PRELIM TASK: Audience Feedback

I asked a student at Norbury Manor, Anmol, for feedback on what she thought of my front cover and contents page. Overall she likes my front cover and said it was put together really well. She said the colours went really well together and are attractive because they're not too bright. Also she said that my text was very clear and was easy to read but she did say that some bits were hard to understand because of the image in the background blended into the words. When she looked at my masthead she said it was really nice because it stands out but also because the word 'proceed' relates to college as you're proceeding to the next level, in my magazine's case GCSE to A Levels. For criticism she said that maybe my colours could be a tiny bit brighter as some parts of the red are quite dull.

For my contents page she said similar things, such as the good colour scheme but she added that you can see the contents page relates to the front cover due to the same fronts, similar graphics and the same colour scheme. She also said that it was easy to understand as there wasn't much going on in the background to distract the audience from the words. She added that the images were nice and go well with the style of magazine. Then I asked her if she had any criticisms and she said that maybe I could change the background colour slightly as it is quite plain and as the front cover background is an image there is a slight grey tone to the background and she thought that maybe I could have added a similar colour as the background for the contents page.

PRELIM TASK: Finished Product & Cohesion

This is my final college magazine front cover. I think it came out quite well and looks quite professionally done. One of the main things I like about my cover is the colour scheme as it is consistent and isn't too garish or anything. On both the front page and contents page you can see the same colours throughout: red, black,grey and a little bit of pink. I also like the image I chose as it is fairly plain but not boring or bad as she is smiling and the book means it relates to college. I don't really like my masthead as I think it looks quite boring however it doesn't stand out. To improve I would maybe include a few more graphics and make some of the writing stand out better because some words blend into the photo a little bit.

I think my contents page relates back to my front cover really well, mainly due to the colour scheme but also because I used the same fonts and masthead style. The main thing I like about this is the layout because it is simple but I think quite effective because it isn't plain. I don't think that the page is filled properly as there seem to be a few too many little blank spaces. To improve I would maybe make the background less white because I think it is very bright and boring.

PRELIM TASK: Contents Page Layout

PRELIM TASK: Front Cover Layout

PRELIM TASK: Title Editing

In the first screenshot you can see the title as I originally had it, there was no editing, it was just plain red block letters. I decided that this wasn't effective enough and chose to edit it using the blending options tool on Photoshop. I looked through the different things to choose from and finally decided on what I thought looked best on the title and made it stand out well. 

There were two options that I decided to use, which were give it a 'Drop Shadow' to make it look more 3D but also to 'Bevel and Emboss' which also helped make it stand out more. I think that both these options combined made the title look a lot better and stand out more to the audience.

PRELIM TASK: Photo Manipulation

The first two screenshots are of the original image before I edited it at all. The background that she is standing against hasn't got any shadows but there is a slight grey tone too it which I thought wasn't very appealing as it wasn't bright.

These are the screenshots of once I had edited the image. I decided to change the levels of brightness and increase it therefore making it slightly lighter. This made the overall image look a lot better because it stands out more. As she doesn't really have any blemishes or anything I decided to do some slight alterations on her face which was just removing a few darker patches.

PRELIM TASK: Contents Page Photo Choices

1. I chose to use this picture as it is a good camera shot. The picture also looks really natural as she is smiling nicely and it makes the audience think she is enjoying herself while at college/sixth form.

2. This photograph was also good to use on the contents as it shows that the students are working well and this shows that there is also a good work ethic in the college as well as fun, which the first picture shows.

3. I chose to include this photo on my contents page because it is a friendship and I haven't really shown that yet and I think that is a very important factor of being in college.

PRELIM TASK: Magazine Front Cover Photos

Potential Choices

1.                                                        2.                                                    3.

This image wasn't suitable               I didn't use this image as                  This image wasn't
for my front cover because               you can see a lot of shadows           suitable either as
it is quite dark due to bad                 on the wall because the                    there isn't enough 
lighting. I also think the                     lights weren't arranged                     space left at the 
chair she is sitting on adds               correctly, you can also see               top for a title, plus
too much bulk to the image.             the edge of a light.                            a light can be seen.

4.                                                       5.                                                     6.

 I didn't use this image for                 This image didn't make                     I quite liked this 

my front cover as I felt it                    the front page either as it                 photo but I felt that 

was too dark making it stand             was far too bright. The lights            it wasn't natural 

out less. Also she isn't                      all seem very white making              enough, also there

centred well.                                      overall photo hard to                        isn't enough space

                                                         look at.                                          at the top for a title.

Final Choice

I chose to use this image for my front cover for a few reasons. The first being that I think there is a nice, balanced lighting as it isn't too bright or too dark plus there are no visible shadows. Also, there is enough space left at the top of the image for a masthead of a fairly large but reasonable size. I think she looks very natural in the photo which is good because it won't look awkward or false. She is holding a red book as my colour scheme involves a lot of red and this will add to that as the rest of the red on the page can link back to the photo. In this image she is very centred so the magazine will be equally balanced and won't look misshapen. 

PRELIM TASK: Font Ideas

These are my initial font ideas that I will use for my masthead. The one I am most likely to use will either be the first one or the last one because I feel that they stand out more but also they go with my initial thought from my flat plan the best. 

I have decided that I will definitely use the first one because it goes best with my flat plan idea of a bold and thick masthead. I think it will stand out most one the cover especially once it is red and contrasted with a black background.

PRELIM TASK: My Magazine Flat Plan

PRELIM TASK: Possible Camera Shots

PRELIM TASK: Q Magazine Deconstruction

PRELIM TASK: Reader Profile - Alice

Hi, my name is Alice, I am 17 years old and I am currently studying my AS Levels at Norbury Manor Business and Enterprise College for girls, the subjects I am taking are English Literature, Art, Psychology and Drama, my favourites out of these are Drama and Art because I am  a lot better at expressive arts rather than the academic side of school. My main worry with sixth form at the moment is mainly how to manage my time well because I find it hard to fit everything into a schedule and sticking to it. I am also  slightly concerned that I haven't chose the correct AS levels for me, especially Psychology because I am struggling a bit with it already.

Most of my hobbies aren't that physical however I do dance weekly because it is enjoyable but also I think it is important that I maintain my good health at the moment. The things I enjoy most though are reading books, mainly murder mysteries, just spending time listening to music such as Arctic Monkeys and All Time Low, but I also enjoy making music myself because I can play guitar and piano which mean I am able to play my favourite songs. One of the things that sometimes people don't class as a hobby is doing my make-up and finding new looks to create because I find that it is very calming and can sometimes even help calm my stress. I really like action movies and comedies because I find them most entertaining and engaging to watch but I dislike watching romance movies because they're either really sad or really cringe-worthy.

PRELIM TASK: Introduction and Initial Magazine Ideas