College Magazine Description

Firstly I made a trial magazine cover. This design conformed to the front cover ‘rules’ of a magazine, and was an experiment for colours and themes. My later design was much more detailed and didn’t abide by the ‘code’ of a magazine.

Front Cover Plan

For the front cover I want to have a simple plain mast head but also for it to run across the whole width of the page. A font I have found which reflects this is Futura; it is not dominant but is clear and obvious; a trait I want to magazine to have. I have put a cover line along the bottom of the page, this acts as extra article information, I have set it apart front the left third fonts and sizes by making it stand out, this could then be used to advertise a different type of article or contents of the magazine.

House Style

The house style of my magazine is plain backgrounds and fonts but bright text boxes, images, and headlines. This will draw focus to the articles and photos with no complex backdrop to distract. I have chosen the font ‘Steiner’ for my masthead and page titles because it is plain and reflects the ease and simplicity of the magazine. I want the magazine to feel easy to navigate around and not be filled to every corner with text and images.

I also chose it because it wasn’t too striking or sharp this is important as the cover has a lot of text and imagery so the title must not steal too much attention. This also meant it seemed quite relaxed and reflected what the magazine had to offer.

Final Front Cover

The first front cover I sketched was very plain, but used a bright background with dull title colours. I changed it because it was not very eye-catching, didn’t grab the readers attentions and the article names were not intriguing enough for the reader to ‘want to know more’. I also changed the left third to the other side of the page; this is because I think it looks more aesthetically pleasing to be on the right side as there are banners which break up the main image on the left. I also may have done this as I am left handed so the text, to me, looks better on the right. I did keep the cover line along the bottom, although I made it stand out more yet not dominant in size against the left third.

I changed the background from a bright yellow to a bland grey colour. This means I can use bright fonts and coloured text boxes without the background clashing. The masthead is not in a bright colour though as it would then become too messy, the font used in the masthead is Steiner, and the text is in Eras Demi ITC and Calibri these texts are quite similar but it still sets apart the title from the left third. One theme I have incorporated throughout the magazine are bright coloured text boxes behind the text, against the grey background, it makes the page more attention grabbing and draws the reader into the text getting them to read the article names, and hopefully interesting them.

I chose to give the magazine an article theme to make the pages seem linked rather than thrown together, I feel it would make more sense reading through it for there to be a reoccurring theme. I chose food as the theme because it can be divided into many sub-categories such as healthy eating, recipes, and restaurants. Giving the issue a name will also make it seem like a one-off, special edition and students will be more likely to buy into the novelty.

The backdrop I used behind my model is the one seen; I didn’t change this as it gives a smooth tone and appears more natural than the grey I intended to use. The use of the flash in the camera has also given a defining shadow and suits the cover design perfectly. I gave my model a piece of fruit as it reflects the theme of the issue.

Centre Number 18125