This is the final design of my college magazine. Similarly to in my research; my cover contains a mid-shot, bar code, masthead, subheading, inclusive stories, website address which makes it easily recognised as a magazine. 
To start my college magazine, I opened up a new A4 document in Photoshop by going to file>new and then changing the settings to an A4 page. Once I had done this, I started experimenting with different font styles for my masthead. I had to bear in mind that it had to be read easily and could do with looking like a font you'd see in college magazines so I came up with 'Princetown LET' in the end. To make it stand out more I went to layer>layer style and then added a drop shadow and a inner shadow on my text.
For my college magazine cover I stuck to a strict colour scheme, making it look more professional. Choosing the colour blue suggests to the teenage audience that it isn't aimed at just males/females; but at both genders. By doing this more people would be expected to read it as it will draw a wider variety of people in.
To create the background I had to use the 'box tool' which is situated on the left hand side toolbar.Once this had been selected I simply drew a box the same size as my document in my preferred colour. At this point i had a plain blue background so to jazz it up a bit, I used the gradient tool also situated on the left hand toolbar. I changed the settings and it gave me the above effect. All I did then was add a straight black line to separate the colours.
Once the top of my cover had been created I started to decide what text I was going to add and where. First I wrote the words 'First edition' under my masthead and I decided to use the font 'School Houseprint.' I liked the idea of using this font as it gave the idea of a notebook, which relates to college making it noticeable as a college mag. I also used a drop/inner shadow on this text.
It was then time to sort out what picture I was going to use as my mid shot image. First of all I opened this in photoshop. Then I zoomed into her face, created a duplicate layer and then went onto smart blur, by doing this is smoothed her face and body making the overall picture look more professional. Before I moved on, I had to remember to turn the opacity down to about 45% so that it didn't look too fake or airbrushed. Originally my image had a lot of red eye so I used the red eye tool to get rid of this but by doing this I lost the real life green colour that the student had. To improve this I went to layers and added a new one and changed the settings to overlay. By doing this I was able to select a green colour and use my paintbrush to paint over her eye which gave it a green tint and made them stand out a little more. To make her eyes stand out even more I increased the boldness of black around them by adding more eyeliner to her, to make sure that it didn't look fake I had to turn the opacity down again. I also used the paint brush to whiten her teeth slightly and to change her hair colour to a brighter brown/red colour. The main reason why I made slight changes to my image is because it will be one of the first things my audience will notice so I want her to stand out to draw people in.
Then I got a bar code image off google and imported it onto my document. Next I had to make up some stories that were going to be included in my magazine, bearing in mind what the majority of teenagers would like to read. I used blue and white writing to portray the stories to stick with the original colour scheme and to emphasise specific information. I also added a drop shadow to the main titles in blue to make them stand out more compared to the subheadings.
At this point, I had included all of the information I needed to add but I had a lot of blank spaces on my page. To resolve this problem I went onto my blog and looked at the example college magazine that I annotated and I saw that they used a random shape on the right hand side. So I took the idea of that and added blue splodges onto my document and it gave it a fun jazzed up look.
* I like my design because of the strict colour scheme which makes it look professional and in addition to this the splodges jazz it up and make it look fun to read. Also I like the font styles I have used as they are very outstanding and noticeable and they link in with the theme of my magazine.
INTERVIEW WITH CAREY H
What do you like about my cover?
I like the colours you have used as they are bright and cheerful. I also like the font as it's very bubbly and it will appeal to first years.
What do you dislike about my cover?
Overall I like you magazine but the picture looks a bit lost since it's surrounded with text. Also there is a lot of space at the top.
What would you improve?
The only thing I would improve is the layout of your masthead and get rid of the unwanted space.
The splodges you have used because they are a darker blue and therefore stand out and grab the attention of the audience
Would you want to read my magazine and why?
Yes because its free, your my friend and it accommodates the readers needs so it would help them out a lot.
CONTENTS PAGE
Unlike my front cover for my college magazine I used Indesign for the contents page.
To create my contents page I first of all went onto the official Hyde Clarendon website to save the logo image onto my computer. One I had done this I went onto Indesign and created a new A4 document. Once I had that I selected the box tool on the left hand side toolbar and then drew a black box over the document.
To add the gradient effect at the bottom of the screen I went onto the gradient tool also situated on the left toolbar. One this was selected I dragged my mouse from the bottom right hand corner into the centre of my document. By doing this - it gave me the white gradient effect.
To insert the logo I went onto file, then onto place. I was then able to browse for my image that I'd previously saved and place it where I wanted on my contents page. Once I had moved it around and enlarged the image I had to fit it into the frame. To do this I went to object>fitting>fit to content frame.
I then created 2 columns for my contents page to make it look more official. I did this by going to layout> create guides and then I changed the settings to 2 columns.
The text I have used for 'contents' is still very funky and jazzed up which continues to attract my target audience. As for the page numbers and information I have used a basic font but have continued to use a shade of blue which makes it similar to the cover.
The last thing I did was insert my pictures and I did this fairly simpily. I just went to file>place and inserted the pictures of my preference. Once I had decided the size and position of my pictures I had to go to Layout>place>fitting and then fit content to frame.
To add the gradient effect at the bottom of the screen I went onto the gradient tool also situated on the left toolbar. One this was selected I dragged my mouse from the bottom right hand corner into the centre of my document. By doing this - it gave me the white gradient effect.
To insert the logo I went onto file, then onto place. I was then able to browse for my image that I'd previously saved and place it where I wanted on my contents page. Once I had moved it around and enlarged the image I had to fit it into the frame. To do this I went to object>fitting>fit to content frame.
I then created 2 columns for my contents page to make it look more official. I did this by going to layout> create guides and then I changed the settings to 2 columns.
The text I have used for 'contents' is still very funky and jazzed up which continues to attract my target audience. As for the page numbers and information I have used a basic font but have continued to use a shade of blue which makes it similar to the cover.
The last thing I did was insert my pictures and I did this fairly simpily. I just went to file>place and inserted the pictures of my preference. Once I had decided the size and position of my pictures I had to go to Layout>place>fitting and then fit content to frame.
* I like the idea of me using the Hyde Clarendon logo as its official and it immediately catches your eye and brightens the contents page up.
* I prefer my cover than the contents page. This is because I think there is too much free space on the contents page that could have been used better. And at the top where the text is for Contents and the logo, they appear quite squished together.
* If I were to do it again, I would include more colour and would think about the space awareness more as this personally would improve my contents page.
INTERVIEW WITH CAREY H AND TASHA O
What do you like about my contents page?
I like how you've used the logo as your contents masthead as it makes it look more professional and bright. I also like the pictures you've used illustraiting college life.
What don't you like about my contents page?
The only disadvantage I can find about your contents page is that your space awareness wasn't as good as it could be. For example the page numbers are very squished towards the pictures and they could be further right alligned.
What would you improve?
The only thing to improve would be to spread things out more and use the space better.
What stands out to you?
The masthead/college logo because it's bright and also everything on the black background. This is because, with you using black as your background, it contrasts with all the colours and makes them stand out more.
No comments:
Post a Comment