AS Media Studies Preliminary Task

1. School Magazine
Ross Richardson

2.  My preliminary task will consist of a front cover and a content
page for a school magazine. For the purpose of this task
during the production stage I will carry out primary and
secondary research and necessary photo shoot and magazine
layout planning. In the post production stage I will use
industry acceptable CAD (Computer Aided Design) to
successfully create a front cover and a content page which
will be critically deconstructed and evaluated in relation to my
original design intentions.

4. Mise-en-Scene: the props used in the
main image are the football and the
football top. These are used to show
the magazine may have tips on sports
and sport events. The football top is
fashionable and it may attract students
who are into sports.
Mode of Address: the target audience is
related to the visual modes of address
such as the football and the football
jersey. This makes it an enjoyable and
easy magazine to read for students who
are interested in sports.
Colour: the colour scheme of 'High School Illustrated' is blue as you can
see the background goes from a dark blue at the top into a light shade of
blue at the bottom. Also the football jersey is blue with some yellow and
white. This colour scheme may attract more readers.
Typography: as you can see the fonts contrast. The words 'HIGH SCHOOL'
are in large writing and the word illustrated is smaller. The heading of the
magazine may catch peoples eyes as the words start off big then get
smaller. The sub headings of the magazine are smaller because they are
not as important as the main heading. The font on this school magazine
falls into the category Serif. The font is like the font you would find on the
Most Wanted Poster.
Camera Work: the main image is a
student holding a football and wearing
a football jersey. This could be showing
the style of the football team and
people interested in sports. He student
on the front cover is smiling and looks
happy which may grab more peoples
attention.
Language: the language on the front cover
is interesting and it is also relevant to the
students interested in the school football
team. The language gives the reader an
idea of what is inside.
Layout: the layout of the magazine 'High
School Illustrated' is organised and it looks
neat. The heading is in big writing at the
top of the magazine to attract peoples
attention and the sub headings around the
magazine are to make the readers
interested on what is inside.

5. Mise-en-Scene: the props used in the
main image are the books being held to
show that the magazine is about
college classes, studying and
information on the college campus. The
magazine may have tips on how to get
used to college life or how to study in
college.
Mode of Address: the target audience is
related to the visual modes of address
as the books being held on the cover
show that the magazine will be
interesting for people who are wanting
to go to college or people who are
already in college.
Camera Work: the main image on this
College Magazine cover is a College
student standing holding a bunch of
books that must be used in the college.
The student on the front cover of this
magazine looks happy which may
represent that he is happy being in
college and that it is enjoyable.
Typography: the font on this Magazine cover is San-serif. The font is
large and bold to grab the attention of people. It is a warm and
welcoming colour. The font makes the magazine look more appealing.
The sub headings are smaller on this magazine because the sub
headings are not as important as the main heading at the top of the
College magazine.
Layout: the layout of the magazine
‘COLLEGE Lifestyle’ is neat and tidy and it
is organised very well. It is easy to read
what is on the magazine. The sub
headings around the sides of the magazine
are to grab the readers attention and make
them interested on what is inside the
magazine.
Language: the language on the front cover
is very interesting and it is relevant to
students who are interested in going to
college or students who are already in the
college and want to know more about the
college.
Colour: the colour scheme of ‘COLLEGE Lifestyle’ is black but the
heading and sub headings are lime green and as you can see the
colours go well together and it makes the magazine look good. There is
some white and pink on the magazine cover.

6. Mise-en-Scene: the background colour of
this Content Page is white but it also has
blue in it too. The font is large and it is
black. The school crest is in the top right
corner of the Content Page to show what
school it is. There are a few images in the
content page that are also further on in
the magazine.
Layout: the numbers of the pages
inside this magazine are on the left
side inside a long blue box and on the
right of these numbers is a list
showing what is inside the Magazine.
On the right side there are 4 pictures
and on each picture at the bottom left
side in the corner there is a number
and this is to show the readers what
page these pictures are on. The school
crest is in the top right corner of the
Content page and the background is
white with some blue. The title is big
to catch readers attention.
Mode of Address: the clear language
used on this content page will make the
content page easier for the related
students to read and they will be able to
use this to navigate what is on each page
inside the magazine. The colours and
fonts make the magazine look more
appealing and interesting for the
students.
Camera Work: the images on this
Content page go from Medium close
shot to medium long shot or Low
angled shot. The images on the
content page in this magazine relate
to the subjects inside the magazine.
These images show what sort of
articles are going to be in this
magazine.
Typography: the Main heading is in
a large black San-serif font. The
numbers on the left side and the
numbers on the images are there to
show the readers what page each
subject or image is on. This is to
make it easier for the reader to
navigate through the magazine.
Language: the language used on the
Content Page for this magazine is
friendly and this will attract more
people to read the School Magazine
and this will make the School
Magazine look much more appealing
to the readers.
Colour: the colour scheme of the Content Page in this School Magazine is
white but there is also blue at the top and left side of the page. The images
each have a blue border around them to go with the colour scheme. The font is
black and the school crest is white and blue.

7. Mise-en-Scene: the background of this
Content Page is a picture of a school
hallway and you can see the windows to
the classrooms. On the top right corner
there is a bubble which tells the readers
what page they’re on. At the bottom of
the Content Page it shows the school
slogan.
Mode of Address: the language on this
Content Page will make it easier to read
for the students and it will make it easier
for the students to be able to navigate
through the Magazine. The colours on
the Content Page make the Magazine
look better and more appealing. This will
attract more readers. The main colour on
the content page is blue.
Camera Work: the images on this
Content page go from Medium close
shot to medium long shot. The images
on this Content Page show the
students in the school hard at work
Typography: the main heading is in
a large black San-serif font with a
blue shade behind it. There is a list
of sub headings and on the left side
of them sub headings there are
numbers. These numbers are to
show what page each of these
topics are on.
Layout: on this content page the Main
Heading is at the top of the page on
the left and on the right there is a
small bubble which says School News:
“What’s Going On?”. On the left side
there are numbers and sub headings
to show the topics on each page.
These are in an informal friendly
order. On the right side there are
images of students while they are in
their classes in school. At the bottom
of the page it shows their school
slogan “Working Together To
Achieve”.
Language: the language used on the
Content Page is informal; friendly
which makes the magazine feel
welcoming and more inviting to the
students. This makes the magazine
look more attractive to the students
reading it.
Colour: the main colour used for this content page is blue but there is also
some white and yellow involved in the colour scheme. The background is an
image an empty school hallway. Each image has a yellow border around them.
The main heading has a shade of blue shadowing behind it.

8. “OK” Magazine is about all
the latest celebrity news,
gossip, TV shows and
photos. The font of this
“OK!” Magazine is San-
serif. Most magazines are
effective, memorable and
eye catching. “OK!”
Magazine has a big eye-
catching effect which
makes the magazine
imaginative. The choosing
of colour is clever because
the colour of the title
mixed with the colour of
the background gives it a
beautiful and interesting
design.
“The Resident” Magazine is
about London Culture,
Homes and Interiors,
Property, Education and
Lifestyle. The font of “The
resident” is Serif. The
heading of the magazine is
a big eye catcher because it
is in a big font and it is in a
gold colour which makes it
very suitable to the
magazine. The title gives
the magazine a beautiful
outstanding design
because of the colour it is
mixed with on the
magazine. The background
of the magazine is mostly
white which makes the
colours look amazing
together.
“Red” magazine is mainly
about women’s fashion and
it is also about the latest
recipes. The font of this
“Red” Magazine is a
beautiful hand writing like
font. It makes the
magazine look outstanding
and it also resembles a
signature and makes the
magazine look like it was
personalized. It looks like
the title was written by
someone and it looks
amazing on the magazine.
It gives the magazine a
beautiful design and it
mixes in well with the
colour of the magazine.

9. Lucida Handwriting Imprint MT Shadow PrimaSans BT
As you can see in the name
of this font this font is a
hand writing type of font
and this type of font would
be amazing for a magazine
because this type of font
looks like a signature. This
font has a nice relaxing
feeling to it and I find this
interesting because this
may make people feel
relaxed and it may interest
people more. This font is
very creative because it is
similar to joint up
handwriting. This font looks
like it is professional
handwriting.
This font is very
interesting and
appealing. It has a very
nice design to it and it
is also easy for people
to read it. This font is
cool and it is appealing
to the audience because
if it is different and has
a different style to it.
This font would go well
on the magazine and I
think it would attract
the younger groups
more than the older
because it is not just
plain and simple.
As you can see the name of
the font tells you that the
font is San Serif. This font is
very simple and
contemporary. Due to its
simplicity such fonts are
widely used in print
publications such as
magazine, posters and
flyers mostly because they
are clear and easy to read.
The simplicity and
plainness of such font
makes it formal and gives
sense of uniformity and
structure.

11. 60%
40%
Are you Male or Female?Male Female
20%
40%20%
20%
What school year are you in?
Year 10 Year 11 Year 12 Year 13
20%
10%
10%30%
10%
20%
How often would you want a
new School Magazine to be
released?
Daily Weekly Monthly
Once a Term Twice a Year Yearly
20%
10%
40%
10%
10%
10%
What sort of stuff would you
like to read about in the School
Magazine?
School Dinners School Events School Trips
Studying Classes School Clubs Sports News

12. 30%
70%
Would you like a School
Magazine based for all
years or separate years?
All Years Separate Years
20%
80%
What sort of articles would
you like to have in the
School Magazine?
Long Articles Short Articles
20%
20%
10%10%
30%
10%
What do you like to read
about when you are not in
School?
Sports Fashion
Games Movies
Celebrity Gossip History Magazines
40%
60%
What would encourage you
to buy a School Magazine?
Freebies 5$ voucher on snacks

13. 10%
30%
20%10%
10%
20%
What sort of color would suit
the School Magazine best?
Black Red Yellow Green Purple Blue
80%
20%
Would you help create the
School Magazine?
Yes No

16. I decided to use these colours when designing my magazine
because these are the colours that were available on my
questionnaire and these are also the colours that were chosen
by the 10 students who completed my questionnaire. The
background will be blue with some white because the colour
blue represents trust, honesty and loyalty and that is how I
want the students to be with each other, the teachers and the
rest of the staff in the school and I think the colour white will
go well with blue on the magazine. Also the colour blue
represents peace and calm and it represents safety which is
how the school is represented. I will use red for the Masthead
because the colour red represents energy, passion and action.
The colour red also attracts attention and it makes the
magazine more noticeable. I will use black for the text because
the colour black represents protection from emotional stress. I
will use the colour yellow for the sub headings because the
colour yellow is bright and joyful and the colour yellow
represents happiness. I will use the colour green for the
borders because green is a nice, attractive, bright and joyful
colour and I feel it will make the magazine more appealing to
the students and I feel it will make the magazine more
relaxing. I will use the colour purple for the border of the
images because the colour purple is a nice colour for a
magazine and the colour purple represents imagination and
spirituality which I think best describes our school.

20. On the front cover of my school magazine “Prima SHOUT” I need to improve a few
things in order to make my school magazine more appealing to the readers. I need to
move the Masthead to the top of the page because I am using up room that could be
used for other things on my cover page such as images or more subheadings. Also for
the masthead I need to change the colour because I think that the colour yellow is not
appropriate for the masthead of the school magazine. The graphical feature around the
heading (Starburst) is too sharp and needs to be improved to be suitable for the cover
page. The background of the cover page needs to be changed from a fading colour
because of the costs. I feel that the main image should be an image of a group of
students in the school feeling relaxed and happy at the end of another school day. I
want the students to be happy and relaxed in the image to reflect the style of the
school magazine. I need to add a banner onto the cover page saying “Prima
International School Belgrade” to let the readers know the magazine is mainly for
students in Prima International School. The cover lines are very plain on my cover page
so I am going to work on a composition of cover lines. I am also going to remove the
emoticons because they are very childish and my magazine is aimed at all ages in
Prima International School. The overall cover is very plain and needs to be enhanced
visually in terms of the overall design. I am going to add in a Webpage account e.g.
www.primashoutmagazine.com

21. I also need to make a few improvements on my content page for the magazine to
make it more appealable and welcoming to the audience. The content page is very
plain and needs to be improved to make it more lively and welcoming to the
audience. The background on the content page also needs to be changed from a
fading colour because of the costs. The mast head needs to be moved to the top of
the page because it is taking up too much room. The layout of the cover page needs
to be improved because it is very childish and appropriate for primary school
children. I need to add more articles to the content page because the articles on the
content page are exactly the same as the articles on the cover page so I need to add
more articles onto the content page to show the readers that there is more to read
further in the magazine. I also need to unify my content page and put the page
numbers in order to make it look more presentable. The masthead on the content
page is plain so I need to improve that to make it look interesting and eye catching. I
need to make the magazine look more mature to show it is for all age groups
because at the moment the magazine looks childish. I am going to remove the
emoticons from the content page. I need to make sure the content page is in order so
it is easy for the readers to navigate through the magazine. I am also going to add a
punch line or a short summary below the article titles.

25. Front Cover Main Image – I would like the main image on the front cover to be an image of
a group of students in the school feeling relaxed and happy after finishing another school
day. I want the main image to have a relaxing and happy feeling to it because I want the
main image to reflect the style of the magazine. The main image student feature will be
mixed sex and mixed age to show the school diversity.
Images on Content Page – I would like to images on the content page to show the readers
what sort of articles are going to be featured in the magazine. The images will also have
mixed age and mixed sex students to show the diversity of the school and in these
pictures the student will be doing activities that are available around the school such as
basketball. One of the images will be an image of a fruit bowl to represent the article about
the new school menu’s. there will also be an image of students studying for exams. This
will show the students that study classes are now available. Each image will represent what
the articles are about.

26. Content
Page
Content
Page
Content
Page
Front
Cover

27. Content
Page Content
Page

31. My preliminary task was to analyze and create a new school magazine Front Cover and Content Page involving
many different topics of the students interests. First I researched existing magazines and analyzed up to three
existing magazine Front Covers and Content Pages in order to become familiar with the design. Then I used this
research to design my own Front Cover and Content Page drafts. I then used these drafts to see where I could
improve for my final Front Cover and Content Page.
The layout of my magazine is similar to any normal school magazine except I wanted to make mine look more
professional. The font I used in my magazine is san-serif because I feel that san-serif is the most appropriate for a
school magazine and it is also easy for the students to read. To do this I had to analyze a few different san-serif
and serif fonts to get an idea of which font would be suitable for a magazine and what font would look most
appealing on a Front Cover and Content Page. I have included the mast head, sub heading, main cover lines etc. as
a magazine has to have. Also the content that I used in my magazine is mostly relevant to school life but I included
a few extra’s such as a quiz etc. to make it more enjoyable for the readers. I made the colour scheme of my
magazine with many different colours in order to attract both genders to read the magazine.
In order to make the magazine to look more appealing to the readers I had to do a photo-shoot and take images of
objects and students to show the topics that are inside the magazine. The main image of the magazine is an image
of the three runners for presidents and as you can see by the clothes they are wearing it gives the magazine a
professional, casual and relaxed feeling to it. I created a questionnaire to get information from students on what
they would like to see on the school magazine such as topics, colours, fonts etc. and I used the results to make my
magazine more appealing to the students and also to make the it more enjoyable and interesting for the students.
During this preliminary task I have gained more knowledge on how to research specific topics. I have also learned
how to analyze magazines in a more professional way. My planning skills have increased as I had a big amount of
planning involved in this task when I was in the process of planning and designing the school magazine. My
organization skills have also increased as I had to organize how I was going to complete this task and I had to
organize a photo-shoot and specific times to work on this task. There are a few certain changes I would make to
improve the school magazine such as the images. Overall I am impressed with the final design of my Magazine
Front Cover and Content Page.