Preliminary Task

Evaluation of the development of the magazine through to the final product.

Trial Front Cover

I decided to create my magazine cover and contents to appeal to a variety of college students. Making my articles appeal to college students I done this by making the articles relate to what effects students. This is a draft of my main preliminary task, i used a stock image from google to help me plan out what mine would look like. I made my main article about the recent rises in fees for universities and how university can still be a choice for students. Other articles such as safe sex and gossip and parties appeal to the more social side of a students’ life to make the magazine more appealing rather than just being based around academic features. I chose the name ‘istudent’ to give it a young feel in this new era of the younger generation using such things as iPods and iPhones etc. This gives the magazine a younger appeal matching my target audience.

I then chose a modern picture of a student that young people can relate to as she has her work in one hand and her phone in the other, this is something that relates to all students, balancing their social life with their academics. The colours of the image are bright and make the front cover stand out. I then chose to use a bright blue colour for my font on my front cover to make them stand out against the bright colours of the background.                                                                                     Trial Contents Page

For my contents page I made it young and new with the big star acting as a border for the image that I slightly faded out.  The font I used for the contents page and the front cover is appealing to the audience I am targeting, the text is also a baby blue which can be seen as a neutral colour that male and females like, by using that colour, I am appealing to a further audience as I am not limiting to a single sex audience.

My magazine product shows real conventions of real media products as it involves a masthead, articles and an appropriate text layout. The context page shows usual conventions shown in a real magazine product as it clearly states articles within the magazine.

My media product shows a generalisation of every student social groups, as I made it to appeal to every kind of young adult, male or female, everyone. This can appeal to the more ‘popular’ students who are all about the parties and the social side of college as well as the academic part and also the more clever work motivated students who are head forward and interested in work more than anything.

I’d think that my product would be distributed by any media institution but only sold through the college as it is made for one particular college so it does not appeal to a worldwide audience.

Through the research I done on other student magazines, I noticed topics and other conventions that put together create a good magazine to appeal to a student’s age group. Such topics as teen sex and university fees and college parties appeal to the young, modern student life and this is what students minds are currently occupied by. By combining the social side with the academic side this makes it appealing to a wide range of students.

I would make it better next time by using my own images and maybe downloading some new brushes to use in Photoshop to make my production look better. also by doing more research into student magazines to develop more skills and discover more conventions to involve in my work, this would improve my work by making it more realistic therefore making it a much improved piece of work.

My Original Images For My Preliminary Task

Manipulated Images

Final Product

Front Cover

Contents Page

College magazine front cover research

This magazine is aimed at college students from the ages of 16-19. The front cover is bright and vibrant and the colour match of the models top is the same as the masthead. The model herself is portraying the image that the magazine wants to put across of a perfect model student but also with a fun side which stands out because of her outfit. The background of the image is blurred out to bring in more attention to the model and the titles of articles along the front of the magazine. The articles themselves are appealing to the target audience for example, ‘SHE’S 15 & PREGNANT’ standing out in bold capital letters is appealing to young people as it is real life and can maybe relate to them.

This magazine is completely different from the first magazine. The model can be seen as a role model to people of the same ethnicity to work hard and do well. The model is holding books of highly intelligent subjects whilst wearing fashionable clothing a ‘bling’ necklace; this is a contrast that could help to inspire some people to work harder. The colour scheme of this magazine consisting on a lime green, white and black with one spot of hot pink stands out and looks unique. The articles posted all over the front cover are exactly what most students want to read, for example, ‘WHY WE LOVE BLACKBERRY’ being in bold capitals stands out and relates to the audience as most young people these days own a blackberry. Also, ‘THANK GOD IT’S FRIDAY’S’ advertising places for students to go out and have a good time, this is showing a fun side of a student’s lifestyle which can be seen as more appealing to a student that just academics.

College magazine contents page research

This is a contents page of a college magazine that is clearly aimed at more academically driven students. The clear layout and the order of everything show a more mature and straight forward type of college. The pictures of the posh college grounds and the girls smiling in sports wear shows that they are proud of what they achieve. The layout is set out neatly which would appeal to the perfectly organised students. The colours of the contents page are plain and don’t stand out much but I think that this may be more of a academic read for students rather than an insight into their lifestyle.

 This college magazine contents page looks completely different to the previous one. It’s more colourful and vibrantand I think more appealing to students. The layout is clear with the pictures standing out with correlating numbers to articles. The picture of the students looks more real, I think this shows more of a relation between the magazine and the actual students that will read it, making it more appealing to its audience. The font is varied which is more exciting that just one plain font which is more appealing to an audience. The colours stand out against the white background drawing in attention therefore making the students intrigued to read it.