The document provides an analysis of various college magazines that the author reviewed to help design their own college magazine. They found the design of some magazines to be unprofessional and bland, while others used stereotypical stock photos that did not truly represent college students. One magazine incorporated relevant imagery and content layout that the author liked. The document also includes sketches and explanations of the design process for the author's own magazine, including cover layout, imagery, and contents page.
3. To aid me with the design of my own college magazine I searched online for similar projects. In this part I am going to explain the main features of the magazines and what I find attractive or unattractive about them.
4. This series of college magazines originate from a college in America and are on sale in the campus. I personally do not think the design of these magazines is very professional. The text used for all the examples is very basic and the layout is not exactly original. The photography and model work however does look very professional but to me it does not really symbolise the contents shown on the cover. I personally do not find this magazine very eye grabbing as all the designs are bland. The contents shown on the main cover of these magazines does touch on some important issues which would be similar throughout the world.
5. To me this resembles the typical college magazine you would expect to see in any college across the country. The photo used is the stereotypical ‘nice’ image of happy students smiling. I feel this image is very fake and does not really show a true representation of college students. The colours of the magazine are bright and nice to look at and would grab your attention. The lack of text covering the image places more emphasis on the image itself rather than the contents of the magazine.
6. In my opinion this magazine is put together very well. The picture used not only represents a typical student but also incorporates the content of the magazine (Globe in the content and at the bottom right of the photo). I personally like the picture at the bottom left of the magazine and how it is laid out. As it is put on top of the blue background it stands out more and also almost comes out at you due to the use of shadow behind the image. This layout is something I would look at using in my own college magazine.
7. This example of a college magazine is actually take from an AS Media student from last year which I found on their blog. I am using this as an example of what I do not want my magazine to look like. I personally think that this attempt to make a magazine is really unprofessional and does not look attractive at all.
8. This magazine is an example of one of the magazines that gave me the inspiration to create my final magazine idea. I feel this style of magazine design is much more attractive to students than any of the examples I have provided. This is because this music magazine is purposely designed for a younger target audience.
11. This is my first sketch of my magazine. I changed the design a lot throughout development as some parts did not fit with the theme of the magazine. I removed the ‘win tickets’ part as I found this difficult to make and also unattractive. I also removed the ‘free local gig guide’ part as this also did not fit with the theme.
12. First of all I chose this to be my front covers image as the positioning of the guitar and arm seemed ideal for use of on a magazine. The image also set the theme for the magazine, College Life and Events.
13. I then cut around the person and cut the image out in order to use the image alone.
14. I then changed the entire picture pink as I felt this would represent a ‘Punky’/ ‘Teen’ music scene. The black stripe at the top was not originally there at this stage but I needed a screenshot.
15. I then inserted the masthead using a font I chose from Dafont.com. I used the drop shadow feature to create a shadow of the image in a red colour.
16. Next I inserted the barcode to the bottom right hand corner.
17. Then I added a black shape to be used as a box for the cover line. I think the box stands out due to the contrast between the pink and Black.
18. Then I filled the black box with a cover line and then added a pink line underneath the text to make it stand out more.
19. Next I inserted the selling line/dateline in the same format as I used for the cover line. The selling line describes the main theme of the magazine.
20. I then added another cover line at the bottom in the same style as the others. This includes other items included in the magazine which may attract a reader.
21. I then inserted a text box from Photoshop and wrote my main cover line. I made this bold to bring attention to the main issue of the magazine.
22. Next I added more cover lines on the left hand of the magazine to fill some of the left third.
23. Finally I added another cover line with a quote as I thought this would appeal to a reader who is in The same situation.
25. Firstly I changed the background colour black and then inserted a pink box over the top. This is a reversal of the colours used in the front cover which creates a link between the two.
26. I then added the title of the page (contents) using the same font from Dafont.com as I used in the main cover. This again creates a link between the two.
27. The next step was to add the page contents. For this I cut and pasted the titles from Dafont.com and placed them at the top of a white box placed at an angle. Then I used a text box to add the page contents.
30. I then added a picture of the band which was featured on the cover. I changed the colour to match the pink theme of the magazine. I also added a copy of the masthead to the bottom of the page.
31. Finally I added a similar style picture to the right hand side to fill in the remaining space and continue the theme of the magazine. This image also makes it clearer to see the copy of the masthead at the bottom of the page.
