The Finished Cover, Contents and Evaluation

Contents

The Finished Cover

Overall, I am very happy with my front cover. It appeals to the target audience and I have succeeded in the brief for a school magazine I am very pleased in the font of the heading '6ixth Fun' because it is very different and eye-catching. I like the way I have edidted and cropped the main picture of Kirsty. I also like the idea of using the Christmas hat to show the theme of the magazine giving it a quirky look. However, I am less pleased with the additional picture because I think I could have edidted more to make it look neater and more relevent to the magazine. Also I think I could have put more information text on the cover to make it more informative and so the readers will then know exactly what they are reading.

Adding Additional Images

For my finished magazine cover, I am going to add an additional smaller image. I took pictures of Kirsty, Katie and Georgia, who all attend Wilmington, on the tennis courts on a sunny day so it looks bright and colourful. I chose a picture of them all looking into the camera, smiling naturally as it does not look posed.

I used Paint Shop Pro by pasting the image onto the magazine. I cropped the image and then put a red border around it to keep in with the red and black christmas theme.

Adding Text

For adding text, I have decided that I will make it look like the 'Cosmo Girl' style. This is that I used two different fonts and two different colours to stand out more. I used black and a dark red because if I used lighter colours it would look very faded agaisnt the bright colourful background. I used Impact for the '6IXTH' as it looked quite block and bold, while I used red with a very different and unique font as it stood out against the word 'fun'. I think the readers will like this as the word 'fun' wraps around the word '6IXTH' which is very individual and professional.

The next step to adding text was to add a caption. I used 'Its Christmas!' as that is what the theme and main article formy magazine is. Underneath I put the articles for the magazine including 'Gift Ideas', 'Holiday Events' and 'Exam Tips' so the readers will know what they will be reading about throughout the magazine. To keep up the theme of Christmas, I have used red and black colouring as they are the central colours for the magazine. I have also added 'GSGW Magazine' which shows who the target audience is and where the magazine will be sold.

Second Mock Layout

I have changed the mock layout because I think the picture of Kirsty will stand out more which would make it look brighter and so wil stand out more.

Editing

I have chosen this picture as the cover picture out of the selection of three that were on my previous blog for my magazine. I have chosen it because it looks bright, colourful and fun to read. It gives a quirky and fun appeal to my sixth form audience with Kirsty's thumbs up and natural person and also Kirsty wearng a Christmas hat which immediatly shows the theme of the magazine. People who the magazine is aimed at already know Kirsty and by using this picture it shows her as how people will percieve her; a fun and happy girl!








As the original picture is not a medium shot, I will have to edit it to make so it will be. By using Paint Shop Pro, I have used the Crop and Apply tool so the shot is mostly of her head and shoulders. Her face would then stand out more for the cover. Kirsty is quite off centre to the right so that on the left I will be able to right headings and articles for the magazine avoiding putting the writing over her face. I can also place the title of the magazine in the space above her head, top left.








I will not be editing the picture to black and white bacause I want the cover to be quite bright and eye catching and I think in doing so; black and white will make it look quite dull and bland.

Cover Photos

My cover photo is of Kirsty Martin in the tennis courts of the my school. As the theme of my magazine is Christmas so Kirsty is wearing a Christmas hat as it will imediatly show what the stories are about whilst looking quirky.

The above three are my favourite pictures that I took. The two that I will be experiment and are my overall favourites are the second and third one as they are medium shots whereas the first one is not as the shows her bottom half aswell. I ecspecially like the thrid one as it is not as posed and once I have edited it, it will become more ideal for a magazine cover.

Mock Layout

I have used Publisher to make a mock cover of my school magazine. I have used 'More' magazine as a template as I like the theme, colours, pictures and layout as it is quite modern and bold.

I have used Paint Shop Pro to show what the title of the magazine will look like. I have used a template of 'Cosmo Girl' as I like how the title uses two different fonts and two different font colours. They are both very different so it stands out more to the reader. The black used for 'Cosmo' is quite heavy and rocky whilst the 'Girl' is light and girly which can mirror that the magazine is for girls. This is could also show that the magazine is for different types of people