A MEDIA EDUCATION
Gabrielle J. Sellers
PRELIMINARY RESEARCH&PLANNING
Analysis of School Magazine Front Covers
November 23, 2015
Analysis of School Magazine Contents Pages
December 1, 2015
My Research Questionnaire
December 2, 2015
Analysis of my Questionnaire Results
December 2, 2015
Front Cover Mock Ups
December 7, 2015
For this design I decided to stick to the common conventional of magazines in general. The masthead of the magazine lies across the top of the page and the coverlines are placed along the right-edge of the cover which is where the eyes are naturally drawn. Furthermorte, the main headline of the magazine is at the bottom of the page with a small piece of specific information underneath it. this sticks in the readers head due to the recency effect whilst the provided information gives the reader enough to be hooked on the story but not fully satisfied (so they want to read more). At the bottom of the page is the Sixth Form Logo. its size and placemnet is symbolic of how atudents may be turned off by a school focussed magazine but its presence allows the document to be associated with the school. A way in which this cover challenges typical generic conventions is through the staggered masthead. Such a deviation is attractive to an audience of 16-18 year olds as it is more modern and defies 'adult' norms of print media which may be considered dull or boring.
Compared to the first design, this mock-up differs massively from common magazine conventions and is rather more conventional of a broadsheet newspaper such as The Independent. This is seen through the use of the masthead running up the lefthand edge of the cover rather than across the top. Although this title is harder to read it indiscates brand loyalty as the audience will recignise and buy the magazine due to its recognisable layout. Futhermore, unlike many magazines this cover only features a single coverline- the headline- than relates to the main image of the cover. Such a simplistic and minimalist layout is attractive to an educated and intelligent audience (such as Sixth Form Students) as it doesn't try to bribe or convince its readers to look deeper into the magazine. Instead, the audience reads on due to a desire to learn and their own curiosity.
Both mockups do not feature a price or bar code, this is because the magzine is specific to a student audience who will be aware of the price through word-of-mouth and won't require a barcode to buy it. In extention, a displayed price or barcode can often cheapen the appearance of a magazine and turn-off potential readers. As the target audience is educated students, a desire to learn about the content of the magazine will be the main influencing factor in getting someone to buy it, rather than an attractive price.
Contents Page Mock Ups
December 7, 2015
Mock-Up 1 is based upon school magazine contents pages as well as school brochures. The page-length image can be composed of many or just one image to relate the the listed contents whilst adding colour to the page (which will be white). The contents form a column on the right of the page as this is where the eye naturally is drawn and thus will hold most of the readers attention. Furthermore, the target audience of the magazine is inquisitive students who want to learn, by placing the contents in a place their eyes naturally fall whilst making it easy to read with clear subheadings and describtion in black on a white backing.
Mock-Up 2 has a far more interesting layout with the page split in half horizontally and the bottom of the page being oin three columns, two of which with their own picture. Whilst a single column contents page is more conventional of school magazines, such a mixed layout with seperate captioned images is far more creative and makes the reader take in all of the page in search for their desired content whilst the larger subheadings allow them to find their general area of interest quickly and undistracted if desired.
My Shooting Schedule
December 8, 2015
