Conventions of a front cover, contents page and double page spread

Conventions of front cover of a magazine:

• Mast head
• Main image
• Pull quote
• Plug
• Barcode
• Footer
• Sky line
• Main story
• Other feature stories
• Secondary images

 

Conventions of a contents page:

• Letter from the editor- written in an informal way and reflects the ideologue of the magazine
• Main story—usually with an image and the image have page numbers on
• Structured lay out- usually in columns
• Other page stories, page numbers and images
• Title “contents”
• Sub headings
• Page numbers
• Stories and features
• Previous editions/ social media

Conventions of a double page spread:

• Main image taking up most of the page
• Title (usually a pull quote)
• Stand first- a summary of the article that makes you want to read on
• Drop cap- is the big letter at the beginning of the article
• Main article- will be written in columns
• Page number and mast head

 

Main Brief

To design a front cover, contents and double page spread of a music magazine. All images and text used must be original, a minimum of four images must be used.

Finished product

Evaluation

What have I learnt from completing this task?

I have learnt how to work in a team since I started making my front cover for my college magazine, because I needed to work in a group so I could get the photos I needed for my front and for the rest of my team to be able to get the photos they needed. I have also learnt how to use a proper image taking camera, because I felt in order for my front cover to be able to look as professional as I wanted I would need to learn how to use a proper image taking camera.

How have I used technology?

I have used technology in the form of a camera and a computer, because in order for me to be able to create my magazine cover or get on the blogger website I would need to use a computer, I have also used a camera to take the photos on my magazine cover, because I felt like using a proper image taking camera would make the front cover looking more professional.

What conventions have I used and why?

Some of the conventions I have used are the main image, main story, footer, full quote and plug. I have used a plug because I feel it brings a bit of fun to the magazine because they can get involved in the competitions inside the magazine, so by including this on the magazine cover it may persuade readers to buy the magazine. The reason why I have used main story is because it gives the reader a little bit of an insight to what the main story is about in the magazine, so they can decide if they would like to read this magazine or not. The reason why I included a main image is because I feel it makes the magazine look more professional and usually a main image has some relation to the main story, so people get another piece of information on what the main story is about. The reason why I have included footer is because I felt it broke the magazine cover up well, so people could see the information they wanted without it being lost in the main image. The reason why I have used a full quote is because I believe it makes my college magazine look more professional and I feel it gives the readers an insight into what has been happening at the college and what people think and feel about the college.

If I was to do it again what would I change?

If I was to do it again I would include feature stories, because I think including feature stories makes the magazine cover look more professional, it also adds a bit more information to the magazine because it isn’t just the main story that the magazine includes, so this may interest more readers because there’s more to the magazine. I would also include a barcode because it lets the reader know how much the magazine will cost, so they can decide if the magazine is value for money. I would also have the model for my magazine smiling more on the magazine cover, because it would give a positive connotation of the college, because by him smiling it suggests that he is enjoying college.

Print screens of designing the product

In this screenshot I have created a new document using the International Paper page type.

In this screenshot I have imported my maion image for my magazine cover and named the layers I am going to use, I have also duplicated my main image layer, because if something goes wrong whilst editing the main image I can always use the original image.

 In this screenshot it shows that I have positioned my main image to wher I want it to be on my magazine cover, I have also left a white space at the bottom of the page, because that is where I want my footer to be on my magazine cover.

In this screenshot it shows my completed magazine cover. I have added a footer, a plug, a main story line and a pull quote.

Front Cover Photographs

One reason why this image would be good for the front cover of my magazine is that it shows the name of my college above, so I believe this makes the image good because I feel it will make the magazine feel more relevant to a college. However, this image isn't good for a magazine cover, because the model for the photo is in a weird pose, so by having this image as my main image I feel it would make the magazine cover look unprofessional.

One reason why this image would be good for a magazine cover is because of the lighting used whilst taking the photo makes the model stand out in a bright background, which gives the positive connotation of college, because it could be seen as a bright and fun place to work. 

One reason why this image isn't good enough to be the main image on my magazine cover is because it has random people in the background of the photo, so if this image was my main image it would make my magazine cover look unprofessional.

One reason why this image isn't good enough for my magazine is because the lighting used isn't bright enough, so the models used in the photo and to dark to see any of there facial features.

Framing types

List of images that need to be demostarted on my blog:

• Extreme close up- a small part of someone of something to show emotion

• Close up- someones full face

• Medium close up- soemones face and half of their body

• High angle- the camra is placed above the character maing them look smaller

• Low angle- the camra is placed below the character making them look bigger

• Image framed to the left- where the person in the photo is at the left hand side of it

• Image framed to the right- where the person in the photo is placed at the right hand side of it

• Central image- where the person in the photo is at a central position

• Two shot- two people are in the same photograph

• Long shot-the whole of a person from a distance and showing some of the background