Edited Photo's

These are the photo's I have decided on using in my magazine,  though I am not sure how they will fit in yet. I have edited them to look young and so that the focus is on the students. I really like how they have come out. I am still not sure that I have enough different photo's and so may take some more.

Pictures Taken So Far...

These are just a few of the pictures I have taken so far, I'm not sure which I will use yet, I will probably take some more as well. I also haven't yet edited them.

Magazine Questionnaire

1.    What sort of information do you need on Universities?

2.    Are you interested in world news?

3.    How often would you want a student magazine?

4.    What would you expect to pay for it?

5.    Do you want music, film and TV news? What like?

6.    About how large would you want the magazine to be?

7.    Are you interested in teacher profiles?

8.    Are you interested in college news?



Idea's for my Photoshoot

I want to take photo's of several students around the college, I want to have a fun group feeling, showing people socialising and studying so that they are related to the college but do not look boring. They should look as natural as possible and not posed. I want the pictures in lots of different locations around college, I will also have to take more photo's than I need so that I can select images that will be suitable for the cover, contents page and will work with the rest of the design. I will take the photo's throughout the week so that I can get a good variety and so that the weather is good.

Cover and Contents Analysis of First Car

The Mast Head  is, as with most magazines, very large, bold and in full capitols. This means it is imprinted into the readers mind. Most of the rest of the text on the cover is also in full capitols, this makes the text more eye-grabbing and as if the magazine is almost shouting at you from the stands. The boldness of the design and text also relates to the teenage attitude. The title makes it instantly clear what the magazine is about. The first thing that most people will look at is the banner and corresponding background photograph as they will recognise the actors and name of the show, these things are most important as they will be what attracts passers by. The picture uses depth by having the main, most recognisable character at the front and the secondary characters further back. The actors are posing around a car from the show, this relates back to the subject of the magazine. The picture is taken at a tilted angle, this gives a comedic effect, is interesting and feels more like a teenagers photo and less posed. There is then other sections of text telling the viewer the content of the magazine. This includes a strapline at the top of the page with general contents, also short catchy titles with a sentence that further explains them, at the bottom of the page these titles are also accompanied by relevant pictures. The titles are quick and easy to read so they grab your attention and have corresponding page numbers to help readers find what they want easily. The pictures at the bottom of the page convey a point quickly, faster than reading the titles. The cover uses a very limited palette, grey, black and white, the only colour used is yellow. This means the cover doesn't look too busy or clashing, and that everything stands out clearly. 

Again this page uses bold text in capitals to bring attention to the short, easy to read page titles. The pictures make the stories look interesting and make the page look less wordy. The page numbers are large and bold, so the stories can be found easily. The largest image is the Inbetweeners image, this is the most exclusive and important article. The more complete contents list is to the side and is split into sections for ease of use. The contents have a title and description, I think this makes it look a little too much writing and isn't quick enough. Again the simple colour scheme is carried on using black, white and yellow. The page is very full and there is little black space, this give the impression that there is lots of content packed into the magazine. It doesn't look too busy because it is ordered and there is limited colours used.

Any Help Here?

Which is the best name for a Student Magazine?
	Mondays
	Student View
	College Line
	Insider
pollcode.com free polls

Notes On Student Magazines

I looked at a few student magazines, they were all quite different and offered different things...

Smaart Talent - A magazine for 'Black and Minority Ethnic Students', mostly careers advice including lots of adverts for universities. Also included job profiles, information on volunteering and some news stories.

Youth Action - A magazine aimed at teenagers who want to volunteer in some way, another magazine that contained mainly adverts for places where people could volunteer. There was an agony aunt type page and some information on how to get grants for university.

Both these two had very plain but professional designs.

Student ID - A student magazine made by students for a specific college. It was more like a general teen magazine with film, music, tv and gaming news and reviews. Also had a horoscopes page and a comic strip. It had some more college specific pages such as teacher and student personal profiles, school news and photographs of college events. This magazine had a much brighter and bolder design.

First Post & Action Plan

Week 1 - 15th November

• Write Action Plan
• Set up Blog
• Initial Magazine Comparison
• Decide on my Magazine Name

Week 2 - 22nd November

• Textual Analysis of Magazines
• Audience Questionnaire/Poll
• Organise Photoshoot
• Take and Edit Photo's

Week 3 - 29th November

• Front Cover Design and Draft
• Contents Design and Draft

Week 4 - 6th December

• Audience Feedback
• Evaluation

Deadline 10th December