'The Handbook' (my college magazine)

 

FRONT COVER - Final Design

 For the third design of the contents page, I researched into the contents pages of other magazines to get a better idea of the appearance. I decided to add a brief explanation underneath the page titles to give more detail and information on what each page includes. I also added the title "Contents" to make it much clearer on what the page actually is, and noted the issue date. I split up the page numbers into different boxed sections to make the text more easily interpreted. I think this version is much more successful than my previous efforts as it is easier to the eye to look at and looks much more organised and professional. Furthermore, I removed the pictures previously inserted that were copyrighted and left boxes to add in my own taken photographs later. I also think the white background works better than the cream as the company logos look more streamlined and professional without white space appearing on a separate colour.

 

CONTENTS PAGE - Design 2

For my second design of the contents page, I decided that the previous design looked messy and unorganised. I aligned the page numbers to give a neater appearance and this also made there seem like more writing, making more efficient use of the blank space. I also included more images found from the internet to fill blank space and brighten the page up to make the page more enticing.  

CONTENTS PAGE - Design 1

This is my first design for the contents page of my college magazine. I drew influence from the front cover with the background colour being similar. I wanted the magazine to look the same throughout to create professionalism. I also used the same fonts and colours. I included the title of the magazine at the top of the page and referred to my front cover's cover lines for inclusion in the page number information. Furthermore, I used found images from the internet to illustrate the pages and make it more visually exciting. I included company logos relating to the college as sponsers.

FRONT COVER - Final Design

This is my final front cover design for my college magazine. I have added a masthead at the top of the page as the title of the magazine. I chose the name as I think it relates well to education but is not too formal to put students off picking an issue up. I kept the colours and fonts fairly limited to create a consistent design feel. For most of the cover lines included, I have used a capitlised verbs such as "experience" and "learn" as I think it attracts the audience to make them want to do these activities. I have also used punctuation such as exclamation marks to create a signifcant effect and make it clear to the reader that the selected points are exciting and/or important. For example, I used the plug 'FREE!' in a bold autoshape to lure the audience into picking a copy up. I used a banner across the page, towards the bottom as I thought this appeared professional and added variety to the page instead of everything being aligned at a specific horizontal angle. I also added my college's logo to make it clear that the magazine is specifically made for the college only, adding a personal touch that students can relate to instead of a generic education publication. Finally, I have added an issue date to signify when the magazine applies to which is beneficial with inside information such as offers that may only be valid for a certain period.

 

CHOSEN FRONT COVER

This is the image I took in college for use as the model of my front cover. I cropped the image to centre the model. I like that the background is basic and undistracting from the main foreground. I used Adobe Photoshop to add high contrast and brightness in the image to create vibrancy and again, pull the model from the background and attract the audience. I like the image as it stands out and looks as though it would be good for a magazine cover as it has space at the very top for a title. Also, the eyes are located inline with the top third if taking into account there was a rule of thirds grid over the image. The head is in the centre third and the two arms fit well in the left and right thirds.