Possible main images for my magazine cover

I have now taken a number of images for my magazine cover, I will choose just one of these to use. After making my moodboard, I chose to use a football theme as my main image on my magazine cover because I thought that this would appeal to a wider audience then dance would. I took a number of photographs from different distances and angles so I could choose the most appropriate one at the end. I chose the location of a field because I thought that this would make the person in the photograph stand out more, and it would make the person make a bigger impact, rather then taking the photograph in a crowded place, also if the background of the image is not too crowded, this gives me more space for the masthead, coverlines and selling line.

Moodboard

Here I have made a moodboard showing my possible ideas for my magazine cover, I have narrowed down my ideas from my brain storm, and decided to use either dance or football as the main image on my cover.

I have also looked at a few different colours and fonts which I think I might use on my magazine cover, I have chosen these colours and fonts as I think all of them would fit in with either dance or football as a main image.

Layout of magazine cover

Here is the layout that I am going to use for my magazine cover, I have chosen to use this layout because I think that the masthead being at the top will make the magazine clearly recognisable to the reader. I have then put the dateline underneath so that it is easy to find. I have put the main image in the middle of the cover, and I have made sure it is quite big, so that this is the main focus of the magazine, I have then put the coverlines around the outside of the main image, so that they can be clearly seen, but then the main image will still be the main focus of the cover, and it will not distract the reader from the image too much. I have put the barcode at the bottom of the cover so that it is easy for the retailer to find and use.

Analysis of a magazine cover

The masthead is clearly displayed at the top of the front cover of the magazine so that it is clearly recognised by the reader. The masthead is also done is a unique typeface, so it is easily recognised, the unique typeface for Vogue magazine is that it is always in the same font, and always in capital letters, but the colour of the font is usually changed to go with the colour scheme of the cover of each issue.

The dateline is not displayed very clearly on the cover, it is displayed in a quite small, white font, to the left of the masthead.

The main image of this cover is used in a classic way, it is a large single image of a person, who is making full eye contact with the camera, the reason for this is so that the magazine cover makes an impact on the news stand. As the main image is of a celebrity, and she is quite fashionable and girly, this will appeal to young women and people interested in fashion.

Vogue uses a lot of coverlines, these are distributed around the main image, but they make sure that the coverlines do not distract the reader from the main image too much, by not making the coverlines too big, and also by using a colour scheme throughout the cover, so that the coverlines blend in with the main image.

There is no barcode on the front of this magazine cover, so it will be displayed on the back of the magazine for retailers to use.

Key Ingredients of a Magazine Cover

Masthead: the name of the magazine, usually displayed at the top of the cover. This is the visual branding of the title, and is usually made in a unique typeface to be recognised by the reader.

Dateline: The month and year in which the magazine was published, often with the price. (A monthly magazine is usually displayed on the news-stands the month before the cover date)

Main image: An image displayed on the cover of the magazine to create an impact to catch the readers eye from the news-stand.

Coverlines: Headlines which are distributed around the main image.

Barcode: A standard barcode which is used by retailers

Selling line: A short, sharp description of the title's main marketing point

Analysis of a College Magazine

The masthead is displayed at the top of the front cover so the magazine can be clearly recognised by the reader straight away. It is also part of the colour scheme of the cover of this issue, which is red and green. The dateline is also stated clearly under the masthead.

The main image on this magazine cover shows an image of a student, she also looks quite sporty, which will make the magazine appeal to sports students. The girl is making full eye contact with the camera, also she is smiling in the picture, which would represent the college as a good and happy place to go. Because the girl is young, this magazine would appeal more to students at a college rather then the teachers, the audience of the magazine looks like it should be aimed at people approximatly aged 17+. The image suggests that the magazine is situated in somewhere like America or Australia, this is because of the colour scheme on the cover, and also because of the clothes the girl is wearing, because in some countries clothes like that would not be acceptable to wear for college.

The magazine uses quite a lot of coverlines which are situated around the main image, even though there are many coverlines they will not distract the reader from the main image because of the bright colours used. There is no main coverline on the cover, this may be so that the coverline does not distract the reader from the main image and the other smaller coverlines around the image.

Conventions of contents page of a college magazine

• Basic headline
• Pictures which relate to articles in the magazine
• A list of special features and regular features in numbered order
• Contact details
• A brief description about the magazine

Conventions of college magazine front cover

• Title - the title on the front cover should be bright and bold to catch the readers attention.
• Picture - the picture should be eye catching and interesting to make the reader want to look at the magazine.
• Headlines - show what the main features in the magazine are.
• Date - to let the readers know how recent the information is.
• Target audience - students and teachers

Brief

Preliminary exercise: using DTP and an image manipulation program, produce the full page of a new schol/college magazine, featuring a photograph of a student in medium close-up plus some appropriately laid-out text and a masthead. Additionally you must produce a mock-up of the layout of the contents [age to demonstrate their grasp of DTP.

Main Task:the front page, contents and double page spread of a new music magazine. All images and text used must be original, produced by you - minimum of four images.

Presentation of your Work:The presentation of the research, planning and evaluation may ake the form of any one, or combination or more, of the following:

a presentation using slideshow software such as PowerPoint;

a blog

a podcast;