Evaluation.

I think the overall design of my front cover and contents of my magazine is a success considering that I have been studying Media for about a month now.

Not many materials were used because most of my work was done and completed on Photoshop. I am glad I chose Photoshop to design my magazine because it is simple, yet it makes everything look really good and professional. Next time, I would like to learn much more shortcuts for Photoshop which I would benefit hugely in saving time and looking for the tools.

The colour scheme for my front cover was also a huge success. I had experimented with many colours and not using up too much time, I had quickly discovered that the colours yellow, burgundy and black go really well together. I used all 3 colours fairly and no specific colour was chosen as a main colour.

The whole project did not take long at all. It took me about 2 weeks to design my front cover and perfect it to my standard. It took me about 3-5 days to come up with my contents but, I had changed the design several times due to certain colour scheme problems and pictures. I do not think the time I took to design this magazine would alter any costs in the making.

I had asked many people within the school and in the age limit of my magazine if they liked it or not. At first, they said it looked like a Fashion magazine due to the fact that I had my model’s name on the front cover and it was really eye catching. But I had then took in those comments and changed it to look much more like a college magazine.

Overall, I think my magazine would sell to my target audience because it includes all the things I need to attract my audience and the way my magazine is laid.

This is my final design of my contents page for my magazine. I have included and used the same fonts as I did in my front cover. This time, the main colour I have used is burgundy. I did this because the main colour on my front cover was yellow and this gives my magzine a variation of colours.

Also, I have included a background which is of the college reception. I did this because it gives off a warm welcome to the audience once the open up the magazine.

My contents is laid out fairly simple because I did not want to complicate the contents page any more.

At the bottom, as you can see I have included to pictures which have a bleed in them. This is to show the audience what the magazine will be about if they are interested in the topic.

I chose this overall layout because it is fairly simple and not too complicated and also, it makes the magazine look more professional.

FINAL DESIGN FOR MY FRONT COVER.

This is my final design for my magazine.
I have included everything that a normal front cover of a magazine would have and I made it mine. I have done research on several magazines such as, NME, KERRANG and VOGUE. I had gathered some ideas also from my own imagination and magazines I have read in the past.

In this front cover, I have used a font called 'Bauhaus 93' for my mast head and 'TW Cen Met' for the text inside the mast head. My background is a photo that I had taken myself. The person is Sasha Lashkariani. I had used Photoshop and edited the picture to give it a vintage looking look because I did some research on 15-17 year olds and it shows that they are trying to bring vintage back! What I did on photoshop was change the colour curves hence making it look like an old photo.

Also, to make the photo stand out I have also bent the text so it wraps around the main image and makes the whole magazine much clearer.

On the bottom right, I have included a pull quote and a graphic. I used a pull quote because it mixes in with the image I have next to it, which is about my other model, Ozge Altinok and her camera. Yet again, I have manipulated an image of her on Photoshop to give it some sort of 'vintage' look and also, I added a polaroid frame around it for more effect.

In the near bottom middle, I have added some text saying 'NMBEC'S PROSPECTS' using the same font but with different condensity and boldness. I also made the text collide with each other a bit because this adds an effect to make it look modern and not out-dated and made the colours different so it would be the next thing you would look at after the title to ensure the readers that it is a school related magazine.

Barcodes, prices, dates and months have also been added for realistic purposes.

On the middle right and middle left of the magazine you can see some plugs of the magazine. I did this to give the target audience a sneak preview of what they are about to read. This is a very useful technique as everybody wants to know what they are buying! I had used the same font for all text here but again, different condensity types and boldness; for example 'TIPS' was written in 'TW Cen MET Condensed Extra Bold' and 'Lashkariani' was written in 'TW Cen MET Condensed'.

I have also photoshopped out a bar inbetween the mast head of the letters F and E. It was a green bar as you could see in my previous covers and I thought it would take away the attention from my front cover.

Finally, on the left side you will notice that it says 'EXCLUSIVE' this is yet again to catch the reader's eyes and underneath it, it tells us that the magazine uncovers how different A-Levels are compared to GCSEs. I have also used a technique called 'Puff' to boost it's status so the article would seem much more interesting as the readers see on the front cover.

More changes have been made to my magazine cover. The final design for it is at a near.
I have changed the mast head and put the words 'Leading, Into, Further and Education' into each separate letter so that the audience will know what that letter stands for. I did this because in my previous covers, I had asked people did you notice the writing underneath the mast head and they replied with 'no'.

I also changed the colour scheme to, yellow, burgundy and black. I had been creative and tried mixing many colours together and my results came out like this because I could not use any light colours because of my background and the colours burgundy and yellow blend in together very well, it also creates a contrast in colours.

A barcode has also been added along with what month and year this magazine is realised, which issue it is and the price. This is to make my magazine seem much more detailed.

Although my designs are at a near end, I am still making progress constantly to make it better.

Magazine draft. Number 3.1

Slight changes in my magazine cover because I had done some research and looked into how people thought of and saw my magazine. Many had said it was a good magazine but it looked more like a Fashion one rather than one for school.

I then decided I would modify the look but keep a similar layout. I changed the mast head's colour to grey and the 'future'. I did this because the red was attracting too much attention. Also, instead of having Sasha's name, I changed it to 'Future Prospectus'. More changes will be made as I am still not satisfied. I am improving my front cover as you are reading this.

Magazine draft. No.3

This is my third draft for my magazine. I have changed my background picture back to my original one and also kept the background of my actual picture to keep it's originality. The fonts I have used are, TW Cen MT, TW Cen MT Condensed Extra Bold, TW Cen MT Condensed and Balloonist SF. I chose these fonts because with TW Cen MT I could keep using the same font but yet they look different due to the condensity and boldness. In this new draft I have also added things such as a name for my model and included some plugs to give the audience a little sneak peak which will get them even more curious!

Magazine draft. No.2

This is my 2nd draft for my magazine cover, what I did here was I kept the image whole and used all of it as a background to try out different things. I used a Balloon SF font for my mast head, also added some shadow to the mast head to make it stand out even more. Also, underneath the mast head is a tiny mast head saying, 'Leading Into Further Education' which is what 'LIFE' stands for. I hope my new title will encourage and attract more of my target audience to be interested in this magazine and also know what this magazine is about.

Further details will be added.

Exsisting Product Research.

Best Life magazine. The layout of my magazine idea was very similar to this one. Without even looking at the contents of this magazine you can tell it is about a luxurious life, how to dress well, an over all magazine for men and for looks. The model here which is, Jay Z, a famous rapper. He is posing with a straight angle of gaze as if he is looking at you and he is also re-adjusting his blazer, in most cases this shows him being in the high up society, above everyone else.

The layout of this magazine seems simple and plain, but yet it still can attract it's readers attention because it uses a big, red and bold title, a white background contrasting the mast head. The text it wrapped around the image of Jay Z so it seems really sleek and simple, too.

Further details will be added to my front cover soon.

Draft for my magazie cover.

This is the basic cover that I have created for my magazine front cover. It features and bold and eye catching title, my model for my front cover (Sasha Lashkariani) and the grey blocks represents where my plugs, pull quotes, barcodes and etc will be placed. More work will be put in once I have come up with more interesting ideas. Also, the white background will be changed to make the whole concept of the magazine much more interesting than it is currently standing.