Making a magazine front cover 1

I chose to use this image of a fellow student looking directly into the camera, so as to not break the convention of the model looking directly into camera. I also chose to use a medium close up photograph as this is the most stereotypical convention of magazines.  I think that this image reflects the genre of the magazine very well as she is clearly a young woman wearing a student ID. This could allow the reader to interpret her to be a college student and therefore relate to her. I think this will also appeal to the target audience of college students as the image is not beautified, the model is not wearing makeup and it has not been edited in any way, creating a realistic standard of beauty, unlike more mainstream magazines. 

I have used different fonts throughout the magazine cover for the different pieces of text, this creates variety and keeps the cover interesting, as if it was all in the same font it would not catch your attention and you would easily lose interest as it all looks the same. Also, by making the texts different sizes, shapes and colours it draws the readers eyes to different places, making them read what the magazine says and enticing them to buy it and read the articles inside. For the text colours I referred to the image of the model and the colour of the clothes that she is wearing, to make the cover harmonious and use any dramatically contrasting colours. I have also tried to create synergy through my use of co-coordinating colours.

I have made the masthead much larger than the rest of the text to stay within conventions of the masthead being one of the main subjects on the page. I think it would appeal to my target audience of college students, as "Student Life" is most likely their life, and if they can relate to the magazine it will appeal to them more than a magazine that has nothing to do with them or things that they are interested in.

I chose to use the features included around the models head because they relate directly to what college students are interested in or concerned about. I decided to do this because if a college student saw these subheadings, that were useful to them in some way, they would be more inclined to buy it. This relates to Curran and Seatons theory that "Newspapers and magazines respond to the concerns of their readers in order to stay in business". All of the features i have used would be a concern or of importance to many students, meaning the magazine would most likely be popular. I also decided to use a buzz word of "Exclusive" to make it eye catching and grab the readers attention immediately, drawing them to reading the article.

To improve this i could include shapes or banners around the bottom of the cover to fill the page more, make it more colourful and to include more information/articles. To do this, for example, i would create a puff of a shape, most likely a square or circle to keep it simple and grown-up. I would then colour it in accordance to the colour scheme i have used for the writing, so either in blue or pink. Inside of the shapes i could put offers on about an event/ticket to an event that the reader could win, or i could relate it to a celebrity and their time as a student. 

I used media language such as buzz words like "exclusive" within my magazine cover to represent that article as private and important. When i create  my product for my 03/04 production, i need to make sure i use everything i have today and more, such as puffs, to make the page interesting and colourful.

Selection and Rejection of photographs 1

Selection and Rejection

After spending an hour taking various pictures and looking through them all carefully, I have deduced my favourite photographs down to the four below, which I think are the best out of all of those that i took. 

This image is one of my favourites for a range of reasons. The bookcases in the image structure the whole photograph and the diagonal, leading lines that they have created lead towards a quote on the wall, giving the lines purpose as they point towards something. The lighting in this photograph is also very good as it has created shadows throughout the image, giving contrast between light and dark.  For example, the foreground of the picture is quite dark and shadowed compared to the brightness of the background. The table in the centre of the image draws your attention as it is centred and is such a bright white, further creating contrast to the shadows around it.

This is also one of my favourite images that I took. The camera is positioned so that the stave on the wall seems as though it is continuous and flowing past what the camera has taken, which is pleasing to the eye. The light in this photograph is also interesting. Due to how the lights are positioned on the wall, it created a striped effect with the light and shadows on the ceiling, wall and floor and from a certain angle it creates the illusion that there is a striped square that leads down the corridor. The coloured image on the wall gives a splash of colour to the photograph which makes it more interesting and less bleak, whilst drawing your attention to just off the centre, to the left. 

The floor creates leading diagonal lines towards the end of the hallway which is also reflected on the ceiling with the lines of the ceiling panels. This furthers the illusion that the corridor gets smaller the further down you go.

This is another of my favourite images, a close up shot of a small insect I spotted outside on a bench. The texture of the table makes the photograph more interesting as it is made up of intricate, entwining lines that would otherwise not be seen from far away. The blue of the table also gives the photograph a brighter atmosphere, drawing your attention the the insect on the table. The way that the light has created shadows between the panels on the bench is also interesting to look at as it creates contrast yet it is quite a soft contrast as their is no harsh, definite shadow line. Luckily, the camera focused exactly on the insect and therefore has created a very high quality photograph of it that allows you to see it in high detail. I like that the contrast in size between this minuscule insect on the larger bench panels as it makes the insect seem smaller and the bench seem larger than they actually are. Also, because of how the camera is positioned, the white flooring is just visible between the bench panels and provides a bright background for the insect, highlighting it and showing that it is the focus of the photograph.

This is my final favourite photograph that i took. I think this photograph is of excellent quality because of all of the different lighting elements. The light is reflected in all of the water droplets, highlighting them and drawing your eyes to them, whilst making them seem more 3D than they are. The stream of water also has a reflection of light in it which has created a white stripe across it, which i find pleasing. The metallic surface of the water fountain is naturally shiny and therefore reflects the light very well, making the whole photograph bright. The green reflection on the drinking fountain and the water on it  is from a sign nearby. I think this makes the photograph more interesting and abstract whilst adding colour to the photo, which would otherwise be colouress. 

On the other hand these four images did not turn out  how i wanted to for a variety of reasons and therefore are my least favourite photographs that i took.

This photograph is one of my least favourite because it is so blurry and unfocused. For this photograph I was trying to capture my friends hair blowing in the wind, however the camera did not focus in time to capture the image. As it is so blurry you cannot see what my intention was and it has overall resulted in a bad photograph. As well as this, i think that i stood with the camera too close to her hair for the picture to be taken, as if it was slightly further away i could have included the background and made that slightly blurry, drawing attention to the hair. To improve his photograph, when i was taking them i should have taken more, simultaneously, to capture as many different photographs as i could and then it would be more likely for me to have a photograph that was focused.

This is another of my least favourite photographs that i took. I do like that the light is reflecting on the book cover and therefore creating small white lines across the photograph, however again the issue is that the camera has not properly focused on the writing on the books so it looks slightly blurry. The camera is too close to the edge of  the book and is not angled enough to fit the whole book in the frame. If it was further away the camera would focus more and the photograph would be more interesting as there would be more to look at. 

There are many reasons why this photograph is one of my least favourite, the main reason being that the camera is out of focus. Because it is not in focus the whole photo is blurry and is therefore a low quality image. Another reason why i do not like this is because of the lighting. The lights in this photograph are not centered and i do not like how they are reflecting in the glass, as it does not reflect directly down the centre of the image which makes it not pleasing to look at. Finally, the camera is positioned so that the ceiling and balcony in the photograph are not centered, but also do not follow the rule of thirds, therefore it  does not look right and makes it unsatisfying.

This is the last of my least favourite photographs that I took. I do not like this photograph because the lighting in it is very dull and makes the whole photograph seem quite grim and dismal, whereas if their was sunshine in the background the image would seem more happy. There is a reflection on the window that i took the photograph from, from the lights behind, which is distracting and makes the photograph seem less professional. The position that the camera is in also does not compliment the shape of the school. Overall i think this is not a good photograph as it does not follow any rules and does not break them well either, creating something that is visually unattractive.