The document describes a student's plans to design the front cover and contents page for a school magazine. The student intends to plan ideas according to design appearance and finalize a professional-looking product. The magazine will be friendly for all ages and incorporate the school colors and logo. It will include information on upcoming events, competitions, student achievements and topics of interest to both students and parents. The student provides sketches of their planned front cover and contents page layouts. They include a student photo, relevant images and text with consideration of typography, color scheme and technical capabilities.

1. Brief:
For this task I am going to design and create a front cover and contents page for a school
magazine. To do this I am going to plan and editing my ideas according to the appearance of the
design and finalise it to make a professional looking article. I am going to design a friendly
magazine suitable for any age group. Also I will use colours that are easy on the eye and words
that can be easily read. As well as this I am going to incorporate the priory school colours and
logo to make the magazine relevant and relatable to our students. The article is aimed at both
students and parents so all necessary upcoming information will be on hand along side all
events, competitions and student achievements. The magazine will be based on students and
how they are doing at school but will also include information for the parents such as dates etc.

2. The magazine is looking to
promote what they have to
offer. This also attracts people to
the magazine, these people will
be interested by the content on
the front page. The presentation
of this looks professional so that
implies there is a dedicated
team who put time and effort
into producing this document. A
special offer or ‘Freebee’ is an
effective way of gaining interest
from the public.
The title shows clearly the name of
the magazine. A clear heading is
important to show the reader what
the magazine is called and what
content might be included.
The date and issue number.
Splash stories are an
important part of a
front cover. Along
with the Mast head
and main title the
splash stories give you
an insight to what you
can find inside. They
also are used to lure
readers in with a
wider variety of story.
The mast head of the
magazine shows what would
be referred to. This is the
second largest text and is
accompanied by the word
exclusive. Automatically the
readers eyes are drawn to this
title.
Contact information
The main picture is clear and
doesn’t block out any
information on the page. Also it
is a friendly picture so the
magazine is for all ages.
These stories aren't in context
with the rest of the article but
are still popular with young
people widening the appeal of
the magazine.

3. The name of the newsletter is
clearly displayed in clear
writing. Just like any other
document a clear heading is
one of the most important
aspects.
Clear date and issue number.
A newsletter in comparison
to a magazine includes a lot
more information on the
front cover and indeed the
rest of the article. This shows
how the newsletter is
designed to inform rather
than entertain. In addition
the newsletter is aimed at a
different audience, this
aimed at the parents who
would be interested in what
is going on in the school. A
magazine because of its
content is aimed half at the
students and half at parents
who want to read a more
comical article.
The logo included on the front
page shows a partnership the
school is involved in. This shows
possible strengths of the school
because they have got a
specialised partner.
The side stories are laid out
professionally. The main content
is outlined here and it gives you
an idea on what is inside.
Because this article is intended
to inform, the front cover
doesn’t include any stories.
Instead it shows information
on what the school has to
offer.
The colours of the newsletter
are undoubtedly the same as
the school uniform.

4. AS Media Studies Preliminary Task – School Magazine Front Page Proposal Form
Target audience:
(age range, interests)
Although it is a school newsletter you still have to think about your audience
and how to appeal to them.
The age range of the magazine is from young children all the way up to parents and adults( 5+)
School events, clubs and activities will appeal to both the students who want to take part and the
parents who can gain an insight into what goes on in the school.
Possible title ideas:
(masthead / title block)
What is your magazine going to be called?
Priory press
Main image:
What will be the focal point of your front page, remember, your work “must
include a photograph of a student in a medium close-up”
The main image could be of a student doing an activity, doing a science experiment or playing a
sport or a site on the school grounds. A medium long shot nothing to personal just to act as a
relevant backdrop.
Main cover line:
What will be the main story?
The priory school turns attention to music
Additional key images:
What other images will be on your front cover?
Remember, it is a school magazine.
The school logo, Picture of the head, picture of the muga
Additional cover lines:
Other features, stories or selling points which will be inside the magazine,
these need to be audience appropriate.
’What's good at the priory’ Student input i.e. what they think is good at the priory and what they
would like to see.
Typography:
(style, size, colour of copy)
Think about the writing and the style of the writing on your front page.
Majority of text in red text(depending on background) size 12-14 font size and in Bodoni MT
Black.
Background colour/image:
What will be in the background, remember you don’t want to take the focus
away from the main image.
The priory logo or a red background
Technical considerations:
(equipment, setting, props, costume, lighting)
Be realistic and creative, think about what you have access to and how you
could use it.
Post it note format where the information is written in a handwriting style around the main
image, this is how the additional cover lines will be presented.

5. Preliminary exercise: produce a front page and contents page of a school magazine. Front covers must include a
photograph of a student in a medium close-up with appropriately laid out text and use of an image manipulation
programme (Photoshop).
Below start to sketch what the front cover of your newsletter will look like.
Student-The
new look
school looks
great.
Events
calendar for
all the dates
you need to
know
Priory Press

6. Preliminary exercise: produce a front page and contents page of a school magazine. Front covers must include a
photograph of a student in a medium close-up with appropriately laid out text and use of an image manipulation
programme (Photoshop).
Below start to sketch what the contents page of your newsletter will look like.

7. This is the front page of
my school magazine. It
includes a medium close
up of a student which I
took. I tried to keep it
simple so used post it
notes as my format to
include text. Also I
included red and black
because they work well
together and included an
inspirational message
which I think works well
and doesn’t ruin the front
cover.

8. This is my contents
page of my school
magazine. I thought
the less I include the
better so I just used
text to inform the
reader what the
magazine includes. I
continued to use red
text theme and
changed up some of
the font styles but I
think it still looks good
as well as being
informative.

9. Audience research
What do you expect to see in a school magazine?
School events-6
Sports clubs-3
Head teacher’s commendations-2
Revision clubs-5
The school logo-4
My research confirmed what I thought before in that people expect to see generic things
like important dates and various clubs.

10. I included some effects when writing
my text such as gradient tools and
bevel and emboss. This was effective
because it makes the text more vibrant
rather than plain old text.
I also used the editing tools to edit the picture I took of a student. This was
important because otherwise you would have a white background around the
picture but this way you can effectively cut out the image you want and neaten it to
make it look like it belongs on your picture. Untidy editing makes the work look
unprofessional and odd so using the magic stick it cuts around the image so you
don’t have to use the rubber tool which can be untidy.

11. I again used effects on the title to make it stand
out form the rest of the text, I used bevel and
emboss tool and gradient tool.
I changed up the font style and size to make sure I filled the page and
tried to keep blank space to a minimum. The colour scheme stayed the
same and the only other effect I used was the gradient tool to create
the two tone background.