Week 29: Contents Page Analysis and Front Page Analysis

I have analysed different Magazine Front Covers, Contents Pages and Double Page Spreads to help inspire me and help me in creating my own student magazine pages, within analysing these I looked at the colour scheme, layout, images and features.

Front Cover Analysis'

I analysed two different magazine front covers which I believe are the magazines which the target audience for my student magazine would read these magazines were NME and Vogue.

Vogue Magazine

Within this magazine front cover I analysed the image and the colour scheme as this cover featured Cheryl Cole and the colour scheme of the pastel colours worked really well with the image, as the colours which were used were pastel colours such as pinks, yellows and oranges linked in well with the image because the clothes which Cheryl is wearing is a pastel yellow. These colours work well together and the issue cover is eye catching because the whole magazine cover is linked together because of the image and the font colours.

Vogue Magazine Front Cover

NME Magazine

This is a magazine which I believe appeals more to the audience of males, as the colours used are colours which are bold and would appeal to males more than females, as the colours of the black and red work well with the theme of the issue and the font is very bold and eye catching for the main theme within this issue. The layout of this magazine appealed to me as they clearly stated the main theme for this issue, the albums of 2011 and this feature takes up the whole of the front cover and stands out, I liked the layout of the image over the main title as I think the image of the different artists is well placed on the front cover.

NME Front Cover

Contents Page Analysis'

Heat Magazine

I analysed the contents page of Heat magazine as this is a layout which I wanted to adapt for my contents page, as within this contents page they featured the main stories within the magazine and did not state every single feature within the magazine. Therefore this showed how they featured the main stories which would interest the reader and they featured these around the side of the page, under the main headings of On the Cover, 'News and Stuff', 'Features', 'Starstyle' and 'TV & Reviews', as this is a clear way of searching for a feature which you want to read about. Therefore the layout of this contents page is eye catching and clear, as they have featured an image of one of the main stories over half of the page with the contents around the left of the image to the bottom of the contents page, which is a layout which I have adapted for the design of my own contents page. I have also stated how the contents page links in with the front cover of the Heat Magazine.

Existing Heat Magazine Contents Page

Heat Magazine Front Cover

OK! Magazine

OK! Magazine has a similar layout to Heat magazine as they put their features into different sections, their sections included News, Features, Fashionista and Regulars, this showed every feature within the magazine, unlike Heat Magazine as they only highlighted some of the features. Also, the contents page linked in with the front cover, as the colour scheme which is used within the contents page is continued from the font cover, as they use the colours of red and yellow on the front page and this is used within the contents page, which shows how the two are clearly linked with each other. This contents page also featured an editors word, where she introduced the issue and explained what was within this issue the reader is about to read, also, within the contents some are highlighted in red, this is because they are featured on the front cover and this clearly shows the features on the front cover within the contents page. To me this contents page looked more like it would appeal to the older audience than teenagers as it is very formal, whereas students like to see a creative and interesting contents page to look at within a magazine.

OK! Magazine Contents Page

OK! Magazine Front Cover

Through analysing these contents pages and front covers I have learnt about how they are laid out to appeal to the reader and I have taken some of these elements on board, as I have used the Headings within my contents page with the features underneath them, I have also learnt how the contents pages and front covers link together.

Week 29: Magazine Front Cover Layout and Progress of Double Page Spread

Magazine Front Cover Layout

I have carried out completing my Student Magazine Front cover today and I have decided to change the layout slightly, as I believed the layout which I initially had with the main image as the background and the features simply placed in a simple font over the top of the image. The reason why I decided to change the layout is because I believed that with the image I had I could change the layout to make it more appealing to the audience of students and that I didn't have to just place the features within the magazine over top the image like other magazines, therefore I decided to make the front cover clear but original, I have kept my original masthead in the top corner of the magazine, as I was happy that this would appeal to the target audience because of its meaning of the fact that this font is used for iPod and will therefore be recognised strongly by the target audience.

I gained feedback from my target audience of a student about the layout and I was happy that they agreed that the front cover needed to be more eye catching and creative. Therefore I decided to make the image smaller which also bought the image back to its original size so it did not look stretched, I made a space at the top of the magazine for the masthead to be placed and also I decided to have the contents of the magazine at the top which made it unique as most magazines feature their contents on the image between the middle and bottom of the magazine and I believe this looks more unique to have the features at the top.

Another reason why I placed the contents at the top is because the contents were being placed over top the image and covering up the image which did not make the magazine front cover clear, I also duplicated the different contents at the top of the page and changed the opacity of the text so it look eye catching and creative as though the contents text was being shadowed. I also placed a band across to separate the image and the masthead, and this works well as it includes the issue number, website and issue date, the main image is the same image on my original front cover design, but I have adjusted the contrast and tone of the image to make it stand out, I also placed another original image over this image as it shows what student life is about and the two images work well together. I will also need to create my masthead in Illustrator as this will better quality as it is a Vector Image which is the graphic which most magazines use on their front cover for their masthead.




Old, Original Front Cover






















Sketch of New Layout



New Magazine Front Cover Layout in Photoshop

 

















Double Page Spread
I have also been working on my Double Page Spread Article, my double page spread article is focusing on Student Life, I have completed the article and I am in the process of putting my article together with the images and the article itself. I have researched into the font size and font which is used on articles and I have found out that an article average font size is 8-10, therefore I have used the font size of 10 but I have found that my article does not fit the whole of the double page, therefore I need to complete the article, some ideas which I have had to complete the article is to include a mini interview with student about student life and the issues I have discussed within the article. Below shows an image of my double page spread so far and I have used the layout shown on my initial sketch, of the images placed in the middle of the double page with the title, as this is eye catching and interesting to read. Next I will complete the article as this is a problem I will need to overcome to be able to complete the double page spread on student life.

Double Page Spread in Photoshop

I now also need to gain feedback from a wider target audience of both students and parents on my front cover, contents page and double page spread, and also the client, as I am making the product for the client so it needs to be to their standards as I am creating a new magazine idea for them and for the target audience.



Week 29: New Masthead Design and New Contents Page Layout

I have created a new masthead for my magazine front cover, I have decided to change the font which I am using for the masthead, as I believe the new font which I have chosen reflects the magazine type clearly and can be related to the target audience of the magazine more. The reason why I have chosen to create a Masthead which looks more like a logo is because this is creative and eye catching for the audience. The font I have decided to use now is Myriad Pro, which is a font which is clear and bold and will appeal to the target audience the reason I believe it does relate to the magazine and has a clear justification is because:
The font Myriad Pro was designed for the Adobe systems, which shows it can be recognised by most people who have seen the Adobe Systems. Also, the main reason why I believe this font is suitable is because the font is most well known for its use with Apple Inc, and is used as the iPod font and this is well recognised by everyone who is interested and owns an iPod. I believe that this font will be eye catching to the target audience of Students because this is the audience who will own an iPod and recognise the font. This shows that the font which I will feature on my front cover is relevant to the target audience and is a clear font which they will recognise.



New Contents Page Layout

I have researched into existing Contents Pages and I may reconsider the layout of my Student Magazine Contents Page, I hope to gain feedback on my contents page I have created first to see whether I should change the layout. As I researched into existing contents pages such as Heat Magazine and OK! Magazine, from analysing these different contents pages I have gained different ideas for the layout of my magazine contents page. I have decided to create an original layout combining features from the layouts of these magazines, as both these magazines have contents pages which are laid out with headings for the different features within the magazine, which is an element I am going to feature on my magazine contents page, as I believe this is a clear way for the reader to see what is exactly in the magazine. Below shows an image of my sketch for my new contents page layout .



Sketch of New Contents Page Layout



Week 29: Update of Creating my Magazine Pages

The progress of creating my Student Magazine, Front Cover, Contents Page and Double Page Spread, I am meeting my deadlines on my production schedule and have completed all of the research which I need to carry out to be able to create my own magazine pages for this assignment. The research which I have carried out so far is Primary Research, of creating a questionnaire for my target audience to complete in relation to what they believe makes a good student magazine, research into existing student magazines and similar products, research into graphic trends for 2011. I have also completed a report on graphic file formats for Photoshop and Illustrator and Research into the Typography and Magazine Conventions with different effects, created for typography within Adobe Illustrator. I have completed contents page and front cover analysis' on existing magazines, research into existing double page spreads, the target audience of my student magazine, budget and health and safety considerations. By completing the research stage I was able to complete my initial ideas and sketches with the layout of my pages and this included the name of my magazine, the colour scheme, the features which I will include within my magazine and the font I would use for my magazine.
I then was able to consider the images which I wanted to use within my magazine front cover, contents page and double page spread, as I had sketched my pages I was able to see how many and what type of images I would need for my magazine pages, I considered the 4 different pages for my magazine and I have generated my own images for my magazine, therefore they are all original images. The images which I have taken includes an image for my front cover, student related images for my double page spread on Student Life, Different Images for the features on my Contents Page including images for Careers Advice, The Main Article Image, Travel and Film and Music Reviews, some of the images I have taken are shown below. I have started to create my final front cover and contents page and worked from my sketches for the designs, I am hoping to complete these two pages and then work on my article for my double page spread as I now have all the images I need to created my magazine pages.

Creating My Magazine Front Cover

Since Friday I have started to create my final student magazine front cover, I have worked from my sketches to create my magazine front cover I have used the images which are shown above within my pages and on the front cover I have used the main image of the two students laughing as I believed this showed student life clearly, and showed how good student life is. Below shows the initial sketch which I have worked from and I have continued with the colour scheme of red, the image below my sketch shows the first stages of my final front cover, which is in the same layout as my sketch, I am still working on the front cover and are hoping to continue with the simple but effective layout for the student magazine.



Initial Sketch of Student Magazine



My Own Student Magazine Design

Week 28: Creative Mastheads for my Student Magazine

Today I have learnt about the importance of fonts within magazines and Graphic Design, we have been introduced into the fact that I now have to research into the font which I would be using for my masthead on my magazine front cover. On Wednesday I changed my font to a font within Photoshop which I believed would make the masthead more original, although the font I chose was Blue Highway Condensed Font, and the history behind this font was that it is used for road signs and does not send the right message for a student magazine, therefore I decided to change my font. The meaning behind the font is very important as if someone did look into the font which I had featured for my masthead and the meaning was not related to students as this is the magazine I am creating it would not make sense and is not linked in any way to students.
Justification of Font Chosen
Therefore I decided to research into my initial font idea which was the font of Dream Orphans, although the meaning behind this font was that it is a casual and homemade, which is not the message which I believe should be related to a student magazine which I am creating, therefore I found an extra font which had been adapted from Dream Orphans and is Dream Orphanage. The history behind this font is that it has been used within professional works and compared to Dream Orphans, this font is a lot more professional and bolder font, which I believe is a valid reason as to why this font is suitable as it is used within professional works such as magazines and graphic design. This font was from dafont.com, as these are free fonts and this does not break any copyright, therefore I am able to download the font as it is free and use it within my work, so I can then put the font into Illustrator to create a Vector Graphic which is better quality than a graphic within Photoshop.

Creating Masthead and Potential Logo
As I was using a free and existing font I wanted to still make the masthead unique and original, I have been shown how to create an original masthead on Wednesday with the different effects such as the different coloured text being overlapped to create an effect. Today I was shown how to make my Masthead unique and not just two words spread across the top of the magazine, therefore I had experimented with different designs with the font Dream Orphanage, below shows my different designs and I will continue to create different and possible designs for my masthead, but these are the mastheads which I have created so far for my magazine Students United. My favourite design is the S hanging onto the U, as this is an abbreviation of my magazine name and shows creativity, it is simple but effective for a masthead and logo.

Designs for my Magazine Masthead

I will continue to design my masthead and possibly find a font which clearly shows the meaning of Students, but I believe that the font I have and the designs I have created will appeal to students and that the meaning of Dream Orphanage is clear and that it is used within Professional works. I can therefore put the skills and knowledge I have gained from the Photoshop workshop on Wednesday with the skills I have learnt today to create my own, original masthead.

Week 28: Sketches for my Front Cover, Contents Page and Double Page Spread

Below shows my initial sketches in colour for my Front Cover, Contents Page and Double Page Spread, these sketches show clearly how I plan to lay out my page for my student magazine.

Front Cover: This shows the main title at the top to the left hand side, with the website underneath the main title, the main image of a student in the centre which will become the background of front cover, with the header for the main article featured over top the image, the features shown on the front cover will also be placed over top the image. The colour scheme of the magazine is Red, as I am using different shades of red within the magazine.



Sketch of Front Cover


Contents Page: This sketch shows the layout of my contents page and shows the main features within the magazine and there are images at the side of each feature and these images will have the page numbers for the feature at the bottom of the images. The reason why I decided to feature images alongside the features is because this is the layout which is used on the iPod touch and is how magazines are seen on there, with an image related to the story, therefore students will be familiar with the layout.


Sketch of Contents Page


Double Page Spread: For my double page spread I am featuring an article on student life, I have decided to create a double page spread which is unusual and not just an article with a few images placed in between the text to break it up. Therefore I have decided to place the title in the middle of the double page spread and have images related to student life placed around this title, and the article itself written around the feature within the middle. I believe this is different and would appeal to students as the main title is within the middle of the page which is not usually seen within normal articles.

Sketch of Double Page Spread

Week 28: Images for my Student Magazine

I have started to consider the images which I will be using within my Front Cover, Contents Page and Double Page Spread, I will be using original images for my magazine pages, I have captured some images already and I am using some images which I have taken in the past related to student life. I have taken images for my front cover and it will be featuring a student and it will show different words related to student life, these will be creative words, with some words being backwards, some being smaller, the reason why I want to use different words within different styles is because I believe this will represent student life for the front cover and make the cover appealing to the audience. The images which will be included within my Contents Page are images which are related to the features within the magazine, I have already taken some images for the contents page, I have also included some images which I have taken in the past, as they are still my images I am able to use them within the magazine pages, for example for the travel section on the contents page I am featuring an image of Disney Land as this shows a destination and is related to travel.
I still need to complete taking my images, as I am creating an article on student life I need many different images related to student life and some of the images I have already are of students, students studying, events such as concerts, at work, partying and an image of chichester college. As I believe all these images are related to student life and with the magazine article having the title in the middle of the double page spread with all the different images around the title and with the title this shows what the images are showing clearly. By the end of the week I hope to have taken all my images, but for now I am able to work with the images I have got as these are the most important images, for my front cover and contents page, as for the article I can place boxes where the images will go to be able to edit and add the images in when I have taken them.

Week 28: Magazine Front Covers Analysis

Before I start to create my Front Cover, Contents Page and Double Page Spread for a new student magazine I have to carry out research into the way in which a good magazine pages are created, I have started to analyse different front cover magazines and this will therefore help me in what features are vital to be included within a magazine front cover. I have deconstructed two existing student magazines and I have analysed a magazine front cover and a contents page, within the front cover I have stated the colours, the fonts, the layout of the features, the features included, images and textures used. This has helped me in understanding the layout of magazine front covers and how they can appeal to the target audience of students, I have also seen how they use different fonts to show different features within the magazine, and how they have used a different font and enlarged the text for the main story is by the main image. From analysing this front cover I can now go into more depth about the magazine front covers and start to consider conventions for my own magazine, this includes:

• How may layers I will use within my magazine and how many are used within existing magazines.
• How the image can be used for the background and that the other features on the magazine can be placed over or under parts of the main image, I will also be able to get ideas from existing magazine front covers to see how they have laid out their image with the rest of the magazine front cover.
• The title for my magazine will need to be a Vector Graphic as this is better quality, as within most magazines they use vector graphics as these have better quality than raster graphics.
• The title within some existing magazines I have briefly looked at had the image over the font which shows that some magazines are so well known they do not need to have their title showing completely and that the image can over power the magazine. This could be a layout idea I could consider but I believe within a student magazine which is a new magazine the title needs to be clear to the target audience to be able to recognise it within the first few issues.
• Images at an angle: Existing magazines also use the effect of putting images with effects at an angle which is effective as this gives the front cover an 'edge' and makes it more interesting to look at. 

Contents Page
I also analysed a Contents Page from a Student Magazine and I have looked at the layout of the Contents Page and how they lay out certain features within the contents, such as images, the contents and page numbers and editors comments. I will also be researching into the conventions used within creating a contents page in more depth during the week, as this will also help me in understanding what 'makes' a contents page and how it will be creative and appealing to the target audience of students.


Contents Page and Front Cover Analysis


















I will now research in magazine front covers and contents page the different points I have explained above in more detail and research into the different features I need to consider when I create my magazine pages.

Week 27: Pitch Completed

Today I presented my pitch and this included all the information which I needed to represent my own initial and unique Idea for my magazine, this included my colour scheme, my chosen font and title, my sketches of my magazine front cover, contents page and double page spread, an explanation on my double page spread story and my market research results from my questionnaire on my target audience. I believe that I delivered all the required information and contents within my pitch for the client, as I explained to them what I believe my magazine will show and what it will look like and how it would appeal to the target audience. If I were to make an improvement to my pitch I would have liked to have been more confident as when I was reading out my pitch my speech was not clear, therefore I would hope to gain more confidence for my pitch to be vocally clear.
Now that I have completed my pitch, I may have to make changes to my magazine idea, as the client will be able to discuss any changes which I may need to make to my magazine idea, if I do need to make changes I would make them next week so I can start to create my magazine products. I will create a new production schedule showing the deadlines which I will need to make for the production stage in creating my magazine front cover, contents page and double page spread, as next week I can start creating my magazine idea.

Week 27: Initial Ideas: Sketches, Font and Colour Scheme

I have been creating my pitch for my idea for a new student magazine, creating the front cover, double page spread and contents page, I have included a lot of information on my idea for my student magazine, this includes the colour scheme, font and name, mood board and sketches of my initial idea.

I have firstly shown my mood board for my colour scheme of red, which shows the different shades of red and also shows the types of fonts which I could consider using for my student magazine, them being bold and in the colour of red. Within this mood board it also shows the colour white, this is because I wanted to use this colour with the Red as they work well together and help each other stand out, also my target audience thought that these colours work well together within a student magazine. Also within this mood board shows the features which would be included within my student magazine and would appeal to students, including music, events, competitions, fashion and career news.  



My Colour Scheme Mood Board





I have also decided on the font which I will use for my Student Magazine name, as my name for the magazine is Students United, I have considered different styles for my title for my magazine and I have decided on the font from dafont.com called dream orphans, this is a font which I believe is bold and looks 'sophisticated' for a student magazine but at the same time will appeal to the target audience of students. I have also added colour to this font and by using the block colour behind the main font I believe helps the font stand out and become bolder from the rest of the front cover. This could be the colours which I may use, although the Honeysuckle colour which is in 'trend' I believe is too feminine and therefore I believe the image which shows the use of the red background with the white writing works really well and stands out clearly.

Although, this is not my own original font therefore I will need to create my own masthead for my final magazine front cover, therefore I hope to keep a similar font and find a similar font in Photoshop to create my original image.

Chosen Font for Title of Magazine: Dream Orphans from dafont.com





Colour Scheme added to Chosen Font

Sketches of Front Cover and Contents Page

These are my initial sketches of my contents page and front cover, this shows the layout of the pages.

Front Cover Sketch

Contents Page Sketch

 I now need to concentrate on completing my double page spread sketch, so I therefore have an idea of how I want the pages to be laid out to be eye catching.

Week 27: Project Update and Research into Colour Schemes and Graphic Design Trends

I have completed part of my  production schedule up to this date and the tasks which I have completed on my Production Schedule are the Skills Profile, Contingency Plan, Mood board, Market Research of a Questionnaire for my Target Audience, Research into Existing Student Magazines and I have started to complete my write up of research into the trends within Graphic Design, I have also started to sketch my initial idea for my Student Magazine.

Initial Ideas Mood Board showing existing magazines, features and colour schemes

I have researched into the 'trends' within graphic design for 2011 and this includes the colour schemes, typography and layout for graphic design, which could relate to my new student magazine.

Colour Schemes
I researched into the different colour schemes which are in trend within print and graphic design for 2011 and this gave me inspiration for the colours which I can consider and choose for my student magazine, the colours which are in trend are pale but bright colours, therefore I had in mind the colour scheme of red for my student magazine and I found a shade of red which is in trend and this colour is a really light shade of red called Honeysuckle. I will use 3 different shades of red within my magazine as these are colours which will work well with each other and as pale colours are in trend for graphic design I will use lighter colours as these are colours which will therefore appeal to my audience through the student magazine.



Colour Scheme











Layout

I also researched into the layout of magazines, how they appear on devices such as the iPad and iPod Touch, as websites appear different on these devices as they do on the Internet or within a hard copy of the magazine. Therefore by researching into these different layouts on the iPad this has gave me information on how students may be viewing the magazines via these different devices and therefore I could get inspiration from these websites, such as the image below which shows a magazine on the iPod and this shows the magazine on the iPod touch and shows an image related to the story which is featured. This layout may therefore appeal to the target audience of students and this is a layout which I am considering for my Contents Page, of have an image related to each feature beside the contents on the page, as this is what the target audience are used to.



Layout of a Magazine Website on an iPod Touch



Typography

I have also learnt about Typography over the past week, as I have been introduced to Typography as Modern Font is known as Sans Serif and Old Fashioned font is known as Serif Font, as every font falls into these two categories of Serif and Sans Serif. I have also researched into the fonts within graphic design and how creative they are, as this shows how you can incoporate patterns into the font and how you can create a font within a certain subject. Every font represents a meaning and within creating a magazine front cover, double page spread and contents page I need to choose the fonts which will appeal to the target audience and will catch their attention.

Week 27: Preparing for Pitch

Today I have completed all the material and research which I need to have to present my pitch, I have also started to put my PowerPoint together which I will include all the material I need to present my idea with evidence from my market research and secondary research. The information which I have included within my PowerPoint for my Pitch is:
What the Brief is.
My Questionnaire Results, opinions from target audience on colour scheme, name of magazine and features within a student magazine.
Research into existing/similar products- research into student magazines and magazines which the target audience read, including NME, this includes information on the font, colour scheme and features within the magazine.
My Initial Idea Mind Map
My Initial Idea Mood Board, with features such as colours, features within the magazine and fonts.
My Colour Scheme and Colour Scheme Mood board.
Fonts and Initial Idea Sketches.
All of these are included within my PowerPoint and will help me in presenting my idea and by the research which I have gained I have evidence to back my ideas up from my research such as a questionnaire from the target audience. Therefore I can now complete my PowerPoint with all my information and research.

Week 26: Introduction to Typography

Today we carried out an exercise related to typography, we were introduced to what typography is and what each font can represent a different meaning within a magazine article. We analysed the different conventions within a magazine article and these conventions included, Header, Grid and Columns, I helped analyse an article within a magazine and we analysed it by placing these different conventions on the article, from this exercise I learnt about the conventions used within a magazine article. This included the different types of typography, I have learnt that the modern types of font used within graphics is Sans Serif and the more traditional typography is Serif, and that behind every font there is a meaning and this shows the audience who the magazine or article is aimed at through the typography used.

I carried out an exercise within Adobe Illustrator to learn about the effects which I could use on different fonts to create different effects, I am writing a report on the process in which I went through to create the different effects within the different types of fonts, this will visually show the process which I went through to create the different effects to the fonts. I created a new project within Illustrator and I created 5 different texts using different fonts and for each font I created a different effect for it. The first effect which I created was a 3D Bevel Effect, this effect created a simple 3D Boxed Font and this stands out because it is bold and in the font which I used it stood out clearly, this would be an effective font to use within a magazine article as this would appeal to the target audience of students and would catch their attention. The next effect which I created on a different font of Arial was the drop shadow effect, this showed the effect of a shadow behind the writing, this was effective and may be an effect I would consider for use within my student magazine as this emphasised and drew attention to the font which the effect was being used on.

The next effect which i created with the Elephant Font was the feathered effect, this blurred the font slightly and this therefore made the font harder to read and outlined the font slightly, this did create a good effect for an article which it can be related to well, and could be an effect I could use within my Student Magazine. The next effect I used on the font Calibri, I created the inner glow effect, which highlighted the inner font and is a very good effect, and is similar to the Feathered effect and highlights the font. The last effect which I created was the 3D Rotation effect, this is similar to the ordinary 3D effect but allows you to rotate the font to give an extra effect of the total 3D, within creating all of these effects you can change and adjust the amount of effect and preview what the font would look like with the effect added to it. Once I created these effects and put them into a typography mood board I saved this document as a Adobe Illustrator file and I then exported it as a Photoshop File, and then saved this file as a JPEG. The reason why I exported this into Photoshop and then saved as a JPEG is because the AI file was too large to print out as the printer would not be able to cope with the work flow of big files, therefore as the graphics which I was creating within Illustrator were very good quality, Vector Graphics, within Photoshop the fonts would not be at this quality and this is the reason why they are exported into Photoshop from Illustrator.



Image of my Typography Mood Board with Different Effects Used


Overall, today I have learnt a lot about Typography and I will take into consideration the effects which I can use within my products related to my student magazine and I can complete my process document explaining the different effects and how I applied these.

I have also updated my Skills Profile on my Blog with the skills which I have gained through the exercise today.

Week 26: Questionnaire Analysis Complete and Initial Idea for Student Magazine Started

Questionnaire
I have now completed my Questionnaire for my target audience to complete for their opinion on what makes a good Student Magazine, I asked my target audience of students to complete a questionnaire and I have analysed the results from the questionnaire. Within the questionnaire I asked the target audience of 16-21 year olds what colour schemes they like within a magazine, their opinion on the layout of a magazine, their opinion on possible names which I have for my student magazine and the features which they would be interested in reading within the magazine. The features which I believe would interest the target audience of students from my secondary research is features such as sport, fashion, events, competitions and career advice, from this questionnaire I have got a clear idea of what will interest the audience, and from getting opinions from the audience this is the best primary research to create a product with. I have analysed the results from this questionnaire and have presented them in the form of a graph, this clearly shows the results which I have got from each question and which will be used to help me create an idea for my student magazine. 

Initial Idea: Brainstorming Started
As I have now carried out a questionnaire into what they target audience think makes an appealing magazine I can now start to brainstorm my ideas for my student magazine which I will be presenting within my pitch next week.  I have decided on the name for my magazine and the name which I have decided on is 'Students United', I chose this name as it has a clear meaning behind it, as it says that the college/university are a team and are 'one' and through the student magazine this can show as the magazine will include news and stories about the college and about the students within the college. I have created a mind map with the features which I will include within the contents page, the possible fonts which I can use for the main title of the magazine this mind map showed an initial idea which I will be presenting in my pitch and shows the features which I will include within my student magazine. I have included the colour scheme which I have decided on and this is Red, as this is a colour which my target audience liked and within working with Red I can get different shades of the red through working with the basic colour, I will research into the red colour palette and I will also research into different fonts which I will consider using and present these within my pitch.

Screenshot of my Initial Idea Mind Map

When I started this new assignment I created a mind map of my initial ideas, I included existing student magazines and the possible colour palettes which I could use wihtin the magazine, I also included the features which I would expect within a Student Magazine and also possible names which I believe would work for a student magazine, in which I have now decided on the name 'Students United'. 

Screenshot of my Initial Ideas Mind Map

Week 25: Introduction to Graphics File Formats

Today I have been introduced to the different file formats which are used within the graphic and print side to the media, I have learnt about the different file formats, GIF, JPEG, EPS and TIFF, I have learnt their advantages and disadvantages which I will include within my report which I have started writing. I have also completed a task which compared two different file formats within Photoshop and Illustrator and I have recognised the fact that within Illustrator the file type is at a much better quality and as when I zoomed in 1200% the lines around the image are clear and at a good quality. Whereas the image within Photoshop was at a lower quality at 1200% the lines around the image showed all the little pixels and was slightly blurry, I have recognised the differences between these and I will be including this within my Report on Graphic File Formats. I have also learnt about a different File Format, which is EPS, as this is a file extenstion within Illustrator and is a file format which saves the quality of the image and is 'sealed' but a downside to this is that EPS is a large file type and potentially takes up a lot of space, but provides a good quality image (file). My next step is to complete my report on the different file types in Graphics with the advantages and disadvantages of the different file types, and include my knowledge from my exercise in Photoshop and Illustrator.

Week 25: Important Aspects of a Brief and Skills Profile Completed, Research into Existing Products Started

We have now been given our brief for our third assignment and the assignment is to create a Student Magazine Front Cover, A Double Page Spread with a Story and a Contents Page for the Magazine.

I have completed my report on the important aspects of a brief, this included what I learnt about the different types of briefs, including, briefs such as  Contractual, Formal and Informal, through this exercise I have also learnt how to correctly read a brief, as this will help me when I come to responding to my own brief which I have been given. I have also explained the advantages and disadvantages of the different types of brief and this gave me an insight into what could be some problems with the different briefs and what the advantages are when working to a certain brief. I have also completed my Skills Profile for this assignment, within this skills profile I have stated my skills and knowledge within the areas which I will be gaining more skills in throughout this project, I also stated the targets which I would like to achieve by the end of this project and stated how I believe I can achieve them, I have also posted my Skills Profile on this Blog.

Research into Existing Products
I have also started my research into existing products, existing Student Magazines, by carrying out this research I am able to gain an insight an idea of what features are included within the magazine, as these are the types of stories which the target audience will be interested in and want to read about within their college and university magazine. This magazine also needs to have an appeal towards the audience of Parents, therefore a way in which I believe the magazine will appeal to the audience of parents is by including stories about the college/university as they are interested with the stories surrounding education and the audience of students will also like to read stories about their college/university. I also looked at the colour scheme and layout of the magazines as this is important, as this helps draws the audience into the magazine, for example if it had a catchy title and colour scheme people will be interested in reading the magazine. Other aspects which I need to research into which will be included within my proposal is the title, the target audience, resources, legal and ethical considerations and health and safety aspects.


Existing Student Magazines

 I have created my Production Schedule for this project and this states the order in which I will be completing tasks and the tasks which I need to start completing are the Contingency Plan, Mood Board and Research Into Final Product. I am also carrying out some Primary Research in the form of a Questionnaire, this will be aimed at my target audience and within the questionnaire I am asking the audience what they want to see within a Student Magazine and I am also asking their opinion on the name for my Student Magazine. I will also start to consider the the layout for my magazine and from the questionnaire I will have a clear idea of what the target audience want within a Student Magazine and I can then start to plan my Magazine Front Cover, Double Page Spread with a Story and a Contents Page.

Week 25: Introduction to Assignment 3: Magazine Assignment: Working to a Brief

Today we were introduced to our third assignment, although we have not been given the complete brief for the project we have been given an idea of what we may be creating through this project, as this project is a Magazine Based project. Today I have been introduced 'meeting the brief' as this is important within the industry as meeting a brief when creating a product is important as the brief states what is required for a final product, and I now have knowledge of the different forms of briefs and these include, Contractual, Formal, Tender, Informal and Negotiated. These are the main different forms of briefs and are the forms which are used in industries, I have been introduced to these and I have annotated some existing briefs and I annotated them with information about the form of brief each one is and the different features such as the budget, resources and time management which will need to be considered for each brief. Overall I now have an understanding in the different types of briefs, how to read a brief and what information is included within the brief.