College Magazine Project Evaluation

For this project, I have been asked to research the conventions of College Magazines and how College Magazines use and adapt these conventions to suit their own needs (i.e. attract their desired audiences) and then to make a front cover of a College Magazine and a mock-up of a contents page. Using the knowledge I have gained during the aforementioned research. I have been presenting my research, planning and designing in the form of an online blog which can be found at http://www.adam-amini-media.blogspot.com/ and which I have been adding to and actively updating throughout the course of the project.

I will now be writing about how I approached each stage of the project and how I feel it went and how I feel the final college magazine has turned out. I will then evaluate the project as a whole, stating what I feel went well and what I would change were I given the chance to undergo the project again.

I initially approached the task by listing the conventions of a College Magazine and how College Magazines use these conventions to serve their purpose (for example, evoke interest in their target audience). This was very useful as it allowed me to recognise the conventions even easier when it came down to analysing magazines, so when I finally began to make it, I could adapt them even easier to suit my own needs.

I then began to conduct research. I did this by looking at existing college magazine covers and contents pages and analysing them and how they use and adapt conventions to suit their own needs. I didn’t just looked at College Magazines, however and I also looked at magazines which were modern and which broke conventions to suit their needs (i.e. the Kerrang contents page which ordered the list of articles by category not page number. This made the contents page seem more interesting and dynamic and had I made a full contents page (and not just the mock-up) I would have used a similar method to this in my own article list.

By looking at other magazines aimed at people aged 16-19 years old, I was able to get an idea of how to use certain conventions (such as the masthead) in an advantageous manner. The reason I looked at magazines aimed at this age range is because they are the ages of most people who attend college and therefore the people who will consume the magazine, so it makes sense for research to be conducted on magazines aimed at the age group.

After research I made decisions on certain aspects of my magazine (such as the layout, content of the photographs and stories featured). A lot of these decisions were made to appeal to a young, gender-neutral audience (so both males and females). I then hand-drew draughts of the cover and contents page so that I could get a basic idea of what they will be like. These draughts were then the basis for my first IT draughts and finally, the finished Cover and Contents Page.

I took my own Medium Close-Up photographs (and more for the contents page (i.e. the photograph of books and a person using the laptop) and I then edited them as appropriate using the easy to use and accessible programme, Paint Shop Pro 9. When regarding editing, I mainly cropped the photographs to suit the needs of the magazine lay-out, but in the case of the picture of the laptop user, I also created feelings (in this case, the implication of stress) by using the Paint Shop Pro features of a ‘Zoom Blur’ and the ‘Hue’ of the image.

I used Paint Shop Pro 9 to make the final copies of the magazine as the software is both easy to use and the functions suited my purpose (i.e. editing photos, text placement, different fonts and text colours to name a few). I also could save the files as a .PSPImage so that I could resume editing at a later date, and then finally save the file as a .Jpeg which allowed it to be uploaded to the blog.

I am very please with the outcome of the Front Cover, as I believe I adapted conventions (such as the masthead, main photograph and cover lines,) to appeal to the target audience and put across the ideology of the magazine (‘Wyke Lyfe’ about the social life of students at Wyke College.) I am very pleased with the Masthead and I like the way that the text (red and black) and the font combine to give the masthead a strikingly appealing and modern appearance. I also believe that the breaks in the font which allow for some of the yellow background to be seen, give it the appearance of graffiti, which even further reflects the younger audience (and how they like to do things such as make graffiti to be ‘rebellious’.) I am also pleased with how the Main Cover Line appeals to the younger audience as whole, as many people in the age range of the magazine go to Nightclubs and the fact that it is about an ‘Under-18’s’ night allows even the people who are too young to go to nightclubs to be interested.

The contents page, while dynamic in terms of layout (if fully made the articles would be listed in a similar, non-ordered way as seen in the Kerrang Magazine,) in my opinion was too conventional in terms of layout. This is because it was very similar to most other normal, plain and boring magazines in the way that it has the normal title and a very conventional layout. If I were to undergo the project again I would most certainly make the contents page more dynamic and appropriate for a younger, more exciting audience.

Overall, I believe that the project went well; I managed to perform sufficient research and apply conventions to my magazine and adapt them in such a manner as to appeal to my target audience (moder styling and colours for example) and I also adapted them to suit the ideology of my magazine (the ‘Social Saviour’ as the selling line stated). I believe that I utilized different software (e.g. the Blogger software and Paint Shop Pro 9) in an efficient manner and was quite successful in completing the required task.

If I were to change anything about my final project I would probably adapt the conventions used in the contents page in a more modern and interesting manner (to appeal to my target audience) as I believe the contents page I produced is quite bland and not particularly appealing to people in the 16-18 age range.

Contents Page Mock Up - Final Draught

Front Cover - Final Draught

Contents Page Draught - 02 (Made in Paint Shop Pro 9)

This is the first ICT draught of my Contents Page. Though it is unfinished, the main purpose of it was to determine differnt ways I could present the layout of the magazine, determine the positives and negatives of it and then change it appropriately for my final draught.

On the one hand, I am pleased with how I have used conventions easily. For example, there are pictures relating to the articles with text undereath and the use of pictures will create interest ad engage the reader even further into the magazine.

It is conventional in the sense that there is a list of articles, which wouild be easily accessible and help the reader locate specific articles of interest.

On the other hand, I believe the fact that I have pretty much stuck to the conventions has made it boring and I would like to, in the final draught of the mock-up, create a more dynamic and interesting, less conventional contents page, which I believe would be of more interest to the younger audience (16-18/19 years old) at whom my magazine is aimed. An example of how I have stuck to conventions is the linear and even boring layout of the list of articles.

Front Cover Draught - 02 (Made in Paint Shop Pro 9)

This is the first draught of my magazine front cover which has been made on a computer (more specifically, on Paint Shop Pro 9)

I am pleased with the outcome, though there are many things which I would like to improve, yet there are also many positive points, i.e. the ways in which I have adapted conventions to suit my needs.

For example, the Masthead (even though part of it is covered by the MCU) includes the boldest and most 'eye-catching' text on the page, followed by the Main Cover Line (HPV Exclusive) and then the next two cover lines which would only probably be read when initial interest has been taken. I do think that in my Final Draught I will probably have a more gender-neutral Main Cover Line, as i believe this magazine seems more aimed at a female audience.

There is no bar code on the draught and there will not be on the final magazine. This is because the magazine is given out free to people at the college, and as a sale isn't being made, there is no need for a bar code.

I will also probably give the text a more modern and 'cool' look, so as to appeal more to the younger audience, as I believe the current scheme, though eye catching, is quite boring.

There is also the issue number in the bottom corner. Although issue numbers are normally used for filing and keeping records, this probably would be more useful for the college and not the people who consume the magazine, as they may want to keep a record of the issues for purposes such as seeing how the magazine has come along since it was first created.

I am also pleased with the selling line (Your Social Saviour) as it related the magazine you the reader (by use of the word YOUR) and Social Saviour is alliteration, which makes it more catchy and snappy and appeals more to the target audience.

Photographs Taken

These are three examples of the photos I have now taken to use in the magazine.

Though at the most, only around four photographs will be used I have taken a wider range so that I have a lot to choose from while making the magazine front cover/contents page.

As you can see I have taken the required medium close-up and have also taken other photos relating to the magazine (books, student using laptop) and the photos will be cropped/edited as needed.

For example, to go by the convention of a person on the front of a magazine obscuring part of the title, the Medium Close-Up would need to be cropped so that there is less empty space in the image.

I used a wide range of photographic skills to produce the desired outcome in these photographs (for example, to take the picture of the books with acceptable detail and focus I used the Macro function of the camera, and while taking the Medium Close Up I had to consider the clothes the subject was wearing and how they were complimented by the colour of the background and the lighting of the area in which the photograph was taken, in this case, outdoor lighting on an overcast day.)

Contents Page Draught - 01