Making My School Magazine

UPDATE...

Today I have managed to start my front cover and contents page. I have taken all my photographs. They are coming along fine, although the hardest part out of creating this magazine is using Photoshop. I am finding it incredibly difficult to fit my main image into my front cover they photo just doesn't look right and I am struggling to make it look professional. Nothing seems to look right. It's harder than it looks. However my contents page is going fine. Personally, I find it a lot easier to make than the front cover as I am making sure I'm using the correct spacing fonts just like the one I analysed.

The  two images below were the ones I used for my front cover. At first I was going to put this student on a plain colour background, however I found it very difficult to get rid of her shadows therefore I came up with the idea of putting her behind a wall so that the shadow doesn't stand out and so it looks more professional.

Contents Page- School Magazine Codes & Conventions

Preliminary Task Part 2...

From my next task i'm going to write up the codes and conventions of a contents page and explain how effective they are to an audience

Front Cover: Codes & Conventions 
Fusion Magazine Contents Page    

Spacing- This is a common layout technique used in contents magazine. Spacing is key to making your magazine look professional and it enables the reader to access information quickly. Everything tend to be in line with each other and looks smart. This contents page has used spacing as everything is equal to each and in line nothing looks out of place. When I create my magazine I will make sure the spacing is correct and everything looks in place.
Image- This images used within a contents page tend to reflect the rest of the magazine and the target audience. In this case an image of a tape is used to possibly show this magazine is aimed at a younger audience as they would be more interested with things associated with that.They often contain one bigger image to show the main story of the magazine. I will enable suitable images are used in magazine. 

Colour- It's meant to represent the rest of the magazine. They generally tend to stick to 3 main colours as it looks like a common theme and it's a convention most companies stick too. This contents page has used pink and black and green as it's dominant colours suggesting it could be more aimed at girls. When it comes to making my magazine I will enable that the colours reflect the target market and that there isn't too many of them.
Titles- A convention of contents pages is that, they all include titles of each section of the magazine as it helps the audience and enables them to find what they are looking for. They headlines are often bold (like in this case) and stand out from this text underneath to make it easier for the reader. When creating my magazine I will make sure the titles of my articles are in bold and stand out at the audience.
Chronological Order- All contents pages have structure, they need some way to sort out all the articles from each, therefore the easiest way to do that is to arrange them in page order starting from the lowest. This way it adds structure to the magazine and allows it to make sense to the reader. In my magazine I will make sure that my contents is in order.
Text- The text is important when it comes to a contents page as bar the front cover it's the first thing to reader shall view. Therefore you need to give the audience some information about the type of things that are included within your magazine. Fusion give some extra information about each section of the magazine. Like news, festivals and weird science. They all relate back to the target audience of 15-19 year old. I will make sure I use the correct language when it comes to creating my magazine.
Font- Always an easy read font that isn't boring but it isn't illegible. Fusion and many other magazines tend to stick to just one or two fonts as it enables a common theme to run throughout the magazine. They often just use colours or the bold tool to stand out special information. For my contents page I will stick to a maximum of two fonts as it's an effective technique that increases audience consumption.
Background- The background of a contents page tend to stick to the common theme of the magazine. It tends to either be a plain image or in this case a in single colour. As this way it doesn't confuse the audience and it allows them to focus of the text and images, as the white brings out the text colours and the main image. Everything works together to make it an effective contents page. I will consider the background carefully when creating my contents page and enable it fits in with the rest of my magazine. 

Front Cover- School Magazine Codes & Conventions

Preliminary Task Part 1...

For my preliminary task I've researched the codes and conventions of a school magazine front cover and then discussed what impact they have on the audience and how they are effective. 

Front Cover: Codes & Conventions
Hazeleys Sixth Form Magazine 

Bold Magazine Title -  A common feature used in all magazines, nearly always placed at the top of the magazine and in bold font. This is to grab the audiences attention and it also allows the audience to know what the magazine is called. I will uses this when creating my magazine as it makes it look professional and informs the audience. 

Main Image-  There is always a main centre image located on the front cover of a magazine. It takes up around 70/80 % of your page and is generally a medium close up. It allows the audience to often know who the target audience is and what the magazine will be about this. I will use this within my magazine as it's a common convention used in all magazine.  
3 Colours- All magazines tend to stick to colours, in this case it's green, yellow and white. They do this as it makes the magazine look less confusing and more focused. It helps create a common theme and sophistication throughout your magazine. When I create my piece I shall stick to 3 colours to create a common theme. 
Inside Stories- Magazines aim is to make profit and persuade the audience to purchase their product therefore, they need to sell what they have got. By doing this they need to show off what stories are going on this week therefore on their front cover magazines always show inside stories to allow the audience an insight into their magazine. This is a feature i will be using in my magazine as it's a good convention to enable interest from my audience. 
Clothes & Camera- The main image within the front cover is specially designed for a specific target audience. In this case it's college students therefore you need to enable that the image matches the audience required. In this case it's a young women who is dressed smartly and is directly addressing the camera and smiling this create a friendly atmosphere between the audience and the magazine. I will do this when creating my magazine as it's essential that the audience is constantly in mind when creating a magazine.
Language- The words used is essential when creating a magazine, they need to match your topic and audience. In this case the audience is students therefore the language is informal and relate able. Words such as "fiance" show that it's a school magazine. When creating my magazine I will focus on language and audience and enable the words I use are appropriate for my specific audience. 
Background- Although it's not in the foreground, it's still a big part when it comes to creating a magazine. Everything needs to add up together to create a brand not just a magazine. The background needs to match the foreground. In this case the background sticks with the 3 colour rule. In my magazine I will make sure everything matches to create a sophisticated well thought out magazine. 

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Welcome

Welcome...

I'm creating this blog to show you all my evidence and planning towards creating my magazines. I will include pictures, graphs and presentations to show how I got to my finished piece and how it relates back to my target audience. Every step I do will be blogged. From my preliminary work to my final cuts and evaluation. Everything i do you will be able to see and check up on. Hope you enjoy it :-)