Evaluation

College magazine evaluation

We were given the brief which stated we had to complete the mock-up for a front page of a college magazine and the content page alongside the final version of the front cover. First of all I began by planning, I did this by collecting various images of magazine front covers and content pages and analysing their factors on my online blog. I considered the audience and the purpose. I also took into consideration the layout of the magazines I had been analysing.

The first step was to take some photos, I needed a medium close up of a student and the rest was to be decided by me. I took various images of students in different locations around a college. I thought it would be best to get images from a college rather than else wear because it would make my college magazine look more realistic. I took a range of different shots from wide shots, to close ups, to long shots and low angle shots, so as a result I didn’t have limited recourses. I then began to create my mock ups. Once I had created these on word I was ready to start drafting my first copies. I decided to do two drafts of the content page and 3 for the front cover so that I would have chance to improve them. I did a second draft of the content page to show my understanding of the task.

I decided that it would have to be bright because my target audience would be parents and of course students, I decided to include short synopsis of story’s on the front cover to show the importance of the magazine and that it is worth while reading. I included the name of the college, the date, and a mid shot. My first draft I felt was to dim, lacked colour and did not look professional, my second draft was an improvement but still I felt the colour scheme and the layout was not looking professional and not sending the appropriate message.
I updated my blog while developing my magazine at each stage so that I could keep organised and have a working diary I could refer back to, which was helpful.

I edited my medium shot photograph on Photoshop so that I could crop the photo to the shape I wanted I did this with the magic lasso tool and added a background layer so I could delete the remainder of the image and have an opaque background which I would later add colour to. I also edited the image by using the picture toolbar on publisher to change the contrast and brightness of the image I did this to make the image clearer. However when I changed the background it also change the colour of some of the white on the image blue, to avoid this I created a white border so that the image that I could over lap the image onto so that the image would not be effected, as it looked unprofessional. Having got feedback this allowed me to make the appropriate changes. The font was too informal and again not reaching the target audience I was quite looking for.

I considered the language used and used a brief synopsis. I added a background colour to my final design, changed the font to a more appropriate type, rearranged the layout by moving the text and image until I felt it took the form of a college magazine.
I considered the Language and used language which would appeal to my audience, I considered institutions of other magazines to influence my work. I considered the ideology for example my ideology was to inform and sound like a established college whereas some of the magazines I analysed focused on fashion, I considered the representation by including things for students and parents, such as health, scores and also career information.

In doing this task I found that all the planning definitely helped the process and drafting more than one copy gave me the chance to reflect on the changes I had made and justify why I made the choices I made. It taught me that collecting more images than you need is a good decision to make and that my online blog allowed me to access all planning easily.