music
• movie

Textual analysis of "Common Sense"

I chose to write about “Common Sense”, which was released on the 9^Th March 2005. The front cover is an image of the band “America idiots” which tells us that this is going to be a cheerful and funny magazine. We can also see that it is a lighthearted magazine from the font that they use for the title of the magazine “common Sense”. Common is in big, bold and in a serious shape however, sense is in a curve and casual font which tells us that the designers are making fun of the serious part of the title.

The headline is the most important parts of the magazine it has big, bold letters to grab your attention, “American Idiots” is the headline of the magazine. The cover lines in the magazine are “Students Sex Appeal”, “Universities”, “Good Grub!” “Chill Out” and “Real Life Stories” these headings summaries the most important and exciting features and articles which are inside the magazine.  “Free” is in bold letters because it makes the magazine more appealing if it is free.

“Luton Sixth Form College” is the masthead of the magazine; it is the title on top of the front cover, which identifies the magazine.

The members of the band are positioned in this way to show that the guy in the middle is the most well known and therefore has the most power in the band, he is normally the singer. Also the other members of the band are smaller than the guy in the front this also exaggerates that the guy in the front is more powerful. As well as the men being behind they also frame the leader, which makes your eye focus more on him and less on the other too. The photographer used a medium; close up to focus on the humour of their faces.  The photograph is in Black and white, which enhance the colour in the title and the words.

There is also a lure on the front cover to attract the customer to get the magazine “ I faked my own rape…”

The content page for this magazine has a simple layout; it has this because it makes it easier to get to the article you want to read instead of just flicking through the pages. It has pictures that go with the article. This makes the contents page more interesting. The page numbers are in big, bold letters to make it easier for the reader. There is more writing on this page than the front cover because the cover is aimed to attracted and the contents is aim to be a helpful guide. The byline; which is the name of the journalist who as written the articles, is in the corner of the contents page this is because people might be looking for a particular writer and it makes it easier to find them in the first page you open. Next to the page numbers they give a headline of the article, which is in big letters to attract you to the article. The title of the magazine is in every page of the magazine so that you don’t forget get about it and you remember the name of the magazine and buy the next addition.  

Content analysis of student magazines

Student id

·      This magazine only cost 60p.

·      There is a content page to tell us what we are going to see.

·      The magazine includes serious stories such as how to get a job and how to get into university.

·      However they also talk about fashion week, which included different designers and photographs of their work.

·      This magazine also has lighthearted stories like “spotted” which includes embarrassing photos.

·      Doesn’t aim for a particular gender

·      College life

·      It’s the spring/summer 2011 edition

·      It was published in May

·      They also talk about lighthearted stories like, the fashion show, charity week, school trips and day-to-day school life.

·      However it is written for an older audience such as the parents whereas the other magazine “student id” was written for 17-18 year old

·      The magazine includes a lot of images and photos

·      Doesn’t aim for a particular gender

·      Avita pro fide

·      It was published in autumn 2011

·      It’s the 110 magazine cover

·      Includes content cover

·      Formal structure

·      For an older audience, which is mainly parents

·      Talks about what the school used to be like, the history and the reunion of old members of Edmund's

·      Includes photos of the past and present

·      The magazine is mainly aimed for older men 

For the magazines I have noticed that they all write serious articles. I found the first two articles more easy to relate to and therefore I enjoyed them more. In my magazine I will include the student life article but relate it to me, and a contents page. I will try to make the magazine more interesting to teenagers.

action plan

7/11/11- set up a blog and do the action plan 
14/11/11-content analysis, textual analysis and start questionnaire 
21/11/11- review results for questionnaire and start the layout of the magazine 
28/11//11-organise magazine shot and layout 
2/12/11- test pages and review 

intro

so... i am creating a blog to post all the things i need to do to make a student magazine. The blog is to tell me what i need to do, how long i have to do it in, and what else is left :(