Evaluation

The initial stage the construction of my music magazine was to complete some research regarding secondary sources in terms of the conventions and their L.I.I.A.R.  After annotating the magazines, I condensed the features into what I thought would be most appropriate and recognisable features in my own magazine front covers. A convention is an expectation of particular features. I recognised the recurring conventions of the front covers; a masthead; a promotional banner; a caption; colloquial language; a main image; a headline;  anchorage text; a sub-headline; a secondary image(s); a barcode; an issue number; a date; a price; a buzz word and, finally, a plug. By recognising these conventions, I acquired a clear understanding of the fundamental requirements for my own magazine. I included all of these conventions on my magazine front cover, excluding the price as I don’t believe it’s of a vital importance. Subsequently, I devised a further analysis in an L.I.I.A.R format in which I identified the target audience and the values of the institution via the appearance of the conventions.

The following stage of my project was to photograph and label a collection of various shot types. These included: an extreme long shot; a very long shot; a long shot; a medium long shot; a medium shot; a medium close-up; a close-up; a big close-up; an extreme close-up; a profile shot; a low angle shot; a high angle shot; a two shot and over the shoulder shot. By completing this exercise, I recognised suitability of the shot type for the main image of my college magazine.

After I concluded my research, I produced a mood board, relating to the college, and my target market; this was extremely useful for establishing the aesthetic feel for a college magazine. The images I explored were all primary sources – I captured a variety of photographs, showing all the different attributes and settings that structure the college, for example, one image showed an art student, completing her piece.

Consequently, I noted several loose preliminary designs through an L.I.I.A.R spider diagram. Subsequent to the analytical research process, this stage led me to develop the limited and unimaginative ideas I initially had. I didn’t present an array of ideas in each category as I had fairly firm ideas. I selected the name ‘Venture’ as it associates itself with an element of difficulty, however, with the conclusion of probable success and achievement.  The message offered to the audience is that they’re capable of achieving a lifestyle revolving around excitement and accomplishment. This promotes an optimistic attitude towards education. I chose the caption ‘your weekly dose of everything Wyke’ as it addresses the institution and specifies what magazine contains.

Subsequently, I took a series of photographs which were inspired by my brainstorm. Afterwards, I selected the image that demonstrated the brief I created beforehand. The setting was fairly minimalistic; it was originally a white wall, however, I replaced it with a geometric black pattern I selected from Google Images. It provided a professional exterior; it drew attention to the model‘s expression and the text shown on the front cover. The shot was a medium shot of a model as it will draw attention to the model's features and facial expression. I included fairly bright and naturalistic lighting because it is associated with positive connotations which corresponds with Wyke's optimistic ideology. Initially, the lighting was highly saturated, although I changed the filter on Photoshop by decreasing the level saturation and temperature. The house-style was identifiable through the colour scheme. Magazines frequently have a maximum of three colours used, therefore I followed this convention and I selected light blue shade, a dark blue shade and white. The light blue and the white are the most domineering on the page as I only used the dark blue shade for the plug and the border of the secondary image. The rare shade of dark blue causes the customer’s attention to gather at the plug, which contains the buzzword ‘WIN’, urging to buyer to purchase the magazine for the chance to win a free item. I used a mixture of Franklin Goth Heavy and Euphemia as fonts, all the text despite the caption and the anchorage text is completely capitalised. The masthead featured the font Franklin Goth Heavy, I coloured it white before highlighting the text a light blue to indicate that it is a significant aspect of the magazine, I did this by placing a blue filtered rectangle behind the text tinted the perfume bottle blue. I wanted the front cover to bear a sense of balance through both the positioning of the text and the colour scheme. In text to be positioned under each headline so the reader can identify that each text relates to the headline above it. In order to display the balance required, I'd like to arrange two or three headlines on either side of the page. The anchorage text was positioned underneath each headline so the reader could identify that each of the text relates to the headline above it. The main image shows an attractive model holding a text book to symbolise her role as student. My model had natural, brown hair and pale skin. She had had a pure exterior, characterising the fashion of a traditional Wyke student. The model’s expression was one of cheerfulness as it portrays Wyke as a fun and positive work environment. Additionally it represents an optimistic stance denoted by the name, ‘Venture’. The model stood on a slight angle as it offers a relaxed, natural appearance. I placed the main image ahead of the masthead as it contains the most symbolism and to insinuate that the magazine is recognisable and therefore, trustworthy.

My magazine front cover revealed a large amount of text, including one headline and three sub-headlines (all with anchorage text to clarify the meaning), a promotional banner, and a plug containing a buzz word. The headline is positioned on the left-hand side, below the masthead. The audience can identify this as the headline as it fills the largest amount of space when compared to sub-headlines. Teamed with the anchorage, it reads ‘the perfect first impression – helpful tips and tricks to relieve stress of the menacing first week back.’ This article is presented as a form of guidance to ensure that students are comforted and content with themselves. This infers Wyke College as a reassuring and healthy work environment which is appealing to students. The following article is shown on the left hand side and it addresses a recent event – ‘3…2…1 PARTY! – Wyke’s end of year party went out with a bang’. The counting down suggests that it was an event to look forward to. The term ‘went out with a bang’ is a denotation of memorable circumstances and is generally associated with merriment, depicting Wyke as exuberant. Underneath shows the sub-headline ‘the tour de Wyke – How our very own students cycled a total of 1500 miles in just 3 days!’ The sub-headline itself indicates the article’s content. The tour de France is a very recognisable event in which teams cycle a very long distance in a short amount of time, this suggests that Wyke students worked incredibly hard which correlates with the values the masthead represents. It also promotes a fit and healthy atmosphere, again presenting Wyke in a positive light. The final article shown is an interview with the headmaster of the college my magazine is representing, Jay Trivedy. The sub-headline used to signify this states ‘the man behind the magic’. The text is an iconic phrase, it implies that Jay is the creator of a special and unique environment. The promotional banner says ‘featuring your new and exclusive 2013 A level survival guide’. The word ‘exclusive’ indicates that the guide is only obtainable if you purchase the magazine. It states ‘survival guide’ which specifies that it is a necessity. The plug contains the text ‘win £50 worth of St Stephens vouchers’. St Stephens is a shopping centre which contains many shops catered to anybody’s interest which illustrates Wyke as accepting towards diversity. The magazine is aimed at both males and females as Wyke College is not gender specific. Although, I presented a female as my main image, I believe I clearly displayed this through the non-gender specific content and the colour scheme - the colours I used, dark blue, light blue and white, are not necessarily associated with either masculinity or femininity. My magazine is centred around an age group of 16-18 year olds as, conventionally, students are of this particular age. They’d be able to connect to the articles and receive information that’s necessary. Conversely, it can also be targeted at high school students as they'd be interested in selecting a college suited to them as individuals. I addressed the general target market of my magazine by using a 16 year old student as the main image, in addition to using an electric colour scheme to express extremity and excitement traditionally owned by this specific age group.

Conclusively, through completing several methods of research, identifying the appropriate L.I.I.A.R and developing ideas based on these foundations, I was able to construct an effective college magazine, aimed for students with a clear ideology through the representation of the visual aspects.