QUESTION 7

Look back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

MAGAZINE COVER

masthead

The mastheads in both magazine are very different even though their both forms, my prelim magazine goes against conventions in the sense that the masthead doesn’t really relate to its genre and makes it quite confusing for the reader.

Whilst on the other hand, the one right is structured, bold and really stands more than the one on the left. Plus the reader instantly knows that it’s a music magazine from the masthead. It is across the top of the magazine and partly behind the main image; which is a popular convention.

Main image

There is big different between the two main images; its clear that the one on the top left has a subject/model to represent the magazine’s issue; however the one on the underneath does not which goes against conventions as it more favoured to have people on the front cover instead of an object. It would have been better to have the headmaster who is the icon of the school and this would work well as it is a school magazine.

As seen the image used is conventional, as it is a close up making, eye contact is made so that the reader feels that the magazine is targeted for them.Eye contact is made so that the reader feels that the magazine is targeted for them.

Coverlines

The cover lines in both magazines are drastically different compared to each other. The one the left has clear bold coverlines, that which can be read from distance and catch the attention of customer walking by. Unlike the one the right the prelim task magazine; which is hard to make out from a distance but however it does follower convention of has smaller text underneath the bigger text. The finished magazine clearly uses different colours and sized fonts showing the emphasised attraction towards the reader.

LAYOUT AND DIFFERENCES

From the layout point of view you can clearly see that my final cover is well more structured, well thought out such as having the coverlines align and put in a specific positions so that it doesn’t overlap and anything important.

The prelim cover does follow some certain conventions such as the masthead and coverlines but however it was poorly thought out. The headline overlaps terrible over the main image and is quite difficult to read. The magazine doesn’t really seem to have a set genre or target audience; from the paint splash it may indicate rock; but the main image tells a different story and so does the masthead.

Overall the finished cover features more than the prelim task. Such as quotes to pull the reader in; it also has strapline which is used to inform the reader of extra information that couldn't be placed on the front cover.

CONTENTS PAGE

Title

The title is clear and easy to read, this is because the colour of the font is black and is on a white background making the title pop out. Underneath the title is a series of lines, this is used for design purpose and makes it look better and gives a off a vibe a professionalism.

On the other hand, the prelim contents’ title is clear but does go against convention by mentioning the word “page” which is unneeded. It’s clear and bold because the background and colour of the image complement, even with the green splash it is still viewable. It also differs from finished contents in the sense that the title is much larger and spread across the page, at that extend it does go against conventions because the contents page is where you mostly bombard information and images on, so by having a large title lose that.

Categories

The features column in the finished contents page uses different sized fonts and colours to show how it categorised. The main categories are highlighted in red, following the house style and making it easier for the reader to find a specific aspect of the magazine their looking for. Underneath the categories are featured stories which relate category and as seen its bold so that its clear and is as a mini-heading for stories; underneath that is information describing a bit about the story.

Whilst the prelim task is completely distinctive in the sense that it offer as much detail as the finished contents; it only has three actually categories which extremely limits the reader. It does go against the convention in the sense that the font size is large compared to the expected size which is around 8-12.

Images

In the finished contents page I have included a wide verity of images such the one on the top left which is the same model from the cover, the main attraction of the magazine and in doing so the reader feels compelled to read the article page about the artist. As seen he doesn’t make eye contact towards the camera, as he seems to be dancing to music.

The image underneath it is the editor of the magazine the one who constructed the magazine; by doing so the reader is able to have a visual representation of the mind behind product which makes the reader connect better with the magazine and company.

Whilst on the other hand, the prelim contents page also followed convents in the sense that it had the headmaster making eye contact towards the camera, as if looking at his pupils, the readers which forms good connections. The image of the headmaster also links to the coverline on the cover, the connection is a very popular convention. It also features an image of one of the pupils doing acrobatic skills intentionally showing that school is made from great potential athletes

LAYOUT AND DIFFERENCES

The finished contents page is well structured and well thought out you; as you can clearly see that it is divided into two columns, so the contents page isn't bombarded with too much information and image such as a rock magazine would. However comparing to the prelim contents page; there seems to no structure at all, the text goes from left hand to the right of the page is goes against convention; as doing it confuses the reader on whether the page has got structured columns or is it just placed randomly.

Overall I have learnt how to manipulate shapes which was an essential skill and tool to use in order to make a structured and clear columned contents page. I have also learnt to use a verity of fonts and text and how to change the size of it and gabs between them; Adobe Photoshop really does have it all, the choices are endless.