I have once again changed my background so the contents page will match my front cover and I have added more pictures to fill up the page. As well as this, I have added effects to my writing and images, these help them stand out and stop them from blending in with each other.

This is my contents page, so far I have included all my stories and a couple of pictures which represent my lead story of a talent show. I have added a drop shadow to all of the pictures to make them stand out from the page, having them layered over each other which results in a nice collage effect.

This is my final front cover with a different background, I found that this was more suitable for a school magazine as it has bits of white, blue, purple and red, these represent the school colours that my target audience wanted me to include. When asking students, I found that this backgound was more appropriate for a school magazine, while keeping the vibrant colours which appealed to the students.

I have now added more colour, sub headings and images, trying to enable the magazine to give off a vibrant vibe and attract the students. Next to the mast head I have added the school logo, this acts as a pug becasue the magazine promotes the school.

I have now added some articles in my left third and the date it is issued. I decided to keep a simple font for all the stories in the left third but I chose to have the lead story in the same stylish font as the mast head becasue this allows it to stand out from the other stories. I have also made the font for the lead story slightly larger than the secondary leads becasue this also allows it to stand out on the cover.

Temporary Magazine cover

This is my temporary magazine cover and I hope to continue to develop it until it looks like a school magazine. So far I have added on my title, my top strip and my tip-on. I have chosen bright red and purple for my background, these colours are going to be my house colours for my school magazine so they will be continued in the contents page aswell. I wanted these colours to be bright and colourful to attract students but I have used a simple font in white which contrasts nicely against the background.

My Front Cover Photo

I've chosen this Picture because it is associated with the Lead Story of a Talent show, and these people are apart of the band which is competing to win the prize. This picture has been cleared of it's background so it can be the centre image of my front cover.

Photos

Now, i need to prepare for my photo shoot as i have decided what pictures i want and who i want to be in them, hopefully, if i organise everything and give clear instructions, i will get all the pictures i need and more, so i can have a variety to look from, and get the best pictures possible.

At the moment i am pretty confident that i will get my magazine done as now i am in the process of making my magazine, i have got all that i need but i am a bit nervous about using photoshop because i have to use it to get a good outcome for my magazine even though i am still new to it and i don't want to waste time in constructing it.

My Research

Everyone's Opinions

My Flat Plan

At the Moment I have been making my flat plans for my School Magazine and I have included my marketing research when choosing my house colours and possible names for my magazine. I have asked my main target audience of secondary school students in addition to parents who may use the information from the magazine, for an update of what their child is doing within the school. I am a bit nervous of the deadlines but I am confident that my outcome will be good and hopefully the school magazine will attract the right audience which I had aimed at.

My Understanding of Codes and Convention

Codes and Conventions for magazines are the ingredients needed to allow the audience to recognise them as a media form; they are all dependent upon the target audience as the genre specific conventions try to target them to buy the magazine. For example:

The masthead
This is the title or logo belonging to the magazine, this needs to be eye catching in order for it to be noticed as it identifies the magazine, therefore, needing to use a large font, as well as eye catching colours, this type of formatting needs to reflect the genre chosen. In some magazines, the mast head also has a motto written within the main title, this is kept constant with the Mast head in every issue of the magazine, and this represents the values of the magazine to the audience.
E.g. A rock magazine such as Kerrang uses a bold, rough, modern print that is in capitals, is also has a contrast in colours that stands out on the cover. This magazine has a motto written over the title, ‘Life is loud’, reinforcing the type of music, Rock. Also, the layout and effect is loud, emulating the genre of music.

Centre Image
The centre image usually reflects the Lead Story; the image needs to be the main focus of the page, as a result taking up much of the space. Majority of magazine covers have a headline or splash at the bottom half of the picture, explaining the article related to the image.

The Left Third
This contains the main content as this is where the readers’ see the first glimpse of the magazine on the shelf. Here you would find the menu of secondary articles in addition to the Lead Story; this is why the mast head is usually placed in the top third of the magazine, so that it is covered by the display.

Cover Line
This is an article that you would only find in that particular magazine, usually an exclusive and has an exaggerated line, to engage the target audience to read the magazine through the use of formatting this includes:
Type
Font
Colour and
Size.

Quotes
Quotes from articles are used in order for the audience to get an insight to the magazine; this has a starter sentence and sometimes is left as a cliff-hanger or is a rhetorical question. This creates anticipation within the readers, luring in the audience, once again. Some quotes are from stars, the aspiration for readers who idolise celebrities tend to buy the magazine due to the star quote.

Pug
A pug is a promotion found at the top of the cover, also known as being called the ears of the page. The pug can include: logos, prices and trends and is well placed to catch the reader’s attention.


Puff
This is an exaggerated advertising technique which associates with the magazine as being one of a kind. These are used a lot through out a lot of secondary leads.
E.g. Gradia – ‘Britain’s no 1 Glossy’.

Can
A form of interaction between the audience and the magazine, this generally comes in the form of a website.
E.g. Smash Hits has the fan club website – www.smashhits.co.uk

Lead Story
This is the main article found in the issue of the magazine also known to be called a Splash.

Secondary Leads
These are other stories found in the magazine and they are presented by having an image along with a caption. These are found in the left third, lined up in a menu style format.

Headline
This is the main statement presented in the largest and boldest font which crosses the page explaining the main story.
E.g. Kerrang – ‘100 greatest gigs ever’.

Kicker
This story tends to stand out form the page due to the different use of formatting.

Lure
This is either a word or a phrase which insists the reader to read a particular article.

Tag
This is a phrase used to interest the reader with what article follows, these are used to single out the magazine from others to show it’s unique.
E.g. ‘Exclusive, The upgrade’

Tip-On
This is a free gift which comes with the magazine, it is used as an attempt to lure in the target audience.

Preliminary Task

I'm starting my preliminary task and I've been told that i need to create a new school magazine, i thought i was able to do this but to achieve the best of my ability, I'd need to look at present day magazines, to see what codes and conventions are needed, therefore, using them in the best way possible in my school magazine task. Whilst doing this i was familiar with many of the the codes and conventions from past research and i found differences of these concluding:

Age

Gender

Ethnicity and

Social groups (e.g. teenage tribes).
I found that these were all considered to find the House style belonging to the target audience, and the codes and conventions were used to conclude this.
I am a bit worried about the outcome of my school magazine but hopefully it will target the audience effectively through my codes and conventions, but for now i need to find a target audience by doing some marketing research, Bye for now!