College Magazine Analysis

The first thing we can see on this magazine cover is that the logo incorporates the name of the educational body that it is made for; this is a convention of college magazines that allows for the immediate identification of the target audience. The model in the middle is someone of the age band that the magazine is aimed at – further allowing the audience to identify with the magazine – and the model wearing both sports gear and a standard uniform helps portray the students of Whitman as both academic and athletic (as well as appealing to both academic and athletic readers). The cover utilises just a serif font for the title and a san-serif font for the body – this has been done to add an aesthetically-pleasing variety to the page. The san-serif font suggests a modern attitude, whilst the serif font suggests a classical ethos and an academic topic. As the product is being given away free, there is no RRP or barcode, and because it doesn't have a shelf as a point of sale, it doesn't follow the left-third rule. The use of graphics on the 'DESIGNING TH FUTURE' cover line brings the attention immediately to the cover. The main cover line is at the top-right of the page, which is not very effective at getting the reader to view the whole page – following the Z-rule would have given a more effective composition to the piece.

  

Evaluation of my College Magazine Pages

The first thing to notice in the preliminary product is the lack of quality in the graphics used. The logo is noticeably low-resolution and the star-burst puff makes the whole cover look very unprofessional (the same goes for the pointers on the contents page). Secondly, the main image is also of low quality, having an unsettling composition and mediocre Gaussian blur applied to the background of the image in an attempt to make it more interesting. On the other hand, the games console graphic looks quite impressive.

The text is also misaligned, which makes it quite hard to read. In addition, it covers the models face too much and thus creates an unappealing composition. The language used is acceptable and the colour scheme is mostly coherent and well used, with the exception of one or two words. The variation of text makes the front cover look more interesting. The background of the contents page is very unappealing, and a block colour or image background would have worked a lot better.

From this preliminary task, I have learnt to take better quality pictures using controlled lighting and DSLRs. In addition, I have learnt how to use the Gaussian blur. For the main task, I will be using guidelines to make sure text is aligned properly and doesn't obscure the model's face. I have also learnt how to cut out images using the magic wand tool (as I had to do with part of the logo).

In conclusion, although it is of dubious quality and needs to have a total redesign to be to professional standards, as a preliminary task it taught me the subtleties of certain tools and is a decent first attempt. Points to improve are the quality of the images, the alignment of the text and the post-effects on images.

Advertisers Moodboard

I have chosen these companies as potential advertisers in my product for several reason. I chose YouTube, Facebook and Twitter as social networks that would allow aspiring artists who enjoy non-mainstream music to share their art with others; the more interesting individuals (that my magazine would attract with non-mainstream ideals) on a social network, the more people flock to it and the more successful it is. Technology companies like Samsung would also be a company that would do well to market in my magazine - the young adult audience that are targeted by my product are likely to also be interested in technology. Beats by Dre and Audio-Technica were chosen as examples of music-technology companies that would appeal to both the technology-minded readers and the musically-minded readers of the magazine. Finally, Radial by Orchard was chosen as a company that sells and markets independent music that the musically-adventurous audience of New Form would be attracted to.

Colour Moodboard

I looked at Web 2.0 and technology colour schemes and used them as inspiration. Overall, I think I prefer the red, black and white colour scheme.

Font Moodboard

Wanting to go for a clean, Web 2.0-esque look, I took inspiration from technology fonts.

Main Task Audience Research

Overview of the Magazine Industry