I was asked to design and produce the front page, and contents page, of a new school magazine for Acland Burghley. I began by creating a flat plan using simple shapes and text to plan out what I want to include in my pages. This is to make it faster and easier when I come to building my publication.
I began the publication itself by creating the master head. I titled the magazine ‘Xhibit’ which is an abbreviated form of exhibit or exhibition to reflect its art college status. I chose to use a font that looks irregular but attractive, and somewhat resembles words cut from a news paper headline, but with bright colours, as this magazine is aimed for a younger audience. I had to add a glow around with master head, which I intensified to create a bold, white outline, so the title stands out amongst the other bright colours on the page. Next, I added the subheadings using a simpler font, so the master head can easily be identified and so the page is not as busy. Each subheading starts with a short phrase relating to the article to catch the reader’s attention. I used a large font for this and a colour featured in the master head to keep consistency. Below this, I added further information on the article in a smaller font. In all of the text on the page I have applied a shadow or an outline to ensure the words can easily be read on top on any part of the photo underneath. The words ‘The GCSE geniuses’ is the main article of the magazine and is shown further down the page in a larger font. The word GCSE is as large as the master head whilst the words ‘The’ and ‘geniuses’ are shown in a smaller font size. Also, ‘GCSE’ is the only bold piece of text on the page, identifying it could be of some significance in the magazine. This idea is reinforced by the large drop shadow I have used which makes it the boldest piece of text of the page. On the left of this heading, I have included a short selling line to give more information on the article and to encourage readers to read inside. I have also included a competition in the magazine where tickets can be won to see a west end show. I have written this on top of a brightly coloured auto shape with the word ‘win’ larger than the other text so it is first to be seen. I have rotated the text and moved the shape so it slightly overlaps the master head to give the impression it has been stamped on the page, creating a creative atmosphere. Once I added the main parts of the page, I placed in the main image which features two ex-year 11 students waving their GCSE results in the air. Their smiles combined with the movement from their waving arms creates a positive energy indicating these are ex year 11 students who are pleased with their results and the school is a successful one. One I positioned the main image I adjusted the layout of the text, changing the font size and colours to suit the image. When I was happy with this, I added a footer. The footer, started with the words ‘Plus!’, gives the readers further information on what to expect in the magazine. I have made it stand out by placing the white text on a solid black background. To finish the publication, I added the Acland Burghley Logo, followed by the Arts colleges’ logo to indicate the school name and that it specialises in the arts. Finally I added the school website as the internet is a popular source of information. This will provide readers with much more information that may not be featured in the magazine.
I tried to follow a similar theme in the contents page by using similar colours and fonts to keep the publication consistent. I began by placing a photograph of the school building to act as a background, but added a gradient on top of this so it doesn’t distract viewers from the main images on the page. I have used the master head on this page but reduced its size, to make room for the title ‘contents’ which also uses the same font. This time, however, I used black so it does not get confused with the master head. Using a found image of a film strip, I edited it so that parts can go at the top and bottom of the page. This indicates the media aspect of the arts whilst the splats of paint around the images indicate the art aspect. These images show previews of various articles featured in the list of contents to give more information. I have also included a brief introduction to the magazine at the top of the page. This is just a short paragraph, a suitable amount of text for a target audience who may not be able to cope with large amounts of text as they deal with it in their studies everyday. The actual contents of the magazine are listed in a large font again with small bite size chunks of text, so it can easily be identified on a first glance. The bright colours, fonts and images I have used throughout the publication reflect the fact the school is an art college and is suitable for the target audience. In future development I may consider slight changes to improve the publication such as experimenting with the fonts a bit more and adding more aspects to reflect other areas of the arts.
When I had finished I had to go back to check for any spelling mistakes. I also printed out a copy to see what it looked like as a magazine. From this, I noticed changes that I could make to the layout and any errors that need correcting. I went back to change these and printed out a final copy to submit. Much of my time out of lessons was spent on these corrections but I managed my time effectively and am pleased with the outcome. To improve the design of my magazine further, I would enlarge the photo I have used on the front page. This photo was intended to be a mid shot; however, I now see that it is a mid-long shot. To change this I would simply enlarge the photo to change it into a mid shot.
I began the publication itself by creating the master head. I titled the magazine ‘Xhibit’ which is an abbreviated form of exhibit or exhibition to reflect its art college status. I chose to use a font that looks irregular but attractive, and somewhat resembles words cut from a news paper headline, but with bright colours, as this magazine is aimed for a younger audience. I had to add a glow around with master head, which I intensified to create a bold, white outline, so the title stands out amongst the other bright colours on the page. Next, I added the subheadings using a simpler font, so the master head can easily be identified and so the page is not as busy. Each subheading starts with a short phrase relating to the article to catch the reader’s attention. I used a large font for this and a colour featured in the master head to keep consistency. Below this, I added further information on the article in a smaller font. In all of the text on the page I have applied a shadow or an outline to ensure the words can easily be read on top on any part of the photo underneath. The words ‘The GCSE geniuses’ is the main article of the magazine and is shown further down the page in a larger font. The word GCSE is as large as the master head whilst the words ‘The’ and ‘geniuses’ are shown in a smaller font size. Also, ‘GCSE’ is the only bold piece of text on the page, identifying it could be of some significance in the magazine. This idea is reinforced by the large drop shadow I have used which makes it the boldest piece of text of the page. On the left of this heading, I have included a short selling line to give more information on the article and to encourage readers to read inside. I have also included a competition in the magazine where tickets can be won to see a west end show. I have written this on top of a brightly coloured auto shape with the word ‘win’ larger than the other text so it is first to be seen. I have rotated the text and moved the shape so it slightly overlaps the master head to give the impression it has been stamped on the page, creating a creative atmosphere. Once I added the main parts of the page, I placed in the main image which features two ex-year 11 students waving their GCSE results in the air. Their smiles combined with the movement from their waving arms creates a positive energy indicating these are ex year 11 students who are pleased with their results and the school is a successful one. One I positioned the main image I adjusted the layout of the text, changing the font size and colours to suit the image. When I was happy with this, I added a footer. The footer, started with the words ‘Plus!’, gives the readers further information on what to expect in the magazine. I have made it stand out by placing the white text on a solid black background. To finish the publication, I added the Acland Burghley Logo, followed by the Arts colleges’ logo to indicate the school name and that it specialises in the arts. Finally I added the school website as the internet is a popular source of information. This will provide readers with much more information that may not be featured in the magazine.
I tried to follow a similar theme in the contents page by using similar colours and fonts to keep the publication consistent. I began by placing a photograph of the school building to act as a background, but added a gradient on top of this so it doesn’t distract viewers from the main images on the page. I have used the master head on this page but reduced its size, to make room for the title ‘contents’ which also uses the same font. This time, however, I used black so it does not get confused with the master head. Using a found image of a film strip, I edited it so that parts can go at the top and bottom of the page. This indicates the media aspect of the arts whilst the splats of paint around the images indicate the art aspect. These images show previews of various articles featured in the list of contents to give more information. I have also included a brief introduction to the magazine at the top of the page. This is just a short paragraph, a suitable amount of text for a target audience who may not be able to cope with large amounts of text as they deal with it in their studies everyday. The actual contents of the magazine are listed in a large font again with small bite size chunks of text, so it can easily be identified on a first glance. The bright colours, fonts and images I have used throughout the publication reflect the fact the school is an art college and is suitable for the target audience. In future development I may consider slight changes to improve the publication such as experimenting with the fonts a bit more and adding more aspects to reflect other areas of the arts.
When I had finished I had to go back to check for any spelling mistakes. I also printed out a copy to see what it looked like as a magazine. From this, I noticed changes that I could make to the layout and any errors that need correcting. I went back to change these and printed out a final copy to submit. Much of my time out of lessons was spent on these corrections but I managed my time effectively and am pleased with the outcome. To improve the design of my magazine further, I would enlarge the photo I have used on the front page. This photo was intended to be a mid shot; however, I now see that it is a mid-long shot. To change this I would simply enlarge the photo to change it into a mid shot.
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