FINISHED :)

Thats my Student Magazine finished and the nest thing I am going to do is create a music magazine

Evaluation

During this project I created a cover and contents page for a student magazine. This involved taking a photoshoot around college of images to be used in the cover and within the magazine and then editing and creating a cover and contents around these images that would appeal to 16 - 18 year olds.

• In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

The magazine I created is simular to some other magazines on the market as it uses simular layouts and conevections. The main features within my cover page varies. The dominant feature is the backgrund image and is used to attract the audience although the mast head is just as important as it titles the magazine. I also used one main cover story and three smaller stories to try and encourage the viewer to buy the magazine for the articels that are inside. Although the competition in the strapline on the top of the page which may also encourage students. The contents page is more unique as it features images up one side of the page and the editorial at the bottom however typically contents pages tend to feature the editorial on the top left hand corner of the page as it would be the first thing you would read and images scattered around. Although my layouts are quite simple I think the are overall succesfull at creating a professional look.

• How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The media product presents differant groups within the college. I chose to use the front cover image to create a sophisticated and neat look that applys to the college however I used more casual photographs within the conetnts and photoshoot that applys more to the students as they tend to capture the time spent in frees. None of the images create a negative view of teenagers and the more relaxed images create a fun and more apealing look for students that are enjoying themselves in most photographs. This creates a postive view  of the college overall. The magazine itself also appeals to differant social groups within the college as they are attarcted to differant articles within the magazine for example I chose to include a 1st year page and a 2nd year page seperatly as differant things would apply to the differant years.

• What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

The product would be most succesful being sold in a college location such as the canteen area or reception where students could access it easily. Although it could also be sold in local shops to attract more people into the shops and support locate buisnesses. Media insitutions that may publish the magazine are ones that already publish magazines for other colleges and universities or local buisnesses that would be interested in getting invloved within the college.

• Who would be the audience for your media product and How did you attract/address your audience?

My magazine was aimed at students at our college in particullary so aimed mainly at ages 16 - 19 of both gener. One major thing that would attract students to buy the magazine is the images I used. This is because I used students and well known college locations in my photoshoot so that the students can recognise that its a college magazine easily. The images of other students may also encourage people to buy the magazine as they may want to see their freinds photographs or themselves that are featured in the magazine. When designing the cover I decided to keep the colour scheme simple and use the images as the main feature in both the cover and contents however I used bright colours like red in some parts to catch the viewers attention and draw them to text that could encourages them to buy the magazine such as competitions.

• What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

I have to use alot of new technoogies to create the magazine. One thing I had not used was a blog. This prooved an easy skill to master and once I had grasped the concept of it I was able to publish the posts and update my blog easily to display my work and use the blogs feedback to develope my origanal designs. I also had to use the programme Gimp for editing photographs I took for the cover and contents. This was alot harder to understand and was quite time consuming although I was able to edit my photographs simply once I had worked out the tools and effects of the software. The rest of the cover and contents was created on publisher which I had already had experience with so was an easy process to follow and I was able to munipulate the images and text into the design I wanted effectivly. In conclusion I found creating the magazine a challenge although I think the overall finished product is a success and would appeal to my target audience within the college.

Photo Shoot Images

These are the imges i produced to be used on the cover or the contents page of the magazine.

Front Cover Improved Final Design

This is my final design for my contents page.

Front Cover Improved Final Design

This is the improved final design for my cover of a student magazine.

Front Cover Final Design

This is my final desig for the front cover of my magazine.

Cover Page Designs

Please comment on which design you feel is most interesting and I should use in my final design.

Contents Page Designs

Please comment on which design you feel is most interesting and I should use in my final design.

Textual Analysis

Cover Page

The Student ID magazine has been designed to attract students to buy the issue. It uses a variety of methods to create an attractive cover.

Masthead.

The masthead in this cover is positioned at the top of the page in lower and upper case letters that overlap the background. The black outlines of the letters make the title stand out more and is also framed with a box around it. This writing is in a different font and a larger size to the other text on the page which emphasises its importance so your view is drawn to the cover title. I really like the way the title uses upper and lower case letter as its gives it more variety and makes it more interesting. It also gives it a more unique brand identity as not many mastheads use this technique so its easily recognised.

Banners.

This magazine cover uses no banners which is unusual for a magazine. It usually gives the reader an extra reason to buy the magazine however this magazine chooses not to use it.

Cover lines.

Although they use no banners they use a lot of cover lines to show what the magazine has to offer. They are positioned at different angles which make the cover more exciting and 4 of the cover lines are features as part of the image of the sun. I like the way they use the text in the image as it makes it more interesting and makes the simple picture more dynamic. The 4 cover lines in the image are also the main headlines as the magazine does not feature just one as there are 4 equal in size and therefore the 4 most important.

Background: Images and Colours.

The magazine uses bright and interesting colours that compliement each other. The use of these bright colours makes the cover stand out amongst other magazine covers. The image formed by the yellow and orange colours is a sun this gives an optimistic and sunny impression of the college and adds more graphics to the cover. There are also smaller images of ice creams across the top of the cover however this has nothing to do with the theme of the magazine accept the season the issue is realised so has no benefit of advertising what the magazine has inside. I feel the covers images are boring and not very exciting and could use more digital images that have something to do with the issue or college.

Content Page

Conclusion.

In conclusion I feel the magazine has strong and weak points that contribute to the overall cover. I think the masthead and cover lines are successful and good at advertising the magazine as it makes it recognisable and tells you what is features in the issue. Whereas the overall layout and images let the magazine down as it does not have a professional look and could use more images on the cover. However it is successful with the bright colours to capture the audience although in my opinion I would choose a more professional looking magazine.

The first page in Student ID is the content page this is an important par to the magazine as it tells you what is in the issue. It needs to be attractive and include all the information needed for the reader to buy it.

Titles.
The magazine chooses to have one main title "Inside ID.." which stands out most which the bold and larger font and one smaller title "letter from the ed". These titles immeditatly lets the reader know what this page is about and what will be featured on it.

Layout.
The layout for the contents page is simple but effective. It is split into three sections using the yellow strip up the centre of the page. This keeps to the colour scheme used in the cover. The yellow stirp also includes the contents which states what is on everyother page and stands out in the yellow section so draws your attention to the most important part of the content page. They choose to feature an editorial in the first section of the page and images in the last. The images make the page look more attractive and students may want to buy the magazine to look at freinds images or there own that are featured inside the magazine.

Editorial.
Student ID has choosen to feature and editorial which is wrote by the editor welcoming the reader to the magazine. They have decided to describe the magazine and what can be expected from it, this gives the reader a clear idea on what the magazine is about and they also mention what is featured within the issue which gives the reader an idea whether to but it or not. They have choose to put the editorial on the left side of the page. This is effective as people read left to right so this is the first item read on the page.

Conclusion of Contents page.
In conclusion this page is succesfull at telling the reader what is inside the magazine and the images used helps attract the students to look further into the magazine. I think the simple layout is a good chioe for this page as it makes it easy to read and attracts the viewer.

Audience Questionnaire

Please fill in the questionaire so that I can see whether a student magazine would be succesfull within college

1. Would you be interested in a student magazine for college?

• Yes
• No
• Maybe

2. What age would this appeal to most?

• 16
• 17
• 18

3. What would you pay for the magazine?

• 50p
• £1
• £1.50

4. How often would you purchase an edition?

• Weekly
• Evey two weeks
• Monthly
• Every other month

5. What information would you like within the magazine?

• College Updates
• College Photos
• Local Events and College Trips
• Competitions
• Interviews with students or teachers
• Discussion Pages
• Seperate First and Second year pages
• Universities Information and Courses
• Horoscopes

6. What would you like the magazien to look like?

• Use students to model on the covers everytime
• Vary the covers from models to landscapes
• College Sites on covers

Magazine Names

What should I call my Student Magazine?
	Student
	Attention
	Buckle Down
	Shatter
	StudyDays
pollcode.com free polls

Comparison of Student Magazines

After looking at other student magazines i took notes on what they contained so i can have an idea of what would be in my own student magazine and displayed on the front cover and content page.

Youth Action

• Making a Differance - young people global issues
• Ask Ann - agny aunt
• Young Volenteers Stories - real life experiences
• Organisations to Help - how you can get involved in volenteering
• Planning the Future - information on universities

Student ID

• Bash Photos - college photographs
• Student Trips - reviews and up and coming events in the college
• Artist Reviews
• New Teachers - interviews
• Competition
• First Fear Collumn
• Student ID - whats happening at college
• Love and Hate - discussion pages
• Universities, TV, Film and Game Reviews
• Horoscopes

Talent

• Isington Council Work - local information
• Differant People - values of people
• Career Options - university corses
• Career Veternerty Science - information on corse
• Get The Taste - appentiships
• Career Sociology - information on corse
• Trip to Dubia

Action Plan

We have been asked to make a student magazine for the college over the 4 weeks before christmas; this means creating a front cover and a content page.

Week 1. 15th November 2010:

• Write action plan
• Create blog
• Comparison of student magazines

Week 2. 22nd November 2010:

• Audience questionarire
• Textal analysis
• Create layout

Week 3. 29th November 2010:

• Create cover and contents
• Organise photoshoot
• Edit Photos
• Draft Pages

Week 4. 6th December 2010:

• Finish any outstandng work
• Evaluation