AS Media Studies

G321: Foundation Portfolio in Media

Masthead– main title

Date and Issue Number

Contents

Giveaways

Main Image

Blurred out background

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MastheadThe main title is placed at the top of the magazine. It is written in serif text containing flicks and is quite informal. The creator of the magazine has done this in order to make them attractive to the audience as the audience is young so the fact that it is informal means that they are more likely to read it.

Date and Issue NumberThe date and issue number is placed on the front cover so that the audience knows when the magazine was released. It is only small because it is nor the main focus of the magazine so the creator does not want it to take away from the appearance of the magazine.

ContentsThere are not many contents featured on the front page simply because the magazine is aimed at young people and so the less text it contains, the more likely the students are going to read it.The content feature are based on school life, results and the next step in education along with the personal experiences suggesting this magazine is used to give information as well as inspiration.

GiveawaysThe creator of this magazine has put a giveaway in the magazine in order to give students another reason to buy the magazine as they may believe that it is a bargain for what they are gaining.

Main ImageAn image of a student of the school has been put as the main image of the front cover. This has been done in order to advertise the school and the standard of uniform to the upcoming students.

Blurred out backgroundThe background of this magazine has been blurred out so that you are attracted to the main body of the image and the text reducing distraction from the information.

Strap LineThis strap line has been put here to advertise and article in the magazine

Main contentThis piece of content is large and bold to suggest that it is one of the main articles in the magazine simply because if the may is presented. This suggests that teenage stress is common and needs tackling.

Price This price of this magazine has been placed under the title and is very small so that it doesn't not distract students from it before they read the contents.

WebsiteThe web address has been included in order to allow students to know where to go if they would like to gain more information about the school. It is small so that it does not take always from the appearance of the magazine.

EvaluationThis magazine is successful as it has given minimal text on the front cover and informal font in order to attract the students, being a young target audience. The fact that the magazine contains articles on exam results, teenage stress and general information about the school suggests that it has covered some of the most needed information students will want and is teaching students to tackle their issues in terms of how to deal with stress.

The creator of this magazine has been smart in the way the that the giveaway will benefit the students in because the fact that it is giving away healthy cooking tips and recipes will tackle teenage obesity as well as giving the students more reason to purchase the magazine.

The magazine is of a low cost of only £1.00 which is good as students do net tend to have a lot of money of their own meaning that the fact that it is cheap makes them more likely to buy it.

In order to improve this magazine the magazine I think that the creator could include an image of a male to make it gender neutral and make the date, issue number and web address bigger and more visible as some people may find these important.

All in all, the magazine is suitable for the target audience is advertised well to them because they have considered the fact that students will not read extensive text and catered for that.

Masthead– main title

Strapline

Main Image

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Contents

Contents

MastheadThe creator of this magazine has used serif font in large bold black text in order to create this masthead. Although the text used is serif, it is still quite formal which gives the magazine a more professional presence presenting the school in a formal, professional way.

StraplineThis strapline has been included into the magazine in order to advertise a competition which the school is holding. The fact that it is highlighted purple is in order to attract the audiences attention and convince them to buy one.

Main ImageThe main image of this magazine is of two students, which appear to be sixth form feature in the centre of the magazine. The creator has included a male and female in the magazine making it gender neutral and so it appeals to a larger target audience

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Free BadgeA free badge has been added to this magazine in order to inform people straight away that the magazine is free. This is so that the students take one and read it without having to think about paying for it. This is the reason it is so bold.

ContentsThe contents of this magazine include information about the school and its campaigns, along with interviews from students as well as the school committee in order to provide first hand experience on the school itself. There is also information about upcoming events on the bottom right corner so that student s are aware of activities going on in and around school which they can get involved with.

The font used on the contents of the page is sans serif making it easy to read, and is bold compared to the bright whit background allowing it to stand out.

Contents

EvaluationThis magazine has been successful in informing the audience of a large amount of its contents so the students know what the magazine contains in before the read it. This is successful because they have included a range of contents meaning that there is a larger chance that the students may find something they like and would like to read, persuading them to buy the magazine. The fact that the magazine includes personal experiences from other students may also be a good selling point because it could provide inspiration to students in helping them decide whether they want to stay on at sixth form or not.

The creator of this magazine has been smart in the use of the large and bold free badge because it as the first thing which I saw and suggests that because its free, students wont hesitate to take one. The use of the strapline also has a similar effects on students as they see that there is a competition to win something which could be useful to them which is another persuasive feature.

In order to improve this magazine the magazine I think that the creator could include a date and issue number which will be important to some because they will want to know if it is a recent issue before reading. It could also include a web address to the school website so that students have somewhere to get more information if they need to. Finally, I feel that the layout of the text could be arranged more effectively so that the masthead is central and contexts could be smaller so that it does not overlap the image. Finally, the colour of the text strapline and badge should be consistent in order to give the magazine a more professional appearance.

All in all, the creator of the magazine has been good in including most of the information needed, however the layout has let it down giving it a less professional appeal.

In order for me to get an idea of the contents which people would like to see in my school magazine, I created a questionnaire and surveyed 10 students from each year in the school which amounted to 70 students in total.

Questionnaire resultsWhat do you expect to see in a school magazine? Frequency

Contents 70

Interviews of Students About School Life 29

Upcoming Events 62

Information on Achievements 58

Sports Results 40

Giveaways/Competitions 70

Form Attendance 16

How much do you expect a school magazine to cost? Frequency

Free 53

50p 17

How often should a school magazine be published? Frequency

Monthly 38

Weekly 12

Fortnightly 20

Analysis of Previous Work Front Cover

Based on the ‘Press’ magazine, I think that the creator has created a very professional looking front cover. They have used a Medium Close Up shot of a student as the main image which had been shifted slightly to the right in order for the contents to be shown on the left without covering the image. The fact that there is only four contents on the front page is relevant to the target audience because it is aimed at ages of around 9 to 18 meaning that they will be put off of reading the magazine if there is a large amount of text compared to images. The main story has been placed at the top of the contents so that the audience know that it is the most important. It is bold and large compared to the other contents, followed by the secondary stories which are likely to be of interest to the audience .The creator has also included a large bold white title at the top of the page. This is successful because it is eye-catching, however it is not central and looks our of place as it is shifted slightly to the left, therefore in order to improve I would ensure that it was central.

Analysis of Previous Work Contents Page

On the contents page the creator has included and image of students at the top of the page in which is a low opacity version of the title. On top of this in the top righty corner is a story relevant to the image. There is then a main contents area on the bottom two-thirds of the image which has a selection of smaller images which have been blurred around the edges placed within them relevant to the stories. This is successful because it breaks up the text and as a result has made the page less boring and more aesthetically pleasing. The page numbers have been written in large bold text so that it is easy to read, and it is clear which story goes with which number. The stories have been written slightly smaller to the numbers so that their total height is similar to the height of the total number making the layout clearer and more professional. I believe that the contents hits all of the correct criteria and therefore have no improvements to offer.

Do you think you could produce similar work? What skills do you need to improve?

I believe that I could produce a magazine of a similar quality because I know how to use Photoshop in order to manipulate images in the way the creator has so that they bled will with the background. I also know how to frame an image correctly and so I will be able to include a well framed image of students in order to portray the students correctly. In order to improve my skills, I need to look at more examples and get an idea of good layouts which I could used to make my magazine more visually pleasing.

Features Description

Target Audience (age range, interests) My magazine will be aimed at students aged 11 to 18 whom are in full time education at the Priory School

Possible Title Ideas (masthead/title block) Prospects

Main Image (what will be the focal point of your front page?)

Main Cover Line (what will be the main story?) GCSE Exam ResultsMy main story will include the 2015 GCSE results and some student advise on how current year 11’s can work towards their exams

Additional Key Images (what other images will be on your front cover?

Additional Cover Lines (other features, stories of selling points which will be inside the magazine)

Online Safety – do you know the basics of online safety?WIN a £10 One4All Voucher!!! See inside for more informationWorld Challenge – Are You Ready For an Experience of a Lifetime?Year 7 Disco!!!

Typography (style, size, colour of copy) I will use sans serif text for my magazine in order to give it a modern professional look., and to ensure that it is clear to read as it will have no flicks or joint handwriting. The title will be sized 72pt and the contents will be size 36pt.

Background Colour/Image (what will be in the background) The background colour of my magazine will be white because I will photograph the pupils on my magazine in front of a white background giving it a clean professional appearance.

Technical Considerations (equipment, settings, props, costume, lighting)

I will us a 16 megapixel camera in order to photograph my pupils, and will not need any props to do so.

Proposal Form

Editing Process

I have edited this image because it was extremely dull. In order to do this I first changes the contrast and brightness in order to brighten up the image and make it lighter, whilst keeping the different between the foreground and background using the contrast. I then changed the levels in order to give the image a natural glow and finally changed the exposure so that the darker colours have more form and contrast from each other.

Initial Paper Designs

Publisher Draft

What I have learnt...During the course of this preliminary task, I have learnt that the process in

creating a magazine involves a large amount of preparation. In order to create my magazine I analysed the positives and negatives of others magazines, and did some market research into what to include on the magazine and the pricing so that I had a clear ideas on what I needed to include.

In my draft magazine, I focused on that layout and colour scheme and learnt that the colour scheme is important on holding the magazine together and making it look as if it is one. This is important as I know from now on that I need to keep this consistent throughout. I also learnt that the colour schemes should also match the theme, that is why mine is red and black, to resemble The Priory School colours.

If I were to do this again in the future, I would focus on adding more images to the front cover and including some in the contents page to make it more appealing to students as well as ensuring that that the images and their exposures match so that the levels are the same.