My School Magazine Front Cover Project, Development And Final Product

The task was to design and generate a front cover that would be suitable for a school or a college, using the Apple Mac software.

1st Idea

The main reason i did'nt follow this design through is because you can't really scan over the front cover as the main title is through the middle focusing all the readers attention into one place. Another reason this design was not found suitable was because if this was on sale the masthead would'nt be on show, which could damage the magazines reputation. The good points to this design is the wrapping paper background imediatly gives positive connotations of christmas. The other good point is the title was made to resemble wrapping paper which completed the designs christmas present apperence.

2nd Idea

On this design I decided to place all the different aspects of the cover around the page so that readers could easily scan and pick up on different points, this is one of the improvements from the previous version. I have now put the ribbon banner in a cross to try and imatate the present idea. with this the title of the magazine was down the side which again is a mistake if this was to be put on sale on a rack. The good points to this magazine was i made the images look like they were in a scrap book, this suits the christmas film as scap books and christmas are connotated with family.

3rd Idea

This is the final design which i found suitable to fit the needs. It uses the cross ribbon effect but i made the ribbon it self narrower. The images are still made to look like a scrap book because of the connotations. It also uses a bright green banner at the bottom to stand out against the rest of the cover, the banner will just say, 'Christmas Edition'.

Final Idea, Mac Edition

This is the final idea for my school magazine. This image was generated using the 'Pages' programme on the Mac software.

Comments On My Final Design In My Chosen Colour

I think that the orange worked better with this certain design because its most most standing out and during my research i cound'nt find another orange magazine which could make my design stand out.

FRONT COVER:

I used a big and clear masthead which would be easy to recognise, Instead of having a huge banner right down the left hand side of the cover i chose to design a shorter one with a brief description of the current issue of 'Music'. Across the bottom of this cover i have a narrow banner with text saying a short description of a competition, usually in one word. I would put a small image with perhaps the prize for the competition. All the ogange space in the main part of the page there would be an image with the band featured and the new album cover.

DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD:

There is going to be a main header at the top of the page saying 'New Album Release' in a orange text contrasting against a white background. I would put a picture in one of the corners, the image would also be on a tilt to make it seem less corporate as music is more of pleasure than a buisness. A image of the band itself with a brief section quoting what the band members have to say about the new album. I will refer back to the competion with a question about the band or the new album.

CONTENTS:

This will have a simular style to the front cover with a main image instead of a blank page, The image will be in a low contrast so that the text can be read easily with the number page. Perhaps a small image of the prize again, the same kind of thing as the front cover.

Final Design In Chosen Colour, Orange. (Contents)

Final Design In Chosen Colour, Orange. (Double Page Spread)

Final Design In Chosen Colour, Orange. (Front Cover)

Final Design (Green)

Final Design (Blue)

Final Design (Red)

Flat Plan For 'Music' Magazine

On the second plan i dialed down on the vibrant colour scheme and expermented with moving certain aspects of the front cover, double page spread and contents page. The first alteration to the front cover was sticking to using a house style of just two colours, red and yellow. However i did use an orange to make the banner stand out across the bottom. The good points about this version of 'Music' was on the double page spread where i changed to using an interviewinstead of tour dates for a band. The bad points to this is the contents page where it looks very unprofesional.

Flat Plans For 'Music' Magazine

FIRST IDEA

This was my initial idea plan for my magazine, i chose to develop this plan due to its flaws. An example of these flaws would be that when i researched different magazines i found that this particular idea used too many bright colours. Some of the good points were the side banner which would include information about this issue.

5 Things Reated To The AS Course

Media Studies: AS & A2

1. Representation

Media can represent…
· Age
· Gender
· Race
· Disability
· Socio-economic Status
· Nationality
· Sexuality

Questions you might ask…
Who or what is being represented?
Is this a positive or a negative representation?
How is it being established? (visually, aurally, juxaposition against mise en scene, use of camera…)
How does this representation telate to the target audience?
What ideologies are suggested by this representation?
Is it a stereotypical representation?
Is it a fair and/or accurate representation?
Are the representations conventional or subversive?
Are there representations which you would have expected to see which are not used in the text?

2. Mise-en-scene

Setting:
· Is the sequence set on location or is it filmed in a studio?
· How is the colour being used to convey meaning?
· What props that are used on the setting have symbolic importance? (Red buses of London)
Lighting:
What is shown in light or shadow?
Is the lighting harsh or soft?
Is it natural lighting or are special effects being used? (Diegetic or Non-diegetic)
What is lighting being used to emphasise?

3. Magazine Codes And Conventions

· An advice colomn.
· A contents page.
· A letters page.
· Some form of make-over article.
· Competitions.
· An ‘in the next issue’ page.
· Price, bar code and issue number, date.
· A recognisable masthead.

4. Audience

How to describe the target audience?
· Is the text made for children or for retired people?
· Is it for a norrow audience or a broad audience?
· Is it a male or female audience?
· Is itfor a particular type of audience such as aspirers or homemakers?

5. Soap Operas

Codes And Conventions:
· They have a serial narrative told through a series of episodes.
· The narrative progresses between episiodes.
· There is a cliffhanger at the end of each episode, to hook audience into watching again.
· Characters change and develop over time in a soap opera.
· The audience Usually Identifies with particular characters and follows their progressin over time.

Industry: Magazines

Webpage: www.whitelines.com

Whitelines magazine's housestyle consist of full page pictures with the text in contrast with the image, for example, it may be a black and white picture so the sky would be black, then Whitelines uses a white font and puts it on the black sky which really makes a difference in making it clearer and alot easier to read.

The advertisements usually have a picture of the product eg. showing the board up-right with both the top and bottom of the board showing and in the background there might be a background picture with a profesional rider doing a complicated trick to maybe enhance the boards reputation. In the way that if people see well known riders useing the product they want to buy it because they feel it makes them look better. Then in the bottom of the page is a white boz with the products name, price and specs.

This is a pretty standard way of advertising used for all kinds of products because when brands use celebrities to endorse items the reader or buyer thinks that if the most popular people in the world are using this product then i want to aswell.

Whitelines target their magazine at people intrested in snowboarding ranging between the ages 15-40 as they have posts from the readers around those ages telling the magazine about a past experience or recomending resorts or products. The main audience are probabably quite relaxed about most things and alot of the people who read Whitelines actually work in snowboard shops in the UK as its a UK based magazine, however some of the older readers work as docters ect...

The magazine influences readers to get out there and try all these different tricks, boards, bindings and even hats and near the back of the magazine is purely business advertisment page where different sites and shops put their web address , name, products and offers as this draws the reader in.

Whitelines introduction

Whitelines snowboarding magazine is used to promote worldwide events such as the Burton European Open and the FIS Big Air World Champion 2009, then the exclusive producer, Ed Bloomfield comintates and debates the competition. The magazine is also used by many different shops and websites to advertise their stock and Whitelines also produces ratings and reviews on the new boards and systems like the new Reverse Camber and the new Rocker system.

Audience:
The audience for Whitelines magazine is snowboarders worldwide who are intrested in going to all the hottest events like the Burton European Open to see their idols like Shaun White and Kevin Peirce. The age range is about 15-30 as the language used can be quite strong.

Demographics:
The exclusive producer of Whitelines is a rider who could'nt make it as a professional rider but he stil wanted a career in the industry so he used his intrest in snowboarding and journalism to follow his sport and also trial some of the best resorts in the world.

Genre:
Whitelines is a extreme sports magazine used to promote big snowboarding events and also snowboarding equipment and clothing.