2. Style Sheets.
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To start my research I searched for different school
magazines to find similarities and differences for the
theme. With this knowledge I was able to create a
style sheet which compares different colours and font
types to see what would work best within the
magazine.
The colours I used represent the school as that is what
the magazine is all about. They compliment each
other but also stand out against each other which will
make the magazine eye-catching.
I tried to choose fonts for both the masthead and
main text that suited each other and carried a theme
throughout the magazine. I chose these fonts as a
school magazine is rather formal and is aimed at
parents as well as children and so represents the
school as being a place of hard work and sensibility.
For the front cover, main page, the photo preferably
needs to be a medium close-up shot. Therefore, I took
a variety of these shots of different people in different
environments. In addition to these, I took various
shots to use as additional photos on both my front
page and contents page.
3. Flat Plan.
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After we created our style sheets, we designed flat plans. These
are a stencil of how the layout of the magazine will look.
I tried to design my front page so that the main object was the
medium close-up shot I used and so that would be where the
eye was drawn first. I figured that having a quote or text
referring to the article that the main picture was from, was a
good idea as, in a nutshell, the main story can be deemed
worthy or unworthy of the audience’s time. (According to
them, of course.) Then, I decided to use secondary photos
underneath as the eye is usually drawn downwards and their
placement allows the rest of the page to flourish. The masthead
would be placed at the top of the page as it is the most
important part of the magazine – it easily lets the reader know
what they’re reading and will know what to buy if they see it
again (especially if the masthead is of a recurring theme,
colour, size etc.)
For the contents page, I allowed more of a relaxed layout. I did
this as obviously the reader has been intrigued enough to
actually open the magazine and so do not need to see a main
image or have things stand out as they will usually read the
main feature and then peruse through the rest of the magazine.
The page numbers are clearly stated along with featured
pictures making it easy to travel throughout. As this was only a
flat plan, it wasn’t strictly adhered to when creating my prelim
task but at the same time, it was very useful when deciding
where things were placed.
4. Cover Page – main image.
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After completing my flat plan, I didn’t create practise mock-ups as I just went straight into creating
my final piece.
Because of this, however, I encountered a few problems. The first being that the image I primarily
wanted to use was too ‘busy’ for a front cover picture and I found it difficult to make the masthead
stand out against it. This was the picture used and another problem it created was that it was very
hard to make out type in any colour because of the variety of colours used on the picture and within
its background.
To counteract this flaw, I took new photos that, with my new knowledge, would fit the
bill better. The photo I used in the end was a medium close-up, rule of thirds picture. This
picture had a relatively plain background that was light and so text was clearly visible on
top of it.
Before
After
As I really liked the photo of Mrs.Kay celebrating her
birthday, I decided to use it as a secondary photo on the
front page. I liked it because I felt it added a certain
vibrancy to the page where nothing else seemed to work.
I didn’t make many adjustments to the front cover picture
(pictured right) but I did crop the photo to make it fit the
page better and stretched the photo so that the model left less unused space. Also, on Photoshop, I used the blur
tool to blur out any imperfections on both the background and the model.
5. Cover Page – secondary images and more.
Before
After
I didn’t change any of these photos as I felt they were effective
just as they are. Instead, I included a black border around each
picture giving it definition from the background behind it. This
border also represents that each photo is its own story,
similarly, I added a footer using the colour chosen in the
research for the style sheet. There is a specific part of the footer
for each photo marked out by a burgundy border, within these
footers is a snippet of information that explain what the photo
and its matching article represents.
Next, I added the masthead but felt it didn’t stand
out enough just sat on the background. Therefore
(and keeping with the colour scheme), I created a
golden rectangle with the rectangle tool for the
type to sit on and bordered it so it is more eyecatching. I felt the text referring to the main
article was fine just placed on the background as
it shouldn’t be as bold as the masthead but
should still stand out.
6. Contents Page.
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I decided to use a burgundy background as it accentuates the
contents list and the pictures shown.
Onto this, I used the same rectangle tool as the masthead box on the
cover page. This box creates the space for the contents list to live.
The contents are created using a black type which contrasts and
stands out from its gold background. I also put a black border around
the outside of this box keeping in theme with the front cover.
Next , I added the pictures which correspond to certain articles and
these are shown with the bold, black numbers within the photo.
These also have a black border which make the photos stand out.
I have left the page without much fuss as I believe this is a magazine
for both students and parents so it needs to represent what the school
is about – structure and order.
7. Reviews
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Ber/48: Colourful, informative and to the point. Use more effects to give a
different atmosphere to the magazine.
Melanie/22: Very vibrant, it’s a bit ‘blocky’, use different shapes to make it
more eye-catching.
Pete/15: The contents is boring, the colours used are great but it lacks an
overall ‘oomph’.
