Preliminary Task Evaluation

Alessio Petulla` Year 12S

Miss Akindayini

The magazine cover and contents page that I designed and created were targeted at the primary audience of primary school students due to the cover lines on the front cover that were based on basic, yet useful tips and advice for ways in which to improve

school work. The reason I decided to target the theme of “improving work” is because primary education is key to developing skills for more advanced education, therefore,

I followed the theme of teaching younger students because this audience is very likely in need of assistance as they are starting with a low difficulty scheme of work, therefore, will feel satisfied when given useful advice as to how to improve basic

skills which can be used for future circumstances. I also decided to use this theme because the secondary audience members are likely “parents or carers” of students,

therefore, if they notice that the magazine gives suitable advice on improving skills at school, as a responsibility of the parents, they will likely buy it for the benefits for their children.

The Masthead of the magazine cover is a very large, three-dimensional and

boldly presented one. I decided to use this particular masthead design in order to emphasises that life at school isn’t

plain and two-dimensional but three-dimensional; all objects in the world are

3D, therefore, the use of a 3D masthead acts as a signifier that the magazine can relate to everyone as it reflects that the

information in the magazine literally stands out of the page as though seeking

people to read the magazine and gain basic wisdom in order to improve primary education. The masthead seems

golden to signify how precious primary education is for children in order to

develop crucial skills in further education. The 3D blending/ shadowing breaks conventions because

stereotypical mastheads tend to be mono-coloured and 2D which seems

plain and repetitive across all similar magazines (and not reaching out to the audience based on the visual illusion of

shadowing, hence why I decided to make it seem as though reaching out to

the audience in order for them to buy it). I learnt how to achieve this design by experimenting with “Blending

properties” and by adding inner shadows, outer shadows, and colour

overlays in order to achieve a golden,

yet metallic finish. I varied shadow angles, opacity, transparency, spreading distance and colour satin until I achieved this desired and realistic finish. The outer shadowing

further emphasises the 3D design.

The image of the gift bundle is very colourful to stand out from the white shirt worn by the model. This is to visually attract the audience to look at it, therefore, enter the competition because children are very likely going to get their parents to buy them a

magazine if there is a chance to win a prize, especially, something as fun as a games console. The text used is large and bold to stand out to the audience in order to attract

them to read it. The golden text stands out from the green text in order to emphasise how valuable the prize worth £1000 really is (as gold signifies high value).

The cover lines follow conventions strictly based on the varied fonts and colour scheme; I decided to use white headings of a larger size than the information

underneath which varied in colour and was a smaller size in order to visually present that the white text was in fact the title, whereas, the coloured text was information relating to the title. This was effective because it stands out from the darker

background which allows the audience to visualise it easily. The fact that the text seems to outline the male model’s body shape signifies that the information literally is

surrounding the students to emphasise that this information is so close to people that all they need to do to in order to read it, is to buy the magazine. It also signifies that the models have bought the magazine, therefore, the information surrounds them

because the magazine brought great benefits.

The language of the cover lines are in standard English as primary school students need to learn the correct language first, rather than teenagers who can speak the language, therefore, will likely use slang which has been developed in a secondary

school environment as they aren’t in as much need of learning the language than those of a younger age. The secondary audience members are parents or carers, therefore,

modern slang would be non-understandable because they may be too old to have heard modern slang as they are used to older slang words from their likely, secondary school education.

I feel I broke the convention of stereotypical magazine images for the front cover,

because, the image used presents a natural representation of students rather than deliberately using models that pose for the camera. This was successful because the audience realise that, based on the “Non-Verbal-Communication” of the students

(smiling away from the camera), it presents a message that student life can be beneficial due to the enjoyment of socialising and learning with friends. The fact that

the image looks so natural and genuine signifies to the audience that happiness at school isn’t forced upon people but can in fact be earned when motivation and confidence is high. This makes the audience realise that if they buy the magazine,

they, or their children, can be as happy as the students on the cover page (as though the information learnt really made a beneficial difference).

The green background makes the magazine seem natural based on the literal signifier that plants are natural. This presentation of the plant suggests that life at school isn’t

always based indoors, but also allows people to have fun outside, which links to the title “Playground” to signify that school is also about having fun and playing with

friends.

I followed the convention of the model being in front of the masthead to signify that

the model is of greater importance than the title, therefore, is in front of it to depict a higher status as she has been put first. This signifiers that students are put first by the

magazine due to the advice presented, in order for them to learn and be successful. The lighting is very bright to emphasise the positivity which the magazine can

provide to the target audience. Brightness signifies positivity based on the warmth of sunlight which affects the mood; if the weather is rainy and cloudy, the darkness and

cold temperature arouses a negative mood due to discomfort, therefore, as it is a bright day, it suggests that the students feel very happy and comfortable as they were helped by the magazine. The brightness can also connote that the students can see

things more clearly thanks to the assistance of the magazine as the sun allows you to literally see things in contrast to clouds which darken everything.

The costume and age of the models links very closely to the age group of the primary audience (young children) as does the costume which links to primary school students

who are required to wear uniforms. This close relation to the target audience makes the audience realise that: based on such a likelihood of visual presentations due to

uniform and age, the advice given is very beneficial and suitable for them, therefore, they will feel enticed to purchase the magazine (as will the secondary audience) as they are aware that the advice will improve their skills and make them better workers

at school.

The improvements and alterations I would consider for future projects are: I would make sure that the image is larger in height as I was forced to press: CTRL-T and drag the corners upward so that the image would fit the page, as the size was too

small, which was a problem as it didn’t fill up the page. I would also make sure that enough space on the left and right of the page will be reserved to fit more cover lines,

rather than fitting only two, awkwardly into the centre with restricted information about greater content inside the magazine.

For the contents page, I used bold, black text of a large size to attract the

audiences’ attention as it stands out from the white background. The large size in contrast to the rest of the text on

the page indicates it is a main title.

I used white, capitalized text as page references along with black text as page summaries in order to differentiate the

two easily based on colour and boldness (to minimise confusion when

locating certain information). The fading, purple rectangle was achieved using the “gradient” tool to create an

attractive, fading effect. The problem is that the colour is too feminine,

therefore, doesn’t link to both sexes

like the front colour does with the use of male and female models and unisex colours. Also, the white page reference nearest the bottom is slightly invisible, therefore, to

improve, I would decrease how low the fading occurs at. The background has various dots of colour using the “paint brush tool” to seem creative and visually attractive.

The boxes surrounding the images have an “outer glow” effect to stand out as though 3D objects reaching out to the audience. The images inside the boxes link closely to the information found on the pages; the images are colourful and not too serious to

signify a playful approach to learning. I deliberately made the box containing the prizes larger than the others in order to make them stand out so that the audience can

buy the magazine and find the prize section easily for the production company to gain greater income as a result of the children buying the magazine and entering the competition.

I included a mascot character with a learner symbol on its head, which was reshaped

using SHFT-CTRL-T to drag corners into the angle that the mascot was facing as though 3-Dimensional. I used the “burner” tool to add shadows to make it seem more creature-like and more 3D as though a real character. It seems to be burping which

also adds an effective, immature approach to childhood which seems to attract younger children as it is deemed as being a funny action. As young children enjoy

fictional characters, the use of a mascot will attract them to read the magazine as they will feel like there is a fun and creative aspect behind the magazine, rather than plain text with minimalistic images and minimalistic illustrated figures (which appears in

many children’s books).

To improve, I would make sure that the background uses more, rounded shapes (as they seem less serious and more playful) as cornered shapes are always being shown in everyday, school-life (Mathematics), whereas, rounded shapes are more

imaginative and out of the ordinary in everyday subjects. The dots scattered around the page seem very un-professional, therefore, I intend to use greater sized, multi-

colourful shapes, scattered around the page with a unisex coloured background to relate to both sexes and visually attract younger children.