Hannah Johnson: Research and planning: Premliminary task.

Evaluation of Front cover and Contents page for magazine

Front cover of my magazine.

What i like about my front page of college magazine:

I like the font I have used for my Masthead and hook lines. I have used a freshman font that I found and I feel it connotates a college magazine as its very friendly and simple to read. Also from research it looks similar to other fonts used on college magazines.
I also like the colour of the writing because it can apply to both boys and girls whereas if I had used all different types of pinks it would connotate that my target audience is the gender female. Also because the colours are bright and eye catching making people who see it want to read whats on it.
The dominant image I have used on my magazine i really like because the image is of a happy student connotating to the readers that college is a fun place to be. Also because the person is smiling which also makes the reader feel welcome to read on.
I like the strap at the bottom of the page which states the college logo because when somebody reads the front page of the magazine they will be drawn to this and they will feel they have picked the right college for their success as the superior word makes this thought "SHINE".

What I don't like and how it could be improved:

I feel that the back ground could have more going on as becasue the image is put on to the background its doesn't look like a realistic place. Also because of the dull colour used people may connotate this as dull and then use this to associate it with college being dull. Then this would single out the intension of using a blackground to enhance the Masthead and the hooks lines. To improve this I could have got a picture of the outside of the college and used that as my background but made it opaque using the tool on photoshop to make the magazine more like a college magazine.
I also feel that the layout of my magazine could be more professional and organised. I feel this because when I look at the front page I feel that it is all over ther place and messy. This would connotate to the target audience that the magazine is rushed and unprofessional. to improve this I could of made the the layout different for example move the image more to the left and have the hooks, and stores down the right hand side of the magazine.
I feel I could of put more information about the "Issue" on the page to make people feel like there reading a really worthwhile magazine. To do this I could of used terms like "New Edition" or "Limited Edition".

Content page of my magazine.

What I like about my context page:

On my content pages I like the fact that I have kept with the same colour scheme as the front page, as this is a professional thing to do. This connotates that I have taken time to make sure that my magazine follows a theme this tells the readers that the magazine is well presented and a lot of thought has gone into it.
I also like the images used on the magazine as it makes the magazine less formal which I feel will make the target audience more comfortable reading the magazine. The pictures connotate that the magazine is laid back and friendly which connotates that the college is the same.
I also like the issues my magazine bring as I feel this is what new students will need to know but on the other hand I feel there is also things new student will be interested to know.vfhgav

What I don't like about my contents page and how I could improve it:

On my context page I don' like the layout of the pictures and the paragraphs, I feel it makes the magazine look messy and untidy and that to me makes the magazine look rushed. To improve this I would look at more magazines and find which layout used on magazine contents pages looked the most presentable and neat for a college magazine.
Also on my contents page I would change the back ground for the same reason as my front pages, because the target audience may associate the black background with dullness connotating that the college is a dull place to be. To improve this I would again use an image of the college and opaque it and use that as the background so its following the theme as the front pages if I were to change that to make the magazine look professional.

How I made the Front page and contents:

To create my front page I used Photoshop. Using the tools on photoshop I managed to cut the dominant image so it was the only images used on the front pages. I managed to use a font that I thought followed the conventions of a college magazines.
To create my contents page I used Indesign. Using indesign I was able to create columns to make my work look neater. I was able to create boxes in certain places to put text were it was wanted.

Does it follow the conventions?
Yes my magazine does follow the conventions as it contains:

Hannah Johnson