Preliminary Task:Evaluation

Preliminary Task:Evaluation October 26

I learned through the process of making my school magazine, how to construct a magazine cover and contents page using the codes and conventions expected of magazines. 

I also learned how to work the basics of PhotoShop as it was my first time using it, I had a lot to learn about it. I learned how to adjust the hue of images on both PhotoShop and iPhoto to suit the colour scheme which was black, purple, red and gold.

Front Cover:

Baring in mind the common qualities of a magazine cover I used a medium close-up shot image as my main image with the right eye of the model on the vertical axis of the second third, this creates interest in the image. As my model I chose a girl who goes to the sixth form, this makes the image relevant to the magazine and it also makes it personal to the school. As the theme of this issue is winter I had the model where a warm jumper and a snood to reflect this onto the reader. I also took into consideration the mise-en-scene and had her holding berries and small bits of bush to symbolise Christmas and the 'holly and the ivy'. As there was a lot of sunshine on the day of the photo shoot I added an icy filter onto of the image to give a colder setting and I also altered the hue and contrast of the berries to really make the colour stand out.
I added a mast head at the top of the cover and made the model's head overlap it to show her importance. I also inserted a cantered banner headline with a cantered strap line just above it. I felt this gave the cover a slight edginess about it.



At the bottom of the page I placed a menu strip to give the reader a brief overview of what will feature in the magazine.
Next to it, in the bottom right hand corner I added a barcode so that the magazine can be electronically monitored. Finally I placed two puffs diagonally either side of the banner headline, this gives the cover a certain balance. I based the puffs on popular TV programmes which I know would attract people between the ages of 16-18.




Contents Page:


After producing my front cover I began to feel a little more comfortable in using Photoshop and I felt I could be a little more experimental. So as I was planning it out I felt confidant in going for a standard but not so common layout for my contents page.


I liked the idea of having several images in a 'blind' layout with the images being various widths to give it a quirkiness and each image would represent a featured article in my magazine. I did this by 'placing' images and then 'transforming' them to the height and width I wanted. Below this I wanted the mast head and the contents title, right in the centre of the page to really home in the branding of the magazine to the reader.






Then I felt I should stick to the vertical theme of the rest of the page and sketched out three columns onto my plan, however, in practice this didn't work out as the size of the writing would've had to have been tiny and unreadable, so I made it two columns instead.


I also added a horizontal montage strip just below the mast head. It consist of a range of shots. One of the images I placed in the montage was an image of my front cover, this is to show continuity of design.


To reference pages I added stencil font page numbers of different sizes, the larger ones being the ones mentioned on the cover. I also placed mini '4s' in the same font as the mast head to give references to the reader of what was also mentioned on the cover. This also creates a brand and a logo. 

Preliminary Task:Final Product