AS Media Studies Foundation Portfolio

School magazine design

Petra Divac

Introduction For my AS media studies coursework, my primary task was

to design a front cover and content page of a school magazine. In order to fulfill the task criteria the magazine will be assembled using original digital images in combination with additional design features in accordance to appropriate design standards. Prior to designing a school magazine I will carry out market research in the form of a questionnaire and existing product analysis. These findings will lead me into a design stage and eventual critical analysis.

Secondary school magazine research

School magazine front cover critical analysis School magazine content page critical analysis

Existing School MagazineFront Cover Critical Analysis

Layout: The layout of “Slam” is organized all around the main image, which shows the magazine is formal. The masthead is positioned at the top, but it is not the first thing the reader sees. The main image the readers would see is the sports players, which would get the attention of anyone who would want to read about basketball. The best selling lines are outlined in black, yellow, and white which is most likely to catch the eye of a reader. The date of this magazine is located across the top of the magazine due to being one of the main reasons this magazine is being sold, and may interest the reader. Language: The language used

on the front cover is short and stands out, which relates to the target audience, in this case, people interested in sports. Which allows the magazine to let the reader know what the magazine is about but not give all information away. Camerawork: The main image is the largest. Reason behind that is so all the text can fit around it even on the background, so readers will know what the magazine is about. The subjects have a relaxed but bold pose, as any other sports player would. Also, they all have serious and relaxed facial expressions. This makes the target audience most likely males looking for sports magazines.

Mode of address: The verbal and visual modes of address communicate with the target audience. What this magazine writes about is straight forward, the players featured in the magazine. The image is of six basketball players from different teams indicating this magazine is about different sports teams, not just one in particular.

Typography: The style of the font on the front cover is in contrast with the masthead. The masthead is a large and bold san-serif font which implies that the magazine has a certain bold element to it, considering it speaks of basketball players but it doesn’t have a specific formality to it. Although the main text that is most likely to catch a readers eye is the mode of address. Color: The color

scheme for “Slam” is black and yellow, these two contrasting colors stand out the most on the front cover of this magazine, The black text stands out from all the color on the players jerseys and the yellow stands out the most from this brick wall background and reflects in contrast with all the colors of the jerseys.

Mise-en-scene: The subjects are sitting on basketballs or standing next to one another, their wardrobe of choice also differs one from the other. This shows that all of the players come from opposing teams, also showing the target audience (males) what sport the magazine is about. Also, for the main reason that the target audience can in some way relate to the players, if they train or watch the sport.

Camerawork: The main image, the largest one, is in the center of the magazine so that all other text and the masthead can fit around it. Also, so that the reader will know what he/she will be reading about. All three subjects have a relaxed pose and appear to be joyful, which will make the reader, most likely a teen, feel welcome to reading the magazine. Layout: The layout of “Time” magazine is all organized around the main image, which shows the magazine to be a formal one. The masthead is positioned at the top, but it is not most noticeable to the reader. The main image a reader would see is three high schoolers, one even dressed as a cheerleader. Which is most likely going to get the attention of the target audience, high schoolers. The best selling lines are in orange which are colors that will get the attention of a reader. The date is located in small/fine print in the top right hand corner and the price is not located on the cover. Color: The color scheme for “Time” magazine is orange, white, and red. These three contrasting colors stand out the most on the dark background of the magazine . The orange and white text stands out the most on the different colors of the students clothing, and the red stands out the most on the black background, where the masthead is.

Language: The language used on the front cover is short and bold, which causes it to stand out the most, and might be likely to catch a high schoolers attention, also telling them what the magazine is about. Mode of address: The visual and verbal modes of address communicate most with the target audience (high schoolers). What the magazine write of is straight forward, life in high school. The image is three high school students, one is a cheerleader , the other two look like two average high school students. Indicating this magazine has been written from different points of view, not just one students’. Typography: The style of the font is serif and the type of font is very formal and is associated with “Time “ magazine. The masthead is written in a very formal manner, giving the reader an idea of that the magazine might have some formality to it. The fact that the masthead is large and in a bright color contrasts it from the background and brings it out to get someone’s attention. Mis-en-scene: The subjects are all sitting one next to each other, they all seem to have their arm around the male which shows some type of unity and togetherness at the school. Also, it shows the different things the school offers, in this case, sports, maybe being their hardest and most developed aspect in the school. All three of them are young which gets the target audience (teens) to relate to the magazine.

Existing School MagazineFront Cover Critical Analysis

Existing School MagazineContent Page Critical Analysis

Camerawork: The film wheel being the focal picture of this content page, shows that the photos are medium long group shots of the primary and secondary students that go to the school. These images show the different varieties students have at school to choose from for school activities. It may even interest the reader, or what they are looking for in a school magazine. Although, on top of all of this the pictures are not clear, the reader will not be able to see them clearly. Typography: All the font is the same on the whole page so it gives it a uniform look, it does not change through out the whole page, nothing sticks out. The only way something is noticed is through the colorful banners used to make a difference between the title of a section and the text. Color: The color on this page is consisted of gray- being the background and the banners being bright colors like purple, blue, orange and red. All these colors both contrast from each other and from the gray background. They banners also represent a different group of information. Bright colors are used to differentiate the text from the gray background. The bright colors may also be used to catch the audiences eye.

Layout: The layout of this page is very organized and set in the way so that the roll of film is on the left, and so that it can fit as well as all the pictures on the inside of the “film”. The main image the reader sees when they look at this page is the “film” which is the main focus of this page along with art. Because it is all organized, it is easy to get around the content page and find what you’re looking for. It is also easy to see that this whole magazine is about a school of the arts. Mode of address: This content page reflects what the inside of this magazine will mostly be about – the arts. This content page is quite helpful and will help the reader find what they are looking for.

Language: The language on this cover page is appropriate for the target audience because it rhymes, catches their attention, and is quite easy to read. It is easy to find your way around the content page and magazine, it also intrigues you to read more to see what else the students have come up with.

Mis-en-scene: The colors of this content page all stand out, bringing the attention to the audience. The colorful banners show you what to look at in particular, because they are contrasted from the gray background. The way everything is placed indicates that this magazine is formal, and for a school of the arts.

Existing School Magazine Content Page Critical Analysis

Layout: The layout of this page very simple and organized. The heading of this page is serf and slanted which gives the magazine a certain formality. There are two pictures, one on the left hand side and one on the right. The one on the right is more to show an article written on the girl in the picture, while the one on the left is another article written on two people. This tells the reader these are the two most interesting articles of the magazine. It is all very organized and easy to get around.Mode of address: The informal language of this content page is something that the target audience will be able to read and relate to. The way this content page is written is quite helpful for the reader to find his/her way around the inside of the magazine. Language: The language used is in style and student friendly which will attract the attention of the target audience, which are in this case, high school students. The language is simple and is easy to read and understand for any high school student. From the information gathered on this content page it can be considered that this magazine is for high school students all ages.

Mis-en-scene: The background color, white, gives this page a sense of bareness most people try and avoid using the color white, in this magazine it is too plain and you can tell that this magazine was done quite quickly and the white background gives it an informality. The purple and black catch your eye the most. The purple is a neutral purple so that the black from the text can stand out in a nice and elegant manner. The way everything is position on the page makes the reader intrigued the most in the first two picture he/she might see.

Color: The color scheme of this magazine is fairly simple, the three main colors used are white- as the background, purple- for the banners, and black- for all the text. The combination of purple and black is a combination that causes the text to stand out the most from both the background and purple banners. Also, black and white contrast the most which make the text more readable and noticeable.

Typography: All the font is the same throughout most of the page so it gives the page a formal look. Nothing on this page is separated apart from the two pictures which will catch the readers eye the most. Everything else is in its own way a subheading in contrast to the two main pictures.

Camerawork: In this content page you can tell that the picture in the top right hand corner was photo shopped. The focal picture of this content page is about the girl in the top right hand corner, it is shown to be a medium long shot, while the other picture is a two medium shot. These images show what the main idea of the magazine will be about, in this case, high school students.

Typography Analysis

The typography for “marie claire” magazine is very sophisticated and bold as are most women magazines. This san serif masthead represents elegance, indicating it is a modern magazine, it also puts an emphasis on the magazine itself. The black color used for this masthead represents as said- elegance, power and formality. Even though it is a neutral color it is the strongest out of all neutrals. Black is commonly used in very elegant magazine designs, and can either be modern, conventional, or unconventional, depending on other colors used on the front page. The color black also helps convey the sense of sophistication and mystery in design. This magazine does, in this case, have a black masthead which shows the target audience is for sophisticated, and educated women who are interested in fashion, the female world, what is in style, how other females around America live, etc.. In other cases the magazine can change colors of the masthead depending on other colors on the front cover, which occurs often.

The way “Woman’s Health” magazine uses this serif font represents it as bold and sophisticated. This easily recognizable font face can be categorized as a serif category. This font symbolically conveys traditional, formal and professional attributes. This choice of font is purposely selected because of the design attributes it carry's which are symbolically transferable to the magazine itself and because of the seriousness of the topic featured and covered within this magazine. The symbolical use of this blue color is life, water, the sky, etc. The use of this blue is because this is a shade of dark blue and it supports the fact that it is a color best used for corporate sites and designs where boldness and strength are important. That’s why in most commercials blue is used for representing a liquid for example. rather than another color.

The “Billboard” magazine masthead is . The magazine was created in the 1800s but wasn’t even a music magazine until the 1950s and then officially took its modern day name in the 1960s. The masthead was inspired by pop art, and didn’t start to change until the 1960s. In 1966 the magazine changed its logo to the one they use in present day. The masthead featured lettering with strong circular forms that suggested records, (now CDs) also using bright colors to catch peoples attention and to give the magazine more of a fun and relaxed look, considering it is a magazine to do with performing arts, in this case, music.

Typography AnalysisAdobe Gothic Std B

Bernard MT Condensed Freestyle

Script“Adobe Gothic Std B” is a san serif font that has a very bold, sophisticated and strong feel to it. As a result to this typography having such a strong and sophisticated feel to it, it is most likely to be seen on the title for a book cover, or a work magazine cover. It is presumably targeting the audience of the working class, meaning someone in college, a business man or woman, even lawyers, etc. Being the bold it Is, it is most likely going to catch the readers eye, because it stands out among other fonts.

This is very modern because it is condensed and it belongs in a serif category because of its boldness it is easy to read and its visually appealing and attractive. This type of typography could be used on large scale print advertising such as billboards which promote products, events or services that have contemporary elements and urban feels to it.

This style font belongs to the serif font category. This font can best be described as either relaxed and edgy or as a sophisticated font. This font can be used in both contexts because it depends on the rest of the content on the magazine cover or of the magazine in general. This typography is most likely for a female target audience, so it is likely to be found in a women's fashion magazine, or maybe even as a health magazine, or arts and culture, even home and gardening. It is a very pleasing font which will draw the attention of the target audience.

Preliminary Research Into Existing School Magazines

Market Research: Questionnaire and pie charts analysis

Sample of magazine questionnaire

School Magazine Questionnaire Sample

12%8%

16%

20%12%

8%

24%

Q 1. What school year are you in?

Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10Year 11 Year 12 Year 13

64%

36%

Q 2. Do you like reading magazines?

Yes No

8%

40%52%

Q 3. How often do you read magazines?

Not At all Not So often Often

60%

40%

Q 4. Would you read a school magazine?

Yes No

19%

19%

4%19%

27%

8% 4%

Q 5. What would you like to read about in a school mag-

azine?Friendship LoveSchool Advice Life In Other Parts Of The WorldSports FashionOther

15%15%

15%19%

35%

Q 6. What color scheme would you like to see most

in a school magazine?Black&Red Blue&Orange Blue&WhiteGreen&Yellow Grey&Blue

7%13%

20%27%

33%

Q 7. What font do you think is most suitable for a school

magazine?1 2 3 4 5

20%

40%

40%

Q 8. Would freebies en-courage you to read a

school magazine?Yes No Maybe

68%

28%4%

Q 10. Would you like to be apart of the school magazine commit-

tee?Yes Maybe Never

44%

8%

40%

8%

Q 9. How often would you like for a school magazine to be released?

Weekly Daily Monthly Yearly

Questionnaire SummaryWhile closely analyzing my questionnaire findings I am able to visualize and have a clear content and design idea how my final school magazine is supposed to look like. My main question was if secondary students of my school would like to read a school magazine, 60% said they would. According to my findings it was pleasantly drawn to my attention that the students would most like to read about sports and life in other parts of the world. Most students even chose the colors of the school, gray and blue. Our school color is blue and it is the most powerful color as well, incorporating it into my magazine would show school spirit, even to people coming from around the world to visit for future students. Grey is an elegant color my peers chose, it compliments the blue color and it is the most pleasant to the eye so that the images and written text stand out from the background and are easy to see and read. According to the student needs the weekly magazine could be published on a weekly basis but due to production and design costs and the time scale I think it’s not feasible, therefore I recommend that the magazine be released monthly and the school newsletter on a weekly basis.

Magazine Design Color SchemeI chose to design my magazine with this color scheme, due to these colors being most favored by my schools students, as shown in the questionnaire. The masthead of my magazine will be in gray, as it is a color that is neutral to both genders of students, and the background will be blue as this is a color that is calm and pleasant for the eyes. Also, to incorporate my two main school colors in the magazine. The rest of the colors in my color scheme will be used for other featured articles on the front cover. The green, being a color that is calming and a down-to-earth color that also has the same effect as yellow, which is the brightest and most energizing color out of all warm colors, will be used to state something important and to grab the audiences attention for that article, or just to be used in subheadings depending on what the article is about, and what part of the audiences attention, male or female, does it have to attract. For example, green for sports for males, and yellow for fashion, to make a statement for females.

Initial Idea Magazine Cover and Content Page draft 1

Initial Idea Magazine Cover and Content Page draft 2

Photo Shoot Preparation The photo I will have on my front cover is of 2 to 4 students of

different ages and of mixed gender and ethnicity depicting our school diversity. The students will be standing together pointing up towards the sky showing that the sky is the limit for the new generations of children that are growing and learning at our school.

The images on my content page will also consist of children of all ages doing different school activities that we have such as playing sports, being in debate club, learning different languages, and a group of students reading magazines about different topics such as fashion, sports, movies, or informational, etc.

School Magazine Front Cover and Content Page Photo-shoot

To be used for content page

School Magazine Front Cover and Content Page Photo-shoot

To be used in front cover of magazine

Content Page Final Pictures:Art

Content Page Final Pictures:UN Day

Content Page Final Pictures:Graduation Ceremony

Content Page Final Pictures:Sports Day

Second Draft Front Cover Analysis

On my front cover the things that need to be improved is the masthead needs to be tighter because I am using space that could be used for something else. I need to add the date or an issue number on the top right hand side next to the masthead. I also need to minimize the graphical images I have used, because it looks bundled up. I need to add a cover line, or heading with the school website and school name along with the magazine, also to re-arrange my graphical elements to make my cover look more enticing and inviting. “September Issue” is taking up too much space and should be moved because it has not been placed right. It has also come to my attention that the font is all the same on the cover page. My main image needs to be changed, because the fading of the image is too drastic in relation to my background, it would be better if I used lens flare in Photoshop so that the picture is in the center. I also need to rearrange my photos and cover lines to be geometrically places around the main image. My flash button needs to be more noticeable, as well as “Fashion News” because it doesn’t stand out. “Prima Shout” is in the normal school color (gray) as well as the background (blue).

Second Draft Content Page Analysis

On my content page I need to switch the color of my background, from blue to white. As well as, the content page title, it needs to be changed and added instead of a direct masthead. More text underneath article titles either information, a punch line, or a summary. I need to add new titles that in someway change it from the cover page. I need to align my page numbers and topics. I need to have a shorts summary under my “extra”. I need to make it more organized and the font color of the cover page and the content page is quite different. I will continue to use some original pictures as well as incorporating more. I need to re-order it to make the content page more easy to navigate around.

On the basis of my analysis using the information in regards to good and bad design elements based on a previous draft I have created a final draft for the cover and content page.

Final Front Cover and Content Page Draft

Final Front Cover and Content Page Draft

Preliminary Task EvaluationMy preliminary task was to create a school magazine front cover and content page.Firstly, I analyzed two magazine cover and content pages to see what I would incorporate in my magazine. I used media forms and techniques in this task, mainly on the layout of my magazine. I constructed it based on my school magazine, giving my magazine a sophisticated, bold, edgy, element to it. The typography on the front cover is consistent with other typography the target audience has seen that is in style now, that is not difficult to read, which students will relate to, and enjoy reading. The images displayed in the magazine are both my original photos and photos used from previous school events. The subject of my magazine is about school and also has many different topics also school related such as schooling or life in other countries.  I used media language in my magazine. Using the right shot type will get the target audience to feel connected to the magazine, which will intrigue them to read the magazine. The mis-en-scene being the three subjects pointing to the sky means the reader can relate to the subject as sky is the limit for the target audience at this age. The difference ethnicity, age, and choice of clothing creates a casual and laidback look for the magazine and shows the target audience confidence of the students on my cover. The layout is organized over and around the main image which will visually captivate the desired readers. The font used varies on my front cover, it varies based on what the article is about. The color arrangement is a mixture of four or five simple colors that contrast from each other, and represent the article that is colored, and in order to attract both males and females. The magazine enlightened the audience through numerous modes of address, the image being young students, from all around the world to show we are an international school. Although, the language is informal because teenagers now-a-days communicate this way, and would not be interested in formal language. This way the target audience can connect with my magazine. What makes this magazine most enticing is the articles found inside. It will get students interested in various topics because it incorporates topics teenagers are most interested in at this age. The magazine has different things varying from magazine activities such as horoscopes, and school related topics such as ‘study tips’. The magazine also includes ‘sports news’ and ‘fashion tips’ which encourage both genders to get involved with the magazine.

Throughout doing this task I have advanced in many ways, some being, I learned how to differ a great magazine cover from one that is not so appealing to the eye, I also learned a great deal of new vocabulary that will be very helpful in the future. I learned to plan more accurately, as I had to organize my pie charts, graphs, the magazine cover and content page in the process as well. All in all, I am satisfied with my front cover and content page. If I had the opportunity to re-do the whole task, I would have done some features in a different way, overall I am very satisfied with my front cover and content page.