Front Page Layouts

Here are six of my front cover designs for my school magazine that all follow the conventions found on a typical magazine. I feel that each of my designs are varied, and include a variety of different aspects that will make my magazine different and unique. I feel that the most important aspect to my magazine is my masthead, as its the first feature on my magazine that the reader will be drawn to. That is why I've given the mastheads most of the space on each of my magazine covers. I want people to get a sense of professionalism when viewing my magazine, which is why I haven't overloaded each cover with content, as i feel this takes away from the professional aspect I'm trying to achieve.

I want my image to be subtle yet vibrant.Through my analysis, I believe that my image has to represent a topic in the magazine, but it cant be too overwhelming that it outshines the other aspects on my front cover. In terms of text, there should be some over the image, such as various lures, strap lines and a pug, but again they should not be too bold or overwhelming that they take away from the image. I feel that my image and masthead would work well together. I think that my image should be masking the masthead to signify its importance.  

Mastheads for School Magazine

These are my Mastheads that I've created in Adobes Fireworks. All of these Mastheads follow the schools branding.I feel I have done a good job representing the school via my mastheads as I have tried to stick to the schools colours of Red and Black. I have also taken inspiration from a variety of other magazines, such as Billboard and Q magazine. I feel that I have appealed to my target audience in many ways. For example, in my third masthead I have included a variety of bright colours. This was to try to appeal to the younger readers of my target audience,as children tend to be drawn to brighter, more vibrant colours. While constructing my mastheads, I checked the Plantsbrook website to see the different fonts used. By doing this, I feel that all my mastheads are applicable to represent the school. 

Moodboard For School Magazine

What to Include In a School Magazine

A school magazine should include a variety of things, covering different aspects of school life. Some ideas of what to include are:

• A contents page 
• A guide for new year 7's and how to settle in
• An information page for parents
• An information page for students 
• Transportation available to school (i.e School Buses)
• Different articles allocated to the different years. For example, years 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and the 6th form would have separate articles relating to them.
• A guide for students during exam season, with different strategies to cope with stress.
• A page dedicated to the Staff around school and their roles
• Various extra-curricular activities available in school

Masthead Analysis

This is the Masthead for the magazine "Rolling Stone". The same iconic Masthead is used in every issue of the magazine, and retains the same font style and colour palate. There is almost a metallic tone to this logo, which combined with its curled letters of "R" and "G", make it instantly recognisable. There is also a drop shadow used behind the masthead, giving it a three dimensional look, and in particular, making the colour red pop and draw the reader to it. The connotations of the colour "red" are quite dangerous, which makes the reader think that this magazine is not afraid to talk about taboo topics. It also has a Serif form. I believe this is done to add a more retro look to the magazine, as the band "The Rolling Stones" is a fairly old band, in which the masthead plays with.

This is the Masthead for the magazine "Kerrang". The design used in this masthead represents the onomatopoeic nature of the title. The word Kerrang sounds like something breaking, which is represented in the masthead through various lines splitting up the title, thus visually making it look like its about to break. The contrasting colours of black and white are extremely visible and bold. This can link to the magazines genre of heavy metal as the boldness and "in your face" appearance link well with the heavy metal category. The connotations of the word black are quite brooding and dark, which again, links in well with the genre and target audience of the magazine. It also has a Sans -Serif form. I think this is to again add to the onomatopoeic nature of the title, as it stand out more with a sans serif form.

This is the Masthead for the magazine "Vibe". This design is very much a sans-serif form shown by its block letters. Vibe covers a variety of music genres, which is why its masthead is somewhat simplistic as it doesn't fall into any particular music category. The use of the matt black colour gives the masthead a bold undertone. The word "Vibe" suggests that this magazine gives out different feelings to its readers and has an atmosphere. This can suggest that the contents within the magazine (i.e articles) is able to give out certain "Vibes" to its readers.

First Magazine Analysis

Why I Chose Media Studies

I chose to study media as I have a keen interest in Films, T.V and the growth of technology. I feel that by studying media I will gain a new outlook on the industry which will benefit me in life. I interact with the media frequently as I often watch a variety of films, TV shows and play a variety of games. I also often visit a cinema to watch the latest releases and also enjoy viewing the critical reception each film receives. I feel this is a good quality to have whilst studying the media.

At this moment in time I feel have I good knowledge of how the media operates, but I feel I could learn more. I am interested in the publication of magazines and newspapers and have a keen interest in how news stories are conducted and put across through the media like the television and various other forms. Currently, I am invested in a variety of T.V Shows such as Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead and Daredevil. I have also finished watching some shows like Breaking Bad and Lost. As well as watching a variety of T.V shows, I am a keen film watcher. I tend to visit my cinema twice a month to watch the latest releases.

My favourite films consist of The Christopher Nolan “Dark Knight Trilogy”, the Star Wars Saga, Mad Max Fury Road and anything form the Marvel Cinematic Universe. My love for films is a key reason I chose to study Media, and is something I hope will benefit my studies. I also enjoy to play various games on my PS4, mostly blockbuster games like Uncharted, the Batman Arkham series and Tomb Raider. I hope that by studying the media I will gain a new outlook on how information is presented to me.