Introduction To The Main Task

Now my preliminary is complete of making a school magazine it is time to move onto the main task from the exam board which is producing a front page of a music magazine, contents page and a double page spread. My understandings that all images and text must be original and we must use at least four images that we have taken ourself.
I will firstly start to do the generic conventions of a music magazine front cover and double page spread.

Labels On My Posts

I have decided to make it extremely easier for the reader by adding a labelling system so they can understand the topic of the post. When my post is published I have labelled them with either 'blog information', 'homework', 'music magazine', 'school magazine' or 'research'. I have added a tab on the sidebar on the right hand side called 'Categories (Wanting to find something particular)' so you can click the topic and all the posts within that topic with the same label will be located there. In conclusion, it means that the reader can get understand which post is for what topic and can locate it much better.

Group Coursework Task

Our teacher split the class into three groups and set three editors, one for each group, which were myself, Tom and Sam. It was really great being an editor as I got to understand the role of setting people with tasks and making sure everyone is on track. We got given a set of tasks to over all have a completion of researching a Media Magazine and then later present it to the class in a power point which can be located here. I think it was very useful as we got a taster of what we have to do in our coursework when making our own Media Magazine,  we also got given deadlines which was very useful and we spoke to people who we wouldn't in class.

We produced a slideshow where we presented it to the class, it can be located here or below.

Peer Feedback On My School Magazine

Hannah Walker- My Mother
''I like the use of images at the bottom of the page as it looks very 

creative as some over and under lap each other. Moreover, it tells 
us more about what is in the magazine and what is the life in school 
itself which i think is very useful to the reader. Although i think the
bar code looks out of place and i would put it at the bottom instead
as its not as important.''

George Ridgway-Bamford- Student at Sandown Bay Academy

''I like the bold text and the colours chosen for the magazine cover, 
i think they mix well and the variety. The title is very easy to read 
from a distance and it gives a good message to us. However, i think 
it would look better without the skyline at the top of the magazine.''

Jordan Magee- Student at Sandown Bay Academy

''The overall look on the magazine looks very neat and professional, 
i like how he has blurred out the background so the characters stand 
out more towards the audience and that they give you eye contact so
 it feels like your involved in the magazine.''

Warren Riches- My Father
''I like that he has put 'win a brand new iPad' and 'get a free student 
discount inside' as its very effective and makes you want to read on 
wards and even buy the magazine - they are great puff and buzz words
 and it sparks my interest. To improve the magazine cover he could include
 more females as there is not many and it seems to be very male gendered.''

Jake McToldridge- Student at Sandown Bay Academy and in my Media Class
''I like the variety of fonts you have used and the colour scheme as it makes the magazine look more appealing, it is good that both boys and girls were used in the pictures of the site so both genders are included. I think that the price should be bigger and should stand out a bit more and the magazine title 'Success' should be moved closer to the skyline so it is more visible and looks a lot more clean.''

Evaluation

Overall in conclusion I think that I managed to capture the codes and conventions of a real magazine effectively. This is because my magazine cover used a medium close-up shot of the student as well as using text over the top of the photo and behind and a strip of smaller photos along the bottom and engaging texts of all sizes so its creative and exciting, similar to a real magazine. Moreover, I think the colour scheme I used (red, yellow, black and white) fits the target audience which is school students and these colours will fit to the largest audience possible as there well liked, unisex colours. The large central fills up the whole page containing a medium shot such as the brief demanded and behind it is quite a simple, plain background. In my experimentation I had a black background but that was too simple so I resulted to a simple background of a school building and it still looks very effective and the text still stands out on it making it easy to read. Lastly, there is a use of direct mode of address in the two students of the central image. This is as they look straight out at the audience in a confident and serious manner and one student has a friendly smile reinforcing the notion that the magazine is a friend. The images at the bottom are useful as they give an indication of what the school is like and what is inside of the magazine. These images are of students in class working and outside the school. They are arranged in a creative way which is at an angle making them seem more like snapshots and therefore more interesting and eye-catching. Moreover, they overlap each other which looks very captivating to the eye. I also added a see through layer behind the images of yellow which makes the images above stand out even more. My anchorage text is also very effective as they can easily be observed from a large distance away and this gives a clear indication to the audience of what stories are going to be in the magazine. I used a bold font, both red and yellow colours and added a black glow around the text so it is exhilarating to the readers eye. I put the price and bar code to the side and corner as when doing my research i understood that they follow this same trend and they don't want the reader to be looking at it as its not as important so I made it small and out the way. Lastly, the use of 'FREE STUDENT DISCOUNTS', 'WIN A BRAND NEW IPAD', 'NEW' and other puff and buzz words sparks the audiences interest and enhances the overall presentation of the magazine as it makes the reader feel special as they're being offered extra content that isn't offered anywhere else. 

In conclusion, I think I have successfully created a school magazine cover and I am very surprised as I'm new to using Adobe Photoshop but nevertheless I made a professional looking product that fits the briefs needs and to a high standard so I am largely satisfied with the result.

Final Copy Of My School Magazine Cover

Then finally I found one that works the best and that I think it looks the most significant out of them all. The school magazine front cover is displayed below:-

Photoshop: Phases of chosen design

Firstly, I made the background blurred so the figures would stand out and be more distinctive to the reader. I did this by doubling the layer and then using the polygonal lasso tool and cutting round the edge of the figures on one layer then deleting the background behind, then on the other layer I made it completely blurred.

Moreover,  I placed in three images at the bottom by pressing Ctrl and t to click on the item then hovering my mouse over to the corner and turning the images at angles. I then put the images over and under each other from layering. Lastly I got the bucket tool filled with yellow in a rectangle shape and placed it behind then lowered its opacity.


I then got a star shape from Google and went into layer style and gave it a slight black glow so it stands out that there is something free that the magazine is showing. I chose a bold and black typeface so it clearly shows, then for the word 'free' I made it a different colour to show that contrast in colours so the word is in act a lot easier to see and comprehend.

I inserted a bar code and put it sideways, to the left so it is out the way as it shows its lack of significance.

I also got two images of iPads and overlapped then then put a white outer glow.


Furthermore, I added a black bar layer then got white font and put them in between the yellow dots. This skyline is important as it tells you the sort of topics inside the magazine. 

Then I found a appropriate font that looked formal which I want the magazine to be and added the masthead and made it large, bold and red - red stands out very well. I also gave it a shadow behind it which I think looks good.

I also added numerous cover lines to represent that inside it is packed with various topics and events that will intrigue the audience.

Then lastly after all of that and having a final cover I changed the hue/saturation to a more gentle and warm feeling.