Initial Ideas for my Magazine

Today I began thinking about the genre of my music magazine.I decided on hip-hop and R&B, and decided that my target audience would be 15-24.

Evaluation

Evaluation

For my college magazine, I wanted to achieve a look that didn’t appear to ‘amateur’ and something that appealed to students. I wanted to do this by using a proper image that was taken on a plain background, so that it is suitable for a front cover, etc.

I think my colour scheme is good as it contrasts with the colour of the folder that she is holding. I think that I did fairly well in designing my college magazine, as this is the first real thing that I designed on Photoshop and not InDesign. I think that the image I used on my front cover was taken at a good angle (mid-shot). The person I used is looking directly into the camera and smiling, which makes it appear similar to a college magazine. There are simple colours used on this magazine, with only 2 colours being used (purple and white.)
I think that the text I used was suitable, as it was simple and nothing too fancy, and it did not distract from the cover star of the magazine.

However, I believe that there are some things that I could have improved on.

·        I could have made the image slightly brighter, so that the cover didn’t appear quite so bland.

·        I could have also included some more things on the cover to make it somewhat more appealing, for example, I could have advertised things such as competitions, etc. I could have included a puff, which could have added a slight splash of colour to the front cover of my magazine.

·        I could have also included some other cover-lines, ones that are more fun and appealing to students.

However, I do believe that the magazine cover I created was of quite a good standard, as I had very little experience in creating things on photoshop.

College Magazine Cover

This is the college magazine I designed. I did it using photoshop, which I learned to use a few days ago.
I used a mid-shot of a student that I took myself, and matched the colour scheme with her clothes and folder; purple to match the folder and white to match the background and her shirt.
I included the date on top of the barcode, so it is similar to that of a real magazine.
I made the masthead bold and fairly bright so that it stands out, and I made the cover-lines both white AND purple, so that they contrast with each other, and so that the whole magazine isn't too plain.
I decided not to make the cover of my magazine too 'busy' as it may distract from the main image of the student, which I want to be the main focus of the cover. In the bottom right hand corner of the page I included a link to the school's website. I felt that this was appropriate as it is a college magazine.
The cover-lines I included were education related, such as Revision Tips, Exam Guide and Resources, which fit with the college theme of the magazine. I did have some trouble with the sizing of the text and being able to fit it all in without it looking slightly cramped but I just downsized the text to make it fit in.
The main coverline I used was 'Top 10 Tips For Success'. I used this as I thought about what would appeal to me and other students, and this seemed right as everybody wants to succeed. I made the barcode fairly small so that it is not the main focus of the cover.
I am happy with the finished product and thought I did quite well designing my first magazine using photoshop, as I was not very familiar with using photoshop to design things until recently.

College Magazine

This is a rough draft of my college magazine. I found this picture of a student online and I will be using a student from Leyton on the cover of my magazine.
This is just a rough draft of what I will be designing. I chose a colour scheme to include in my draft, and I used blue to match her jeans, and green as it coordinates well with the blue. When I design my real magazine it will most likely have a different colour scheme, depending on the picture I use.