Final draft of school magazine cover

Following up from my last draft for "Shebb Mag" I have made several amendments. First of all I have changed the House font to gungshu, this is because it is a bold and clear font which the last font type was lacking overall. I feel that I have selected a clear font that is appropriate for my magazine.

Previously the price for my magazine was shown above the barcode but after discussing my magazine with a fellow peer I decided that it would be better if I changed this and placed it in a more appropriate position. I chose to situate it at bottom of the page in an explosion shape to make it stand out; I have stuck with the colour scheme when doing this so that it ties in with the rest of the cover.

In this draft I have made sure that everything ties in with the colour scheme so that the cover keeps its identity that I have planned and its association with the school that I intend to keep. I have now inserted a main image, which is a mid shot of the new captain. I think that the picture is very clear and is appropriate for the magazine; it shows sporting fields in the background which link to the topic of the magazine, also the background of the main image is green which is what I said I wanted previously due to the colour being associated with sports. I have now made my cover lines which I are clear to read and eye catching, for each cover line I have allocated a picture which is related to the topic the cover line refers to I think that this will attract readers and also attract people to buy the magazine.

1st attempt at school magazine

 

After carrying out the mini survey, sketching out a rough plan, using a focus group and then drawing out another draft for my magazine I have used these sources to make my first draft of “Shebb Mag”. I have followed my most recent plan for my magazine to create this cover. The colour scheme has started to form however in my next draft it will become more distinct as I feel these colours are very important. After making this draft and analysing it I have decided that I am not happy with the house font Script MT Bold, this is because I feel that it is not distinct enough and can be quite hard to read at a glance, which is a bad thing because for people to buy my magazine they must be attracted to it visually.
For the Mast Head the starting letters of each word  should be in gold rather than black which the rest of the letters have, I chose to do this because it makes the Mast Head more striking which draws attention to it, making it more distinct. Overall I am happy with the template of the cover. In my next draft I need to create Cover lines, add my main image and decide on an alternative house style.

New plan for my magazine

I held a focus group of ten people, 5 males and 5 females, to find out whether my original plan was the best or whether I should make changes. One reason in particular was that the layout that I had chosen would not have allowed the school colours to stand out enough (Red and Gold). Due to this criticism I felt that the format of my design had to change, to allow the two key colours to be included. I feel that the colour red represents power and aggression which are both relevant to the chosen topic of my magazine (sports). Also the colour gold represents victory and rewards which are also key parts of my chosen topic for my magazine.

During my focus group I asked whether Shebb Mag was a good name for a magazine, from the response of the group I have decided to go ahead with the name. The main image of my magazine will be of the "new rugby captain" standing out on the pitch, this will clearly distinguish that the main topic is about him, The majority of the background in the picture will be green, this will follow up my previous idea to use it because the colour relates to the chosen topic of sports.

1st plan for my school magazine

From this plan I aim to have a spacious front page only focusing on a few key points.
The main story for the front cover is going to be about a new 1st team rugby captain, I have chosen this to be the main story because in my opinion the main audience will be male sports fans, so they will have a keen interest in this topic.
I have considered naming the magazine SHEBB MAG
From my survey the results suggested using red and gold for my colour scheme, I have taken on this idea however I am also considering using green, this is because the colour green is very relevant to the topic - SPORTS

Survey

Prior to creating a plan for my school magazine I have carried out a short survey to gain peoples opinions on what my magazine should  be about.

School magazine survey

Please circle your answer

1.   From the choices bellow pick the statement that represents what you wish to use a school magazine for.

·         Provide me with knowledge about the school’s history

·         Provide me with information about sporting fixtures and news

·         Provide me with educational tips such as revision tips

·         Inform me of forthcoming events and future developments the school will face

2.   How often would you like such a magazine to be published?

·         Once a week

·         Once every 2 weeks

·         Once every month

·         Once every term

3.    Out of the three choices, which would be the best colour scheme for a school magazine?

·         RED - GOLD (traditional shebb colours)

·         BLUE  - GREEN

·         BROWN – RED

After recieving the results for the survey the findings were:

Q1 - the most popular purpose of the school magazine was to provide information about sporting fixtures and news, followed by the provision of educational tips.

Q2 - The most popular result was once a month, followed by once a week.

Q3 - The most popular result for the colour scheme was red - gold, followed by blue - green.


By carrying out this survey I have decided upon the topic my school magazine SPORTING FIXTURES AND NEWS , how often it is published and the color scheme   RED - GOLD.

Research on magazine covers

Prior to designing my school magazine cover I feel that it is necessary for me to carry out research on magazine covers. I have looked at these covers so i can familiarize myself with what a cover consists of and how it is structured. By doing this it should be easier for me to make a magazine cover.

Preliminary exercise

Task: using DTP and an image manipulation program, produce the front page of a new school/college magazine, featuring a photograph of a student in medium close-up plus some appropriately laid-out text and a masthead.

Layout of a magazine front page

 Today I looked at the technical terms for analysing print. As part of the learning process I annotated a magazine cover to learn the correct terms and to ensure that I know which terms go with certain parts on the magazine. From doing this exercise I have given myself an understanding of the layout of magazines or other print forms and from this I can use the skills gained to help me design my own magazine. I used information provided from my teacher on the terms and I also used other information on the internet such as: http://www.slideshare.net/IssyOSullivan/magazine-cover-layout