Evaluation

For the preliminary task, the brief was to produce the front cover and a mock-up of the contents page for a college magazine.

To start with, I decided to research existing college magazines to see which key ingredients of a normal magazine were included. As a result, I found that all of the college magazines I researched all had similar features, such as a masthead, a strong central image and various sell lines.

After this, I made a plan of the features on a magazine front cover and then added details of my own, such as how I wanted the image to look and the sell lines to go on the front cover.

Next, I did an IT draft to see how the layout of the front cover would look.

Then I did a hand drawn draft so that I could add details such as the masthead and the issue of the magazine.

After this, instead of constructing the front cover, I decided to research the contents pages of popular magazines. Of the three I researched (Total Film, Vogue and MOJO), two of them had a contents page that went over two pages. All three had the contents listings as well as images relating to various stories on them.

Next, I produced a mock-up of the contents page on Publisher. On this, I decided to have two images as well as the details of the next issue, the contents listings and an image of the front cover. I thought this would be the most suitable for a magazine as there was a balance between images and words.

Following this, I organised the shoot for my cover photos. I wanted a blank background and for my model to be holding textbooks and folders as this is what a typical student would be carrying.

After taking the photos, I started to compile the front cover of my college magazine. I added most of the key ingredients such as the masthead, date, website address and the main image. I chose the colour scheme as purple and white are unisex colours and enhance the Wyke theme. I also incorporated the Wyke slogan ‘Freedom to achieve’ in as a cover line. Also, the two other cover lines about the fresher party and NUS extra cards as I thought these would be relevant to Wyke students and would draw their attention.

I think that the planning went well as I made sure I did a lot of research before starting the task to get a better understanding of magazine front covers, especially those for college students.

However, I could have managed my time better by starting the project earlier rather than leaving it to do at a later date.

To improve for the music magazine task, I will makes sure that I plan my time better to enable me to have enough time to produce the articles but I will spend a bit more time planning as this will help me to produce a better piece.

I think my front cover does cater for my target audience of college students as they will be able to relate to the main image and cover lines.

Unused Photos

Front Cover

Contents Mock-Up

Planning For Contents

I researched the contents pages of 3 different magazines to get a general idea of what contents pages are like in other magazines.

Draft Front Cover

Planning

The best way for me to plan this project was to draw a spider diagram of all the key ingredients that are usually on the front cover of any magazine then to specify them to my college magazine.

IT Draft

College Magazines

In this college magazine, the masthead is in the top right hand corner (ear) as this would be the first thing you would see if the magazine was on a magazine stand. The image is the campus and is sunny as it is the summer edition. The main coverline 'Athletics Score for University Growth' is to promote to potential students who may find the magazine to tempt them to join the college.

The masthead is simply just the name of the college. The font is a fairly posh font which shows that it is a prestigious place of learning. The main image of the fountain shows that the campus is a place of peace and serenity. It also shows that this is the first thing that you would see when you entered the college. The main coverline 'A Grand Entrance' is the caption that goes with the picture and enhances it too. There are also a couple of smaller coverlines at the bottom to show the less important features in the magazine. This magazine doesn't have a selling line as it will only be available to people who go to that college and they will read it to know about upcoming events happening and the latest articles about the college.

Research on College Magazines

This has all the ingredients of a magazine. Firstly, the masthead 'back to school' tells the reader what the magazine is all about. The main image of the girl is meant to show a typical girl on her first day back at school. This shows that the girl is eager to get to school because she is smiling. In the bottom left corner, it shows that it is the 2009 edition but this isn't really important. This magazine uses lots of cover lines in lots of colours to stand out.

This also has most of the ingredients of a magazine. The masthead is simply the name of the college and is prsented in a posh font. The main image of the fountain signifies peace which could also be a sign of the college. This advert uses only one main coverline 'A Grand Entrance' which represents the image. This will probably be the first thing you see as you enter this college. Instead of coverlines all over the front cover, they are shown at the bottom as if they aren't as important as the main cover line. However, I don't think that this is the best example of a college magazine as it doesn't seem to be targeted at students due to the image.