Evaluation of my Front Cover

WWW: with my Front cover is that I was able to give my folder a focus/concept and follow on from there, the colours are really good and make the magazine cover seem more vibrant and creative especially with the different shapes to convey messages and different colours. The Picture I used which I edited by upping the contrast and the brightness but then making the background even more grey allowed the sell lines and Masthead to pop out and not blend with the background.
EBI: I feel that I used too many colours and by changing this I will stick to a 3 rule colour scheme instead of going all out also the different types of font I felt were not creative enough and not appealing so next time I will be looking to create my own font using InDesign of even illustration also the shot which was on the horizon of Mid-shot and Close up, I felt needed to be established in one shot so next time I will work on that.

Front Cover and Content page

Undedited Photos

 

School Magazine Sketch Analysis

This is a sketch of how I roughly picture my school magazine to be. It isn't as detailed, but there are a few things that I want to keep in mind when taking the shots of my school magazine and editing it.

 The masthead will remain the same, and so will most of the sell lines, however if there is not enough space on the picture, I will remove a few and implement them into my contents page instead. The model will be in their school uniform- seeing as it is a school magazine this would be quite apt- and there will be a book.

 They will be sitting up-right, looking attentively into the camera from the book, with a happy and focused expression. The background will preferably be a plain colour, in order for the text to be seen more clearly.

 The text of the magazine will be plain and not too elaborate, because it is just a school magazine; I do want to place too much emphasis on the font than I do on the actual message of the magazine. My school magazine is subject based, and will revolve mostly around English and writing, which is what my masthead and headline promotes; English, reading. Ideally, the model should be at the center of the shot but if needs be, she may be at the side. If this is the case then it will be more difficult to add the sell lines on either side.

                                                                                                   

Planning Ideas

What is the name of your magazine? What are the connotations of the name?

The name of my magazine is ‘The 6^th Star'. It connotes the main theme of my school magazine which is a form of  academia: English. My magazine will revolve mostly around work and writing skills.

What will your front cover story be and how will you visualize this?

My cover story will include the following: How reading for pleasure can actually help toward improving your English grade, How to balance wider reading and school work at the same time, How to do well during English exams.

Since all these stories revolve around English, the student would be supposedly around book or reading one book allowing the theme of English is communicated.

Who is the target audience? (Consider age, gender, interests)

My target audience will be exclusively aimed at young adults from 16-18, since most of the stories apply mostly to those in college or sixth form. Also, most of the interests within this age group will lie solely on education and setting their goals/ aspirations.

What sort of shot will it be? Close up, mid shot, low or high angle?

Preferably it would be a mid shot or a close-up as I want to include all the mise-on-scene around the model, e.g. books. I would like to ensure that the background is of a plain colour in order for the sell lines to be seen clearly.

What would be your headline and how will it match the main image?

My headline would be 'The English Collective' and it will match the image because of the books that will be included in the image.

What colour scheme do you want and explain why?

I want the colour scheme of my magazine to span from the colour of the book which will be next to the student, to communicate to the reader.

Front Cover Analysis

 Essence is a monthly magazine for African-American women between the ages of 18 and 49.

The magazine covers fashion, lifestyle and beauty. 

The Masthead which is bold and is the Same typography with all the different Issues in the Essence Magazine which allows it to be recognizable to the readers, the colour's Pink, yellow, white complement the Image of Solange Knowles, allow her to stand out instead of being washed out by the colours also the use of these colours insinuate that the magazine is girls only.

The Picture of Solange is underneath the title which tells me that if the masthead was covered it would not be as recognizable as it is now visible to readers. The bold typefaces draw the reader’s attention with the rule of direct mode of address making the dominant image look to the audience. ‘Essence’, it is necessary to create a catchy headline that hooks your target because with a busy schedule ahead of us almost nobody has the time to read the whole article. This magazine cover has different type font’s as fonts can give visual clues about the order a document should be read in and which parts are more important than others.

All of the sell lines are in white so it stands out as the background image is blue. These simple uses of colour make a significant impact on the person browsing the magazine, they help illustrate and accentuate the contents of the issue and they help us keep a pulse on what professional designers are doing with colour. The word ‘BLACK HAIR NOW’ is in the colour pink so it stands out to the reader’s to show importance of the issue. The profile shot of Solange Knowles is the main image of the magazine cover. Connotations are Black Beauty, health, Natural Beauty. This magazine is for one’s who admire her and her beauty or want tips on few things. The front cover is very effective because it has the various strategies needed for a magazine cover to stand out.

 The dominant image is the background and the close up shot gives a closer look to her face and emotions, this is a way the magazine speaks to its audience as the image is also looking directly at the reader’s. This gives a good indication of what’s inside as it has the continence of a story.