The Final Outcome- My Magazine Cover

Here, i have produced my end result for my school magazine.
I have taken a photgraph using a Cannon Eos 400d digital camera, Bowens Gemini Flash Unit with soft box, along with my main subject (my class mate with a book in his hand). All the Equipmnt was used under my teachers supervision. After i took the photograph, and was satisfied with it, I then saved it to a compact flash card.
I then used photoshop to add in the typogrophy. I also used spot healing tool, and made the complexion on his skin more even using the brush tool. I did this to make the his face look more real rather then flashes of white light on it.
I then used my research of my questionnaire to vary the topics the magazine would headline.
The masthead: Catterpillar, in a gradient san sarif font, in a way connotes youth because of the bright eye catching colour. I decided to name the magazine 'catterpillar' because it sounds to me very youthfull which links to the whole theme of a school magazine.
I chose to keep all four cover lines in red capital letters to grab the readers attention. Below the cover lines, I then chose to give an insite to the cover lines in white, simple letters.
I made the school magazine free because my questionnaire shows that more students would want it to be free.

Drafts For My Magazine Cover

Questionnaire Results

[1] I asked this question to get a rough idea of what age groups takes my questionnaire, because it will mostly apply to students. My results show that out of the 20 students who took my questionnaire, all 20 of them are from the age 15 to 19.

[2] I asked this question, to how many females or males take the questionnaire. I wanted to ask this question because depending on gender interests may change. The results show that more females took the questionnaire then males.

[3] I asked this question to get a rough idea on what kinds of ethnic people are taking my questionnaire. I found that more black British students took the questionnaire then white British, Asian or other. This could be because the college is mostly dominated by Black British people then any other. This information will help make my magazine more multi cultural.

[4] I asked this question to get a rough idea on what kinds of ethnic people are taking my questionnaire. I found that more black British students took the questionnaire then white British, Asian or other. This could be because the college is mostly dominated by Black British people then any other. This information will help make my magazine more multi cultural.

[5] I asked this question to find out if the students would want to have a college magazine. The results show that more students want their college to have a school magazine then the percentage that don’t. This shows that there is a general interest for college magazine.

[6] I asked this question to gather if the students would want to pay for a school magazine. The results show that half of the 20 people I asked would want to pay from 10p to 90p. it also shows that nearly half would prefer not to pay for a school magazine.

7] I asked this question because I wanted to get the general interest the students had into the topics they would most like to see the magazine cover. The results show that more students want a diverse amount of topics in the magazine rather then just global or local borough. Some students however, did tick more then one box.

[8] I asked this question to understand the most popular colours people would like to be in a potential school/college magazine. The results show that the logo colours of the college or school is the most popular.

9] I asked this question because I wanted to find out if the students thought that having a magazine would some how benefit them or the school/college. The results show that more students think that it would benefit rather then it not benefiting them. This is good because there is a general interest for a magazine.

[10] I asked this question because to find out weather the students actually read magazines and what type of magazines they read. The results show that more students read gossip magazines rather then any other type of magazines. In this question, students also ticked more then one box.

[11] I asked this question because I wanted to find out how many students spend on the magazines they like and compare it to how much they would want to spend on a school/college magazine. The results show that more students spend more then one pound for the magazines they prefer to read.

[12] I asked this question because I wanted to know what would be the most popular way to receive the magazine. More students would prefer it during school time. This is probably because it would be easier and this way, everyone is able to get it.

[13] I asked this question because it is important for any person running a magazine to know how often they would release it. The results show that the students prefer if the college released the magazine every month. This may be because monthly news would be more affective then weekly news from the school/college.

Textual Analysis

Textual Analysis of a college magazine’s front cover

Denotation: The magazine shows a colour photograph of three young girls posing for the camera in a very simple way. It is a mid shot showing the girls head, arms and the waist. Although they appear to be standing, their legs are not shown in the shot. The background of the photograph covers the whole of the magazine and shows nature; a hedge, and also four windows of what appears to be the college the magazine is from.Just on top of the three girls heads is the Freeze’ masthead and around the background image are the 6 cover lines all in very feminine colours.Masthead: ‘Freeze’ is in a baby pink which then gradients into blue on a picture of a snow flake. The font is also very feminine as it is in italic which connotes that the college could be an all girl’s college.Jus below the masthead is the evidence it being an actual college magazine, ’college magazine’. It is shown in a baby blue colour font. Below that follows a light green strip in white writing showing the date in which the magazine was publicised ‘Spring into summer 2007’ this shows when exactly the magazine was produced and it is also shown in the weather as it was near summer.The first cover line ‘seize the season’ in a darker pink, in san- serif font is placed on the right hand side of the magazine just off the top of the head of the third girl. It is in capital letters attracting the student’s attention. Following that is an explanation of the first cover line. This is smaller then the cover line and is in green but white in the middle of the cover line.The second cover line is again in capital letters, but in a medium dark blue, asking a question to the readers. ‘To Bottle or Not To Bottle?’ This is placed just directly below the first cover line.The third cover line, in light blue reading, ‘No Boys Allowed’. This is another suggestion that the college only consist of mainly female students. Below it says ‘make way for the women’s centre.The fourth cover line reading ‘Fairytales Can Come True’ is placed on the left hand side of the magazine in an aqua colour. Below it says ‘make it happen for you!’ This shows the support the magazine has for their students and also what issues they cover. This phrase could mean finding love.The fifth cover line is in red; again in capital letters reading ‘Hot Buys for the Hot Season’ this is probably why it is red because it links to the theme of summer and ‘hot’ weather. This cover line is more of an advertisement showing what the college has to offer their students.The final cover line shows ‘HIV’ in the same colour as the first cover line. It continues to say ‘the battle women are fighting from Boston to To Benue’ .(notice the spelling mistake of ‘to To’) Boston being in America and Benue being in Africa. This really addresses a very important issue in the 21st century. So it is interesting to see a college magazine taking up an issue as broad as this. It is also placed at the bottom, not to draw so much attention to it. I think it is because it is such a sensitive issue that they decided to put it at the bottom, and also for it to be separated from the rest of the cover lines.All of the cover lines are in capital san-serif fonts. They show how united the college is as a whole because of the support it offers to the students and informs them of new events and even world issues like HIV. Every thing below the cover lines are the same font and the same size. It is also either pink and white or green and white in simple letters.The cover photograph shows three young white girls, this is interesting because most colleges in diverse areas have mixed ethnicities. This connotes that there may not be any multi cultural people in this college because it might be based in a district area. The Girls are wearing vest tops which indicate the summer is just around the corner. They are wearing plain and balanced colours, white red and white. White; connoting purity and innocence. Red; connoting passion as well as others. This shows the college is one of which that doesn’t require the students to wear uniform.The girls are posing very naturally; nothing seems to be unusual about the way in which they are standing together. They also seem very close, shown by their body language. For example, the girl in the red having her arm around the girl on the left in the white. There isn’t much jewellery worn by the girls. They don’t seem to be wearing any earrings, jus necklaces.They are all smiling symbolising that this is a friendly and warm environment. It also shows that they are happy and get on with each other. Obviously, the girls were chosen in friendship groups to be in the photograph so the tension between strangers wouldn’t reflect in the photograph.The photograph was obviously taken out side the college, due to the building we see behind the girls and where they are standing. It appears to be sunny, so the photograph looks more natural. It is not in a studio, where the lighting would be controlled. So, I would say there is high key lighting in this photograph. It is interesting however, that the photographer did not choose to take the photograph where there are any indications of the college’s name. This again shows how the photo was taken very naturally without purposely placing the girls in a certain location to show the whole of the college.Summarising my analysis of the college magazine, I can conclude that this particular college magazine has a target audience of more girls then boys due to the topics the magazine covers and the colours used to illustrate the magazine. The age range for the magazine is also for teenagers to young adults.

About Julia Wijayasooriya

My Name is Julia Wijayasooriya and i am 16 years old,currently studying at Christ The KingI have been given the task to produce a front cover for a school magazine.I have done a number of task in hand, before making the final product.Some of the blogs will include texual analysis of other school magazines to help me have an idea of what a school or college magazine would look like.