Evaluation of my front cover and contents page

My magazine front cover follows magazine conventions they are:

- Masthead
- Subheading
- School logo
- Main image
- Barcode
- Date, issue number and price
- Cover lines

The masthead is essential in a school magazine because it tells the audience the name of the magazine and what the magazine is based on. People would look at the masthead first when choosing to buy a magazine. The masthead should have big text and effective style writing so it stands out and makes the buyer want to purchase the product.

The school logo is also important because it shows what the school represents and what is symbolises.It also shows importance and accentuates proffesionalism. The school logo is located in the top right of the magazine, the majority of people would notice the logo first when they first look at the magazine this would show that they know what the magazine is represneting which would be 'Beaverwood School For Girls'.

The cover lines accentuate the important factors about going back to school which links with the subheading 'Back to school', this works well with the theme of my school magazine.

The barcode is located at the bottom corner of the magazine, this is something which isnt that important and wouldnt interest the audience.

The text on my magazine is the font Microsoft New Tai Leu. This type of font is smart and proffesional and is suitable for the school magazine.

The main image denotes a year 12 sixth form student who is currently taking her AS levels. The student is representing the school so this is suitbale for my main image because it is a school magazine. Futhurmore the sixthformer in the image shows her importance for the school because she is in her last two years of school life,so many students would look up to the student and could ask her on advice and help about school.

My magazine represents particular social groups because I have used appropiate language, the language that I use is easy to read and clear to understand so this would be suitable for my target audience which would be students, particular students in year seven because I havent used hard language for them not to understand. The magazine is also at a decent price so a lot of social groups would be able to afford it. The location of the magazine would appeal to social groups because it is representing the school.

I think the audience for my magazine would be students who attend Beaverwood School For Girls because it is about the school that they go to. I also think that the parents would want to know  what is happening around the school that there children attend and if there are any crucial notices that they would need to know about, for example any outside clubs or activities. Also the various oppurtunites that there child could follow and could get involved in that could lead them to a better and higher education.

I have attracted my audience in many ways. The use of colour is bright and bold so this would catch the audiences attention to look at the magazine and eventually buy it.There are various pictures; the main image on the front cover and the three images on the contents page. The images make the magazine appealing and interesting as there is something to look at. The images suit the target audience because they would want a magazine with pictures rather than a lot of text. 

I have learnt how to use Adobe Photoshop CS4 when creating my school magazine. Through using photoshop I have learnt how to use layers easily and how to copy pictures onto my magazine. I have also learnt how to edit images to make the colour more effective, I did this by using mode and adjustments and making the contrast and brightness different to how I would like my image.

Furthermore I have also used Adobe InDesign CS4 when I created my contents page. When using InDesign I learnt how to copy images onto my contents page and how to construct them to be bigger and smaller.

Final front cover

final contents page

 

Locations

I have taken some photographs which I am going to include in my school magazine which I will be making next week. I think images are important in a school magazine because they make it exciting ,entertaining and eye catchy, if there wasn’t any images included it would be dull and boring and it wouldn’t look very presentable. Images also attract people to buy and read the magazine, especially in school magazines. I know this from the questionnaire that I produced, from my results more people preferred there to be images included in the magazine than texts. So now I know that I need to include various images in my magazine for it to be acceptable and popular.

Image one

This image denotes the new library that has only recently been built this summer. I thought that this image would be appropriate for my school magazine because the parents and the students would be intrigued to know about new buildings that have been built around the school and what they look like. 

Image two

This image denotes a sixth form student who attends Beaverwood school for girls and she is currently taking her AS levels. I thought this image would be appropriate for the magazine because she is representing the sixth form at the school. Furthermore she is wearing appropriate clothing which is suitable for the school and shows how smart and classy the school is. 

The location if this image is the sixth form block. The student in the photograph is standing in front of the building, she is located here because it shows where the sixth form students study during school. 

Image three

This image denotes the sixth form block/building at the school. I thought that this image would be appropriate for the school magazine because it connotes the sixth form.

 

Image four. 

This image denotes a student in year 12 studying inside the sixth form building. This photo is appropriate because it shows a student doing her in the sixth form building which would therefore show the audience what the students do and imply that it is a working environment.  

Image five

This image denotes the quad which is located next to the main hall. I thought this image would be appropriate for my school magazine because its the central point of the school and its where the students and teachers come together sometimes. For example the year seven BBQ where all of the pupils met for the first time.

Image six 

This image denotes a student who attends became wood school and she is currently taking her AS levels. She is placed next to the notice board which gives information about various important notices happening around the school. The school building is in the background which connotes the schools atmosphere. 

Questionnaire

Above is the questionnaire that I produced for my school magazine and I asked a variety of students to see what there opinion was on school magazines. The results from these questions would help me when it comes to making my own school magazine. I would get an idea of what type of theme or colours to use and this would help for my magazine to be appropriate and suitable for my intended target audience.

Sketch of the magazine

Here are my sketches of the possible layout of my school magazine.

Front cover:

magazine sketch one

 

Magazine sketch 2.

Front cover:

 

Contents page analysis