Magazine Front Cover and Contents

I have now finished my front cover and my contents page after putting alot of hours into finalising both of these ideas, where both have changed since my initial ideas. The front cover now appears very 'busy' however I wanted this and this 'busy' scene with lots of information hitting the reader wouldnt be something unordinary at school after all it being a school magazine.

I made sure that I had a medium close up of which I took using my own camera along with all the other photos that are in my magazine. All photos are from my camera whether taken from me or somebody else. The medium close up is used as a porthole not to be the main image on the cover however still to create an impact and make it obvious for the reader.

My main photo however is a band photo from a local band 'No Time for Sightseeing' friends of mine from a gig that actually took place in the summer. This photo covers the majority of the cover whilst still leaving what I believe is a healthy amount of room for a commanding masthead. The masthead I got rid of what I felt was intially a strong idea to punctuate the masthead name with a fullstop however I changed this to give it a more easy reading and relaxed appearance.

The main cover line on my magazine is 'I am the Music Man' which relates to what would be a music article however obviosuly tying in with school links. I wanted this as the main cover line it suggests a youth and childrens era coming from the classic song played at so many childrens Discos. I felt this immaturity would work well in what is an engaging music orientated front cover again to give an interest in the magazine as Music is such a domineering subject nowadays.

I also used images from google in a minority to gain extra interest from a prospective reader by using both popular female and male images from the past and more modern music such as Florence and the machine and Bob Dylan.

Im very happy with the final draft I have created for my front cover packed with all the neccessitys including original photos, eye catching images and titles. Strong left third aswell as smaller details such as a barcode and the date.

Contents

The next step after finalising my front cover was to create a contents page using similar styles and house styles as my front cover. This I have done successfully I believe after creating a contemporay looking contents using the same 'Class' font with the use of 'features' in a narrow formal font to give the contents some authority and organisation. This works well as the same 'class' font is clear to see and flows nicely from the cover.
The page I have created is mainly of images and ones again which are all original however these contain a bit more width and substance as they are from more varied subjects than just from school. A couple are from music concerts which I have been to where the photo looks like a real life magazine photo as its so realistic and stands well on a strong array of images.

Other images are of things such as my girlfriend playing the guitar again reflecting the music scene however creating a contrast between images over the real life band 'Darwin Deez' and just what is in comparison an amateur playing guitar.
Other photos dominate the page with little text however this makes it easy to read and certainly intriguing and engageable for the audience.
I also used the contrast option on Publisher as it enabled me to sharpen my images and gives what I believe is a more professional look for my images both on the cover and on the contents.

Both of these drafts are now printed off

Update on Magazine front cover

I have now completed my first draft for my magazine front cover which I created via the software of Microsoft Publisher 2010. A trial that I had with my new laptop, I found this a very easy to use yet professional programme compared the more complicated and harder to navigate around Apple Mac Idesign system.
Although I initiall found it hard to get going on the IMac I did manage to experiment using fonts and choosing the masthead for my magazine.


I then created my Class magazine for the first time on publisher using a fading background (vertically bottom to top) I chose that style of a purple blend as its quite a neutral colour for both sexes and being a school magazine it needs to interest both sexes. The masthead font I found was ideal however due to a few technical problems in terms as saving the font as an image it didn't print as I wanted however I will resolve this issue in the next few days as the masthead is integral to the magazine.


I wanted to use the music story as the the main cover line and I chose to use several images from popular music old and new that people can relate to. I did this by including images of the Beatles and Bob Marley. Both iconic figures in music. The main cover image was my own photo which was took locally in Portishead with my friends band which potentially could be used if I was to go on to produce a magazine for the real coursework (not prelim). This image I then changed using the contrast tool on publisher to attempt to give it a clearer and more professional look.


I used the font Maiundra GS as it looked youthful yet still professional. I used this in all of my cover lines and titles. I emphasised the main cover line with some shadow and 3D effects, this again added a degree of professionalism to the magazine. My 'Teacher Talk' text I originally created with a 'Lucida Handwriting' font which was more schooling and a font you instantly thought 'school' for however it didnt look as good over the images and background I had chosen.


All my other images were off my own camera and were taken from 'Facebook' which I uploaded however I believe if I upload all the other photos I have taken of my friends via my camera which I will upload onto my blog.


These contain my friends looking at books and generally learning. There is still room for these should I want to change the layout of images or change the images I have placed on my magazine.
Other minute things I added to my first draft was a barcode and a calendar. The calendar is in the far bottom right corner of my page. Often a popular place for anything that needs to be seen. I wanted to include a calendar as it could show events or things that are upcoming or have happened. If readers see a calendar full of ideas events or past events they are more likely to be interested in the magazine.


I am aware my magazine front cover still needs tinkering with to produce the finalised front cover in which I will add the date. Tidy up the masthead font and size along with finalising all my photos.I also need to perhaps add a small amount more of text to the cover just to add a bit more information for the reader.


I hope to begin looking at my contents page along with my finishing my front cover in the next few days.

Front Cover

The front cover is something that I will create soon. Its the most important part of any magazing in my opinion and its probably a fact too

I think I will have the 'Class' title along with a main image of someone listening to music with a pen in their top pocket. This will link to what is inside and the cover story about the effects of music on our working environment.

I want to have one large image which will be a shot from the torso up, so a medium close up shot. I then want to have the main cover line which will be related to one of my stories. I think the other images that I am likely to take tomorrow need to include:

People in groups working
Sports action
Two teacher shots (looking towards each other)
A few small shots of the new ipod range
A classic football image

I will look at Flickr for other images as they are reliable and often are clear and vivid representations of the real life image.

Stories and Contents? Whats needed? Whats neccesscary?

The three main stories that I have decided to use for my magazine are the titles 'Sporting achievements', 'Social and work- how to combine them' and 'Music- the effect'.I think that sporting achievements is something that even though it evolves around one main interest - sport. Its a very popular subject and something that alot of people can relate too. This would make my magazine of interest to alot of students. The section with social and work is something that I believe teachers and in general we all try to do yet do we really know the formula and how much we need to do or when to go out and should we really just stay inside and not socialise. All these issues are interesting and again certainly a hot topic with upcoming exams or in my case post exams and looking towards the next one. Interesting topics will create interest in the magazine. The final topic combines well with the previous story of social and work. Music is something we all rapidly over more recent times with advancements in technology enjoy and I think including a topic with music and the effect of it on students is of real interest. I could use for my images a new range of ipods or just a crowd or learning group tuned into their MP3 or ipods. 

I haven't really thought in depth about what I will have on the contents page of my magazine however I have a few ideas. I'm thinking of doing a page for people at the school wanting new impetus or something changed. I would like this format to be almost like a clipboard yet in magazine. This is a style I have seen used in other magazines such as 'Match' and more regularly in the Bristol City FC match day programme. I also have the idea of having a teachers section where each week a 'Teacher Talk' column takes stage, a small fun column that could become a regular popular part of my magazine. I believe this could feature a head to head either knowledge or quiz between two teachers or purely just some background information on the two such as 'Favourite Meal' etc something that I have seen alot of from reading 'FourFourTwo' when looking at an upcoming prospect in the football world. These issues are things that I will think about in the next few days.

I hope to think more in-depth about the contents page in the next few days and start to build my front cover together whilst also creating and finding the ideal images for my front cover and inside covers.

First Look

I looked at lots of magazines. These are a collection of ones that I had read or interested me. Magazines which I felt i could look at and take ideas or expand on.

FourFourTwo
World Soccer
Top Gear
Q
NME
Match
What Car

Knowing the task was to create a cover and inside spread for a school magazine. The obvious next step was to think of possible names for the magazine. The name something that often is integral to the success of the magazine and successful magazines such as FourFourTwo and Q are famous for their Masthead.

These were some names I came up with as possibilities for my school magazine :

Banter
Class
The Business
Chalkboard
Basics
Alright

Im currently keen on having an emphasised full stop at the end of the main masthead title. To add that touch of emphasis and school life too it by using punctuation literally linking to the subject of English in school life.

 Cover stories

These are just a few initial ideas that I had to revolve my magazine around these stories and use these in my cover lines and main cover line.

-Sports situation better than ever
-Getting the combination correct between socialising and work
-Effect of music today
- Upcoming events