Front cover school magazine

School prospectus images

I have selected these images because it has gave me more possible ideas i will use in the making of the main image for my school magazine. The ideas i have taken away from this collage is different type of angles i can use, for example the top left image is looking directly at the girl however the bottom left image is from the side giving the image a greater sense on depth.

PB magazine front cover mock ups

Above are my three mock up front covers for my school magazine. Before I created them I wanted the mock ups to be different so I can have a great greater variety of front covers I can choose to work around to make my final front cover.

For my top left design I have tried to incorporate a leading story out of my magazine as my main image, the main image I have used is the design piece of the school build. Even though other magazines do this, it didn’t work for my design as it does not look professional because firstly the image is not the same size as my page so I had to use a black text box to cover the remaining space. Secondly, as the image is made from a computer it does not fit the ideal image of what I want my magazine to represent. The image makes the magazine seem as if it took a short amount of time to make, however I want readers to look at my magazine too think that I have put a great deal of time and effort in my magazine. The left and right design on the top line, I have used the same masthead as I believe the custom font "drift type" has lots of potential so I want to see how it looked with two different backgrounds. I have also used the same colours on these the same font as I believe they are the best colours that represent the school as well as standing out on the page. The colours that I have used vary as the colours range from; red to black to white. The reason why I have used contrasting colours is to make the page stand out more if it was put text to another school magazine, for example I have put a red font on a black background so that the reader does not miss any text on the page and is also eye catching to the reader.

My top right design is like my top left design as it looks unprofessional to the reader, this like my first design is mainly down to my main image. The main image I have used is the Headteacher of Plantsbrook school, I have done this to show the importance of Mrs Campbell to the school as she is the main image of the front cover which is the first thing everyone sees. Also, as she is a well-known face to Plantsbrook School everyone that looks at the front cover will straight away know who it is, the main image should do this because it will interact with the reader instantly. Like my first design, I didn’t take the photo in the first place, the image is not tailor fit for the front cover, I learnt from my first design that if I used a bold colour to fill the rest of the page it will overpower other parts of the page therefore spoiling it for the reader. So this time I used the colour white as it is not as vibrant so therefore wouldn`t take the focus away from the main image. I used the colour red for my text colour because it fits with the colour scheme I am trying to use which is; red, white and black. All of these colours are the school colours so by using these it fits the branding of the school.

My last design, I think is my best design because it is the design that I have used more research to help me make this design. Firstly, from my research and from the advice I got from my other two mock ups is that the main image is arguably the most important thing on the page as it is the best way of attracting customers to buy this magazine. So from the feed back that I received I decided I needed to use one of my own images. The image I have taken fits the page perfectly so is more professional than the other two designs, which do not. The shot that I took is a side angle two shot of sixth for students that attend Plantsbrook School.  In this design I have used a starburst where I ask a question on if they shop wear school uniform, I have used a boarder to show importance to the reader which makes it stand out on the page. I have used a question so that the page will interact with the reader and therefore make the reader more interested in the magazine.

Overall, I will use the last design so that I can build on the design to create my final front cover. I will change the main image so that the text will be more notice able. 

Possible visual front covers

These are the front cover visual layout mock ups I have come up with. All of these visual layouts have the masthead in the same position on the page, the reason I have followed the normal conventions of a magazine is because this is the first place readers automatically looks at and therefore can instantly know what the magazine name is called. Also, every visual layout has a starburst on it, the main reason why I want to have this on my final front cover is because it draws the readers eye and could help sell the magazine because I will put an interesting topic in it. Another thing that i have incorporated into the visual layouts are boarders which i hve put around the masthead and banners. The reason why i have done this is because from my research it worked well for magazines as it separated text from the main image so the reader does not miss any text. My favourite layout that i will use in my final front cover is the top right front cover because it will look professional as everything has a section on the page and it has a very simple layout so the reader exactly know where to move their eye next because aspects of the magazine like; mastheads, banners, starbursts and strap lines flow onto each other.

Masthead Fonts and possible magazine names

The possible magazine names I have come up with are; PB, Plantbrook, PB magazine and PB News. All of those names evolve around Plantbrook school as the whole magazine is about the school. The magazine name that I think would link to Plantsbrook aswell as being catchy to the reader is PB News as it is not as long winded compared to other magazine names like PB Magazine but is also informative because it tells the reader that the magazine is going to be informative because it has news in the name.

All of the font that I have used are unique as they are custom fonts that have been made by DaFont.com. Some fonts like Agent Orange are bold therefore catching the readers eyes but some give a school like feel to the magazine like Armagedon which looks like it is hand written. The font that I like the most is Agent Orange because it is the font that stands out the most and that's what you want on a magazine as it catches the readers eye and gives the magazine a better chance of being sold.

School magazine mood board

This mood board contains possible ideas of what the school magazine might contain. This mood board contains things that school pupils may have interests in. By including things like football or games such as fifa it will entice more people to read the magazine. Also, this mood board contains colours such as red which follows the school branding.

School magazine content ideas

1- Year 11 top tips
2- New school building update
3- Gcse results
4- Extra-curricular activities
5- Teacher of the week
6- Number of green cards
7- Lost property
8- Recommended movies
9- School awards
10- Quiz

Masthead Analysis

This masthead is very big as it covers the whole of the top line, on the front cover, this is very common in music magazines. The masthead changes colour every time; this is because the colours as meant to represent the tone of the stories covered in the magazine. On this masthead the colours used are white on a black back ground. The colour white represents purity and new beginnings, on the other hand black represents drama and strong emotion. This may suggest that the magazine has true stories that may be very thought provoking. The font used is very strong and powerful which comes mainly from the text being all in capital letters. As a result of this and the masthead being very big, leads to the idea of everything on that page is very important.       

This masthead is simple as it has a basic colour scheme. The colours used are red and white which makes the Q stand out to the potential buyer. The colour red represents fire and love, however white represents purity and new beginnings. You instantly know the magazine from this masthead as every magazine made by Q has always got this masthead and is always at the top left of the front cover. This masthead is strong and clear as it is just one letter. This the adds to other magazine techniques on the Q magazine front cover to suggest that the magazine is targeted at a mature young person because the masthead is only one letter so would be easier to remember than other music magazines like, Kerrang.  

Front Cover Magazine Analysis

Why I chose Media Studies

Media Studies

Why I chose media

I currently intend to go to university and hopefully by doing well in media studies, I will receive more UCAS points that will give me an advantage over other candidates that also want to go university. Therefore, giving me more of a chance of going to university and university of choice. Also, I am hoping that by developing more skills that you cannot develop in my other subjects. I will be able to more confidence in myself which will benefit me even after university.

I chose media studies because it is a strong passion of mine and would like to develop more skills so one day I will have more confidence in using different kinds of media platforms, such as, Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram. Another skill that I would like to take out of this course is to evaluate different types of media, such as, films, music and magazines. By developing this skill, I would like to see why this type of media was produced and the effect of it. Social media is used a lot these days. I tend to contact my friends this way so this will be interesting to learn more about the technology used.

                                                                                 

The Internet allows you to access to more or less anything, for shopping, general information and research which can be used like encyclopaedia.

I currently have an interest in YouTube which is a type of media platform. This type of media involves YouTubers creating short videos that is uploaded to YouTube. I have an interest in YouTube because it entertains me as well as giving me valuable information. The skills I can take off this course will be vital as it can introduce camera work to me, which I have very little knowledge in. By doing this it might give me an inspiration to one-day start uploading short videos on to YouTube.

On a day to day basis I have a big interaction with media through different types of media. The first type of media I first encounter is radio. This is very instant, current, informative and entertaining. We always have the radio on in the house and on in the car, so by learning more about radio would be very interesting.

Films are my favourite type of media and I will be looking to hopefully at the end of the course to look at the purpose of the film and see what skills are needed behind the scenes in order to produce a film. For example, camera work and editing.

Magazines / Newspapers I will be able to assess the purpose of the magazine or newspaper to look at the different types of themes and colours are used to create different effects on the readers, probably up until now I have never really thought much about what happens to go into publication.