Final draft of front Cover

Sketchs of my magazine

Front cover draft

Content page draft

Front cover photographs

I have taken several different photographs that will be used as my front cover and contents page of my magazine.What photography I chose will depend on which of the particular pictures suits the  theme of the magazine which is Christmas and also ties in with the font and colour scheme I have chosen to use for my School magazine.

Locations

Front Of The School

This photography was taken a the the Front of the school building and is the first thing people notice when visiting the school therefore I felt it was appropriate to show a main feature of Beaverwood school. This picture connotes the positive atmosphere of the school and denotes the colour scheme "Blue of the school  considering our logo and uniform this navy blue.There is plenty of light and colour within the photography making it attractable to the reader.

School Library

This Photography was taken outside the new school library . The photo is clear with good lighting . It puts a positive view of the school showing how modern and neatly presented the school is. It also shows the working environment the school children are surrounded by the help them learn.It would also link in with the content of my  magazine as during my questionnaire it showed that students wanted articles included about the new school environment and whether students enjoy the new facilitates, such as the library.

This photography is the main buildings stairwell.The picture its self is quite plain and bland however is different from the other photos I have taken as it gives an insight of the school from the inside and how it is lad out. I felt it could been effect taking a picture when all the students are transferring from one lesson to the next and it would show the reality of the school life for students that attend Beaverwood. 

This photography was taken in the quad which is in the centre of the main school building. The picture is good quality which enables you to see the fine details.In the background of the photography it has the surrounding school building and extenuates the nature and the greenery the school cares for.

Colours

Colour Wheel

 When I was considering the theme of the school magazine I thought about the colour scheme and its significance it has on the reader. For my school magazine, the theme I have chosen is Christmas. Therefore I need to choose suitable colour that links and associate with the theme Christmas. The four main colours are usually white, gold, red and green.

Red- This colour represents happiness, passion and enthusiasm. This links in with the theme of Christmas as it’s a time of joy and happiness. Red in the holly berries represents the blood of Jesus when he died on the cross.

White- This is a neutral colour with this it represents purity. It also links to the winter weather of snow and the coldness of the winter which is when Christmas time falls.

Gold – This colour represents life and the sparkle of the Christmas holiday celebrating the new beginnings. Gold is a warm colour and represents the star the wise men followed.

Green- This colour represents eternal life and the association of nature. The hollies was used the brighten up the dark winter days with the symbol of hope for new beginnings.

When choosing my colour scheme I had to insure they were appropriate for both genders. For instance using pink, bright feminism colours would appeal to boys. My theme of Christmas is targeted to aim at both boys and girls. This is why I felt that the Christmas theme is expectable and it was mixed colours of red, gold and white with attracts to both genders as they are the traditional Christmas colour schemes. When the students completed my questionnaire I found that Christmas Appeals to both genders.

Front cover fonts

There is a wide variety of fonts available for me to use as my masthead, but I have to take in to consideration which will most be suitable for my Magazine as I have chosen the theme of Christmas therefore I feel it is important to link all my aspects of my magazine to my chosen    theme. My font needs to look professional and realistic. I also need to chose my font carefully  as it can affect what informal/ formal to magazine appears to the reader.

4 types of fonts
For my school magazine, my chosen font is Copper Black. I felt this was smart to reflect on the how out view of the school grounds however still informal as I had to be conscious hat it wasn't to formal as I have to remember that my target audience is students, therefore I don’t want to make it to formal and factual as it wont appeal to them. Also the font isn't to powerful that it will take the focus point away from the main image.

Showcard Gothic

I felt that the “Showcard Gothic” font was to over powering for the magazine masthead. The font bold and strong no in keeping with the theme “Christmas” which a holiday which is usually associated with he emotions of joyfulness.

Lucdia Handwriting 

This Font is very elegant and professional and I felt that it was too formal for the specific target audience. The font is very soft and gentle and I would have liked my masthead to being slightly bolder and friendly that it was engage the audiences and link to the Magazines main theme.

Anaylisation of Questionnaire Results

Questionnaire

                                                                   School Magazine Questionnaire

My name is Lauren Smith and I am an AS media student. I have to design a school magazine for my Coursework.And would appreciate if you were to answer the following questions?.

Q1. What do you think is the best name for the school magazine?

A.       Beaverwood Times

B.       Beaverwood News

C.       Beaverwoods Hot Topic

D.       Beaverwoods monthly Update

Q2. How much would you pay for the School Magazine?

A.       Free

B.       10p

C.       20p

D.       30p

Q3. What theme would you like the school magazine to be?

A.      Christmas

B.       Easter

C.       Halloween

D.       Summer

Q4. What articles would you like to be in the school magazine?

A.       GCSE exam results

B.       Upcoming events

C.        Exam Tips

D.       Changes in the school

Q5. How often should the school magazine be realised?

A.       Daily

B.       Weekly

C.        Monthly

D.       Yearly

Q6. Would you be interested in entering competition?

A.       Yes
B.        No

Audeince Theory

The term ‘Target Audience’ for media producers means ‘the audience is an audience that is most relevant and connected to the media product that the company is trying to sell’. Every media text is produced with the intended reader in the mind. When analysing a media text it’s much easier once you have identified the target audience, because then you can start to look for particular features of the text which appeal to that specific target audience.

 It is important therefore that the producer considers the content of the text, making sure that the text is appropriate for their selected target audience. For instance the watershed, this law only allows nudity and swearing to be shown on television after 9 pm as this is when minors have gone to bed. The producer also have to consider then style of presentation, whether the text is attractive to the target audience using the idea of the colour scheme, choosing dominant colour they feel will engage the target audience , such as using bright colour for a produce that is trying to sell to children.

Another way to classify our target audience is through gender.  Both sexes - men and women have completely different interests therefore it is an obvious factor in consider for their target audience. As Women are assumed to like shopping, whereas technology such as cars and phones is assumed to interest men.

Alongside gender we also have to consider how someone’s age will effect what they buy. As depending on your age you have different interest as your maturity levels, so different things will appeal to different age groups. For instance children are interested in cartoons and animated programme with bright colour, good use of pictures and little text. Whereas pensioners are interested in documentaries and factual information about society.

After considering also these aspects with also have to take in account the audience’s social class, this is different grouping depending on how much you earn a year. This helps us who we are designing our project on and the interest of this specific group.  The social classes are categorised as:

Ø A -  higher managerial and professional

Ø B - middle management

Ø C1 - office workers

Ø C2 - skilled manual workers

Ø D - unskilled workers

Ø E - unemployed, unwaged

 The government develop a census every ten years based on the occupational groupings.

Analysation of six-form school magazine

Analysation of  primary school magazine 

Analysation of Magazines

Analysation of school sports magazine

Research into exsiting school magazines

My first media task was to study the conventions of a magazine cover. My study will assist in a later stage as I will be designing and making my own school magazine. Therefore I analysed the cover of 3 school magazines annotating and exploring the conventions of a typical magazine. I found it a struggle to complete the task as I was finding it difficult to come across examples of existing school magazines. This may be because most magazines are produced by media students themselves, so they are not official. Which could be due to the fact that making official magazines is in need of a large budget to produce a successful one. Also there is a low target audience as it’s not targeted to the general public only students. Producing an official magazine would be inefficient as they would not produce a large enough profit to keep the magazine running. As advanced technology has developed over time, schools generally email the local news to the specific people who it concerns. Such as student and Teacher. However I did notice that the school magazines had incorporated some of the conventions of magazines.

·         For instance every magazine I analysed had a “masthead” This is the name of the magazine, it’s at the top of the front cover page and can be clearly seen. It acts as a logo or symbol for the magazine. The colour is usually bright and bold so it is the focus point of the magazine.

·         Another convention that was included in all 3 magazines was a “main image” a single portrait photograph as the central focus of the front cover. The main image has as link to the purpose of the magazine to engage the reader which usually connotes a positive view of the school. The sell lines and other features are usually arranged around it.

·         The different range of colour schemes was used on each magazine. When designing a magazine they have to consider what target audience they are trying to attract and engage and that used usually done with the colour choice of the magazine. For example bright colours would be used to attract young children whereas for elderly adults they will use dull colours as they are more interested in the content of the magazine rather than the presentation.

By studing these 3 school magazine covers, I will then be able to apply the most common conventions to my own personal magazines in the hope it will loook professional and recognisable.

Introduction

My name is Lauren Smith and I am currently studying As media. Over the course of the year I will be executing various different tasks from producing my own school Magazine to designing a music magazine using different types of software from Photoshop to InDesign, Any images I may want to use in the process I will have to gather myself. In my first Blog I will be annotating the conventions of 3 school magazines, this should provide ideas and inspire me with what conventions to incorporate in my own magazine. Looking at other magazines will also provide guidance and insight to present and specialise my magazine to engage my target audience.