Preliminary task - School Magazine evaluation

This is the first draft of my original magazine front cover for the preliminary task. The draft for the front cover was the first thing I did for the magazine task as it allowed me the basic guidelines of my actual magazine. Like most magazines, I decided the mast head was most important and would be the biggest written text on the front cover, (big and bold to attract the audience.) But also the main image will take up the background of the magazine making it more attractive and noticeable to the students.  The tag line at the bottom of the page will draw the consumers into reading the lead article of the magazine. Also, like other magazines I used the rule of ‘left third’ as if the magazine was on a shelf the main bits of the article would be seen by the purchaser. 

Here is my actual magazine front cover as you can see I stuck to my design in order to make the magazine attractive. I also used the same colour scheme of Idsall sixth form using the specific colour from the sign 'Idsall sixth form.' 
The main image, I took myself, portrays happiness in sixth form and makes the magazine look fun and exciting which attracts the readers. The models I used were a two students who have different appearances - also they both represent different ethnicitys in the sixth form. Th picture is posed around the sign of Idsall sixth form so the focus in only on the sign and the students. I think that the tag line works effectively as grabs the readers attention and they want to read more about the story. Also the short coverlines give the reader a sneaky preview of what inside the magazine and what it has to offer. 

When creating the front cover of my magazine I used Microsoft Word Publisher which allowed me make the layout of the front cover the way I wanted by creating different heading of text.    I continued the colour scheme of Idsall sixth form through to the contents page and would carry it throughout the magazine as it is effective in representing the school sixth form.

 The font I have used for the whole magazine front cover is Ariel in various different sizes. However, I feel this font is too formal and boring; therefore, next time I would choose a font that stood out to the audience and made an impact.

Admittedly, I did not plan the contents page as I felt that I already knew every magazine had a basic layout, not just specific to school magazines.   I also included an editor’s note which to me made the magazine seem more personal to me as I am connecting with the audience and telling them what I have included in the magazine and why. On the right hand side I have included a list of pages and page numbers to allow the readers to quickly flick to what they want to read about. The pictures included on the left hand side reflect the articles and make the magazine more appealing to read and further their understanding of the articles. I also included music articles as I thought that many young people are interested in reading about new music and this will attract a wider target audience.

The hardest thing about producing the contents page was that I found it to have a lot of gaps in between pictures which make it appear quite plain and boring, next time I will include pictures that overlap showing there are many stories not just 3.

By doing this preliminary task, I am more confident with producing my actual coursework task as the research had helped me gain better experience of what I need to do better and what I’ve done well. I think the colour scheme worked extremely well and they had relevancy to Idsall Sixth Form and I would consider keeping those colours for my final piece. Also, all the images I used were taken by me because I felt they were relevant to the issue. However, next time I do the task I would think about changing the font making it more fun for the younger target audience to read about the highlights of sixth form.