Production Print media

Characteristics of a good magazine cover

- Barcode
- Masthead
- Main image
- Secondary images
- Issue Number
- Price
-  Free gift
- Headings
- Cover Line
- Puff
- Colour
- Hierarchy
- Publisher

A font is a set of of type in one particular face and size
Serif - A font that is more visually appealing to audiences and used for informal cover lines
Sans Serif - A font that is used for formal cover lines

Magazines use a variety of fonts and colours to signify what genre the magazine is of for example a magazine that is about fashion would use lots of neutral colours such as black, white and grey this would also be accompanied by cool colours such as blue and purple.




Complimentary colours are colours that are placed opposite each other on the colour wheel and that will work well together if they are used as the colour for text on a magazine cover an example of harmonious colours include red and green that will make text stand out on a cover

Analogous colours are colours that are placed next to each to each other on the colour wheel and will work well together but not stand out as boldly as harmonious colours. An example of analogous colours are blue and purple.



The masthead is the title of a newspaper or magazine at the head of the first or editorial page
Cover lines are short statement on the cover of a magazine that describe the articles inside.

A main cover line is a cover line provides details about a central article within the magazine

The left third is a third of a magazine that does not show the main image however does feature some of the masthead and shows the main cover line so the magazine can be recognised without being picked up.

The right 2/3rd is the portion of the magazine cover that would feature the main image and other tag lines that are on the magazine cover

The barcodes and date and time are used so that the magazine is able to be scanned by retailers when it is purchased . The date and time are used for archiving purposes so that the issues of the particular magazine can be kept track of.

Evaluation

for my preliminary print task i have created a magazine cover that is based on my college and the genre of my magazine is fashion within the college. This magazine layout links to my previous research on magazines as it follows the conventions of magazine covers. For example I have chosen to include the left the left third of this magazine cover by choosing a large masthead that is recognisable without having to pick up the whole magazine to know what it is about. I have also chosen to include a cover line within this left third which is would indicate to the audiences what the subject of this magazine is as it mentions 'AS students' this can also indicate the target audience of this magazine being students wanting to read about what is going on within their college or sixth form.
 I have chosen a large masthead using a sans serif font that is able to look formal and stand out as it uses a colour which contrasts the background.Also i I have used the 'magic wand tool within Photoshop to blur out part of the word 'Harlow' on my magazine cover so that the full image could be included but not so much so that the word is unreadable and the word can still be made out.
 Furthermore within my magazine cover I have included four cover lines  which are relevant to the theme, genre and target audience of my magazine I have also used a serif font for the majority of these cover lines as they are informal, however I would like to change this in a later task as i have not fully established a clear font hierarchy or colour scheme which makes the overall layout of this magazine cover seem erratic.
 Some other conventional features that I have not included within my magazine cover are a barcode and price  I would like to include this next time as it would indicate to retailers that this magazine is meant to be sold. I could also include an issue number as it is useful for the archiving purposes of the magazine. I might also think of including a puff within my next magazine cover as it offers a free gift that would act as an incentive for the audience to purchase this magazine as they will feel that they will get something out of it alongside the information that is included within the magazine.
 I have learnt from this task about how to use Photoshop in order to enhance the main image and also to plan a magazine layout that follows genre conventions such as having cover lines and mastheads by using the text tool and magic wand tool within Photoshop to create this cover which follows some of the genre conventions of a magazine cover layout.
Generally my magazine front cover follow conventions of layout although there are some key aspects which are missing that I would include in a later magazine cover that I create. However it might be argued that this magazine somewhat follows the conventions of gender representation through its use of colour e.g. an orange background and primarily blue clothing which are both colours stereotypically associated with the male sex, but overall my magazines target audience can be a mixture of both genders as it is a college based magazine and most colleges and sixth forms modernly are mixed- sex education.

I have chosen to study this cover of vogue magazine as inspiration for my own final print task as it is a winter issue which is the theme that I would like to use  for my final magazine cover. I also like that this magazine has large cover lines  and follows a specific colour scheme of red grey, black and white. I like this magazine cover because it main image is very clear and stands out to the audience and the the theme of fashion is made clear through the use of the lexis of fashion as it uses words such as 'looks', 'season', 'accessories' and 'spring'. I also like how this magazine cover is appropriate to its audience as it features a model and actress on the front cover. However this magazine due to its colour scheme is most likely going to be aimed towards a stereotypical female audience as it uses colours that have connotations of femininity and beauty and they are not harsh powerful colours such as orange or blue and quite delicate, pure colours such as white are used instead. Within my magazine cover i would like to use quite a neutral colour scheme so that it is able to attract a wider target audience and will be appealing to members of both sexes.

 Layout plan and Evaluation

This is an example of the magazine layout that I plan to use for my final product. The central theme for my magazine is going to be a fashion magazine with a winter theme that focuses on the idea of Christmas. I plan on demonstrating this in my main image by showing the model for the image to be wearing clothing that is stereotypically associated with winter. For example hats, gloves and scarves.  I plan on using a blue, red and white colour scheme as these are colours that usually remind a person of winter so that this theme is consistent throughout my magazine cover.

I also plan on including a number of cover lines to go alongside my masthead all of these will focus on the main genre of my magazine and be cohesive with what is being shown in the main image such as winter accessories and style tips for what the audience should be wearing in winter.

I have  also included essential information on the front cover of my such as an issue number and barcode are these are both things that will clearly indicate key things about the magazine such as the price and the time of year at which it is being sold.

on my magazine cover I have also decided to include a puff which offers discount codes for certain high street retailers of clothes. I have included this because the target audience may feel more inclined to purchase my magazine as they are likely to benefit from the offer that is included on the cover of my magazine. This puff also relates to theme of my magazine as it is an image of a Christmas tree which relates to the cover line above which says that 'Christmas is coming'. This ensures that my magazine cover is cohesive.

I have also used Photoshop in order to enhance the main image and also to plan a magazine layout that follows genre conventions such as having cover lines and mastheads by using the text tool and magic wand tool within Photoshop to create this cover which follows some of the genre conventions of a magazine cover layout

Furthermore within my magazine cover I have included four cover lines  which are relevant to the theme, genre and target audience of my magazine I have also used a serif font for the majority of these cover lines as they are informal and the target audience is young people therefore they will not be wanting to read lengthy tag lines on the cover of my magazine and they are more likely to be able to relate to this colloquial type of language, therefore my magazine cover is appropriate and accessible towards its audience.

For example I have chosen to include the left the left third of this magazine cover by choosing a large masthead that is recognisable without having to pick up the whole magazine to know what it is about. I have also chosen to include a cover line within this left third which is would indicate to the audiences what the subject of this magazine is as it mentions 'AS students' this can also indicate the target audience of this magazine being students wanting to read about what is going on within their college or sixth form. 

I have chosen a large masthead using a sans serif font that is able to look formal and stand out as it uses a colour which contrasts the background and will be easily readable to any potential audiences for my magazine.




.