School newsletter

1. Toby Penny

2. Task Brief
For this task I have been asked to create a front
page and contents page for a school newspaper. I
am going to stick to using the main colour scheme
of the school which is Red, White and Black. I will
use Red White and Black throughout the project
and any other colours I use will be used to make the
particular thing stand out. I am going to use
Photoshop for everything in this project. I used
Microsoft PowerPoint to analyse the two school
magazines, present the audience research and to
analyse my school newsletter.

3. Having a picture of the head
teacher next to a piece of text
shows that he either wrote
the text or endorsed the text.
This automatically makes the
text more legitimate and
people will trust it more.
The School logo is
displayed so the school
becomes easily
recognisable like a
business/ company.
Ofsted decide whether a
school is good or not and is
truthful so by displaying the
Ofsted logo and the results
shows they are very proud of
the results
Important information is
highlighted in bold so it
stands out clearer than
the other text in a large
paragraph.
Heavy in text and lots of
information is provided
Bullet points point out
important things in a short
and quick way so people find
out vital information.
Edition number and date so
people know that the
newsletter/magazine they are
reading is valid and in date.
Colour scheme matches: it is
a blue and white theme
which is consistent
throughout the newsletter
Clear and professional
looking font which, the
same as the colour scheme
stays consistent throughout
the magazine/newsletter.
The word Newsletter is the
biggest font on the page
because people will already
know which school it is but
they will need to know
automatically that it is a
newsletter

4. A colour scheme isn't as
consistent throughout as the
previous newsletter because
there are random colours on
each box however this
makes it stand out more
The date means
parents can be sure
that the edition of the
newsletter that they
are reading is the
most up to date
version.
There are images
based on the theme
of the box, so if you
are looking for
something in specific
you can easily
recognise which
each box is about
Each box has a different
colour border so it is very
vibrant and stands out. From
this I can tell that it is a
Primary school newsletter
because
Clip art gives the
magazine a childish
and fun look which
shows that this is
for a Primary
School

5. Audience Research
What do you expect to see in a school magazine? No.
Event information 3
Head teacher 3
GCSE Results 1
Images 4
Out of School activities/clubs 3
Advice 2
Contact Information 4

6. 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.
Year 7-11 School students with an interest of what’s happening in the school (e.g. extra classes or
school trips) or parents who are interested in what’s happening in the school (e.g. rules of the school
or school trips)
Possible title ideas:
(masthead / title block)
What is your magazine going to be called?
YourPriory
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”
Shot of a student with their head over the top of the text. The image will be cut out round the edges
so that it is visible on the gradient background.
Main cover line:
What will be the main story?
Events coming up or currently happening in the school, also including information about the school.
Example if it’s Christmas the magazine will be Christmas themed and talk about events like the
Christmas fair.
Additional key images:
What other images will be on your front cover?
Remember, it is a school magazine.
Logos of associations linked with the school
Additional cover lines:
Other features, stories or selling points which will be inside the
magazine, these need to be audience appropriate.
Christmas concert
Typography:
(style, size, colour of copy)
Think about the writing and the style of the writing on your front page.
Big block letters with a different text box for each letter, white text
Background colour/image:
What will be in the background, remember you don’t want to take the
focus away from the main image.
Gradient background with lots of different colours. A vibrant colour is good because it
Technical considerations:
(equipment, setting, props, costume, lighting)
Be realistic and creative, think about what you have access to and how
you could use it.
White background wearing the school uniform in a well lit area

7. 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.

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
programme (Photoshop).
Below start to sketch what the contents page of your newsletter will look like.

9. Original Image
Manipulated Image
How I Manipulated The Image
I manipulated this image by taking an alternative
photo of a smarter background and cutting out the
person in the original image and pasting them in
front of the new image.

12. I’ve written the words
“Christmas Fair” in colours
which stand out from the rest so
that you know what the main
article of the magazine is and it
stands out clearly
Here I have made the school
logo appear behind the person,
so it looks like she is standing in
front of the logo, this is another
example of the image being
manipulated
Here I have put a barcode and a
price which makes it look like a
real magazine which you would
see in the shop
Here I have made the colours
match so that it looks like
something which would be on
the cover of every magazine, the
colours of these boxes match
with the colours of the logos

13. All the text and the boxes here
match in with the colour
scheme of the school, this keeps
it looking realistic and
professional. Each line here has
the same theme as the date and
the issue number on the first
page
Just like the first page I made
the line talking about the
Christmas fair a completely
different colour to the others,
and a colour that stands out so
you know it’s the main focus of
the magazine
I like this image because it
shows two people during school
and doesn’t look like a planned
photo, it looks like it’s been
caught off guard

14. What I’ve learned in this task
Most of the skills that I have learned in this task are
within Photoshop. Prior to the task I already knew
how to cut round an image to make the background
transparent, but I learned how to tidy it up and
make it look more professional by using the rubber
tool, and also how to add the shadow effect. This is
done with the Magnetic Lasso tool. I was already
familiar with most of the tools on the program,
however there are so many tools and there is still
lots to be learned in Photoshop