Preliminary School Magazine Cover

Above is the first draft of my school magazine front cover.

I decided to name the magazine 'Southfield Review', during my research I found a good example of a school magazine named 'The Revue'. I was fond of the title, therefore I changed the masthead to the original spelling 'review' and put Southfield before it, as I believe it is important to address the name of the school on the front cover.

Beneath the title is the sub line, my sub line says 'the guide to sixth form', I wanted to create a magazine that was for year 11 students going into year 12. I thought this would be an original idea, as going into sixth form is a huge step, therefore advice for this would be helpful.

After taking different images, I decided to choose this one. I tried to create the idea of studying being fun. The girl in my picture is a fellow sixth former, it shows her at work , but also smiling. This represents the student as being happy in the sixth form. A problem I faced when creating the cover was deciding the text as the background caused a problem. It was a natural background, which meant there were different colours this resulted in there not being a specific colour theme. If I could do this again I would make sure the background was white so I could decide easily on the text. The font has to be black, so it was visible for the reader and would stand out from the natural background.

The text surrounding the picture :

'sixth form social event - coming soon' - I thought this would be good for the sixth form magazine as it will make the new students feel at ease, they will be able to look forward to event and to go and make new friends.

'ditch the nerves, its time to meet your fellow sixth formers' - this again is helpful, as if I was to create the whole magazine my idea would be to take pictures of each student. This will help new students recognise new faces.

'how to keep on top of your a levels' - this would advertise students as a levels are extremely difficult and is a big step, therefore there would be advice to keep on top of the work.

'the uniform has finally been ditched, so what to wear?' - Going into sixth form is a change, not only to new subjects but the uniform changes. This may worry students having to have a different outfit every day, therefore offering advice on what you could wear would be suitable advice.

'win a cool sixth form pack' - Noticeably a magazine front cover convention is to win something. I didn't want to go against convention, therefore advertising a sixth form pack is interesting for students.

HELP!

Please could the people who are following me, take some time to help me choose my final picture.

OR

Prelim Task Pictures

Here are a few pictures I took to give me an idea for my final front cover. 

I wanted to create a picture showing a student studying. I used the props of a folder to enhance the studying theme. The middle picture represents the students expression, I quite like this one as it heightens a happy student, which represents the school well.

Magazine Terminology

Before completing my preliminary task I thought it would be helpful to research the conventional terms of a magazine front cover.
Masthead - The section of a magazine which details such information as title, address, staff.

Hook - This aims to affect the reader and hopefully draw them in

Plug - Information about the contents  

Cover Line - The key features about the articles inside the magazine

Teasers -  Short phrases on the front cover of a newsletter/magazine which is used to make the reader buy the product.
Typography - The font that is used, this could be Sans Serif or Serif
Images - The most appealing feature on the front cover, this is used to make the reader buy the magazine as they have to like what they see on the cover to buy the newsletter/magazine. This has to stand out the most and against other magazine.

Burst - Used to draw attention to the magazine

Tag Line - Phrase associated with the magazine

An example of a BAD school magazine

I believe this is a bad example of a school magazine cover. I believe the fluorescent green colour scheme is not suitable for a school magazine, it makes the cover look very informal. Also, due to the colour being so bright it makes it difficult for the reader to see the background picture. The yellow font text does not go well with the bright green making it difficult to read.
The title of the magazine is not clear, the three letters do not give any information to what the magazine is about leaving the reader unsure about it. The sub line is again in a yellow font this enhances difficulty when reading it.
The picture of the student is good, it shows her happy expression. However behind her is the school, due to the text being so bright, it is difficult to see the image.
I believe this magazine would have been a success if it wasn't for its unusual colour scheme, the magazine doesn't look professional, although it should be about the context inside the magazine, the cover draws the readers in to buy it.

An example of a GOOD school magazine.

The title of the magazine is in a large clear font, which makes the reader notice the title and will help them recognise it again for the future. Beneath the title is the name of the school this again is addressed clearly, which helps a demographic know where the magazine comes from. To the right of the title is the school logo, this is a large image which helps recognise the school.

The colour theme is maintained the same on the front cover, the shades of blue add a calm feel to the magazine, which reflects the schools environment. It also contributes to the magazine making it look more professional.

Many small pictures have been put on the magazine surrounding the main article, the pictures give an insight to the schools environment. The article situated on the front cover is unusual for a front cover of a magazine, however I believe it gives the reader an insight into what the magazine is going to be about.

Welcome to Amber's blog! 

My first task is to create a preliminary which involves producing a school magazine.

The overall task is to produce a music magazine - a front cover, contents page and a double page spread with an article.

Hope you enjoy all of my work!