The document discusses the preliminary task of designing a front cover and contents page for a college magazine. It describes creating a style sheet to guide the design process. Flat plans were made to layout the pages. Photoshop was used to design the front cover with the model image edited and effects added. The contents page was improved from the initial mockup by repositioning images, adding page numbers and sections. While backgrounds could be improved, the document evaluates that the masthead, images, and conventions like date/edition were effective elements in making the pages look professional like real magazines.
2. My Task
• My preliminary task is to design and create a
front cover and contents page for a college
magazine using different software's and
technology. I needed to take my own pictures
and use software such as Photoshop to create
the front cover and contents page.
3. Style sheet
• Firstly, I went onto the internet and decided to research what current magazines contain and
what makes a magazine look good and successful. I then went on and created a style sheet to
give me a rough idea of what I should include in my preliminary front cover and contents
page.
Potential Fonts used for the
Masthead:
Potential Colour
Schemes:
College Times
Example Style Sheet
This is the font the main body text
will be written in.
4. Flat Plans
• Following afterwards from the style sheet, I then created a flat plan to see
and workout how I want my front cover and contents page and how it
should be structured. This was important to see how I should design these
two pages.
Main Image
Masthead
Sub
head
line
Sub
head
line
Sub
head
line
Sub
head
line
Main Cover Line
Image
Text
Contents
Image
Text
Image
Text
Page numbers and text
5. Finished Product
When I had finished completing the flat plans for both my front cover and
contents page, I then went on to doing my magazine front cover and contents
page, this is the end results:
Front Cover Contents Page
6. Evaluation: Front cover with Style Sheet:
For the masthead, I used the font I put onto my
style sheet which was Impact, for the text I used
Franklin Gothic Medium, My colour scheme
stayed similar, I used black for the fonts in in the
image and red for the font. I faded a little red
within the image to keep to the colour scheme I
had planned. I have also included the pictures on
my style sheet.
7. I used the same font for the masthead which
was Impact, for the text again I used Franklin
Gothic Medium, again I used some of my
colours for my colour scheme, the reason why I
had not used red for the font is because I felt
that it looked messy against the background
and this was also my feeling for the colour
blue. I used some of the pictures included in
my style sheet.
Evaluation: Contents page and style sheet
10. Evaluation of Preliminary Task
When comparing my final front cover with how the picture looked
before I had edited it, you can see I have added multiple effects to this
image. First of all I changed the brightness of the picture, I did this to
bring out the different colours on this image. I then also went on and
changed the hue/saturation along with the vibrancy to again bring out
the colours in the image. I also added different sub head lines in
different colours to again match my colour scheme that I am aiming for
in this magazine. I chose to add effects on the masthead because the
masthead is the main advertisement on the front cover so it must stand
out. I think the way I have done my front cover has a great effect on
the way that it looks more professional and more aesthetic now that I
added effects when comparing my picture from before. However in my
main task, I need to make my background a lot better because in this
preliminary task front cover, I feel that the background I have used isn’t
very effective and doesn’t really go with the image. I need to make sure
that in my main task, this is not a problem that is included. I need to be
more creative with my main task front cover.
Comparing my first mock up contents page to my finished contents page,
I think the finished one is a massive improvement from the first one.
When I looked at my first mock up contents page I felt that it lacked the
professionalism that most magazine content pages have. I also thought
that it was a little empty and didn’t have a lot of things included. I then
changed the positioning of the pictures included, added page numbers
on them. I then added Regulars and Features, I also changed the colour
and font of the text to again make my contents page look a lot more
professional and so that it used the same conventions a contents page
needs to follow. The effect of tilting the images sticks to the theme of the
college magazine, in the way that students are supposed to ‘bend the
rules’ etc. so the pictures have been positioned to show that. Again with
my contents page, I feel that the background I have used is not an
effective one, I need to again make sure that this is not a common flaw in
my main task. I also need to be more creative with my main task when it
comes to my contents page.
11. Evaluation of Preliminary Task (Continued)
Front Cover
When looking at both my front cover and contents page, I think that masthead I have used is effective, my reasons for this is that as
previously mentioned, the masthead is one of the main conventions on a front cover and I wanted to make this clear by making the
masthead stand out with multiple effects. Secondly, adding effects on the picture of my model is also effective because the image looks
much more improved when comparing it to the standard image before, my model looks much better with these effects and makes the
front cover look more professional which is what I wanted to achieve when creating my front cover. Thirdly, I included a price ‘tag’ at the
bottom left corner of my magazine, this was done to add to the realism of my magazine and to also make my magazine look professional
again.
Content Page
When looking at my contents page, I wanted to replicate my masthead style onto the contents page, the reason for this is because I
recognised that this is a convention that must be included. I also added the date and edition in the top right corner because again, from
my research of college magazines and magazines in general, I realised that most of them if not all, included the date and the edition
number, this effect also adds to the realism and the idea that I wanted my magazine to look like the magazines on the market I have
viewed. I think the effect of also tilting my pictures as previously mentioned adds to the college theme of students and the stereotype of
students being mischievous and the idea of ‘bending the rules’.
