Looking at Contents Pages;

Looking at contents pages

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Final main image choice;

This is my final main image choice for my magazine.
I really like this photo as it shows the fun side of college. You are immediately drawn to the smiling faces of Zofia and Bekah jumping in the air with smiling faces. Also the background of green scenery and the warm autumn colours give the magazine a warm and appealing feel.

Gender Representation.

In this picture you can see two very simple drawings of two people. You immediately think that the character on the left is male while the one on the right is female.
This is because the left person has slightly shorter hair, while the right has long. You see the longer hair and think female straight away despite there only being 6 lines and a different t-shirt that differ the two drawings. Also, not all females have short hair and some boys have longer however, as we've seen this so much in media of women having long hair while boys have very short hair.

As you can see in the picture above with the lines removed the two pictures look almost exactly the same and like two male figures.

Magazine Advertising

Advertising

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Planning my Contents Page.

This is a basic mock up of what my contents page will look like. I made this on publisher however for my real contents page I will use another magazine publishing programme such as Quark. I looked at other magazine's such as More!, Look and NME. This is a combination of all of the best bit's of these magazines but with slight twists on how they are set out.

Preliminary task- Mock up 1

This is my first mock up of my College Magazine for my Preliminary task. 

Good points:

• The magazine stands out and catches your eye. It doesn't look dull or boring. 
• The picture is very bright and attracting and the title is bold and recognisable.
• The coverlines are all in the same layout, point size, font and colour which makes these more recognisable.
• The headline and strap line are easily recognisable and your eye is drawn to the bigger font.

Bad points:

• The magazine looks quite busy and messy which could put people off.
• The title in white blends in with the background in some points and doesn't stand out as much as i'd like.
• In some area's the font blends in with the background making it hard to read which should be corrected.
• The headline blends in with the background a little bit which makes it harder to read.
• The main picture takes a lot of attention away from the headline and main components which are meant to get people interested.

Conclusion:

For my first attempt at a front cover for my College magazine I think it went well. However there are several things I would change. Firstly I think I would use a different picture for the main picture. The new picture must have a more plain background so my text will stand out clearly. I also think on my next attempt I will use different font as this font is quite boring, even if clear and I don't think it will appeal to teenagers or young adults. I will also change my text colour depending on what background I use for my magazine main image. I think this text will have to stand out well against this background so it's easy to read. Finally I think that I would move my coverlines around so they are more spread out on the page, or if the background is plain add in more coverlines to make the front cover look more interesting as long as it's not too overcrowed.

I think this attempt worked well and will look good with the changes I will make. 

Editing a photo.

Above is my original image i've decided to use for my first mock up of my college magazine. I decided to edit this photo to make it less dull and to crop it so there was not so much background. Firstly I cropped out most of the background leaving just the two subjects and the bags and bench so it still relates to college. This made the picture a lot less busy and much easier to look at.

 Next I edited the brightness and contrast of the photo to make it less dull and more eye catching. My final edited picture is below.

Main image.

 This is my first attempt at my main cover photo. I decided to have 2 people jumping off a bench in the park near college. This would show the fun, recreational side of college which is what my magazine is aimed at. However, we encountered a few problems when trying to take this. Firstly it was really hard to get a shot which was not blurry in some way. I solved this by changing the setting on my camera to sport which gave a clearer shot. Secondly we got no pictures where both subjects were looking directly at the camera which I saw as a main part of connecting with the audience. The good thing about this photo is that both subjects are off the floor and in the centre of the frame and has the look of jumping I was trying to get. I may try and take this photo again as I think if both the subjects look up this will be a very good shot for my front cover.

 This was my second attempt at taking a shot of two people jumping. In this shot Zofia (on the left hand side) is looking up and smiling in the way i'd like my photo too have. She is also looking straight at the camera. However I am looking down and not smiling. We are also half way through jumping in this shot so our legs are straighter and our arms are banging into each other. If I could take a shot where both of us are looking at the camera and smiling this would be the right shot for my font cover.

 This shot is again taken in the park and we are facing straight at the camera. This is more of a relaxed shot with both subjects smiling at the camera and giving eye contact. The only problem with this shot is that it needs cropping because at the moment the background it very busy. This photo is a definate contender for my font cover and if I do not succeeded in taking a better jumping shot. This would also give a fun image of college as both subjects are smiling. 

 The forth shot is of two people working outside at college. This shows the more acedemic side of college. I took this photo from above which gives a different angle to the shot. However neither person is looking at the camera or smiling which may give a dull image. The background is also very plain and grey which would make my magazine look boring. I don't think this image is suitable for my front cover because my magazine is about the fun side of college.

The last shot is of one person studying in a park. I tried this shot to see whether I could mix Academics and work in the same shot. The subject is smiling however not looking directly at the camera. If I was too use this picture for my main shot i'd have to crop it to make the background less busy. I don't really think this shot is suitable because it's too busy and messy and there's no eye contact.

Magazine Mock Up

This is my magazine mock up showing the conventions of a basic magazine. 

Magazine Conventions cont.

This is a mock up of a basic magazine front cover. It includes all the standard conventions of most magazine covers- the masthead, main image, headline, strapline, serveral cover lines and a barcode with the price, issue number. It also features a puff. This is like the caption of the magazine saying something like 'The world's number one magazine'.

The masthead would be at the top of the magazine in a large font which would be the same point size and font on every issue of the magazine. The puff would be underneath to the left of the masthead, slightly smaller but again would be the same on every issue.

Then the main image would cover the whole of the background of the magazine and would be of a celebrity or something featured in the magazine.

The headline will be near the centre of the magazine, although this could change depending on what the main picture is like. It would be slightly smaller than the headline, however larger than the other coverlines. It would also be bolder. The strapline will be directly underneath this, in slightly smaller point size, however in the same font so you know the two are related.

Finally the cover lines would be spread over the magazine appropriately according to the main picture and headline. These may be in different colours however would be in the same font and point size.

Magazine Cover Conventions

Masthead: Name of the magazine. On NME magazine, the name is clearly at the top in bold writing. It is very recognisable as NME is always written in red, in the top left hand corner using the same point size and font. 


Puff: The line describing the magazine, usually underneath the Masthead. The Puff under NME is 'New Music Express' which is what NME stands for. This is again always under the title in the same place and again, very recognisable.


Coverlines: These are the best stories from inside the magazine. They are featured on the front cover to try and draw the reader in. NME uses a lot of Coverlines on there magazine. All of these coverlines feature the bands name, and they are from a diverse range of bands to get everyone interested. These may also be exaggerated slightly to get the reader interested. 


Headline: This is the main story featured on the front cover. On NME the main headline is just the bands name 'The Wombats'. This will stand out and be noticed by anyone who knows or likes the band therefore getting these fans interested in what the article is about.


Strapline: More information on the Headline. Usually a sentence underneath. NME has it's strapline underneath in slightly smaller writing, however in the same colour and font so you know the headline is related to it. It also gives a bit more information which draws the readers in even more. 


Main Image: Usually background of magazine, featuring picture of a celebrity related to the headline. NME's picture is of the band 'The Wombats' of which the headline is of. This will again catch the readers attention and draw you in. The band is also in a position which makes the main band member at the front.


Eyeline: NME's eyeline for two of the band members is focused forward as if the band is looking straight onto you. The third member is looking slightly away from the camera in a more laid back attitude which goes with the laid back stance of the magazine itself.


Date, Issue number and Barcode: These are generally information the buyer and seller need to know. The barcode is individual to every issue where as the date and issue number tell you how old the magazine is.

Magazine:

In our first Media lesson, we looked at the conventions of a magazine. We looked at many magazine covers and saw that most have the same components with very small differences.
For example, most magazines have the Masthead at the top of the magazine and a date, price and issue number underneath this. They all also have barcodes, unless they were a newspaper magazine. Underneath the masthead there is usually a large key image of something appropriate to the main magazine story and grabs the readers eye. Most also only have one main picture and very few had more than one picture crowding the front page. Somewhere around this image will be the strapline that relates to it and cover lines to get the reader interested generally spread around the front cover. Most also have a bright colour design to catch the readers attention.