AS Construction: Preliminary School Magazine Mock Up Final

I am really pleased with my final contents page for my school magazine. I like the lack of colour I have used as I believe when it comes to contents less is more, as contents are merely for guiding the reader toward pages, not revelling at colours and thousands of photogrpahs. I also like the font I have used, which is Adobe Caslon Pro. The reason I used the font is that it doesn't look trashy, but sophisticated and easy to read. It also goes with my 'less is more' mantra, it goes nicely with my plain background. There is nothing I'd wish to improve as I am very happy with the result and I don't think I could add much more.

The reason I used images is to spice up the contents page so it doesn't look too plain, as it appeals to people who prefer to learn and read through pictures. The photos are all taken in school, so they are relevant to the magazine. The reason I put them at the top of the page is that they do not interrupt the contents and don't look too spaced out, as this will look messy.

I used capital letters for the heading as due to the smooth font, it doesn't appear harsh and 'shouty' when using capital letters, I spaced out the heading of contents as I like the effect it shows and I have seen commonly used in magazines.

AS Construction: Preliminary School Magazine Mock Up Contents

This is the mock up of the contents page of my preliminary task of a school magazine. I have included coloured blocks to distinguish my mock up from different parts of the page, which I obviously won't include on my final piece. This will be my basic layout for my my final piece. It is quite a simple layout which isn't too busy but gives the impression that there is a lot of information inside while having a good number of photographs, appeals to people who prefer to look at photos instead of reading, and vice versa.

AS Construction: School Magazine Preliminary Task Final

This is my completed work from our preliminary task- designing a front cover for a school magazine. I have used a portrait of a mid shot of the view of the school from the field. I have positioned the camera in the grass so that it points up toward the building. The effect of this is that the school is the biggest picture so it is relevent to the school magazine. The picture that overlaps this is a cut out picture I did of a friend. I cut out the picture in Photoshop and placed it over the main image of the school. I did this because I wanted to add more depth to the cover and wanted to show off techniques I am capable of doing on Photoshop.

In hindsight I wish I made the content features slightly bigger, so that it is easier to read. However, I like the contrast of the white to the backround image as it makes it clearer. I also wish I added more detail to the masthead as it's a little too simple and not very eye catching. I would have made it a bigger font and a bright colour.

AS Reseach and Planning: Preliminary Task Conception, Framing & Shot Distance

For my preliminary task (designing and creating a front cover of a school magazine), I have planned how my photos for the cover are going to be taken. I have decided that the backround and main image is going to be a long range shot of Smithdon High School. The masthead, content features and another image is going to overlap this main image. I must show that I can take a mid shot image of a student which I can then crop and cut out using Photoshop. I will either show that I can do this but not actually use it for my final cover or I can use this for my final cover, which I have not decided yet. I plan to test what both covers will look like with both techniques and then use the most effective looking one. I will take close ups, mid-shots and long range shots of the same image so that I have a variety of images to choose from and further show what I am capable of doing.

AS Reseach and Planning: Preliminary Mock Magazine Cover

This is a part of my research and planning (pre-production). This is my first attempt at designing and constructing the layout of my first AS preliminary task; this is to design and produce a front cover for a school magazine.

The programme used to contruct the layout is Microsoft Publisher. As you can see (from the rather badly done colour layout) the main picture is going to take the most space on the cover. However, the picture is merely a backround for 'main content info' and the three 'content features'. The effect of having a simple photo instead of a busy one will compliment the content features nicely. The photo must also have some kind of relevence to the 'main content info' for continuity purposes.

The masthead on my mock up is simple and standard of a typical magazine. The effect of this is that the magazine is simple, tasteful and lets the picture below do the talking. The masthead will be the title of the magazine.

Finishing touches such as the logo- which should incorporate the school's own logo and colour scheme to make it look offical and not a tatty and a cheap knock-off, while still being obvously linked to the school. The barcode is purely used here just to make the magazine look more authentic and official.

I should also mention that I do not intend to use this terrible colour scheme for my cover!

When I improve on this mock up I will use professional programs such as Photoshop and Microsoft Publisher to ensure the authenticity of the cover.