I think my front cover was successful as I made it in a way that I think would appeal to a target audience of ages 16-25. I used a gentle contrast of the green and black to make it stand out and it is eye catching. I also used column inch and i used a some overlapping of the images with text. I used appropriate images with the text. I think that it reflects the age group I was aiming for because of the colour scheme and also the images that I included. I also made the title more appealing as it has a link to the youthful audience due to the spelling of the lower case 'i' with the rest in capitals. My front cover turned out very differently to my initial sketch. This was because as I experimented, I found that the image I intended to use for my front cover image did not look how I wanted it to so I decided to take a new photograph. I think i could improve my front cover by adding some more to it to make it look busier and more detailed.
Wednesday, 29 April 2009
Final Cover and Evaluation
I think my front cover was successful as I made it in a way that I think would appeal to a target audience of ages 16-25. I used a gentle contrast of the green and black to make it stand out and it is eye catching. I also used column inch and i used a some overlapping of the images with text. I used appropriate images with the text. I think that it reflects the age group I was aiming for because of the colour scheme and also the images that I included. I also made the title more appealing as it has a link to the youthful audience due to the spelling of the lower case 'i' with the rest in capitals. My front cover turned out very differently to my initial sketch. This was because as I experimented, I found that the image I intended to use for my front cover image did not look how I wanted it to so I decided to take a new photograph. I think i could improve my front cover by adding some more to it to make it look busier and more detailed.
Saturday, 4 April 2009
Wednesday, 25 March 2009
I have taken these images for my front cover, contents page and double page article. I included some musical instruments and took some in clubs around my area so that they all have musical connections to make sure they fit in with the theme of a music magazine. I will use photoshop to edit them appropriately and use them to create a successful front cover, contents page and article.
Tuesday, 10 March 2009
Tuesday, 3 March 2009
Experimenting with Fonts
I used a website called www.dafont.com to find new and exciting fonts that I can download and use for my front cover. I picked a large variety of different sorts of styles that I thought could possibly work on my front cover. Although some are much more suitable than others. There are some that are more simple than others but the positive of this is that it shows off the effect I have created by using capital letters with a lower case 'i' . I did this to create the effect of youth and make it look more interesting. My least favourite is the more comic one on the bottom left. This is because it doesn't look quite as professional as the others. I don't think it would be very suited for the title of my music magazine. The two fonts with the detail that looks sort of like sprays of ink behind them are much more detailed and complicated than the rest. This could be a good point as I have already decided that I prefer the less complicated and busy style of front covers. So if I had quite a simple front cover layout, my font would not look to complicated for the page. My favourite front is probably the one on the second row down on the right. It is very thin and small but I like the way that the 'S' slants to create an effect. Although, it doesn't show the lower case 'i'. I also like the largest one as it is bold and eye catching. The style of it is also very modern. I think this font would stand out most at the top of a music magazine cover.
Questionnaire Summary
Summary of Questionnaire’s
I gave out 10 of my questionnaires to students around the sixth form area. I used a mixed sample of male and female and the age ranged from 16 to 18.
Most of the students said they do buy at least one magazine per month. I found that it was mainly males who said they didn’t buy any magazines. The most popular magazines that were bought were women’s magazines such as ‘Look’, ‘Glamour’ and ‘Vogue’.
The most popular features that students said they would find useful in a student magazine was university application advice, information on available jobs, health and well-being information, music articles and fashion advice. I think I could definitely include the university advice, information on jobs. The other articles could be included as extra’s that make the magazine have more of a variety of information and more interesting. Also, it may appeal to students more if it has things they enjoy seeing in it.
One person suggested that a student magazine could be given to sixth formers if they want it instead of the monthly newsletter. Most people said that a student magazine would be useful to help students learn new skills and prepare them for university life. They also said that the magazine could keep them up to date with events and general information around school.
Most of the students said they would be willing to pay £1.50 to £2 for a student magazine that included the things that they suggested.
I gave out 10 of my questionnaires to students around the sixth form area. I used a mixed sample of male and female and the age ranged from 16 to 18.
Most of the students said they do buy at least one magazine per month. I found that it was mainly males who said they didn’t buy any magazines. The most popular magazines that were bought were women’s magazines such as ‘Look’, ‘Glamour’ and ‘Vogue’.
The most popular features that students said they would find useful in a student magazine was university application advice, information on available jobs, health and well-being information, music articles and fashion advice. I think I could definitely include the university advice, information on jobs. The other articles could be included as extra’s that make the magazine have more of a variety of information and more interesting. Also, it may appeal to students more if it has things they enjoy seeing in it.
One person suggested that a student magazine could be given to sixth formers if they want it instead of the monthly newsletter. Most people said that a student magazine would be useful to help students learn new skills and prepare them for university life. They also said that the magazine could keep them up to date with events and general information around school.
Most of the students said they would be willing to pay £1.50 to £2 for a student magazine that included the things that they suggested.
Front Cover Research
Front Cover Research
The first magazine cover that I found was the one named “Q”. It stood out to me because it had so much to fill up the page. This made it look exciting and interesting. It also looks like it has a lot inside so therefore buyers may think it looks more worth buying. The cover uses well-known names on the front to attract fans as they will know who this person is and be interested. There is a small British logo on the front that says “50 Best British Albums”. This shows that although the magazine may be sold in various countries in Europe, their main audience is likely to be focused on Britain. The featuring celebrity of this particular issue is in the picture on the front cover and their name is in very large writing across the front and in the centre of the page. This makes the image and name the main focuses of the cover. The cover also uses a smaller image at the bottom that advertises the free miniature magazine inside. This also makes the front cover look busy and exciting. The main colour schemes are black and red. I think this looks good because they contrast each other very well and make it look quite dramatic. This magazine cover inspires me in the way of making it look full so that readers are attracted to the many different things going on inside. Although, I shouldn’t put too much on there because it may look crowded.
The other two magazines I have picked for my research are the opposite of the first one. They are much more subtle and don’t have a lot of information or sub-titles on their front covers. They are also two different styles. The magazine called ‘you’ has a much more stylish and grown-up look. It doesn’t use bright colours of bold writing. The fonts used are curly and feminine instead of plain and bold. The colours used are generally browns and creams and the front cover celebrity is dressed to fit in with this. There is only one subtitle on this front cover and it is placed in quite an unusual place. Most magazines tend to have their titles at the top and all the subtitles and other features spread over the lower half of the cover. However, this one has been placed right at the top of the cover next to the title. This allows the image to take up more space and not look squashed in amongst the text. I like this effect because I think it looks quite sophisticated and mature. The simple layout and the soft brown and cream combination make it look
quite modern too. The only problem I can see with this magazine cover is that I think it may appeal to females more than males as the cover model is female and the style of the front cover is much more fashion-centred. However, overall I think this cover has an attractive and sophisticated finish to it. The other magazine I picked called ‘Fader’ is similar to the other one except the colours are brighter and make it seem more exciting. Although, there is also little writing so it doesn’t look crowded. The image that is used for the front is different because it is very close up and the image on the front of ‘you’ shows the whole body and only fills a small amount of the page.
Overall, I prefer the less complicated covers as although they don’t tell the reader as much about the magazine as the other one does, I think it looks much more professional and reader-friendly. I would be more likely to use this sort of style on my music magazine.
The first magazine cover that I found was the one named “Q”. It stood out to me because it had so much to fill up the page. This made it look exciting and interesting. It also looks like it has a lot inside so therefore buyers may think it looks more worth buying. The cover uses well-known names on the front to attract fans as they will know who this person is and be interested. There is a small British logo on the front that says “50 Best British Albums”. This shows that although the magazine may be sold in various countries in Europe, their main audience is likely to be focused on Britain. The featuring celebrity of this particular issue is in the picture on the front cover and their name is in very large writing across the front and in the centre of the page. This makes the image and name the main focuses of the cover. The cover also uses a smaller image at the bottom that advertises the free miniature magazine inside. This also makes the front cover look busy and exciting. The main colour schemes are black and red. I think this looks good because they contrast each other very well and make it look quite dramatic. This magazine cover inspires me in the way of making it look full so that readers are attracted to the many different things going on inside. Although, I shouldn’t put too much on there because it may look crowded.
The other two magazines I have picked for my research are the opposite of the first one. They are much more subtle and don’t have a lot of information or sub-titles on their front covers. They are also two different styles. The magazine called ‘you’ has a much more stylish and grown-up look. It doesn’t use bright colours of bold writing. The fonts used are curly and feminine instead of plain and bold. The colours used are generally browns and creams and the front cover celebrity is dressed to fit in with this. There is only one subtitle on this front cover and it is placed in quite an unusual place. Most magazines tend to have their titles at the top and all the subtitles and other features spread over the lower half of the cover. However, this one has been placed right at the top of the cover next to the title. This allows the image to take up more space and not look squashed in amongst the text. I like this effect because I think it looks quite sophisticated and mature. The simple layout and the soft brown and cream combination make it look
quite modern too. The only problem I can see with this magazine cover is that I think it may appeal to females more than males as the cover model is female and the style of the front cover is much more fashion-centred. However, overall I think this cover has an attractive and sophisticated finish to it. The other magazine I picked called ‘Fader’ is similar to the other one except the colours are brighter and make it seem more exciting. Although, there is also little writing so it doesn’t look crowded. The image that is used for the front is different because it is very close up and the image on the front of ‘you’ shows the whole body and only fills a small amount of the page.
Overall, I prefer the less complicated covers as although they don’t tell the reader as much about the magazine as the other one does, I think it looks much more professional and reader-friendly. I would be more likely to use this sort of style on my music magazine.
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