Research & Planning: Complete College Magazine Front Cover and Mock Up Contents Page.

Front Cover made in Photoshop

Contents Page made in Indesign.

Research & Planning: Progress post 1 of College Magazine.

This is what I have of my College Magazine so far.

Research & Planning: Drafts of College Magazine Front Cover and Contents Page.

Research & Planning: Possible Images To Use For My College Magazine.

Research & Planning: Costume and Prop List.

Costume + Prop list.

• ·      A text book(s) relating to subjects in Hyde Clarendon.
• ·      A pencil/pen
• ·      A checked shirt, preferably including the colour red.

Research & Planning: Mastheads Practice

Here in photoshop I selected certain fonts to fit the title.

I picked the font (engravers mt) for the masthead title deathmetal because it looks very big, bold and in some ways loud which I think fits the title.

I chose the font (bauhaus 93) for the masthead title popworld because it looks slightly groovy to the eye and it has a bold font to stand out.

I selected this font (trajan pro) for the masthead title Popcorn because the font looks sophisticated and simple, which I think looks good on a film type magazine.

Research & Planning: Interviews, Video Recorded.

Target Audience Interview Videos from Students.

Question responses summarized:

• What cover-lines/stories do you find interesting in a college magazine?

Collecting all answers together, I'm left with a range of stories. But all do tie in with college studies.

Students are very interested in cover lines that inform them of important information about the subject they are studying but also would like some more laid back cover lines such as sport events, activities outside subjects which they could indulge in if they wished.

• What is the first thing that draws you to a college magazine?

Everyone stated that the image is the first thing that catches their attention on a college magazine. Especially if the image is bright colored and matches the theme of the magazine which is college, so students would be on the front cover.

• What would you call a college magazine?

No one gave a specific title which they would like the magazine to be called, but almost all of them stated that the name of the college magazine should be either the actual name of the college itself or something that relates to the college and perhaps the subjects it teaches.

• What type of colours do you prefer on a college magazine? Are there any colours that put you off a college magazine?

Everyone responded that dull and dark colours such as black would most likely turn them off from wanting to pick up the magazine. 

Everyone also agreed that bright colours such as red and pink, especially colours the match the Hyde Clarendon logo, would attract them to wanting to purchase and look at the magazine.

• What image would you like to see in a college magazine?

All the people I interviews answered that they would like to see a student - some preferred a girl, although considering I interviewed all girls, this could be biased - holding books in their hands or studying.

Research & Planning: Target Audience Research

Interview Questions.

1. What cover-lines/stories do you find interesting in a college magazine?
2. What is the first thing that draws you to a college magazine?
3. What would you call a college magazine?
4. What type of colours do you prefer on a college magazine? Are there any colours that put you off a college magazine?
5. What image would you like to see in a college magazine?

Research & Planning: Medium Close Up Examples.

In my college magazine, I understand I need to include shots like the ones below (medium close up's).

Research & Planning: College Magazine Analysis 2.

Target Audience: College Students.

I can tell this is the target audience from the masthead and the image.

The masthead is a large size and clearly depicts that it is a magazine college. The bright red colour of the masthead stands out, so the reader can see the title of the magazine, so they know what they are reading about. The masthead colour also matches the colour of the shirt the student wears in the image and this is good because the colour scheme is consistent. The image also clearly presents a student: from her young age and possibly choice of clothing, which contributes to appealing to the targeted audience of the magazine.

The cover lines use two text sizes and fonts, one for the subheading of the cover line and a different size and font for the small part of information below that. This is effective for the presentation of the magazine because you are giving the readers a small snippet of what is included in the magazine, yet not enough so they would want to go ahead and read on.

Codes/Conventions:

• Masthead
• Cover lines
• Date / Issue
• Barcode / Price

Research & Planning: College Magazine Analysis 1.

College Magazine Analysis.

Magazine Link {i could not get the picture to upload, so here is a link.}

Target Audience: Students, around ages 16 - 18. I know this because for one, the magazine states it is aimed at college studies, which most of the time the younger generation attend. Also, around the front cover, the text that is shown indicates the setting as young, by using words such as classroom and also the paint on the girls hands on the front cover could be perceived as targeting a younger audience by appealing to there childlike side.

Any codes I would use?:
Yes.

1. Masthead: Because every magazine must have a title to show what it will be about and I would choose to use a clear font and large text size like this college magazine uses so people can see it clearly.
2. Photograph: I would definitely use a single photograph like the one used in this magazine, which fills the whole background/cover of the magazine's front page because I think it stands out more, especially the many bright colours of paint on the women's hands, but I also would like to do this myself because I feel if the photo did not fill the entire cover, then there would be spaces left out and the page would seem quite blank, dull and unappealing to me.

What Types of Articles/Stories appear:

• A few articles within the magazine are targeted at specific students, so the audience can get a small taste into what the college life is like and how the students themselves find it.
• A contents page is present, which is needed because it means that the audience can easily find there way through the magazine. Also, the fact that this specific contents page is very basic a clear, having only a few pictures on the sides is nice. However, for me personally, I don't like the images that surround the text and I think the text layout on this particular magazine is quite messy.

My Ideas:

• For my contents page, I would definitely keep it simple and I would most likely have 1 column going down, numbered with the pages. I would have the whole of the contents page background covered in an image, but have half of the image a solid colour and the actual person/object of the image on the other side of the contents list. Also, at the very top I would place the masthead.
• I'm not too sure about the colour scheme, but I may have a black and white scheme with maybe part of the texts: i.e headers/subtitles and parts of the images in a brighter colour, for example red to use for text which needs to stand out the most. I would prefer a simple colour scheme, it's not too bright but it's enough of an impact to catch the readers full attention.
• The logo of the college must be kept on each page I believe, so I would most likely place that in one of the corners, possibly one of the right corners in my opinion.

Research & Planning: Photoshop Challenge

To open up a A4 document, I went to File, new and chose the option: international dropdown.
I clicked on the "T" icon on the left hand side of photoshop and entered the text 'AS Media Studies', then to change the size and font, I highlighted the text, went to the options on the top bar and changed the size and font.
To change the colour to red, I again highlighted the text and clicked the small colour square icon on the top bar and chose red from the colour pallet, Then to move the text to the middle of the page, I made sure my mouse was on the move tool, and then i simply dragged the text into the centre of the page.
To change the background, i double clicked on the background layer and chose a colour blue from the pallet.
To find the drop shadow and add it to the text, I highlighted the text, right click on the text layer on the right hand side of the screen, chose blending options and clicked on drop shadow.
To add the image, I simply opened the image up in photoshop in a new window and then just dragged the photo into the other window and it appeared onto the page.
To change the hair colour, I clicked on the brush tool, adjusted the size and opacity of it to my liking and the colour, then simply coloured in the areas of her hair I wanted to colour.

Research & Planning: Indesign Film Review.

Indesign Tutorial.
To add coloums in Indesign, I clicked on layout, create guides and chose to add 3 coloums. Then to add the text I clicked on File, then Place and selected the film review in my documents. The text came up in a small box and I then simply clicked and dragged how far I wanted the text to go in the first coloum. Then to carry on the text in further coloums, I clicked on the small red button that is present on the bottom righthand side of the first coloums and then I just click and drag the text where I want it in the next coloum.
To add a title, I clicked on the "T" button at the side and then clicked and dragged where I wished to create a text box, then I added the text and then highlight it and changed the size of the text.
To add a image into Indesign, I clicked File, Place and then clicked and dragged where I wanted it. Sometimes the image may but cut of, to align it correctly I clicked on Object, Fitting and then fit content to frame.

Research & Planning: Photoshop CD tutorial

To create this CD cover in Photoshop, I used the following tools: ellipses tool, colour balance, magic wand tool, text tool and I blurred the background.
The magic wand tool and ellipses tool I used to cut out the shape of the CD and the horn. To move the images onto the background, I dragged them over to the bar at the top of photoshop and they appear on top of the background as a new layer.
A total of 3 layers, excluding the text was used to create the cover.
I used colour balance to change the colour of both the horn and the CD, and the text tool I used to add my name to the cover.

Research & Planning: Photoshop skin tutorial

Today in photoshop I learned how to use the following tools: brush tool, zoom tool, spot healing brush tool, brush preset picker (changing the size of the tool) and opacity. With these tools I added some lipstick, eye make-up, blush and defined the eyebrows some more.