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I started to think about what I was going to put on my front page and made my first draft for my magazine.
After making my first draft I got a rough idea of what I wanted on my front cover.
I also now knew that I wanted to have a photograph on the front that corresponded with my lead story which was about going to UNI. From my research I learnt that I wanted to put this in the middle of the page.
I wanted the typeface of the ‘Skylight Brasserie’ to stand out amongst the page, making it a kicker. I think the font I have used makes it look luxurious and fancy which is a reflection on the feel of the restaurant.
I think I might change the bottom of the page and give it a box-out so that its a different colour from the rest of the page. I want to do this because the features advertised are whats usually in my magazine and aren’t to do with current affairs.
I spent today being trained on Photoshop. I had used it before but there was a lot of things I didn’t know how to use.
I learnt how to select a layer using the magnetic lasso tool, and then to create a new one via cut. I was then putting these layers on to other pictures to create something humorous.
This is some of the pictures I produced.
As well as thinking about titles for my magazine I also brain stormed articles that would be suitable for a college magazine targeted at unisex students between the ages of 16 and 19.
This is what I came up with:
- Help pages (Relationships, Health, Home, Careers, College work)
- Tried and Tested (Gadgets, Beauty)
- News (General, College, Celebrity)
- Upcoming events (College, Locally)
- Reviews (Books, Films, Music, Universities)
- Exclusive Interview (Someone at university, Young entrepreneur)
- Subscription
- Exclusive article (College wear, New at college, Money management)
- Real life stories
- Horoscopes
- Competitions
- Academic (Revision tips, exams etc, achievements
I presented my inital ideas to my class and got good feedback.
I planned some titles that I thought would be suitable for my college magazine
I came up with:
I decided to go with HC as this is simple and relates with the college name Harlow College. I also thought it would be easier to create a professional looking logo with these initials and also it would look best on the front page.
After looking at the contents pages of my 3 magazines this is the conclusion I’ve come to.
I wanted to research contents pages in men’s, women’s and children’s magazines and find our what kind of things were in the magazine, the colour schemes and images used.
Obviously the number of pages in a children’s magazines was a lot lower than one targeted at teenagers and adults. I found that there are usually around 100 pages in a weekly magazine and about 35-45 articles. I also noticed that the men and women’s magazines I looked at both split their articles into five groups.
There were different colours used for things such as page numbers, captions, cover stories and the contents. This broke up the page and made it easy to find certain articles.
I also noticed that an editor’s letter was on the contents page of all the magazines except the men’s.
There were quite a variety in images and there were between 7 and 17 on the contents page. The children’s magazine had an image to go with every article, this looked good but I think would crowd the page if there were more articles.
Other things I liked in the magazines I researched were; a competition where you had to find something in the magazine, facts at the bottom of each page and the next issue being advertised.
From what I’ve learnt from my front cover and contents page research I now would like to be able to use things that I think worked in my production of a magazine.
After looking at the front covers of my 3 magazines this is the conclusion I’ve come to.
I wanted to research front pages of magazines and see what is common and what works well. The most popular colours used on the front covers of the magazines I looked at were white, yellow and black. They all used colour photos and had between eight and eleven images on the cover.
It seems that most magazines use two or three colours for they’re colour scheme. The images used for the men’s magazine were of girl’s and football, the women’s magazine had celebrities and clothes and the children’s magazine had TV characters. I found it all very cliche.
The main article advertised were always in the middle of all the magazine covers which makes sense as it will draw your attention and be the first thing you see.
I also noticed that the font used in all were big, bold, and simple making text clear to read.
Other things I liked about the front covers were; how some of the articles were in a star shaped box to make them stand out and orange was used in one of the magazines which was bright and in your face.
I looked at the contents pages of 3 magazines and recorded my findings.
Zoo magazine (mens)
How many pages in the magazine?
108
How many pages are the contents?
2
How many articles are there?
37
What are the groups the articles have been split into?
News, Sport, Girls, Features, and Bonus bits
What are the colours like?
Big red Zoo logo with white letters
Caption for photos yellow, white and red
Contents in black and red and white page numbers
How many pictures are there?
17
Is there an editor’s letter?
No
Other notes?
The articles have alternating bold font
Has a competition where you find something in the magazine
Has pictures from the office
‘Pub fact’ at the bottom of the pages
Notes about the whole magazine?
The ‘pub fact’ on each page generally relates to the articles
Has jokes, gadgets, cars and TV guide
Has ‘Zoo News, Zoo Sport, Zoo Girls’ etc at corner of page
Reveal magazine (women’s)
How many pages in the magazine?
100
How many pages are the contents?
1
How many articles are there?
45
What are the groups the articles are split into?
Celebs, Real lives, Fashion & Beauty, Life, Love & Sex, Plus
What are the colours like?
Red and white with a bit of yellow
Black and white for groups
Red for cover stories
Black for rest
Page numbers in red
How many pictures are there?
7
Is there an editor’s letter?
Yes
Other notes?
Next to articles that were on the cover it says ‘COVER STORY’
Competition advertised in corner
Next issue advertised
Notes about the whole magazine?
Highlights words throughout
Different colour schemes for different parts of the magazine
Showtime (children’s)
How many pages in the magazine?
32
How many pages in the contents?
1
How many articles are there?
9
What are the groups the articles are split into?
None
What are the colours like?
All different
A lot of green
Lots of colour photos
How many pictures are there?
12
Is there an editor’s letter?
Yes
Other notes?
Pictures for every article
Minimal writing
Competition
Notes about the whole magazine?
Something crops up on some pages in the magazine to suggest fun, physical activities
Big bright
