Eliza Chapman-Smith has been tasked with creating the front and contents pages of a school magazine. She plans to use the school's colors of red, black, and white to create a simple yet modern design. Her goal is to have consistent branding to make the magazine look more professional. To ensure an authentic product, she will research other school magazines and conduct audience research to understand what readers expect to see.

1. Preliminary Task – School Magazine
By Eliza Chapman-Smith

2. To start this project I have been asked to create the
front and contents pages of a school magazine. I
intend to use the school’s colour of red, along with
black and white, to create a simple and modern
looking magazine. I plan to have a very consistent
design as this tends to make a magazine look more
professional. To make my magazine look more
authentic I will research other school magazines to
see what is commonly present, and I will also
conduct some audience research to find out what
readers expect/want to see.

3. Includes a competition
to encourage students
and parents to buy it,
and also to get involved
with the school/its
magazine.
No cost to purchase the
magazine, makes it more
accessible to students and
adults.
Consistent colour
scheme ties in to the
school, makes the
magazine look more
professional and also
keeps it all in keeping
Simple modern colour scheme (black,
white and the school’s purple) keeps the
overall presentation from looking tacky or
cheap.
Masthead, the most
ornate thing on there
due to font choice,
draws eye and makes
immediately apparent
the name of the
publication
Directly addressing the
audience, makes them
more likely to read the
magazine, and also
shows that the writers
want the readers to get
involved and respond.
School logo in the
corner adds more
reference to the school
itself, but in a subtle
way so that it still looks
professional.
The figures are very smartly
dressed which gives the
impression of a well
established school with happy,
polite students who follow the
rules. This is further
emphasised by their postures
and facial expressions.
This is the secondary story,
emphasised by a slightly larger
font and underlining.
The main focus of this
magazine cover is the
central image. The figures
are making eye contact
with the camera and they
are facing forward so the
audience feels addressed.
The fact that it is not too
word heavy makes it more
appealing to students
rather than parents, but
only subtly.
Text Analysis

4. Bright primary colours
used, implies that the
school concerned is a
primary school.
An issue date has been
included to allow the parents
to keep up to date with the
issues that have been
published.
Very few pictures have been
used, only of the principle to
relate to the direct address in
the text. The fact that it is very
word heavy implies that it is
more aimed the parents.
The contents are clear
and easy to read, and
help the reader navigate
the newsletter. The text
colour is very simple
because it is not
intended to be the main
feature of the
newsletter
Some helpful websites for
the students to practice
reading, science and
mathematics. This shows
that the target audience is
the students as well as the
parents, because they are
aiming to help with home
study
The school name is the head
banner, in clear font to make it
easy to read.
Key upcoming dates and
events, which helps inform
the parents as to what is
happening in the school. It
has been highlighted with a
coloured text box to draw
attention and emphasise, as
well as separating it from the
rest of the text.
Reminders about RSVPs for
parents to join their kids at
a Christmas lunch show
that the target audience is,
partly, parents. The
children would not really be
concerned with reply slips
and dates for the diary, so
we can see that the writers
are trying to aim towards
the parents.

5. Audience
Research
What do you expect to see in a school
magazine?
Numbe
r
Event information 10
Bulletins 1
A level/GCSE advice 2
Photos 4
News 1
Logo 1
Address from Head teacher 2
Exam results 3
Achievements of students outside school 1
Where to go for more information 1
Local events in the community 1
Interesting things that have happened/will
2
happen

6. How often do you think a school magazine
to issued?
Numb
er
Weekly 5
Fortnightly 1
Monthly 6
Termly 3

7. 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.
My target audience is school children between the ages of 11 and 18 (Year 7 to Year 13). I will try to include information that is
relevant to them, rather than information that would be better seen by parents (e.g.)‘dates for the diary’).
Possible title ideas:
(masthead / title block)
What is your magazine going to be called?
Priory Post, Priory Oracle, 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”
Two students in an art classroom, drawing/painting and editing/taking pictures. This will link with the headline story – and
therefore be relevant – and it will have students from the school which will make it more interesting to those who are buying
the magazine.
Main cover line:
What will be the main story?
Back to the drawing board with fund allocation, what do you think on the issue of Arts Funding? – this gets the reader
interested and encourages them to get involved.
Additional key images:
What other images will be on your front cover?
Remember, it is a school magazine.
N/A
Additional cover lines:
Other features, stories or selling points which
will be inside the magazine, these need to be
audience appropriate.
I will include a splash that will detail another story
Typography:
(style, size, colour of copy)
Think about the writing and the style of the
writing on your front page.
Simple, modern font. Black red and white, mostly monochrome with red accents
Background colour/image:
What will be in the background, remember you
don’t want to take the focus away from the main
image.
Technical considerations:
(equipment, setting, props, costume, lighting)
Be realistic and creative, think about what you

8. 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 program me (Photoshop).
Below start to sketch what the front cover of your newsletter will look like.
TEXT – black thin text, but
the Ps are red with the
Bevelled and Embossed
effect, to make them stand
out from the rest of the text.
Also in a much larger font
size
ISSUE DATE – to keep them
in order and so people can
make sure they are reading
the relevant issue, black text
on a red box
UNDERLINE – a thick
red bar to act us an
underline, to separate
from the rest of the page
and also to tie together
the colour scheme
MAIN STORY – black text on
a similar bar as above, maybe
translucent, funny headline
accompanies the picture but
gives more information, joke
is in capital letters and
separated to prevent it being
solid text.
SPLASH – to give
information about the other
stories in the newsletter,
black text on a red box,
maybe slightly translucent.
MAIN IMAGE – two
students in an art
classroom, one drawing
and one editing on a
laptop, angle is as if you
are sitting next to them at
the table, shows everyday
school life and is relevant
to the headline
LOGO – to bring in the
colour scheme, make it
look more professional

9. 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.
NEWSLETTER LOGO –
simply and quickly gets
across the theme, same
font as on the cover,
interlinked
CONTENTS HEADING –
underlined with the
typical bar, stays in
keeping with the rest of
the magazine
HEADTEACHER – a
generic picture of the
head teacher to stop it
being too text heavy, the
word in a bolder red font
than main text to
emphasise and separate,
the text is just a general
address, in simple black
font
REMINDERS – the title
will be the same as the
page numbers to stay in
keeping with the design,
the bar will be red with
the Bevel and Emboss
effects to add texture, the
text will be black and each
‘reminder’ will be
separated by a big dot,
also black
PAGE INFORMATION –
I want to have the P in red
with the Bevel and
Emboss effects, the rest
will be just in regular red
text, the information
about the story will be in
plain black text,

10. I wanted a picture that
was relevant to the main
story, so something to
do with the Art
Department. I chose to
have two students in an
Art classroom, one
drawing and one editing
on a computer.
I chose this one because the lighting was
better, and this mean that I wouldn’t have
to edit too much in Photoshop. As well as
this, it is easier to see what they’re doing in
this one, so I thought it would be the more
effective cover photo.
Cover Photo
Options

11. I cropped out the things on the
table and the person in the
background on the right as it
made it look quite messy and
doing this improved the framing.
I also chose to crop out the pencil
case at the bottom because, again,
it was unnecessary and messy. I
didn’t want to add any effects
because I wanted it to look like a
realistic representation of student
life.
Cover Photo
Editing

12. Front Page
TITLE – the size of the Ps is very
effective because it emphasises
the title. I also like the
combination of the red and black
letters, because the black picks
out the shadow on the Ps due to
the result of the effects I added.
The underline separates it from
the main body of the text, which
is a good thing because the title
should be visible.
SCHOOL LOGO – the logo fits in
well with the rest of the magazine.
This is because I used the
Eyedropper Tool to pick out the
red colour, and then used that
throughout the magazine.
ISSUE DATE – I chose to move
the issue date down to this
corner because the top was too
cluttered if I place it there, and it
fit quite neatly underneath the
logo. I chose not to add effects to
the bar because it is not a very
important piece of information,
so did not need emphasis.
MAIN STORY – I used a bar
similar in colour and texture as the
title underline for the main story to
ensure continuity throughout the
magazine, and also a professional
look. I made the headline slightly
larger and in capitals to separate it
from the information below. I
thought black test would be best,
as it would be legible.
MAIN PHOTO – I chose this photo
because it showed the subject
clearly. I chose to crop it slightly so
that the proportions were better,
and the subjects took p more of the
frame. I didn't edit it much
because I wanted it to be relatively
simple. I added thinning lines
around the edge to add interest
and to make it look more
integrated into the magazine as a
whole.
SECONDARY STORY – I
chose to use a very simple
red box in which to place the
secondary story, with no
editing, as it is not as
important as the main story.
I chose to use similar
typography as used in the
main story, to keep
continuity.

13. Contents Page MAGAZINE LOGO – I am very
happy with the way the logo turned
out. I wanted it to look as if the two
Ps were interlinked. To do this I
copied and pasted the letters from
the cover. I made the second one
regular (instead of bold) . I then
erased the relevant bit of the lower
P. This created the illusion the they
were linked, with shadowing.
CONTENTS HEADING – I used
very simple text for the contents
heading because it is emphasised
by the underline. This bar is the
same as the others used
throughout the magazine.
REMINDERS – I used smaller text
for the heading of this section, as it
is the least important thing on the
page and the red below it draws the
eye enough. I think the dividing
dots make it look very professional,
and the bar provides good
structure to the page.
HEADTEACHER ADDRESS – I
used a medium shot and I put the
picture on an ‘elevated’ section to
emphasise it, as it is the only
picture. I used the typical text/font
combination. I tried to keep it all in
the corner of the page, as it is
meant to be quite small and
inconspicuous. The text is quite
brief, but encourages students.
PAGE INFORMATION – this
section comprises of the page
number that the specific story is
located on, and then a little
description about the story. I used
the same font with this part as I
did throughout the magazine. I
think this section makes the overall
page look a bit text heavy, it would
have been effective to include some
pictures based on the stories, to
break up the solid text and add
interest,

14. What I’ve Learnt
Through making this magazine have learnt how to
conduct audience research, and then incorporate
my findings into a product. I have become more
familiar with Adobe Photoshop, and how to use
it to create an authentic school magazine. I was
already relatively familiar with it as a program,
but doing this task helped me better understand
the tools that would help me make a magazine
specifically.