What i have learnt from doing college magazine research

What i have learnt from the research i did on current existing college magazines is that i need to have a bold eye catching masthead and a central good quality picture of my model on the front. Also on the cover i need to include some cover stories and small descriptions of what the magazine articles will be about. Another thing i learnt was that on the front cover i dont want to make it look too much like a gossip magazine, it needs to be suitable for the target audience, eye catching yet appropriate. Following on from that, the front cover also does not want to be too cluttered with pictures and cover stories as it makes the cover look messy and unprofessional.  

College Magazine Research.

This college magazine cover isn't ideal as it has no cover stories nor pictures of anything to do with the contents of the magazine. The masthead size varies and this makes it harder for the 'sense' to stand out. The 'Sixth' stands out well and the font used is very smart and professional. However the image on the front cover is dull and not very eye catching.

The cover of this magazine is a lot more college related. It has previews of what the magazine contains and a good clear central picture of a college student. The masthead is bold and clear at the top of the cover. The layout is basic but effective. The cover is very informing and tells us what to expect to read in the magazine.














The size and font of the masthead on the front cover of this magazine is bold and clear to read. This magazine cover is more like a mainstream magazine cover. It is not suitable for a college magazine and doesn't look very professional. The front cover reminds me of magazines such as Heat and Ok! 

the contents page of this college magazine is very professional and well set out. The contents have a small description of what the article will be about.

Masthead Ideas.

This is my list of words that will help me generate the masthead for my college magazine. I used word cloud to produce this.

My initial response.

These exercises sound interesting as its something i have never done before. I will put my full effort in to achieve the tasks i've been set.

The AS Brief.

Preliminary exercise: using DTP and an image manipulation program, produce the front page of a new school/college magazine, featuring a photograph of a student in medium close-up plus some appropriately laid-out text and a masthead. Additionally candidates must produce a DTP mock-up of the layout of the contents page to demonstrate their grasp of the program.

Main task: the front page, contents and a double page spread of a new music magazine (if done as a group task, each member of the group to produce an individual edition of the magazine, following the same house style).