Here is my finished front cover in comparison to my ideal design sketch idea.
Here i've used similar text to my original design, giving a slanted typical "old school" feel to the magazine, keeping in tune with generic conventions of a cover, in contrast to the text below (the main story feature) in a "text-message" style font. This was used to appeal to the younger teenage audience (my target audience) who use texts frequently every day.
I had to change the positioning of my text originally placed along the bottom in my sketch due to feeling the image looked more effective in the new position. I took this image of my friend and then used the lasso tool on photoshop to cut my chosen image out from the background it was placed on. From doing this i've learnt that when taking future photos i must make sure there is no shadow from the person and that the background contrasts with the front image to create the easiest use of the lasso tool.
The final change to my cover was the placement of the triangle and price. These were changed to fit with the photo more effectively. I included these features to give a visual representation of the "love triangle" story as well as let readers know in a bold way how cheap the magazine will be for them to buy, appealing to my target audience of students who wouldn't be able to spend much money on a school magazine.
Overall, i'm pleased with how my front cover has turned out due to it following the generic conventions of a title at the top and main medium shot of a figure and a price. Although generally magazine covers include more than one image on the cover, i decided to focus on one storyline full of gossip to grab the main attention of readers. This technique also causes less confusion for my target audience and provides a simple yet effective design. If i could change anything i'd use a different coloured background simply to create the page to be more pleasing to the eye and readers.
Here is my finished contents page in contrast to the original sketch idea.
I managed to create an almost identical contents page to my initial sketch which pleased me due to feeling this would appeal to my target audience the most. With it's generic conventions of a header title, list of pages and images running alongside, i decided to add a banner along the bottom similar to those found on websites giving advertisements to break this mould. This allowed my readers to feel comfortable with a layout they are used to and frequently see.
The title font and triangle image placed next to it link subtly to my front cover design, immediately giving the magazine a constant layout and a substance. As well as these, the photos i chose alongside stories gave a wide variety of things to read in my magazine including pupil dramas, teachers attitudes and sixth form achievements. This gives the biggest opportunity to gain readers due to having different articles which would be suited to individual students. I could improve the quality of my photos by using a higher quality camera, this would then give my images a more crisp finish and look more professional for my product.
Overall i like this contents page due to it's simplicity with a modern twist adding a banner along the bottom. My design follows the rules of a generic contents page and gives the information needed to the target audience. Again, if i could change any aspect it would be to give the background of the page a more exciting colour, linking with the front cover's colour scheme in order to give a more exciting ambience to my magazine and appeal to my target audience of students who enjoy brightly coloured items that catch their eye.
