Magazine Mock Cover and Contents page Evaluation

Evaluation

We were asked to make a school magazine cover and contents page that had to do with our college Leyton sixth form.  This task helped us develop skills that would come in handy with our music magazines.

Magazine Cover

Image

We had to take a photo of a student in a medium close up form which was from the upper waste and up. I think the medium close up seemed appropriate for the magazine because it took up most of the page which seemed relevant. The student in the picture is looking at the camera which I think is a good way of engaging with the audience and drawing them in.  I had used a canon 12mnp camera and had taken the photograph in the hallway where light had been exposed on the student which highlighted the students face.  

Layout

The layout of the magazine seems to look like a typical magazine arrangement. This is because of the information I had gathered in which I learnt what makes a magazine look appropriate and what it needs. I learnt where to put cover lines in appropriate places so that when it is on a magazine shelf, the cover lines on the left is what attracts the audience so I tried to make the teasers seem catchy. The cover lines are well lined together so it seems professional as opposed to making it look messy if they were put in various places. One of the main cover lines, ‘Geek it up’ anchors the picture of the student which I think is a good feature to have in the magazine. It anchors the picture in the sense that the student is wearing big glasses that look ‘geek like’ which reflects the text.

Colour scheme and font

For the masthead, I made it bold so it could stand out as it is one of the main features on the front cover. The masthead is shown to be dark green which contrasts well with the image, making it stand out even more. I chose the colour because it seemed to go well with the image and would attract a bigger target audience, the reason being, if it happened to be a pastel colour e.g. lilac, then the female audience would find the magazine more appealing. This wouldn’t be appropriate for a college magazine so I went for a more elusive colour, which I think works well with the colour scheme. The colour scheme consists of three colour, dark green, orange and white. I think these three colours work well together and don’t just attract one group of a target audience but a variety. I chose orange and white because they contrasted well with each other and looked bold against the background. I only used three colours because it makes the layout seem more formal and professional as well as properly put together. The font I used for the cover lines was franklin gothic heavy which I think looked formal and well used as well as relevant for a college magazine cover. If I used an italic or curly font, the cover would look inappropriate and completely irrelevant. For the masthead, I used the font Copperplate gothic light. This ‘gothic’ font contrasted well with the cover line and made them seem well put together. 

 

Contents Page

Images

I went around the college and took pictures of students doing things, such as, using the computers and studying in the library. I took various shots of pictures ranging from close up to long shots so I could show the college surroundings which seemed relevant for a contents page. I used a canon 12 mnp camera for these shots making the images look clear and professional which is important for a magazine to make it look formal.

Layout

The layout of the contents page looks like a typical contents page you would get in a magazine which I think is appropriate.  I have set the contents page out on a double page spread with sections that categorise what is held in the magazine. The sections included are ‘on the cover’ which will include the features that I have on the cover. The contents page also includes regulars which helps create a pattern of what is featured in the publication. I added information underneath the sub headings to elaborate on what that individual article is about. This helped the layout look more like a contents page as that is what you generally see in contents pages.  

Colour Scheme and Font

I have used a colour scheme for my contents page which consists of the colours, maroon, green and white. Green has connotations that make you think of the environment and greenery which I think is appropriate for a school magazine. I thought the maroon and white contrasted well with the green, white helped make the contents page look less dull. I used these colours so that they seem relevant for a wider audience if both male and female, the reason being, if I used pastel colours, a female audience would be able to relate to it more. The font I used for the masthead is Perpetua Titling MT. The font seemed simple and suitable and contrasted well with the fonts I used for the other texts for the subheadings etc. the other font included on the page is Myriad web pro. I think this font also seemed appropriate because it was simple and relevant to a school magazine as opposed to other fonts, for example, a curly/ italic font would look too formal or feminine for a general school magazine.

 

 

What I could improve  

I am generally happy with my mock cover and contents page but feel as if I could have added or improved a few things. I think my cover seemed a bit too simple and I could’ve added more cover lines to it to make it seem more interesting and as if more is going on. Looking back at my contents page, it didn’t seem as attractive as it should of because of the background colour that happened to look like a dull purple/grey colour. However I think the font colours stood out well against it.

Weaknesses and Strengths

I think my weakness throughout this task was that I didn’t have very good Photoshop and InDesign skills and learnt as I went along. I think if I had the advantage of being familiar with these software’s, it would have helped make my mock pages look more attractive and professional.

I think my strength in this task was that I developed skills on how to use Photoshop and InDesign. I learnt as I went along which comes to my advantage in the sense that I have now improved my abilities that will be reflected in my actual magazine features.