EVALUATION

       I would agree that both of my products follows the real conventions of a magazine. This is important so the customers recognize the product which makes it look professional and realistic fulfilling its purpose. For my magazine cover, I have followed the standard conventions such as the masthead positioned at the top of the page supporting the Z theory. Other conventions I included were cover lines which attracts the reader to read the contents of the magazine which also anchors  the text to the main image. The issue number and date to inform the reader when the magazine was published, a puff to advertise a competition inside the magazine engaging and exciting the reader, subheading to help summarie the theme of the magazine which was back to school. I have also included more conventions which I have listed in a previous blog post. However I did challenge my plan and the conventions as I did not include a barcode on my front cover. This is because I found it was unnecessary to include a barcode as the magazine was going to be distrusted within the school which does not have an electronic scanner. Instead the magazine will be distributed upon payment which is easier than selling a magazine costing 20p electronically.

      My media product represents a wide variety of social groups.  A range of social groups attend Chislehurst school therefore I wanted my magazine to reflect all of them so everyone feels equally included. I included three different girls from three different backgrounds which I hope will be presented clearly on my product. Because I want to attract everyone I included a variety of articles which would appeal to different people. On the other hand my main target audience was mainly those of a working class seeing as the school is a state school. This is important as the parents are also my target audience who mostly have full time jobs.

      Because my product is only a school magazine it means it will not distributed on large scale, only within the school. The magazine will only be created by the students and teachers of the school meaning it will not be fully professional as it is made by unskilled persons. This means a large publishing house is not required to print the magazines as they are only being sold to the students and parents whom of which will not all purchase the product.

      The main targets of my products are the current students and their parents, potential students and their parents. The current students would be very interested in the school magazine as it advertises things that would interest or involve them including school trips, advice, year group and form of the term and much more. Especially for this particular issue the students would want to gain advice about how to settle back into school which would be particular helpful for new pupils. Their parents would also want to know about the latest news and progress the school is making. The magazine is great way to promote the success and achievements of the school to potential parents which would hopefully impress them and want them to send their child to the school. Potential students could also get a feel of their new school as see what exciting things it has to offer.

       In order to draw my audience’s attention inwards I needed to address them. I used words like ‘EXCLUSIVE’ which immediately intrigues the reader making the magazine more special and exciting. I included a competition where the text was written inside of a brightly coloured star representing the amazing prize at stake. I put the word ‘iPod’ in a larger font size to emphasize the prize making it stand out against the rest of the text – this applies to all of the other enlarged words.  I positioned both mastheads on both products at the top of each page boldly in the centro coloured vividly. I also followed a specific colour scheme which were the same colours as the school's logo so my magazine could evidently connect to the school. All these conventions and more are important to inform the reader what type of magazine it is.

     By making this media product I have learnt about technologies from the processes of constructing a magazine. Before making this product I had little knowledge about InDesign and only some knowledge about Photoshop. I now know how to use a range of tools on both software’s effectively and how to apply to them to the assembling of a magazine. I created the front cover on Photoshop as this software allowed me to easily insert and edit photographs as well as use a range of fonts of different sizes. In InDesign I created my contents page where I could re-size/crop images, add text, easily colour text and images as well as putting all the conventions in an organised manor. I now know how to apply the conventions of a magazine successfully and how to make the overall look of the product look professional. I can now appreciate the amount of detail and effort put into making a magazine and why certain conventions are used. I have learnt a range of skills which I will be able to apply to my music magazine efficiently.

      Overall I am pleased with the overall look of both of my media products. I think my front cover looks realistic as I have used each convention to their correct purposes. However if I were to do re-do it I would include more cover lines around the main image as there are some sparse spaces on the cover. Nevertheless I am also happy with my contents page as I have successfully filled the page with 50% images and 50% text. I am pleased with the layout of the page as I think it looks relatively smart and organised making it clear to read and easy for the reader to find the article they want. On the other hand to improve it I would make ensure I included all the colours that were apart of my colour scheme as I did not use much yellow or black as much as I could had.

FINISHED CONTENTS PAGE

FINISHED FRONT COVER

FONTS AND FEEDBACK

Masthead

I was unsure of what style of font to use for my masthead on my front cover and contents page. I wanted to know what the general public thought and to gain some feedback. To do this, I uploaded a image to Twitter asking anyone to leave a comment of what style of font was their favourite. I gave a choice of three similar styles of which were all found from www.dafont.com. I chose to gain feedback from Twitter in particular as many of my followers are the same age as my target audience. All three are serif fonts which is what I want my masthead to be. This is because serif fonts are more interesting and appealing for the reader. I also think serif font look more professional and stylish meaning the overall look of the magazine will be more sophisticated.

 

 

The feedback I received told me that I should use the first font style to be the masthead. I found this feedback very useful as it helped to gain ideas on what  the public want from my magazine.

The chosen font was called 'Mary Jane' from www.dafont.com. I will use this font for the masthead of front cover and contents page.

General Text

For my general text around the main image on my front cover I will used the font called 'Iskoola Pota' on Photoshop. I like this font because it is stylish, modern and easy to read.

 

Header/Tag Line

Inserted below is the font I have chosen for my header/tag line. I wanted to pick a font that related back to the back to school theme. Therefore I chose a classic American 'old school' font which is recognisable.

 



PHOTOGRAPH PERMISSION

Because I have used young models to be on my front cover and contents page I needed their permission to say if I was allowed to publish the photographs of them. These photographs would also be on the internet meaning anyone anywhere could see them. This meant the models needed to feel comfortable and happy with me doing this. To show I have their permission I asked each model to sign their name conforming they were happy with me putting the photographs on this blog.

CHOSEN PHOTOGRAPHS

Below I have inserted the photographs I want to appear on either my magazine front cover or contents page. I have chosen these particular photographs for many different reasons. These inlcude liking the composition of the models, capturing their facial expressions/body language correctly and more.

Front Cover

Contents Page

I will be editing each photograph by using a range of tools on Photoshop. I will crop each photograph to either turn the portrait images to landscape or so the models fill the entire frame. I will also adjust the exposure settings so that there is the correct amount of lighting.

CONVENTIONS I HAVE USED

Below I have listed the conventions I have featured in my magazine cover and contents page. I have also explained why I  used these particular conventions and I how I will interpret them into my own work.
I have chosen to use these particular conventions as they are commonly found on a school magazine. This will make my magazine easily recognizable and people will automatically know that the product is.

The Conventions Used On My Front Cover And Contents Page...

• Masthead - The masthead positioned at the top of the page basically summarizes what the magazine is about. 'Chislehurst Times' shows that the magazine is based or by 'Chislehurst School for Girls'. 'Times' is a reference and similar to the famous British newspaper 'The Times' showing that the magazine will contain news content. The masthead on the contents page will simply read 'contents page' which is simple and straight to the point.
• Strapline/Subheading/Tag Line - I have included a subheading underneath the masthead on my cover which will explain the theme of the magazine. This will include something like 'back to school edition!' so the reader already knows what the magazine will be about.
• Cover Lines -  The cover lines positioned around the main image on the cover will advertise some of the articles that can be found inside the magazine. This will help the reader decide if the articles interest them, e.g 'fantastic new school trip' or 'how to get straight A's'.
• Puff/Competition - I have featured a competition on my cover to engage the reader and give them an activity to do inside. This should hopefully make the reader excited at the chance of winning a fantastic prize.
• Images - I have used a wide variety of images of different sizes across my magazine cover and contents page. However on my cover I will only include one large image which will cover the entire background. In my contents page I will include four images. One image will be positioned larger than the rest making it the main image, this will be favorite photograph. The other three images will be of the same size and positioned on the right hand side next to the main body of text. I have used image as well as text otherwise boht products would look very dull and not interesting. The images also help to give the reader an insight into school life at Chislehurst especially if they are not a student.
• Barcode - The barcode on my cover will be positioned in the bottom right hand corner as this is of little importance. However I have still chosen to use it as it is a common feature of a magazine.
• Issue Number -  I have put the issue number on both of my products. The number is important so the reader can keep track of the number of magazine published.
• Date - I will include the date of when the magazine shall be published of a small size on both my cover and contents pages. This is so the reader knows how recent the magazine was published.
• Social Media Information - I will be putting the school's social media information on my contents page. I think this is a important convention as it is the easiest way for students to contact the school as most students use social media.
• Credits - I will put the credits at the bottom of my contents page. Here I will give credits to the photographer, author and designer of the magazine. This is important as it saves any copyright issues.
• Main Body Text - On the contents I shall be inserting a large text box which will list all the articles/features inside the magazine with the page number next to them. This is an essential feature of a contents page as the reader needs to be able to refer to the menu and easily find what article they want to read.

COLOUR

Throughout my magazine cover and contents page I will use a consistent colour scheme which will be apart of my house style. The colours will include blue, yellow and white which are the colours of the school's logo and uniform. This means my magazine will easily relate to the school and clearly represent it. The colour blue connotes confidence, relaxation and intelligence. This is a good message to put across to my target audience as they should reflect this or aspire to be like the colour. Yellow connotes happiness, energy and joy. This will make my magazine look bright and colourful which attract younger students to read the magazine. Lastly, white connotes purity, innocence and perfection. This colour will represent the students of the school who are young are pure.

I think my magazine will perfectly attract my target audience which is the school’s students, as I have used vivid colours instead of dull ones which will immediately attract their attention. By attracting the reader they will be more inclined to open and read the contents of the magazine. This could lead to the reader buying more issues of the magazine in the future, increasing sales.
A fluent colour scheme is important so that the colours do not clash and makes the theme obvious. It will also make the magazine look professional and sophisticated.

 

TYPOGRAPHY

What is it?

Typography is the style and appearance of printed matter. When designing a magazine cover and contents page the way the text is presented is very important. This is because the reader need to be able to read the text clearly. If the opposite of this happens then the reader will not be attracted to the page making them not want to buy the magazine. For a school magazine the typography needs to bright, clear and fun to engage a young audience.

Serif and Sans-Serif Fonts

For the masthead and possibly subheadings I will be using a serif font as these are more noticeable, interesting and detailed which will draw the readers attention to the text. The masthead is one of the most important conventions of a magazine therefore it needs to look striking and rememberable. The other text such as cover lines will be a sans-serif font meaning it will be plain and simple. This is so the audience's eyes are not drawn away from the main image. I also do not want the fonts to clash as this will downgrade the look of my product.

CONTENTS DRAFT

Inserted below is a plan of how I am going to organize my contents page. Again I have used the same colour scheme so that my magazine as a whole looks consistent and fluent throughout. Overall I think the layout of the page is organised as none of the segments overlap and the page does not look too overcrowded. I have made sure that the page will be 50% images and 50% text in order for it to be successful. The only thing I have not officially decided is the type of font and the size as it be. I will decide this later when I edit the magazine as it will depend how much available space is on the page. However I will probably chose a serif font for the masthead as I want the text to be interesting and eye-catching.

 

FRONT COVER DRAFT

After analysing two magazine covers and discovering the conventions of a magazine I was able to draw out my plan for my cover on Microsoft Word. When planning I wanted to follow the Z rule which is the fact that the reader reads from left to right and left to right in a Z formation. This is why I put the school logo in the left hand corner so it is the first thing the reader notices. Having the logo positioned here will also clearly represent the school making it obvious it is a school magazine. This applies to why I positioned the barcode in the bottom right hand corner as it is the least important thing on the page.

I have chosen to only include one main image which will cover the entire background instead of lots of little individual images. This is because I did not want to overcrowd the page and distract the reader’s attention away from the text.

I have applied the colour scheme chosen by the people who answered my questionnaire to my cover. By doing this it has helped me to plan out what colours I will use for different conventions e.g. white for the masthead.

I will be positioning the cover lines around the main image which will advertise the articles inside the magazine. This is so the reader will easily be able to read the text as see the image separately instead of them overlapping and clashing. If the page was too overcrowded then this may put the reader off reading the magazine decreasing the amount of magazine sold.

 

 

RESEARCH/QUESTIONNAIRE ANALYSIS

I received 20 answers from my questionnaire from a range of ages between 11-18. I found the feedback very useful in deciding what features I should include in my magazine. I put the feedback into pie charts so that I could see clearly what the most popular and least popular options were.

1. What name would you prefer to be the title of my magazine?

The majority of the feedback I received voted that they preferred 'Chislehurst Times' to be the title of the magazine. The reason for this is that this title is very simple but easy to remember which will eventually make the magazine well-known.






  2. What theme do you think my magazine should be based on?

 Over half of the answers stated that they wanted a 'Back To School' themed magazine. This is a appropriate time to release this magazine as students will be wanting tips for settling back to school. It also the correct time of year as students will be going back to school.






   3. How often do you think a new issue of the magazine should be released?

I will be releasing a new school magazine every term as this was the most popular option. It is obvious that the students do not want a magazine every week as this was the least popular option. I agree with the feedback as it will make it easier to have a new and current theme in every issue and lots of exclusive content e.g. Easter term and summer term.






    4. How much would you expect the magazine to cost?

I predicted the results for this question correctly.I figured '20p' would have the most positives responses as it is the cheapest option. Students will not want to pay a lot for a unofficial school magazine hence the reason I did not suggest anymore than £1. However I felt I needed to charge at some cost as it would cost money to create and print out the magazine.






  5. What colour scheme do you prefer?

Even though the colour schemes are fairly similar, 'blue, yellow and white' won the vote. I am happy this was the most popular option as these colours are the same as the school logo and uniform. This means the magazine will clearly represent the school professionally.






 6. What activities would you like to be included in the magazine?

The majority of the feedback answered question 6 as 'competition'. This means the students would like to have a competition to answer as an activity. The competition will include a easy question so it is suitable for all ages. The prize will either relate back to the school e.g. 100 merits or a shopping voucher. I expected 'Crosswords or Sudoku' to have a small amount of votes as I felt this would probably not attract 11-18 year old's.


  7. What kind of articles would you like to see in the magazine?

Lastly I questioned what type of article would people want to read. 'News Updates' and 'Advice' both received the same amount of votes meaning I will include both options. I think both of these options were chosen as they fit the purpose of a school magazine. These options also fit well with my chosen theme 'Back To School' as new and old students will be seeking advice and wanting to know the latest news.

QUESTIONNAIRE

Before designing my magazine I wanted to gain information from the public to see what they would like from a school magazine, from a customers perspective. To do this I made a questionnaire which featured the following questions:

1. What name would you prefer to be the title of my magazine?

- Chislehurst Times
- Chislehurst Express
- Chislehurst Mail

    2. What theme do you think the magazine should be based on?

- Back To School
- Christmas
- Halloween

   3. How often do you think a new issue of the magazine should be released?

- Every week
- Every Term
- Every Month

  4. How much would you expect the magazine to cost?

- 20p
- 50p
- £1

  5. What colour scheme do you prefer?

- Blue, Yellow, White
- Black, Red, Green
- Blue, Green, White

 6. What activties would you like to be inlucded in the magazine?

- Competition
- Crosswords or Sudoku
- Cartoon Strips

7.  What kind of articles would you like see in the magazine?

- News Updates
- Advice
- Fashion
- Interviews

Please send your answers and other suggestions to cowburnvictoria@gmail.com

MY IDEAS AND POSSIBLE TITLES

My Ideas

After analyzing two previous magazine covers and contents pages, also researching the conventions of magazine I have gained a lot of inspiration to create my own. I now understand the common themes that school magazines use and how they should be presented. Listed below are my ideas of themes I could base my magazine on:

1. BACK TO SCHOOL

One of my ideas for a 'back to school' themed magazine is to have the main image of a group of students looking fresh, smart and enthusiastic to go back to school. This means the students facial expressions will have to be very happy and cheerful and their body language will have to connote excitement and eagerness. The text positioned around the main image will read tips for a successful school year, advertising after school clubs, how to achieve a*'s and much more. The colour scheme will follow the colour's in the school logo which features blues, yellow and white so that my magazine clearly represents the school.

    2. CHIRSTMAS

My next idea is so design my magazine based on Christmas. This means I would dress-up my models in festive clothes such as Santa hats, Christmas jumpers or reindeer antlers. I would also edit my main image on Photoshop by changing the background to snow and adding extra images found from the internet such as candy canes or Christmas trees. The colour scheme would obviously be Christmas related meaning I would use reds, greens and white.

    3. HALLOWEEN

My last idea is to design my magazine as a special Halloween edition. The colours would represent the season therefore I would have to use lots of black, orange and overall dark shades. I would dress my models up in traditional spooky Halloween costumes such as witches, devils, zombies, pumpkins and skeletons. I would also do their hair and make-up to fit in with the theme. The font that I would use for the master head would be very creepy and alarming e.g. blood dripping from each individual letter, to attract the reader's attention. The sell lines would also be in a festive font but clearer to read as it would be positioned small. The text (coloured darkly) would read something like 'scary costumes ideas', 'top 10 tips for a spooky party' or '10 gruesome but delicious recipes'.

Possible Titles

• Chislehurst Times
• Chislehurst Express
• Chislehurst Mail

My inspiration for these ideas came from my internet research on different magazines and newspapers, not specifically school ones. For expample, instead of the 'Daily Mail' I used the word Chislehurst to replace 'Daily'. This is because the magazine is made by the school therefore their name should be included on it so everyone knows this.

CONVENTIONS OF A MAGAZINE

By analysing two magazine covers and two contents pages I have found the common conventions used, which are listed below:

Masterhead - The Masterhead is the title usually poisitioned at the top of the page. Magazines usally use the same typography on each edition which is their logo, this is so readers can recognise the magazine and know what they are reading.

Main Image - The main image usually covers the whole page as is associated with the main article.

Strapline - Is the introducery headline positioned below the masterhead describing the magazine.

Coverlines - The essential articles inside the magazine are stated through sell lines, these are regulary seen at the right hand side of the cover.

Tag - A word or phrase used to engage a reader's interest in a story e.g. 'exlusive', 'sensational' or 'new', to show that the magazine has high compliments.

Pug - Can either be positioned in the top left or right hand corner of the front cover. The price of the magazine, the logo, promotions or even a freebie is placed there to catch the reader’s eye.

Barcode - Is a machine-readable code and used to check stock and find out the price of a product. On a magazine cover the barcode is usually positioned in the either bottom corner fairly small.

Colour Scheme - Every magazine cover and contents page follows a  particular colour scheme where particular colours are used throughout. Examples of colours schemes include pastel colours, black and white or dark tones.

CONTENTS PAGE ANALYSIS 2

CONTENTS PAGE ANALYSIS 1

MAGAZINE ANALYSIS 2

MAGAZINE ANALYSIS 1

INTRODUCTION

My name is Victoria Cowburn and I am studying AS Media Studies at Chislehurst School for Girls.
I have created this blog to present my School Magazine coursework. On this blog you will see me prepare to make my magazine by doing things like; analyzing other peoples magazines and studying the conventions of a magazine. Doing this will guide me to make a good magazine suitable for my target audience and give me more knowledge on how to layout the conventions. After creating my magazine I will be evaluating it by gaining feedback from others and assessing the pro's and con's. This will be helpful as if I were to make a new magazine in the future, I could learn from my mistakes. I am looking forward to making my school magazine as I have a passion for photography and enjoy editing images and text on Photoshop.