Mock up of The Front Cover

This is my initital idea for the layout of the Front Cover.

Planning/Development

This picture could be used as the background of my cover as it shows clearly the college that i'm using.  However the lighting seems a bit dull, so if used would need to be taken again.

I think this image would look really good next to the masthead or down near the barcode and offering a competition and prize alongside. This will attract people to buy the magazine as they could win something if they know and attend.

I think this image would look really good on the front cover as it shows a student who looks happy about the fact they attend this college. This would appeal to an audience as it encourages them to find out what good things are going on. 

 This second photograph could be more likely used on the front cover as it shows student from Wyke College who is learning and is happy, this gives a good impression of the college.

This photograph could be used on the front cover as it shows a student from Wyke College learning.

This image could be used in my cover as it shows the inside of the college and looks bright and happy. It would attract somebody to buy the magazine.

Liiar Analysis of the Brief

My front cover will need to have a masthead. This will appear at the top of the page in big bold font, therefore it will stand out and will be clearly seen as to which college it is for.

My college magazine will be brightly coloured with two main colours that go together. This is so it will look formal but also appealing to the age range and the bright colours will attract the attention of my target audience.

My main image will cover the whole of the page and will be a medium close up shot of a student from Wyke. The student used in my magazine will look directly into the camera to draw attention to my target audience when they are purchasing it.

I am going to include an anchorage to go with my main image which will inform the audience as to what is happening in the image and what they have to look forward to within the magazine.

On my front cover, there will be a barcode, price and date shown to notify people about the cost of the magazine and how recent the magazine is, and if has any relevance to current issues. My barcode will be placed at the bottom of the page on the right hand side. The price and date will be placed just under the masthead.

I would like the front cover of my magazine to show that Wyke is a fun and different environment to learn as it has very high standards. I hope to convey this message within my magazine as it is to encourage students to attend college every day and enjoy it.  

Initial Ideas

Wyke

Wyke

Wyke

Wyke

Wyke

These are my initial ideas for the font i will be using for the Masthead on the front cover of my magazine. I have used the colour purple as this is the themed colour of the college. It will help my target audience to identify which college the magazine is for. I have chosen my fonts based on that fact that it needs to stand out, look fun but also serious so that my target audience are aware that within the magazine it will have some important information  whilst also some information about things going on outside the college.

Target Audience

I have researched target audience and now think that if i aim my magazine for the purpose of males and females, it will be more popular magazine and will have a wider ranged audience. Age will range from 16-19 as this is the age of students attending college. I think it will be best to aim my college magazine for students at Wyke as students studying at Wyke can find out current things that are going on in the college. Students studying elsewhere could be interested in this magazine as it may give them ideas about the college where they are studying however I think Wyke students will be the main audience for my magazine. The masthead for my magazine will be 'Wyke'. This gives a clear indication that it is specifically aimed for students at Wyke.

The Price Of My College Magazine

The cost of my magazine will have to be reasonably priced as College students need to be able to afford it. I think i am going to price my magazine at £1. If students have an NUS  card when purchasing then the price will change to 70p.This is affordable and enables students  to now read about different things going on in College. I think this is a good price for a College Magazine as even students who don't have a part time job will be able to afford this magazine. I think I would issue my magazine monthly as there wouldn't be enough information to gather in a week and people would be more inclined to purchase the magazine monthly rather than weekly.

My Chosen College

Wyke College
For the front cover of my College magazine, i shalll be using Wyke College. I am doing this as my target audience will range between 16-19 year olds and will be available for either male or female genders, the majority of Wyke Students are between this age range and i can relate to the College itself. Wyke offers a range of different subjects, the standard is high and must be a good College as the students achieve high grades. Although i shall be using Wyke College, students from other Colleges will be able to relate to this aswell.

Conventions of a College Magazine

I will be analysing the front cover of this College Magazine to help put ideas together for when creating my own College Magazine.

The front cover of this College magazine includes:

The Masthead- This is important as it helps people recognise what magazine they are reading. Everything else changes on a magazine but the masthead will always be kept the same. If it was to change weekly the audience will have no idea which magazine they are reading.
The Date- It is important to have the date shown on the front cover as it easily identifies when the magazine was issued and the will be easier for the audience to distinguish whether it is relevant and has any relevance to the present time.
The Image- The image on the front cover (double spread) shows on the left hand side, a college girl and on the right hand side shows a college boy. I think this has been done to demonstrate how learning is different depending on gender. The female seems to be looking sitting down patiently thinking about the lesson perhaps, whilst the male appears rather excited about seeking help from somebody. This implies that within the magazine, there will more than likely be a discussion about learning styles between the male and female gender. The female shows the audience that in general girls learn better thinking and processing about information whilst males learn better by working with others. Both students are dressed in a uniform which gives the idea that they belong somewhere, however the uniform has no logo or badge indicating where in fact they do belong which help make the audience feel included so that it’s not just a particular college. On the left hand side beside the female is written ‘Do boys and girls learn differently?’ This also appears beside the male. However, is written in pink for the female and blue for the male. This gives could give the suggestion that boys and girls do learn differently.
Even though it is a two page spread, both spreads include the masthead and the main topic. When the spreads are shown together, the girl appears to be looking over across at the boy and also covers her notepad which could illustrates that she is fine and prefers learning by independently but also observing that the boy prefers to learn with the help of others.
Price - This front cover does not show the how much it would cost to buy the magazine.
Barcode- This front cover does not have a barcode shown.

Conventions

Left Third- The strip down the left where the main headlines are.

Mast head- the title of the magazine usually top left.

Price- Magazine cost

Date- Weekly: usually from Saturday to Friday.

Issue Number- A tally of magazines

Splash- The whole cover

Barcode- Read electronically and decoded into usable information.

Teaser- One word/phrase acts as an attention grabber

Subtitle- Smaller headline that may summarise the feature

Smaller feature- Features included in the magazine

Images-Size - Ranges from one main image to x amount featuring one main image and smaller images. Helps make the page look more interesting. It can add understanding of a story and/or entice someone to read the magazine.

Font-Style and size of type face.

Colour-specific/stylistic/thematic  product types.

Graphics-Graphical shapes to highlight feature(s)

Offers/Adverts Blurb- Banner-style shape featuring  free products/promotions

Kicker- A short phrase found set above the headline. Usually set in a smaller type than the headline

Colour Scheme- the choice of colour used in design for a range of media.