Contents page

This is my Sixth Form magazine's contents page. It is written on a note pad. I did this to create a casual look, this subverts the norm of a magazine and personalises it to a Sixth Form. It looks quite authentic and quite quirky. Furthermore, it contrasts to the front cover which had a futuristic and modern look.
I wanted to keep it simple and just have one picture so that you focus on the information.

Final Front Cover

This is my Final Front cover for my school magazine, I chose this image as I think it portrays the exact message I want to show which is the two different types of students, and which one is really realistic. The colours used show the studious student in a light coloured coat with colourful books and she looks very bright, the relaxed, casual student is in black, this suggests negativity. I wanted to do this as it shows the typical ideas of students and what is really what is necessary to be a good student.

I did the title in this font because it is really bold. It looks like a new and exciting magazine and it really attracts the reader. I asked 15 people if they would pick up this magazine and they all replied yes. 7 of the 15 said it was because the title attracted them to the magazine. The fact that it is white also attracts attention. It is really bright and it looks quite technological.

3 people said they would pick it up because it was free. I decided to make it free as my target audience are students, In my survey I asked if people would be willing to pay for the magazine and the majority said no. This made me believe it would be easier if I made it free as it would attract many more students that probably do not have much money spare. I decided that if the magazine was to be successful after 2 months, it would have a price of 50p.

The remaining 5 people said that the overall presentation attracted them to the front cover. I think this is because it all fits together. I decided to keep a plain font for the subtitles as it helps focus on the image and it looks more proffesional. I really wanted to create a professional feel to my magazine as it would really attract readers to look at it. It would make them feel special and almost more sophisticated.

Overall, I am very pleased with my front cover, I wouldn't change it if I could as I really believe it would attract all students. I think I catered to all different students as the subtitles could apply to anyone. The only thing that I might have changed is the fact that there are two girls on the front cover. If i had used a girl and a boy it might have been a bit more broad. However, I am still extremely satisfied with my front cover.

Image decisions

Last lesson we discussed the importance in images and how they can change the whole meaning of an article. We looked at how using Mise-en-Scene, personal experience and creativity can help you get the best image for your article.

Mise-en-scene is particularly important for magazine articles as when you are trying to tell a story it is better to have a naked image rather than a edited, cropped and photo-shopped one.
Personal experience is also very important as it makes the reader able to assosiate with the photographer and the creative director.

Finally, creativity is essential when trying to find a cover image or an image for a feature in your magazine. Sometimes it is best to be simple and basic like the TIME front cover showing Obama's inauguration.

Or, you can have a less obvious picture that does not really tell you about the article, like this image of George Cloony, it does not tell you anything about the article and without the title of it you probably wouldnt guess that to be the title. Although making the reader have to guess what the article is about and drawing them in is important, it is sometimes appropriate to just have a simple image telling the story.

For my front cover, i decided I was going to have a spread of objects to do with student life such as revision books, i-pods, phones and pens and pencils. They were going to be in a disorganised style and will be the picture for an article called "The Perfect Student?" talking about how its impossible to be perfect but how to get the closest to it. I decided to do this because I know that most people will choose to use a person on their front cover however I would like to subvert the norm and create a front image that is not conforming.

However, recently, I realised this was not the most exciting front cover and would probably not attract a lot of readers. I then decided to use an image of two students, one reading a magazine and listening to her i-pod and the other one with an apple, a set of exercise books and a pencil case. I wanted to create a contrast and it sets the scene for my article which is about the typical "perfect" student and if being overly studious always works out best. I think my image shows that perfectly. I may still use the other image somewhere else in my magazine.

Initial Ideas

TITLE
For my magazine I tried to think of a relevant title, something that would appeal to my target audience, the sixth form. My various ideas include:

• MySixthForm - I liked this title because it is associated with the popular blog-style website "Myspace.com". This relates to the reader as they feel the magazine is modern and "cool". Additionally, it creates a feeling of personality and individuality, the "My" suggests the feeling that the magazine is created especially for each student and caters to their needs and interests. The reason i decided against it was because it seemed to generic and lacked character, it didnt seem personal to our Sixth Form.


• 6.4rm - This name is short and sweet, it takes the ordinary "Sixth Form" and gives it a modern edge. The numbers adds a sense of rebellion and conforms to the new language of youths that would be reading the magazine. Also, i gives the students a kind of connection and bond as they would be the only ones to understand the title. However, i decided not to call my magazine this because it might be a bit too not obvious. Also, it seems quite impersonal.


• 400 - I decided on this title as 400 is the amount of students in the Fortismere sixth form. This gives the magazine an edge and like the other name, the numbers suggests modern, young outlook as it refers to texting language. Also, like "6.4rm" its not an obvious title which makes the students feel exclusive if they understand it.

I then went on to decided the design of my title, as the name is quite short i will have to think about positioning and style to make it stand out. Size will also be important, there were many options. I looked at different positioning for my title and realised that the obvious one would be suitable. This set-up allows the reader to notice the cover image and the title equally.

DESIGN STYLE
POSSIBLE ARTICLES
FONTS
COLOURS
AUDIENCE
POSSIBLE IMAGES

Evaluation of School Magazine

Looking at the front cover of a sixth form magazine, I noticed many ways in which it conformed to the norm. Firstly, The magazine had the date and price, this would be seen in any magazine as they are compulsary.

However, the title was completely different. The title was extremely small in the corner of the magazine, it was not eyecatching and although professionally done, did not attract the readers attention. The fact that they used lower case for the beginning and capitals for the end of the word creates a subversion. They are trying to be different which would attract original and unique people which is probably they're target audience as schools are very diverse.



Additionally, the subtitles, "cook it!" and "university worries" are very emotive. they use exclamations to attract the reader. The fact that their are very different topics shows that the magazine is attempting to attract a variety of students. However, they limit their audience range with all the direction to girls. The magazine could be seen as targeting mostly at a female audience, this is suggested by "Advice-from health to boys" and "We follow a girls journey", we are assuming that "boy advice" is to do with relationships with boys, this shows that the magazine is aiming to attract girls. Also, the fact that it says we follow a girls journey and specifies on the front page that it is a girl not just a student shows that the magazine creators want girls to relate.



The banner at the bottom of the page is also very professional, the fact that it is covering the girl gives it importance and attracts the readers attention. "its here. for you. every month." also attracts the readers attention, the use of short sentences implies the magazine gets straight to the point and understands the reader. It highlights the fact that the magazine is for stressed students that don't have a lot of time.



However, I believe that the image used distracts from the point of the magazine. It is a girl in a prom-like dress posing as if it was a fashion magazine. In my opinion, this picture does not fit with the message a sixth form magazine should be giving out, if the magazine was discussing the point of prom and maybe, possible outfits for prom, this picture would be relevant however it just narrows the target audience yet again.



In conclusion, I believe that although this magazine does look extremely professional, it limits its audience with the use of a girl in a formal dress on the front cover, which eliminates everyone looking for a magazine to help with studies, sports or getting to know new people. Also, the targetting of girls so often also limits the audience to half the sixth form.