front cover and evaluation

This is my final design for my college magazine, the denotation and connatation are both present within, the denotation shows the main image with a student with a grin and a smuggish look about his self, this is the meaning behind the image, the connotation shows that the student happy and must be doing well at the college showing that the college he is present at is a good college with a successfull lifestyle.









Evaluation

My college magazine is targeted at the 16-19 year old cage category, I have done this because the majority of the population that go to college and will read the magazine are the college students of this age group. I gathered research on other magazine to get and idea about the designs and layouts of a contents page and the front cover. The front cover has been laid out in the most professional and thought about way possible. The main image I have used was a mid close up shot, this is a shot which goes from the shoulders upwards. I have also used another image which is long shot type. I have done this to get a variation types of shots. I have used slogans and headlines to give and indication about the college news and information that is found in my magazine, this is important to give the reader an in site into what happens around the college. The front cover has a variation of fonts colours and word sizes.

The main mast head is in a black font and is done in Bodoni MT Black font, I have used this font to get the best and clearest outcome possible. The subheadings about college are done in the font Times New Roman. This is a clear and usable font. I have used black for this because the background is light and the writing stands out. I have also used a white font because I believe it looks more professional and smart, the subheading in white was done in a stencil font. I have used a picture of a ticket from and upcoming event to show the viewers what is happening around the college. I also gathered together information about contents pages, I have designed a lay out which would be most effective for the information layout.

The events that happen within the college are important to state, this is important because it tells the viewer what they want to no and see, it helps the reader make a decision and gives them a sense of knowing.

My Blog has been done to gather my information, research and planning to get the best ideas about what to use and what to include in my magazine, it helps me look back to see what I have found so I can progress and understand what is best to use. I have not put a price on my magazine because most of the magazines a researched and analysed I found hardly any of them have prices on, I have also put the word “free” on the top to give a clear indication to the reader that my magazine costs nothing. I believe this is effective because a person is more likely to read it if its free information.

I have used Microsoft publisher to design the lay out for my contents page layout and my final front cover design. And I used Photoshop to edit my photos for my front cover to get the best outcome, I have done everything to the best and highest standard to give a good a information giving magazine with a clear indication about the magazine.

This is an image i am using for the front cover of my image, this is a mid close up. Im will use this for my main image. i am doing this because it is a college magazine and this image is of a student.

Planning (mock ups)

I have hand draw a number of mock up layouts for my front cover and contents page, i have done this because i want to be able to do the perfect layout by looking as professional and thought about as passable, this is important because a person who is viewing my magazine will see the front cover first and i want the reader to get a good impression. I have also done a mock of layout for my contents page because its also one of the first pages the audience will see, i want them to be able to think that this magazine was thought about and was given a lot of time in designing and producing. The contents page is key, this is down to the fact that the reader will look hear for information and headlines which will be found further into the magazine, and if this is no up to the highest and clearest standard, the viewer might be put off by this.

Mood Board

This mood is made up of things that are associated with the college, i have done this to get a feel and a few ideas for the things that will appear on my front cover and on my contents page. I needed to do this because i need to put images on which will have something to do with a person who goes to college and lives a college lifestyle. I have used images for events to advertise these and also things such as healthy living within a college and a picture of one of the buildings. I have also used two images at the bottom of my mood bored because its two things that the school specialises in, this is to show readers what they could get involved in if these kind of images are used on my front cover.

Front Cover and Contents page (planning)

My front cover will include a number of images which will be taken by me, I'm doing this to get the best and most real effect passable. This will be done in the blue room and then edited on photo shop, this will help me get the most professional and clearest outcome. I am going to have large and colourful wording to make it appealing to the age group of my choice. The heading and subheading will be done in a clear and bold way to show clearly what the magazine is about. The number of images i am hoping to have are around 4 or 5 on my front cover and around the same on the contents page.

The contents page is going done as layout, i am going to hand draw a template for where everything goes on a contents page, i will hand draw it a number of times to find which is the best layout for the contents page. This is important because the more times i do it the better the lay out will become. I will use a computer programm for the fine template desing.

Target Audience and content (planning)

There is a specific target group i am going for with my college magazine, this is the 16 to 19 category, i am trying to appeal to this group because this is the age where people are at college. It would be pointless to design it so it appeals to an older age group because the people who are more likely to read my magazine are college students, and i have found this is the age it variates. My magazine is going to have a variation of story's and information, i am hoping to include on my front cover, information bout upcoming events, information on the college and what is happening around the college, and also things that will appeal to college students like real life stories. I will will include all these things because the students who buy this magazine will find it helpful and interesting.

Typography

Typography Etymology typos—type, graphs—written) is the art and technique of arranging type design and modifying type glyphs. Type glyphs are created and modified using a variety of illustration techniques. The arrangement of type involves the selection of Type faces, line length,leading (line spacing), adjusting the spaces between groups of letters (tracking) and adjusting the space between pairs of letters (kerning) .
Typography is performed by typesetters, compositors, typographers, graphic designers, art directors , comic book artists, and clerical workers. Until the Digital age typography was a specialized occupation. Digitization opened up typography to new generations of visual designers and lay users.

Contents page research

This contents page has a very different lay out in comparison to the music magazines contents page. There are still large images giving and indication into what the reader may fine, and there are also headlines which the page numbers next to them. But the layout is different, the images are all bunched together at the top and the headlines are down at the bottom. Personally i do not think this would be be effective as the music one because the font and the colouring is not as appealing, also it does not have much of an indication into what the reader may mind due to the lack of variation.

Photoshop information

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4plyI6Awins

This video is an introduction in how to use the computer programm photoshop, this is used for editing things such as picturs and posters, im going to use this for my front cover. I am doing this because it is a very good way of getting the best and most proffesional way of doing the front cover of a magazine.

Contents page

This contents page from a magazine has a typical contents page lay out, it has in the left hand corner a clear indication that its a contents page with a white on red background. the main heading "DRUMMER" is a in big bold black lettering, this is so the reader knows what to expect in the magazine. there are pictures to show what is in the magazine and the story subjects. this pictures have the page number sin the corner to tell the reader where to fine what they might be looking for.
The main headlines are listed in on the left hand side underneath the main headline. it gives a mini headline and the page number to fine the subject.

Ways in creating a front cover

The type of font i will need to use for my magazine, also the the colour and size will be important, i will have my college magazine title in a big style and a bright colour getting across the fact its a college magazine. the picture on the front is important because it gives a set genre of subject to do with my magazine. Size and angle is important because the better the picture and clearer the picture, can give the audience a preview into the stories inside the magazine. I will look at more college magazines to get idea if i should put a price and bar code on, this is important. There are a number of programs i can use to get the most professional front cover passable. i will be using certain images and certain fonts to get the best possible outcome, i believe bigger is better, larger and clearer fonts,the easier the audience will get drawn towards the magazine.

college mag info

This college magazine is a bright and appealing magazine, this magazine has a bright a bold heading, which defines what the magazine is about. this gets across to the students who would buy this magazine, real life stories and happenings that happen in the college life. This front page was done and edited on some kind of photo editing programme such as photo shop, properly done to get the best effect possible to make it look as professional as possible. It is a good way to sell magazine by putting real life stories into a magazine, people are generally interested in real life stories and what other people do and get involved in. I am hoping to use in my magazine real life stories, to get people to read my magazine.

This magazine has a bar code, giving the indecation you might have buy this magazine and its not free like the other magazine i found.

This college magazine has been designed in a subtle and information giving way, the difference between this magazine and a magazine such as nuts, is the fact that the target audience is 1 section of people, where as nuts is a aimed at a wider audience. This magazine is bland and obviously of a mature information magazine, the colours are very plain and the only to things that stand out are the heading and the writing in the center of the page. It gives information on the front in a bullet point form, listed underneath the sub heading in the middle of the page. It is telling the viewer what to find in this magazine. This magazine shows that it might not be a pay for purchase magazine, there is no bar code or price showing it could be a free magazine to the college students.

Nuts mag info

large title in left hand corner, due to reader reading from right to left.

clear indication of magazine name

large headlines, draw readers attention

large picture to go with headlines to link each other in

price above magazine name

Target audience for men

picture of footballer in top right small, the woman highlights this with her big bust.

This mag shows a price above the title, bar code most likely to be on the back.