College Magazine Project Evaluation

By Kieran Raza

Front Cover

This is the final front cover that I made for my college magazine.

What works well

• The mast head is in a bold font that stands out and catches the eye. Using a brush from ps brushes.com, I used the eraser tool in Photoshop to give an interesting effect that it has been sketched. I also erased a building into the “I” in city. This acts as an identifier on the left third of the magazine, so people will know what it is if they see it on the news stand. This is a recognisable feature, that tells people straight away what magazine it is.

• This Lead line is for the main article in the magazine, and relates to the lead image on the front cover. It works well, as it’s short and sharp and tells the reader immediately what the story is about. It is in a bold san serif font that makes it stand out against the image and grab the attention of people who pick up the magazine. The lead line doesn’t interfere with the lead image, so that it is clear and easy to see. It is aligned straight down the left third of the page, so it looks neat and sharp and stands out as the main feature of the magazine.

What Works Well

• The banner running across the bottom of the page works well, as it informs the person picking up the magazine what else is inside, without taking up too much room or detracting from the lead image or lead line. It also makes it appear as if there is allot of content within the magazine, as it is all together in a small space.

What doesn’t work

• The “Get Active” lead line is in a different font to the other lead lines. I did this, as I thought this font went with the theme of sport and activity as it is thin and very curvy. However, it stands out on the page as different from the rest of the Lead Lines and does not look good. It also isn’t clear against the black on the lead image.

• A similar thing occurred with GIG GUIDE. The body blends in with the hair on the lead image, so it can’t be seen very clearly.

What was difficult

• Getting the effect on the Mast Head was fairly difficult to create, as I had to erase each line. This means some of them are not straight, but it ads to the effect that it has been sketched.

What was Easy

• The thing I found most easy, was aligning the lead image on the front cover. The photograph was already taken with the model at the right side of the camera, so it was easy to align her accurately on the right side of the page.

What I have learnt

• I have learnt how to take a photo that would be suitable for a magazine front cover, which would be easy to align on the page.

• The methods designers use when putting together front covers of magazines, such as using the left third

• Why certain elements are used on the cover of a magazine.

What I would change if I had enough money and time

• I would spend more time finding a better font to use, and possibly use a Serif font instead of San Serif.

• I would take more pictures to add to the front cover, rather than just having the one lead image.

Contents Page

This is my contents page for my college magazine

What works?

• The Contents headline is green and displayed with a similar effect to the lead line. This goes with the formulaic representation in the magazine. It also continues on the same colour of green.

• This flash box stands out and boldly tells the reader of the exclusive article. This emphasises the article, and makes it seem particularly special as a feature.

• The features are listed in a bold font, to make them appear important. It also is large on the page, so they stand out more to the reader.

What Works?

• The image of the album cover relates to the article on the best albums of 2012. This relates to the reader, as they may be impressed by the selection of the album and helps them relate to what the article is about.

What doesn’t workThe green background continues on the colour scheme of the magazine, as well as the building acting as an identifier on the i. However, this has been executed not very neatly, and it is evident there are lines and gaps in the background. However, the font stands out boldly and is not effected.

This green stamp gives the contents page a cool look and relates to the appearance of doodling on the front cover and contents page. However, the use of green may have been overdone and another colour would look better.

What was difficult

• It was difficult to work with backgrounds on the contents page, as I made it on top of a layer. When I wanted to move around one element, the green background that I made on that layer would move with it. I overcame this by cutting the section of layer I wanted to move, however this could have been done better by making the background and the element on separate layers.

What Was easy

• Getting the image of the album cover was easy, as I had already made my own album cover in a previous project. Choosing the fonts was easy, as I just used the same ones as on the front cover to continue the theme it had set.

What would I change with more time and money?

• I would have taken more pictures that relate to each of the features I listed on the contents page. I would have also written more about the stories in the contents page, rather than just one line.

Magazine Covers I can compare mine to

• The Lead lines in this magazine are set out in a similar way to my magazine on the left. However, I think it works better here as they are all different colours making them pop out as individual stories. They have also made use of a banner along the bottom, but to show the slogan instead of listing more stories.

Contents pages I can compare mine to.

• This contents makes a similar use of bold fonts to separate the features from the regulars. However, this contents page uses more images which I would have liked to do with more time. This contents page also continues a theme in the similar way to my magazine, using a colour scheme of blue and green while I have used just green. My magazine may have looked better, using more then one colour like this one has.