Development of Front Page

This first print shot shows the title on the page with the picture in the background. The title stands out well over the picture whilst not blocking the picture out and taking over the top of the photo. The colours of the photo and the title colour also work effectively together.

This second print shot shows sub headings and text on the front page. The sub headings have been placed where there is no focus or there is minimal colour or picture. Therefore it has been placed over the white bare parts of the cover. I have also placed a date of the magazine under the title.

This third print shot shows more sub headings and a large heading at the bottom. This draws more attention whilst and seperates the different headings. Although the different headings are seperate they all assemble together due to the colour scheme that runs throughout. This is effective and gives a uniform to the front page.

This if the final shot of my front cover. There has been an added sub heading at the top of the page, this is the main story and focus of all the sub-headings. The main sub-heading is a slightly different purple to the rest of the purple sub-headings to make it stand out more and show its importance. It is also in a fairly large font and slightly slanted to make it seem different from the rest of them. I think overall this is an effective front cover.

2nd Photoshoot

This is the picture I chose from the second set of photos I took for my front cover. The photo portrays what I wanted it to as it shows a student doing art work. This photo meets the needs of what the last photo didn't as it has a professional school background which is shown clearly. The photo is also more focused on the student whilst still including the art work that she is doing. Like the last set of photos I took she looks like a hard-working student whilst also looking as if she is enjoying her work. The photo also includes art apparatus as there is a pair of scissors on the table by her work. I think this photo is much more effective and will suit my front page much better than the other set of photos I took would. The photo is much clearer and is portrayed much better. The photo clearly shows what she is doing, and what message is trying to be put across.

This is the final edited photo that Iwill use fro my front cover. For this photo I edited part of the background and got rid of the black patches that were in the original photo. This was as the background drew attention from the main part of the photo which is the student and the art work. It also made the photo clearer and more simplistic. I also edited the table she is doing her work on as in the original photo there were marks on the table which made it look less appealing and dirty. I also made the photo much brighter as it was quite dark in the first photo and gave a dark feel to her which meant that not all of her features were highlighted. With the editing used for the final photo it has made it look much more professional and I can use this well for my front cover.

Font Development research

Firstly I developed the fonts by just doing them in a black colour but changing the font, this allowed me to create an idea of what font I wanted. I also experimented by doing some of the titles in capitalsand some without capitals. This allowed me to see what was more effective and bold, and would stand out on a page with other features on it. I then decided that I would have use capitals throughout my title to make it more eye-catching. I then played around with the clour, testing out what would be seen better on a page. At first I used a yellow colour but then realised this would not be able to be seen easily on a page, especially if the background what a bright colour. I then tried working with background colours to see if that would work. Although it made the title more interesting I did not like it as I thought it made it look slightly 'tacky' and not simple and effective, and it the background colour tended to clash with the colour of the title as you can see with the black title with the red background. It also drew away from the writing. I then decided to make some of the titles slant to a slight angle, which I found effective and made it look more interesting.  

I then chose a colour which I thought was effective and went with a purple/pink type of colour. The colour is effective as it stands out on a page but also compliments other features on the page. I then experimented with having my title underlined or not. Although this looked good I felt it would seperate the title from the rest of the page and make it look secluded. I then decided on my final title which is the one at the bery bottom. It is bold and eye-catching, with a simple yet effective font that looks professional and a school-type font. I think this well go well with my front cover and will attract the right audiance.

Contents Page Research

For this part of my research I will look at different contents pages of various magazines and compare and analyse them to see which aspects would be appropriate for my school magazine.

This is a really effective and attention-grabbing contents page. There is a colour scheme running throughout and they have stuck to three main colours being: red; white; and black. There are a range of different pictures on this page which portray the stories that will be on some of the pages. Not all of the pages are mentioned on the contents, only the ones which are important and appeal to the reader the most. The title is very striking and also clear. The page is not cluttered or squashed together and is laid out neatly. There is a red box at the bottom which is for ‘regular pages’, this is keeps the magazine running with a theme weekly and allows readers to find the page they want quickly. The font is clear and bold. I like this contents page as I think it allows readers to find pages easily and is interesting as it has many pictures on the page. I will take ideas from this contents page and co-operate into my own contents page of my school magazine.

This contents page has many good attributes to it and works well in many ways. It is very simplistic and there is one large picture on the left hand side which takes up most of the focus. The title is very bold and clear, but also has two different colours to it to differentiate it. The layout is very clear and sophisticated. However this could be portrayed as quite a boring contents page. This is because it is quite plain as there is a white background with only two other colours on the page. There is only one picture to focus on and therefore we can lose interest quickly. I do like some of the aspects of this contents page as I like the layout, however I would want to make mine more interesting for readers.

This is an adequate contents page. It contains a lot of pictures to attract attention and there is also a short description under each of the pictures and a page number of where to find that article. There is also a short passage from the editor at the top, which is common in magazines. This fills out a space. There is a bold and clear title and the contents information is laid out well and clearly. However I feel there are a lot of different colours on this page which can make it seem slightly overwhelming. Some of the writing is quite small and therefore can look like it has a lot of writing on just the contents page. I like the fact that they show a picture of the front of the magazine. I do like aspects of this magazine as they include a variety of pictures, however although there is yellow and black which is noticeable there is not much of a running colour scheme.

1st Photo Shoot

I like these photos as they portray a hard working student doing work whilst also looking like they are enjoying themselves. The angles at which I have taken the photos are also effective and makes the photos seem more interesting. The picture implies what I wanted it to and gets all aspects of the pose in. However I think the quality of the photos could be better. In every photo the models face is slightly blurred and does not show all of her face properly. The hand and art are in focus however the face is not and is slightly grainy. I have used flash on these photos which also has a negative effect on the photos. The background is not professional as it is in my home. When I do my second photo shoot I will make sure to not use flash, to have a professional school background, and to make sure that I use focus appropriately and adequately.

Front Cover Drawing Ideas

For the next part of my research I will draw different designs for the front cover of my magazine and decide how I will want to lay it out.

I like this first layout as it is very clear. The picture is the main attraction and the title is bold. The title also fits well around the picture which gives a modern feel. My title is spread out over two lines and this allows it to not be squashed on one line and to make it stronger. There is room for writing and information on the right hand side and also a bar at the bottom to put some writing. This contains as much writing as there would be on a professional magazine cover. I like this layout for a magazine cover.

I feel that the second magazine layout is not very effective. The title is on one line which will make it easy to read however it may be slightly squashed all on one line. The picture is the main focus however there is a lot of blank space at the bottom which will make the cover quite boring and unattractive. There are a lot of room for information however I feel there is too much for a front cover as there shouldn’t be much on a front page. I feel this layout for a front cover is not adequate and would not be effective.

This layout is very similar to the first one however the writing is on the other side. The title is on two lines however it is centred rather than over slightly to one side, this would make the feel of the front cover very regimented and ordered which I do not want. As I want a modern feel this would not be good and would take a slightly different approach to the title, however overall I like the general layout.

I like this layout for a front cover magazine however it does have some faults to it. The title is more to one side which I think is effective. There is room at the bottom and at the side for information. However what I don’t like about it is that the information on the right hand side is very high up and is quite close to the title. In this way readers could get confused and the cover could have a “cluttered” feel.

I think the layout for the fifth drawing can be very effective. There is lots of room for information and I have incorporated a different idea by having three small boxes at the bottom for different features. The picture is merged well but also stands out and would be the main focus on the page.

For the sixth drawing I have put together a few ideas from different drawings. The picture is fairly large on the page and overlaps part of the title which is very common with magazine covers now. There is a bar at the bottom for information and two small boxes for information spread at the top and bottom of the page. This makes the cover more interesting and gives the reader different places to look on the page to read information.

Overall I like the first idea that I drew, I think it gives enough room for information, is laid out clearly and effectively, and gives a simple feel without it being boring.