Task 4 Evaluation- pre lim task front cover and contents page

In this preliminary task I had to design a college magazine cover and contents page. To prepare for this task I had to look at examples of college magazines from other people’s blog. I also had to think of and plan out the layout of my contents page and front cover. I took pictures for my front cover and contents page. After all this preparation for magazine was done all was left was to create the magazine on Photoshop and InDesign.

During my research I looked at many other examples which were very useful and I came to conclude that bright colours are better to use because it will attract more readers. It was difficult to choose what my featured article will be because I had so many ideas and had to choose which one will stand out more. I eventually used sports as my featured article and had the picture on my front cover and contents page. For my front cover I used Photoshop which I found was very easy but for my contents page I used In Design which I found hard. The format of contents page was a double page spread. The image was a long shot which covered both pages and content was on both pages. The front cover had one image of a medium close-up of the student. This is so that there was not too much going on in the background because to image was covering up most of it. 

There were some feedback which other student commented on in the positives and negatives. A comment was “the image is very clear and shows the conventions of a magazine as it is an MCU. The colour scheme was red orange and white; I chose this because it gives a really bright mood to the magazine. I think that the colour scheme goes really well with the blue background and the font used is very clear and easy to read. I also like the way that you have included a QR code on your front cover which appeals to the audience, as college students are likely to have smart phones and therefore be able to scan the QR code. I also really like the masthead. The style is funky and I really like the glow around the text.”  There were cover lines on my front cover which was very clear to read and my mast head was complemented the image and theme. The cover lines had to be interesting to catch the reader’s attention.

 Sport ‘we came, we conquered’ an exclusive in look into the sporting success at LSC. 

 ART ‘get creative’ Art students show off the skill in the art showdown.

Music and Performance Will talent rise in the upcoming performances?

Enrichment Your chance to get involved.

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Winner of last month’s raffle revealed.

LSC guide booklet inside.

Featured photographs see if you are in this month.

These cover lines main purpose is to appeal to the reader.

On the other hand there were a few negatives which were: “the cover lines do not start with capital letters and this makes it look slightly unprofessional. Also, certain words on the cover lines go over two lines and this makes it less effortless to read. Finally, the date line is slightly ambiguous. Because it says "Volume 26 September", it is not clear whether this is just a volume that was released on the 26th September or the 26th volume that was also the September issue of the magazine.” These comments mean I have to pay attention to detail because I may miss out key points.

Overall my magazine cover page was fairly good which I am proud of. There was a lot of positives and negative to the cover which could be improved on and comments which have been pointed out which was very useful. The techniques that I used on Photoshop and InDesign were text boxes, text styles and transparency of text boxes.   

Working on the contents page was quite a struggle, I think I needed more time to work on it.  I made it a double-page contents page, as a lot of magazines do have contents pages that go over one page and even have a double-page contents page like this one. Comment: “I like that the background image goes with the main image on the front cover, and how there are other images relevant to the articles that they are with.” The background was the same theme as the front cover which clearly gave hints that it was one of the main articles.

Comment: “the orange writing is difficult to read against the background, and the fact that each article description is in a different colour breaks the colour scheme. Also, in the article description of the sports page, the word 'success' splits in the middle; half of it is one size, and the rest of it is bigger, which carries on for the other letters. Finally, the fact that the title for the contents page is on the right doesn't seem quite conventional, as most magazines would have the title on the right on a double-page contents page.” I total agree with this comment because the contents page seems a bit rushed and was not up to the standard of the font cover. I did not consider the original colour scheme which I should have this may be because I was struggling to fade the background image and trying not to let the text blend into the background.

Overall there is much room for improvement but I did include all the relevant information that was needed from a contents page.