Prelimanary Task

Evaluation of my preliminary task

The first thing I did was research other magazines, this allowed me to get ideas and understand how I may structure my magazine. I looked at some magazines such as empire, seeing this magazine helped me build my magazine and to make it look professional as possible.

Secondly I started to draw my magazine on plain paper, I drew everything such as sell lines, title and a rough sketch of the background. Once i was finished i went over the pencil drawings in a felt tip marker. I outlined my pencil markings so when i scan my sketch in it will show up better on the computer.

Then once i was happy with my draft i went on to the computer and used adobe indesign to turn my drawing into an actual magazine cover. The program I used allowed me to design my front cover and contents page quite easily while being able to stick to my first draft. As i was struggling how to lay out my contents page i used another example from a different magazine. This helped me by showing how you can layout a contents page efficiently and professionally.

Finally after viewing real life examples and a lot of trial and error i have completed my preliminary task. This is by far not my best piece of work but as i have never studied media before but i can see i am improving already.

Here is my completed front cover;

It’s nothing special but I do like some things about it. For example I think the background really complements the title in the way they both blend in together and look neat.  I think the font and size font are both good enough to fit in with the style of the front cover. Things I could improve is the house style, the red sell lines stand out and look strange and out of proportion compared to the rest. I could improve my front cover by inputting more text, using softer colours and sticking to a house style. The reason I chose to put a picture of the school in the background was to keep the idea of education and learning in the minds of the reader. With the blue sky in the backgournd this can help make the idea of the school positive and the connotations of the sun are bright and positive.

Here is my contents page. I really like the background and the fact two pictures create one image. I also really like the border I added in as it breaks up the page and allows it to have more variety. Looking back on my page I don’t really like the colour font as it once again does not fit the house style. To improve my contents page I could use more suitable colour fonts and maybe bolder fonts to make the text stand out more. Also I could maybe make the background images more transparent to allow the readers to see better. The pictures of St Maryd and the new car park are put there for a reason. Personally I put both pictures there as they look colourful and vibrant implying a fresh start to the term and the school. The nice and bright colours gives the readers the connotations of fun and a fresh kind of start.

Here is my finished preliminary task;

Here is my preliminary task; this magazine is my first piece of AS media work. Our task consisted of us to take pictures of Haydon School and to also talk about it. As a group we went out and took quite a few pictures to ensure we had a good selection and a range to choose from for the front cover and the contents page. A lot of trial and error went into this magazine and I believe the pictures I have chosen fit my magazine the best. Here are some examples;