Prelim Task 9 - Final product

The Lowdown - Highdown school magazine cover by Zahra Uddin

Contents Page:

Prelim Task 7 - Magazine Mock up

Front cover mock up

Contents page mock up

Prelim Task 6 & 8 - Creating a school magazine!

   Primary Photos - task 6:

TASK 8: The magazine construction process
Chosen Fonts:

I chose to do the title in white font contrasted against a dark background because I felt that it gave a bolder title and wanted it to be eye catching. I also felt that it looked very stylish and modern and needs a modern touch to engage with a younger audience. The font looks like it is associated with school so added to the genre of the magazine.

The smaller texts are in a opposite format (e.g. lower case letters, black font) to the masthead because it makes each other stand out and gives the masthead individuality.

Chosen Photo:

                              

Firstly I cropped the photo to focus on the image. I wanted to centre the photo so I could write text around i and make it the focal point of the cover.

I then selected the top of the photo, layered it and I used the paint brush tool to colour the top of the cover in black, I then lowered the opacity to 45% and faded it into the image.

I added the title in using the text tool and changed it to a white font colour to stand out and match the photo. I enlarged it so it spreaded across the cover in the largest format that was possible because it is the masthead and is meant to dominate most of the cover.

I added 'the' in the top corner of the cover using the text tool and placed a white shape underneath it using the select tool to make it bold.

I then added all the objects I wanted in the magazine and done this by using the shape tool. I coloured each shape in bright colours using the fill tool and lowered the opacity of all of them because I felt they looked overwhelming at 100% opacity. I added a plus shape using the text tool.

I added the highdown logo in the bottom corner of the cover the fill in the empty gap and to surround the image but also to show recognition of the school the magazine is meant  to be representing. I brightened it to suit the theme of the cover using the select tool and paint brush tool.

Final Result:


Lastly I added text to the cover and changed the font colours. I rotated the text on the circle.


The construction of my contents page was similar to the construction of my magazine cover. 

Firstly I chose my photo...


                   


I then added a rectangular shape using the shape tool and filled it in orange using the fill tool, I next changed it to a low opacity to give it a transparent affect and feathered it into the background image. Next I added text using the text tool and changed the font colour to white.

I created this transparent object the same way as I did previously, I filled the object and changed it to a low opacity however I did not feather it. I then added text using the text tool and made the numbers big and bright.

Prelim Task 5- Questionnaire responses

These are my results from the questionnaire:

Q1.

The majority of people would consider buying a school magazine which tells me that there is a gap in the market for a school magazine.

Q2.  

Most people who conducted the questionnaire are females this tells us that most of these responses are mostly from females.

Q3.    

Most the people answering the questionnaire are sixth formers, a quarter are of a younger age and one quarter are other.

Q4. 

People wouldn't mind blue's and purple's on the front cover of the magazine. The majority disliked orange and yellow colours however I think orange is ideal for standing out on the cover.

Q5.    

Most people would like Fashion and school news to be included in the school magazine, these topics mostly catch people's interest so should be highlighted on the front cover of the magazine to show that it had interesting content.

Q6. 

They would buy the magazine for up to £1. This gives me an idea on how much the magazine should be priced and that it would persuade the audience more to buy it as they think it's a reasonable price.

Q7.   

100% of people are persuaded to by magazines if it includes something extra. They might feel as if they are getting more for their money, therefore should highlight this on my magazine cover. Going back to my magazine analysis this could be done by using words like 'plus', 

' includes' - words that people think they are only gaining from buying the magazine.

Q8.    

Most people want to keep the same theme of the magazine, i think it's because they become comfortable buying the magazine as they become used to it. It also builds the magazine identification as people become more familiarised with it. 

Q9. 

Most people think that the magazine should be aimed at either everyone or just sixth formers. However most people might have chosen sixth formers because most people who answered the questionnaire were sixth formers.

Q10. 

From the open question I have found out that people are interested in fashion genre,school news and upcoming events. They also think that it should include eye catching and vibrant colours, one person said black and white colours which I feel are very bold vibrant colours once contrasted. The use of contrasting catches the readers attention.

Prelim Task 2 & 3 -Fonts and Colours

Colour connotations task 3:

Green:
Green is the colour of nature it is usually associated to the environment, such as leaves, grass, trees and other vegetation. This is why it's usually used as the recycling logo to symbolise nature or the environment. It is also used in the fair trade symbol, both these logos are used to represent harmony as trying to look after the world.

Light greens are commonly used to represent freshness, this probably links from the environment annotation because the outdoors give a fresh and clean feeling. Because of this fresh feeling it gives it is used on the packets of mints and chewing gum packets to promote fresh breath. Sometimes they are used on sweet packets to show that they are sour as green is often associated to apples.

Darker shades of green indicate an envious emotion and greed as it is often indicated to money. Greens are often used as arrows or used on the traffic lights to me mean 'go' it is used as a colour to show direction and energy.

Yellow:  

Harmonious colours such as yellows and oranges are warm and inviting.

It is very bright and attracts attention, it can be associated with elements of nature for example bees and sunflowers, hence why it used to represent summer and could be why it is linked to a happy emotion;summer is generally linked to a happy season. Because it is such a bright colour it is used to catch peoples attention so can be used as warning or sometimes even road signs so can be associated to safety and stability. Darker shades of yellow lose their cheerfulness as the colours become dingy, and bright yellow is associated to happiness therefore as that brightness decreases and it loses it's happiness.

Orange:

Orange is similar to yellow as it is also connected to warmth, the sun an cheerfulness however has many other symbolism's which are different to yellow. It is a much more warmer colour than yellow, it is  exotic and is associated to the tropics, sometimes used on tropical juices, fanta.

    

Red:

Red is a strong emotional colour it represents anger and love, for example things that show love or passion are red such as roses, the heart symbol. Red might be associated to anger because it is meant to be the colour of the devil and anger is an evil emotion, that is probably why it can also be linked to fire because the devil comes from hell.

Red is the colour of blood therefore represents death. It is a vibrant colour so is used on road signs to represent danger, for example traffic lights it is used as a 'stop' symbol.

Lighter shades of red become decreasingly aggressive, pinks are shown as feminine colours which represent care and love, although the symbolisms of pink (such as love) might be mostly associated to the representation of females because pink is immediately associated with females.

Blue:

Blue's are cold colours, it can sometimes be accepted as a masculine colour. It is the colour of the sky and sea which represents calmness. It symbolises trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth, and heaven. Dark blue represents knowledge, power, integrity, and seriousness. It is quite a refreshing colour because of the imagery that's blue such as water, the sky and the outdoors.

Purple:

It symbolizes power, nobility, luxury,ambition,wisdom, dignity and independence. It is thought of as quite a childish colour because it is used a lot of chocolate and sweet packaging for example Cadbury. It can be considered a magical colour, probably because there isn't much natural imagery which is purple therefore can be seen as unusual.

White:

 
White is blank colour therefore represents cleanliness and purity. It shows simplicity and modernity, which is great for high tech products, such as apple products.
Like Blue, White is seen as a cold colour it represents snow and winter. It stands out best when contrasted against darker colours.

FONTS, task 4:

I used different coloured fonts to test what they would look like. I liked all the colours but preferred the white text against the black background as it stands out most from the other colours. Also the first test of subtle blue was more calming than the other fonts therefore would be more inviting to the audience, furthermore looks more professional than the others . I felt like the bright pink especially with the text style gave a feminine look and excludes the wider audience.The purple text was unappealing, I felt that it didn't look as professional as the others and lacked modernity, therefore is less likely to attract the youth.

From my font colour testing I realised that lighter subtle colours looked more modern and welcoming whereas the brighter colours looked more immature and may not appeal to older target audience such as teachers. However sometimes lighter colours can camouflage with the rest of the background and may seem boring, on the other hand the brighter colours are more eye catching and fun to readers if used appropriately and if there are other factors contributing to modernity then it could be balanced out.