Preliminary task: cover

This is the cover of my magazine:

To create my magazine cover, I edited my photos on photoshop and I designed the layout on indesign to place all of the components together.

Photoshop allowed me to cut out the image of the girl as I used the magic wand tool to erase the background. This allowed me to superimpose the image over the title of the magazine for a more creative effect. This also made it suggestive that the students come first at the school and are the most important aspect to appeal to the audience which prominently consists of students. This idea also conforms to the codes and conventions which I discovered from my research.

Indesign allowed me to create frames so that I was able to design the layout of my cover. It allowed me to notice how many photographs I could fit on the page and where everything would be placed.

From researching the codes and conventions, I was able to recognise that the cover of my magazine would be more successful if included the following features:

•           A logo to represent the school.
•           A prominent central photograph of a student.
•           The student should appear happy to appeal to the audience.
•           The photograph should be well lit so it can be seen more easily.
•         The photograph should be taken from a low angle to present the students as authoritive.
•           The image should be superimposed over the title to show students come first.
•           The use of 3 colours in the colour scheme.
•           A variation in genders and ethnicities to prove anyone is welcomed at the school.
•           A large title in a simple sans serif font for simplicity.
•           Plug features to show appealing content from within the magazine.
•           The use of a banner for a simpler layout.
•           Exciting punctuation so it is more intriguing and appealing.
•           The date and the issue of the magazine.

On the cover of my magazine, I attempted to include all of these codes and conventions.

I included the logo of the magazine in the top left hand corner to represent the school and to allow the reader to understand that the prominent topic of the magazine will regard aspects of the school. This also branded the school to make it more recognisable.

I included a large, prominent central image of a smiling student to allow the school to appear like a happy and friendly environment. This will allow the target market of students to be appealed to continue reading the magazine. The image is also well lit to allow it to appear professional and it is taken from a low angle to suggest that the students are powerful and dominant. I also superimposed the image in front of the title of the magazine to further emphasise the fact that the students come first.

The colour scheme of my magazine consisted of three colours; light blue, dark blue and white. These were the school colours as shown in the school logo so it was immediately branded. Furthermore, blue is a universal colour which allowed the white writing to stand out in contrast to the dark background colour so it stood and was easier to read.

The title of my magazine was “Whitley Reveal”. I wrote the title at the top of the page in a large, bold sans serif font for added simplicity. The simple font allowed ease for reading and would also appeal to the young audience which I aimed my magazine to appeal to.

I included two plugs on the cover of my magazine which regarded aspects of the school. These plugs were accompanied by photographs to associate with them and a caption for an explanation. These presented interesting stories which would entice the audience to continue reading the magazine as they are intriguing as they would be likely to wish to find out more about the articles shown on the cover.