Preliminary Task

Preliminary Production

Student Speil

For our Preliminary Production, we were tasked with creating a magazine cover for a school magazine. To the right is my magazine cover - "Student Speil" - it was designed with the idea 'for the student, by the student' in mind, meaning everything on the cover only applies to students.  Before I began this task I had already evaluated a magazine - VOGUE - so I knew what to include and used it loosely as an inspiration.  
 

Masthead

The title of the magazine is bold - this allows it to stand out against the bright and busy background. I used a clear handwriting font that would not sink into the background, but is also creative, so it fits in with the colourful theme. The colour is the same as the rest of the text on the cover - I used this mainly because it would stand out, but also because it makes the cover look clean and professional. 
 

Colour Scheme 

The overall theme is quite colourful - this is due to the artwork that I placed the student in front of - but the main colour used is black. I chose this particular artwork because I wanted it to be bright and bold so it would attract the age of the viewing audience - the younger generation. I used the black so it would be clear, but the colour also corresponds with the clothes of the student. However, with the busy background, it did create a problem as to what would be practical, meaning there was little choice in what I used. Lastly, had there been other issues, the house style of the magazine would have been consistent, with the masthead always the same - this would mean it would become recognisable and familiar. 
 

Image

I chose the student - Kim - as model for the cover, after a large amount of convincing and some slightly awkward moments of asking her to change how she stood in front of the artwork in the school gallery, I had created a few options. This allowed me to play around and I eventually came up with the image in to the right. When editing, I placed 2 layers on top of the original photo,  but centred it towards the bottom right hand corner to change the position of where Kim was. This is the rule of thirds - meaning that the eye is naturally drawn to the right hand corner, which attracts the reader. 

Furthermore, by having her in a corner, it creates more space that I was able to use to add text. This meant that the picture was not spoiled and the text could be more structured. The text also has a consistent margin, so it is clearer and easier to read as it is all aligned. 

Function 

The function of the magazine is to be a school magazine. I have designed mine with the idea of students in mind. This then created the idea 'Student Speil' - due to the fact that it is the students point of view, so it is their own 'speil'. The front cover shows what will be inside the magazine, and is all related to a student. This is consequently why I chose to put a student on the front. 

Contents 

To the right is my contents page, which was the other task that we had to do for our Preliminary. It is a similar picture to the cover, but Kim is stood to the side, which keeps a certain house style.
 

Masthead

I have largely based my contents page on the cover, as all the text and font is the same. This means that it is bold and clear - which is also consistent with the cover.

Colour Scheme

Similar to the cover, the back ground is the same, therefore the colour scheme is too. This again keeps the consistency and links with the colour of the top that is on the student. The same problems arose with the background as when I created the cover, this also adds to the  reason why the fonts and colours are the same. Also, for the image, I chose it because she is angled in a different way, therefore it creates the effect that when the reader turns the page, the students body changes. 
 

Content

The content of the magazine relates to what is on the cover - this means that some of the things that I mentioned on the cover had to correspond with what went on the contents, otherwise it wouldn't have made any sense. Furthermore, the actual suggested articles all relate to a student and what would be helpful for them - this was obviously needed seeming as the magazine is a school was and is predominately aimed at students.