Evaluation

Evaluation

After carefully planning and researching into magazines and constructing drafts I came up with this design which I am very happy with. It has all the conventions which It required and looks professional in my opinion. The slogan used throughout the magazine took me a while to think of because i wanted something a bit cheesy because these saying are more easily remembered. I though of two other slogan names which were : ‘Giving you more’ and ‘Inside information’ but they just didn’t have the same ring to them for my magazine. I also considered a few magazine names except my final one : ‘WYKE review’ such as ‘Wyke times’, ‘Wyke Mail’ and ‘WYKE magazine’. I preferred the one I chose for the final draft because it is more appropriate as the magazine is reviewing what’s happened in the first term and it’s more unique than the obvious names already in use like times, guardian or just ‘magazine’. All the way through the magazine I will be making the ‘Wyke’ part of the title bigger than the ‘review’ bit in ‘WYKE review’ because it makes the institution I’m representing  clearer and shows the importance of the college through making it bigger and more imposing than the fact it’s a review. I changed my mind a few times during the planning stages and I’m very happy with the outcome.

Front cover:
My front cover contained my favourite story headline which I will use for the interview of the ‘Wyke wonder kids’. This is a big image which will attract attention and the banner head is cheesy for the same reason as the slogan and will stick in reader’s minds. I chose not to use any green although it will be used throughout my magazine because it didn’t look as good as the purple and white version used in my front cover when trying them out. It wasn’t as attractive and I wouldn’t be as interested in it to pick it up. Again I used Photoshop to make my masthead  and banner head which are big and eye-catching. I kept the bottom bit the same which I will all the way through because I think it’s important to have information for the audience. The picture represents the institution well because it shows an extra curricular activity in which college attendants are involved with and having success in. The picture is very good at getting people to pick it up as It seems a relaxed and enjoyable background were they are all smiling and enjoying themselves. The issue number and price as well as bar code add to the conventions of this magazine and finish it off.

Contents:
I chose this contents layout because after  constructing my draft for the front cover which I wasn’t entirely happy with, I researched into a few different magazines just looking at their front covers and contents to see what a successful magazine had in it. This gave me ideas of how to set out my contents page and allowed me to input my own ideas for the magazine. I chose these colours because they represent the institution which the magazine is about (Wyke college) by using their recognised colours. After deciding to use these colours I then thought about how I could mix them together to get the best possible results. I tried a few methods on Photoshop but in the end used the brush tool to get my purple lines on the green background I created using the paint bucket tool. I liked this idea and stuck with it. This was the basis of my magazine contents page. After taking many photos to compare which was the best and most appropriate ones I chose ones which I thought represented the institution (Wyke college) best which was a relaxed atmosphere and smiling students who were willing to share their college experiences with fellow students. This was easily achieved with medium close up shots with one of my models cameras. I think one of the most effective aspects of my magazine is the different font styles and sizes on the contents page to make it a little more interesting and eye-catching instead of all one style and size. Also, I think the little purple circles with white text inside work very well because they give the reader a clear and easy to understand reference to what story the picture is from. This was an  effect I created using Photoshop again. The purple background for text and white writing maintained a good house style throughout the contents page which will be continued throughout the magazine. I made sure my contents page appealed to my target audience of everyone associated with Wyke college by using bright funky colours to attract attention and used the college’s colour scheme to help readers instantly relate to the magazine. I also used the website address along the bottom of the page to inform my audience about how to get further information about their college. I also chose to make two photos different from the rest by using Photoshop to manipulate the image into an octagon shape to make it different and stand out. I took a picture of me and a model from a birds eye view but maintained the medium close up shot. This linked very well with that stories name : ‘A different dimension’ because this picture is in a different dimension to the rest of the photographs.

Final designs

Photo shoot

This is an image I would rotate to show the Beth standing up. I like this image and I'm considering using it although the arms crossed would send out the wrong signals about the college life here.

This is the picture I used on the draft front cover which I think I will probably change in the end because have a few other ideas but this certainly shows what i want to be represented by the student at college.

This is another good image which I could include after cropping but again I'm not sure due to the up tight appearance of the model because it was extremely cold!

This is another image I considered for my front cover but decided against it because I have a better idea for the cover to look more like a current magazine on the market which is successful.

This photo was taken by me on the coach to Bradford yesterday which I will be using for my media trip page in my magazine. I will be changign the shape of the photo to make it an octagon which will make it a bit different and mix things up.

I like this photo but will not be using it as i want a good background that can relate to college whereas at someone's house it can't.

This photo is a medium close-up but the crossed arms again doesn't represent a relaxed college society which I want to convey.

This photo doesn't really match any of my story lines so I can't use this.

This is a good phot I like but once again she crossed her arms!

I like this photo but it's not appropriate for my magazine.

This is a good photo I think I will use for my front page.

I like this photo and may use it but mayake another similar that shows less height difference.

This is a useful photo but is too blurry.

This is the same photo as abopve but clearer and will definately be used for my main story.

This is the photo I'm hoping to use on the front cover but a clearer copy.

This is a good photo I am very happy with and will definately use it on my front cover.

This photo will be used for the contents page as it's clear and relates to my story about this person.

Analysis of Grimsby Institute magazine

Grimsby institute magazine

This front cover works well in my opinion because it looks modern, its colours stand out and the image relates to college attenders with the non-uniform pictures. The colour scheme also works well in places because all the block colours look good together as well as being eye catching but the text on the bottom half of the screen isn't that clear and could have been made clearer by using a better contasting font. Also, on this magazine their is no price, date or barcode and the taken photo used on the front page doesn't fit the cartoon effect image for the background that the student used making it look a bit out of place. I think the bannerhead space is used effectively with the website address because it immediately catches the eye and contains information of how to access the college website. The magazine name also works well because it's big enough to clearly see but doesn't look too big. The grey patches in between the letters of the title don't look very good in my opinion because i don't think they need to be there to make an impact and they look a bit random. The slogan used on most pages of this magazine is very clever and used to good effect. 'The word on the street' ties in with the clothes the man on the front page is wearing due to the stereotype of people with caps and baggy clothes which i think is very cleverly used to relate to everyone and makes it sound like this magazine has all the gossip from everywhere in the magazine to interest everyone on the street which is all college attenders. The ideas behind this magazine are clear from the front cover and run through to the contents page because everything is bright, eye-catching and the cartoon effect is appealing to kids which draws their attention to the magazine which informs them on the contents page and banner head of contact info if needed. This colour scheme and cartoon effect represents a modern college which I'm sure most teenagers would like to be at when there's a lot going on like in this magazine.

This contents page looks good but doesn't keep the house style of the front page like the East riding magazine does. The pictures used in this contents page don't seem relevant because we are not told what they are showing us or what story their from. However the text is all multi-coloured and stands out well and is easy to read. However, at the bottom of the page there is another random square block of colour which doesn't symbolise or mean anything, I just think it was used to fill more space. There is also a blue line down the middle of the contents page which clearly should have been edited out before using it for the contents page because it draws my eye instantly towards it which is an area which next time could be improved. Overall I think this is a good magazine cover and contents page because it would appeal to me and definitely meets the criteria set. The target audience for this magazine appears to be mainly towards the students because of the slogan which we instantly relate to teenagers but will also interest anyone to do with the college just like the Eat riding magazine did.

Analysis of East riding magazine

East riding magazine

Unlike the Grimsby institute magazine, this front cover does not work very well because the denotation is the picture of students in Berlin during winter. However the front cover says the magazine is for spring not winter which suggests the front cover was rushed and not very well thought out. The connotations of winter are cold and snowing (which it is on the front cover picture) which contradict the spring date of this magazine.The picture also has a page number on it and looks alot like something from the contents page, it's also a fairly dark photo with little bits of white in it which isn't very eye catching or attractive. This magazine also has the price on the front cover which looks professional however the price says free which in my opinion gives the whole magazine a cheap feel instantly, although the price is a convention of a magazine, when it's free there doesn't really have to be text saying it and it could be un-priced. Also, the main headline and the rest of the text is all the same colour which makes the name of the magazine look less eye catching than it should and takes attenion away from the name of the magazine which isn't a good feature in my opinion. Despite a fairly unsuccesful front cover, the colours of the magazine work well and are easily read because of a good contrast in colour. The name of the college in the bottom right hand corner looks good in my opinion but would have had a greater impact if they would have used a different colour such as the green used for the contents page so it stood out and you know who had made it as well as keeping a house style through both the contents page and front cover. There isn't much text to attract the reader on the first page apart from the masthead which shows that they haven't thought about the language in this magazine very well because there isn't much going on on the front page too get the reader's attention. When looking at this front cover it seems as though the college has no character because of the boring black and white house colours, this could have been utilized more effectively by using a better colour scheme to show the college in a better light. I think there's a clear message behind this front cover which is to inform everyone to do with the college about what they do to educate their students (e.g going on a trip to Berlin) which represents the magazines ideology although this picture represents Berlin to be dull and boring and would put me off going on trips there in that weather because of the way it's presented on the front cover.

Although I disliked the front cover of this magazine I think the contents page was well thought out and designed. It looks a lot more well planned than the front cover and you can clearly see the diference in the amount of time spent on each page. I like the pictures taken out of a few pages from the contents page which looks good and works well although the page number on the picture somwhere would have made it far more easy to distinguish what the picture was about and what page it was taken from. The only other criticism is that some of the text next to the page number is made smaller and squashed up to fit it on with the page number which ruins the effect of the list with all the names and location of stories in the magazine. The layout and colour scheme is effective but I think the green should have been used somewhere on the front cover aswell to in keep with the house style. Also, a few of the pictures were blurry which didn't look professional and wasn't as easy as the front page cover to see.Overall I think this magazine is not up to as good standard as the Grimsby institute one which contained a banner head and had more information to link you further into the college than this magazine

Drafts

This is my draft of the front cover, I purposely made it a little empty because I knew I could improve it later on. I like the image however it is a little dark and would need brightening up a lot to attract the readers attention. I like the way the banner head has turned out as it stands out well but I will make it fit further across the page in my proper front cover idea. Since producing this draft I have looked at a few magazines on the market to see how they set their cover and contents out to give me an idea of what successful elements I must include in my final front cover design. I defiantly need to have more going on because it's not very eye-caching at the minute which is an effect I want to achieve. This image represents the institution (wyke) in the magazine to be calm and tranquil although at night. I also need to include a bar code in my final draft and a price to meet the set criteria for this piece of work. I got my model (Bethany Hirons) to wear casual clothes like she would for college because I believe this is important to get the true feel of this college across which is relaxed and the student is in control with relaxed behaviour and smiling at the camera.


I am going to use this bar code I created for the final draft but am unsure as yet were I will place it.I will also be adding a price which will be £1.00 and affordable for all students and staff.

This is my drafted design  layout for my contents page which I am very happy with and will be using for my proper contents page but will be adding photos to the unused green space with some form of caption to indicate what story the picture is from to entice more readers. I'm also happy with the names of my stories but I could add more to it but it will depend how well I use the picture space at first. At this stage I had also decided upon my layout for the contents page and the slogan which is a little corny and cheesy but I think it will attract more readers because they will want to know what they're being given. I'm also very happy with the wyke colours house style and I think it was most appropriate to use them for this specific magazine because they represent the institution perfectly and give it a bright, upbeat feel which shows what good character the college possesses. I'm also going to stick with the exclamation marks at the end of each story line because I think it gives it more of an impact!

This is my next progression of the contents page before I finalise it. Ive added photos and a few more stories and I'm going to add a form of page number to the picture to show what story it's from.

Preliminary excercise brief

This part of the coursework requires me to produce the front cover and contents page of a college magazine. It must contain photographs i have taken and a masthead with appropriately placed text. Also, i must show time management, all work i have done on layouts or drafts, that i have researched similar products and show that i have used photoshop(image manipulation programme) to produce it. The front cover must include photographs taken by me with a medium close-up picture used for the front cover. This task will show how effectively i can use and understand media conventions while making my magazine and analysing other ones.