Introduction

For this coursework I will be making my own college and music magazine. I will first make my college magazine. This is 10% of my coursework. To begin with, I will be analysing three other magazines to give me a general idea of how to create my own college magazine. For the college magazine that I will create I will make a mock up of a front cover and a mock up for the contents page. I will also do two mindmaps of one front cover and one contents page to give me ideas for my final front cover. For the college magazine I will have to design ten initial ideas, six for the front and four for the contents, this will also help me to give me ideas on how to create my own college magazine on Photoshop. After I have completed all my planning I will then create my final front cover of my college magazine on Photoshop then I will evaluate it.

For the second part of my coursework which is 40% towards my coursework I will have to create a music magazine. To start off I will have to analyse two front covers from a music magazine, two contents pages from a music magazine and two double pages from a music magazine. For my planning I will create five mindmaps altogether, two for my front, one for my contents and two for my double. Initial ideas are also needed for my planning and mock ups. All my final pieces will be done on Photoshop, this includes my front cover, contents and double pages. This all will be evaluated.

Textual Analysis Of The Met

The Met

The first college magazine I am going to analyse is called 'The Met'. This particular magazine is aimed at college students at Sutton Coldfield and Matthew Boulton College.

On the front cover there are five main images which includes a logo and images of different events through out the college year. At the top of the front cover there is the college logo which shows that the magazine is about the college. I would say that the logo is boring and has not used eye catching colours as it is black and white. On the pink banner at the top of the front cover, the name of the college magazine ‘The Met’ has a logo next to it. The logo conveys a typical student jumping for joy which shows that the college has successful students. The images on the front cover relate to the headline about the activities that the students have been on throughout the year. The bold headlines attract the readers by the use of big and colorful writing, which are linked, with the interesting images of the students on trips. The images imply that the students are working as a group and they are enjoying themselves as they are working. The images, headings and the colours used is what attracts the readers attention because it is eye catching and they are the first thing you can notice when you see the front cover for the first time.

On the front cover the colours which have been used are different shades of pink, blue, white, green, yellow and purple. These colours have been used because the bright colours draws the readers attention and is not bland and boring. The background colours blue, pink and green have been used behind the text to avoid making the large amounts of writing boring. With most of the writing on the front cover there is an image related to the large amount of writing.

The text which has been used is Arial because it is clear to read but I would say the text size is too small and the amount of writing is too much for a front cover. The texts have been placed under or next to a image because it is associated with the image. The subheadings are all white with a vibrant background colour which makes the white headings stand out. The text of the writing is black this is to make the writing easy to read.

Throughout the front cover formal language has been used because it starts with ‘Dear Student’ and it addresses them as young adults as it is aimed at young adults.

Textual Analysis Of The Student Met

Student Met

The second college magazine i am going to analyse is called ‘The Student Met’. This particular magazine is also aimed at college students at Sutton Coldfield and Matthew Boulton College.

On the front cover of this magazine there are only a few images to do with college. Again at the top of the front cover, on the left hand side there is the college logo which shows that the magazine is about the college. I would say this logo is not appropriate for a college magazine as it has not used eye catching colours and therefore is boring. On the pink banner at the top of the front cover, there is the name of the college magazine. Under the logo there is a pink banner with the title of the college magazine inside it. This is displayed largely in white writing. For the title two different types of fonts are used, for the word ‘Student’ a normal type of writing is used and for the word ‘Met’ a larger and bold writing is used. The two images on the front cover are taken from activities going on at the college. The images are trying to convey that the college has plenty of different activities going on. With both of the images there is a large amount of text with a sub-heading above it. The sub-heading is in bold and has white coloured font with a background colour to make the heading stand out. Behind the text there is also a coloured background for the black text to stand out. For a front cover I think there is too much writing and this may put off the readers from even looking at the magazine. There are not enough images put on too the front cover but I do think the colours used are very noticeable.

On the front cover the colours which have been used are pink, blue, white, green and orange. These colours have been used because the bright colours draws the readers attention and is not bland and boring. The background colours orange and green have been used behind the text to avoid making the large amounts of writing boring and to make the black text stand out. With both of the images on the front cover there is a large amount of writing to go with it.

The text which has been used is Arial because it is clear to read but I would say the text size is too small and the amount of writing is way too much for the front cover. The images have been placed in the middle or on top of the text because it is associated with the text. The sub-headings are all white with a vibrant background colour which makes the white headings stand out more. The text of the writing is black and has a coloured background this is to make the writing easier to read and to make it stand out.

Throughout the front cover the magazine represents the success stories of the students in the colleges of Mathew Boulton and Sutton Coldfield. This is done because to attract and notify the reader of how successful these colleges are and it emphasises the success stories of students who have gone to achieve extraordinary achievement and successes.

Textual Analysis Of The Secondary Teachers

Secondary Teachers

Finally, the last college magazine front cover I am going to analyse is called ‘Secondary Teachers’ magazine.

On the front cover of this magazine there is a large image of David Beckham and it is the first thing the readers will notice when they pick up the magazine. I think that the front cover has got bland and boring colours. The title of the magazine is separated into two. The first word is ‘secondary’ and it is small and in black where as the word ‘Teachers’ is in a larger and bold writing and is in white. David Beckham is wearing a black top so that the writing and subheadings stand out. The colours for the sub-headings are very colourful and stand out well. The main story on the front cover which is ‘I love working with kids’ this is in the colour green and is a large font.

On the front cover the colours which have been used are black, white, pink, yellow, blue, green and red. These colours have been used because the bright colours draw the reader’s attention and are not bland and boring. On the background there is a brick wall and David Beckham. The writing of the text is white this is for the writing to stand out on David Beckhams black Top.

The text which has been used is Arial because it is clear to read but I would say that some of the text size on the front cover is not big enough such as the writing under the coloured sub-headings. I think the right amount of text is presented in this front cover and it is also laid out properly.

Mind Maps Of Contents & Front Page

These were my first ideas for my college magazine. My mind maps contain ideas for my front page and contents page. Some of my ideas include the images, layout, colours, stories, page numbers and headings.

All my ideas from my mind maps on the front cover helped me to create my final piece of work on Photoshop. All the points from my mind map such as the Images, Layout, Stories and Colour gave me various ideas for my front cover to design on Photoshop

Initial Ideas - Six Front Covers & Four Contents

During the development of designing my college magazine I had to go through many different stages of planning, one stage was the initial ideas for my college magazine front cover and the contents page. Six front covers and four contents pages were needed. For all my initial ideas i used a different layout and a different kind of style so none of theme look similar. Above are my initial ideas for my college magazine front cover and contents.

The initial ideas for my Front Cover were needed to help me with me final front cover for the college magazine on Photoshop. Altogether I had designed six initial ideas for my front cover. All the ideas on my initial ideas are different and I have made sure no two are alike.

The initial ideas for my contents page were not as important as my initial ideas for my front cover because we didn’t have to create a contents page on Photoshop for our final piece of work. Four initial ideas were needed for the contents page and again I had to make sure all the initial ideas for the contents were different and I have made sure no two are alike.

Mock Up - Front & Contents

These are my mock ups for my college front cover and contents. I used ideas from my inital ideas to disign my own front cover and contents page.