The document discusses lessons learned from creating magazine covers. It summarizes that including sell lines on a black background took away from the main image, so white text was overlaid instead. It also added an extra selling line. For the masthead, a red font on the music magazine ensured it stood out more than the blended white masthead on the school magazine. Overall, the biggest lesson was that research into existing media and target audiences should drive creation, rather than just personal ideology, to specifically tailor the product to its market niche.

1. Question 7

2. What I learnt in creating a front cover:

3. One of the things I changed from my music magazine was the insertion of the sell lines. While these were
included as seen above in the original magazine they were inserted onto a black background which took away
from the main cover image. In the second version white text was overlaid on the black background in order not
to take away from the image. Furthermore I added 3 selling lines instead of 2 in order to give the magazine a
bigger pull. The font also is more easy to read, with only BEX’s name in capitals.
Sell lines:

4. The prices were adjusted for the final copy while this is partly due to the change in style of magazine, people are
more likely to be willing to pay more for a music magazine contrasting to a school magazine. However one
change I did decide to make was the size of the pricing. Such a large price puts out a feeling of cheapness and
low quality. However by having it small and insignificant on the EX magazine it gives a higher quality sealing.
Pricing:

5. The masthead on the school magazine was far less dominant than the music magazine. Furthermore it’s white
colour blended somewhat into the background of the snowy image. In the creation of my final magazine I took
inspiration from Q magazine setting my font to a red background ensuring it would stand out from the
background. Additionally as each magazine is based around a different artist the masthead must be
recognisable, this is a much more distinctive look.
Masthead:

6. Photo Editing
I improved my photo editing from my school magazine to my music magazine. I used the raw image on the
school magazine in which the key figure of my school girl cannot be seen as clearly in the foreground. This was
adjusted in my music magazine in which I used Photoshop to bring BEX to the foreground, in this way the
magazine has a larger draw to a reader.

7. Costume
In the front cover image for my music
magazine my artist has a clear image. An
empowered, rebellious teenage girl. This
was carefully chosen even to the extent
of fake glasses and the state of BEX’s
badges. I wanted to convey a clear
theme.
Contrastingly on the front cover of my
school magazine while her costume
clearly conveys a winter theme I
neglected the school aspect to it, no
school uniform can be seen.

8. What I learnt from the contents page:

9. Clear Magazine identity:
Something entirely absent from my school magazine contents page is that of a clear magazine
identity. The same issue was seen on the front cover with the masthead, the magazine is not
recognisable by a brand/logo, especially as in the end I chose to not insert my logo into the
school magazines final draft. In my music magazine I rectified this inserting the EX logo into the
top corner.

10. Date
While it is something minor a tradition of all magazines is that of a date over the top of the
contents page. Had I done more research into the trends of magazine making on my school
magazine I would have been able to rectify this.

11. Font size
In my school magazine I used a larger font size allowing the font to dominate the page, furthermore all the
text is in capitals. In my research I discovered that capitals actually take the mind longer to read than lower
case. For this reason I adjusted this in my music magazine. Allowing the page numbers to be more
prominent, the page content is also written in lower case in order to make it more accessible.

12. Give away
Something I removed from my contents page was the concept of a give away. I felt for a
magazine focussed around giving out an aura of quality this contradicted this idea. However the
closest idea to this was the posters on the front cover. Both are designed to pull in readers with
the promise of free gifts. However one appeals to much larger audience in the shape of a
giveaway, the posters are more tailored to BEX fans.

13. What have I learnt overall: a change in
creative mind-set
The major adjustment in mind-set I would say for me was realising that research of both already
existing media products and target audiences should be the drive for creation. The school
magazine was driven more by my own ideology, while the music magazine was specifically
tailored to my targeted niche in the music magazine market.