1.  
College magazine Music magazine

2. I rather enjoyed the preliminary exercise of creating the student magazine front cover and
contents page, as I liked taking photos and different types of shots/camera angles, and also
experimenting with typography, layout and colour, however I did come across some difficulty.
When creating the front cover I found positioning cover lines
difficult because of the mise en scene of my image. I like the
image as it portrays a happy student, with direct mode of
address, in a school environment on a sunny day, and she
can be seen as a positive role model. However when taking
the image I thought it would be quite a good idea to place the
model in front of the outside door with the school name and
logo on, but when it came to positioning text on top of the
background, I had difficulty because of the different parts of
the door, especially the white frame. The text is not as legible
as it could be because of the background. This is what made
me realise the importance of mise en scene, and preferably a
plain white background when taking photos for my music
magazine.
The background also made choosing a colour scheme
difficult, as I had to make sure the colours were similar in tone

3. The colour scheme is not that eye-catching,
because of the pale pinks, and the framing of
some words. From this I made sure that on my
music magazine front cover, the colour scheme
was bold and appealing to eye.
I also think there is not much variation in the sizes of
the cover lines, and that the page looks too busy
because the cover lines are quite close together, and
it’s not particularly clear which is my main cover
line/story. This influenced me when creating my
ULTRA POP front cover, as I made sure my main
cover line was significantly bigger than the other
cover lines and also in different, distinctive
typography. Although I do think the use of capitals
for some of my cover lines on this preliminary cover
is quite effective. I quite like the masthead of ‘Cowes
College Life’ because of the typography and bold red
colour; however it could be a little bigger as it does
not catch the eye as it should do.

4. I prefer the layout and my preliminary
contents page to my front cover as I feel it is
more eye-catching and the colours of red,
white and black are appealing. I also feel the
layout to be more striking than the front
cover. However, there are some vast
improvements that could have been made
such as starting the chronological sub-
headings, page numbers, kicker lines and
explanation lines on the left hand side, as the
audience would usually read from left to
right. I have positioned it so the beginning of
the page numbers and text start on the right
and this is not accurately correct to the eye.

5. A feature that I really like on the preliminary contents is the sub-headings, as
I feel the use of capitals, and the white bold text positioned on red colour
boxes stands out clearly. I also made use of sub-headings in my music
magazine, as I feel them to be a significant feature. I also feel the page
numbers stand out boldly in red font, and the stating of ‘COVER STORY’ is
effective as it allows an audience to recognise the main stories that would be
within the magazine. I also quite like the ‘CONTENTS’ title, as I feel it clearly
catches the eye through its bold typography.

6. As I didn’t have a wide variety of images to
choose from, I left spaces of where two smaller
images would be and placed page numbers upon
them, associating them with a kicker and
explanation line, allowing me to know the potential
content and type of image that could be
positioned there.
Looking at this preliminary contents page, I
have made the mistake of numbering the
page as 1, when more accurately it should be
page 3; this is a mistake I made sure I
avoided on my ULTRA POP contents page.

7. I feel that my final music magazine pages show a clear progression
from the creation of my preliminary student magazine. I feel there are
vast improvements in images, mise en scene, layout, typography and
colour scheme choices.
My ULTRA POP front cover demonstrates
progression from the preliminary student
front cover as I have made sure that all
text and cover lines are legible through
the use of bold purple colours as well as
the use of a white background.

8. I have also made sure that my
main cover line stands out by
positioning it individually to the
right, making the font significantly
bigger, and by also selecting a
unique typography, different from
the smaller cover lines, so that it
catches the audience’s attention.

9. I feel this cover image is
more effective than my
preliminary cover image,
because I feel it looks more
professional, the photo is
brighter and allows more of a
glow to the model’s facial
features. I also feel it to be
more suitable in terms of
background and mise en
scene as a simple white
background allows the model
to be the main focus and the
text easy to read.

10. I feel the title is more appealing to
the eye than the ‘Cowes College
Life’ title because it is capitals,
filling out more space and also
fitting appropriately to the pop
genre.
I chose the colour purple on my front cover as it
connotes ambition and power, and can also have an
association of creativity and independence, matching
the qualities of my music star on the front cover but
also many of the music stars that would be featured
within the potential magazine. It can also match
qualities of my target audience. Purple also suggests
femininity, implying the gender of my primary
audience. I chose black and white to complete my
colour scheme, to add to the boldness of the front
cover.

11. I feel that my music magazine contents
page has also improved from my
preliminary contents. I feel the overall
layout of this contents page is much better,
as I have balanced my page out with sub-
headings, numbering, kickers and
explanation lines completely to the right,
and with the images to the left with a brief
editor’s note at the bottom. I also created
my preliminary contents page on Microsoft
Word, as I did not have access to Microsoft
Publisher at home at that time, so I feel
there is a clear progression in spacing and
lining as I created my ULTRA POP contents
on Publisher.

12. I feel the title of ‘CONTENTS’ and the use of sub-headings to be very
effective, and standing out significantly more than they did on the preliminary
contents. I have placed the ‘CONTENTS’ title in the same font as ‘ULTRA
POP’ from the front cover, as this is a typical convention for magazines, and
also something I did not do with typography on my preliminary contents
page. I feel the kicker lines also stand out more boldly in this contents page
as I have placed them in capitals.

13. I also have a wider variety of
images on this contents page, as
in my preliminary I did not take
enough different shots, and so left
spaces of where potential photos
would be placed. I also feel my
technical skills to have developed
since taking the preliminary
photos, and as I didn’t know how
to edit photos on Photoshop and
PowerPoint at the time of the
preliminary, I feel that my music
magazine photos have improved in
terms of looking more professional,
through brightness, contrast and
re-colour adjustment tools.

14. I feel the main heading and sub-heading to be eye
catching and symbolising the country pop genre I feel the use of one
From creating through the quirky typography.
my music full-sized image,
magazine front placed to the right is
cover and eye-catching and
contents page, I appealing to the
feel it helped me audience, through
with layout, direct mode of
photography, address, and a neutral
editing and camera angle, and
typography skills acting as a image that
on my double will have a lasting
page spread. impact on the
audience.
I feel the colour
scheme of light/dark
pinks and black to be
Although there is a fair amount of text to read, I’ve placed the very feminine, which
question and answer in different colours and left spaces appeals to my target
between each Q&A, for the audience to be able to read the audience and also to
interview easily. my model.