Evaluation - College magazine

My collage magazine uses forms and conventions of a real magazine product as it has a Masthead. All magazines have a Masthead usually something memorable and catchy it is the first thing you see on a magazine as it is placed at the top and usually the boldest thing. It is important as it is the name of the magazine and it won’t change, as in every magazine issue the Masthead always stays the same. My magazine also has a main image, this is to give a better impression of the ideology of the magazine as it shows what the collage expects from a typical student all magazines have an image and it usually relates to the issue. E.g. if it was a fashion magazine they would have a well dresses fashionable model, or a music magazine they would have a band. As mine is a collage magazine I had a college student representing the collage in a positive way. It also has cover lines to tell you what the issue is about and what the stories are inside the magazine. All magazines have this connotation as you need this as part of a preview to the magazine.

My collage magazine represents every student within the collage, as I only had one student on my front cover what was a female this may not give off the correct impression that I wanted as I want it to represent that everyone in the collage is equal although I would change the models in my pictures in every issue of my collage magazine. This is also why I did quite subtle colours as I didn’t want it to look too bright, colourful and give off the impression that it is just target at girls. The model I chose is dressed appropriately and doesn’t have no facial piercing or anything that would represent the college in a negative way. I think that she gives an overall good impression.

The audience for my magazine is the college students. I tried to appeal to my audience as I used a collage student for the picture, they would be able to relate to this more as it is likely to be someone who they have seen around there collage and as we have only just stared the new tear they may want to learn things about people in the collage and what is available in the college facilities. The cover lines that I used would appeal to the college students as it is to do with what is going on in the collage and things what they should know about the collage. It would inform the collage student on what the collage is doing and also what the student executives are doing. It will also tell them how to put their own opinions forward. Also my masthead is called YOU what gives the impression that I am talking directly to you. It gives a better feel of communication with my magazine. Also as I am a Wyke collage student myself I think they would be interested as we are in the same age group and would most properly be interested in the same types of things.

From constructing my magazine I have learnt that I need to have a little bit more practise on Photoshop as I find this difficult software to work with. Although by using this software it has become easier to understand.

Draft of contents

My magazine front cover

Pictures - College magazine

When taking my pictures for my collage magazine I needed to think of the surroundings and settings I wanted in my picture. I took several pictures on a plain white background and on a concrete wall, all in collage. I didn’t want the background to look to busy this is why I didn’t take my front cover image in a busy area around collage such as in the canteen or a lesson. I also took some pictures of the collage building and people socializing in collage as I thought this may come in handy on my content page. I wanted my pictures to represent a friendly collage and the ideology of the collage being that if 'YOU' try and put your all into it you can’t achieve and it is down to. It is all about self independence and working in a friendly college environment. So I wanted my model to look happy and independent this is why I decided that I only wanted one person in the front cover image.

Basic plan - College magazine

I compared my sketches and come up with a basic plan of where I want the text in my magazine. I decided that i liked the images to the left of the page as if I had it in the middle I wouldn’t have much room for cover lines. Also when someone looks at the magazine there eyes are drawn to the middle of the magazine, this would be the cover line and the picture so they are physically drawn to both of them. I also liked the idea of only having one student model as I didn’t want the page to be too busy.

Basic sketches - College magazine

I did four basic sketch ideas of what I want the front cover of my magazine to look like and the layout of it. I looked that where I wanted the text in the magazine. I tried putting the mast head in different places, vertical and horizontal and the images with the model central or to the left or right. Also with one or two people in the picture. I would like my magazine to appeal to the target audience of Wyke collage students so I wanted a Wyke collage student to be the model in my picture. I didn’t want to man conventions as I don’t want it to look to busy although I want everything that is needed to be included such as the masthead, slogan, cover lines an image and the collage logo.

Mast head name - College Magazine

Planning for the front cover:

The first thing when thinking how I want my magazine, is to think of a mast head.  As it is aimed at collage student I want it to connect with education at Wyke and learning. I also want it to be aimed at a younger audience therefore I want it to still connect to the teenage audience so it needs to be modern.

Wired:  I thought that wired would be an appropriate name for my collage magazine, it would represent the students in Wyke. They are ‘tune in’ in their lessons and involve themselves. They are wired up. It reflects more the education in the collage. My slogan would be ‘get tuned in’ it shows that Wyke wants people to achieve, do well and to go far.

Connected:  Connected gives a different view to Wyke. That Wyke connects lots of different people in the collage and it helps people to find a new path to a good future. If I used this name the slogan would be ‘bringing people together’ this gives the ideology of Wyke is to have a friendly environment that they want everyone to get along.

YOU -   I thought you would be a good name as when you are in collage you make your own choices and its only you who can determined you own future. It gives the ideology that the students in the collage have their own independence and your success is down to you. My slogan would be YOURS. OWN IT. USE IT. Its snappy and it uses repetition to make the words more powerful. It also means that the collage is yours use it to your best potential and get the most out of it that you can.  The letters of the words also spell out YOU.

I then decided the name I was going to choose for my magazine. I chose YOU as I thought this would appeal to my target audience more as it is more interactive with them and it is directly aimed at them ‘you’.  I thought it was very appropriate as its showing that there future is in their own hands and they are free to do what they want although the way to get far in life is to use collage and its facilities, get on with your work and you will succeed. Also in my magazine i want it to be about the collage students and what is going on within the collage so this name would also be appropriate as the articles would be about YOU.

LIIAR analysis of a magazine - Lewisham collage Magazine

I am analysing a collage magazine to look at what the conventions are and what most magazines do. This will help me get a better understanding, of what is expected of a collage magazine, and what I will need to include in mine. I am using LIIAR on the Lewisham collage magazine.

Language: I looked at the Lewisham collage magazine and I thought that this was more of what I was looking for. The masthead was bold and had a clear resemblance to the name of the collage ‘The LC’ – the Lewisham collage. I though this worked well as it was obvious what collage it came from and it was easy to recognise. It also was short and snappy so it was memorable. The masthead also didn’t fit to theodanery conventions as the word ‘THE’ is wrote on a side vertically. They did this as this wasn’t the main part of the mast head and didn’t need to be seen as much as the ‘LC’. I thought that the font was quite plain but I liked it as it didn’t make the page look to busy. The font did overlap the models head but it didn’t cover any of his face and the whole picture was still shown. Also the background is a dark colour so using white font works well as it stands out form the background and is easy and clear to read. The picture is a medium close up and it fit just right in an A4 sheet. The model is looking directly to the camera what gives you the idea that the magazine is interacting with you and the cover lines are for you to read.

Ideology: The main ideology of this collage is that they respect everyone no matter what racial background they come from or what they believe in. They have used a model that is male and black. It shows a sign of respect as they usually have a stereotypical white male on the cover. It shows that everyone who attends the collage is treated equally and no one is discriminated. Also the cover line is about dance so it could be representing people being able to enjoy there studies and do what they want to do.

Institution: The institution is Lewisham collage. You can tell because there is a Lewisham collage logo and the magazine is called ‘THE LC’ – the Lewisham collage. It is very clear to the people what collage this magazine comes from. It is a large and very successful further education collage in south east London. It can fit 13,600 students in it and the average age of the typical student is 29. They have two sites and work with lots of schools and university’s.

Audience: The audience for this magazine is the students from Lewisham collage. I think It targets the students as the model on the front is a student around 17-18 and this is the age of the target audience. They will be able to relate with it more. It also says students’ magazine autumn 2010. So this also tells us that this magazine is for the students. It looks like this issue is to do with dance as the cover lines talk about meeting a choreographer also it says what is going on in collage, the hot spots and get ‘vinvolved!’ This is defiantly appealing to the collage students as it is to do what is going on in the collage. It could appeal to students who haven’t started the collage and want to know what the collage is like and what is available at the collage.

Representation: The model in the picture is represented friendly to represent the collage as a nice place to be. He is looking up at the camera as it comes from a high angle shot, he looks quite serious like he wants to achieve. He is dressed well and looks like he enjoys his time at the collage. He give a good image to the collage as he looks like he would try hard with his studies.

LIIAR analysis of a magazine - East riding collage Magazine

I am analysing a collage magazine to look at what the conventions are and what most magazines do. This will help me get a better understanding, of what is expected of a collage magazine, and what I will need to include in mine. I am using liar on the east riding collage magazine.

Language

I looked at the language of East Riding Collage Magazine, from December 2009, and found that it wasn’t what I expected. The Masthead contrasts well as it is white on a black background although I don’t think the name was very appropriate. It was called NAME? I thought that It made the magazine look unfinished and not very well thought out. It looked like they couldn’t think of a name to come up with for the magazine. It was very plain text and nothing stood out to grab your attention. It was very simple and quite boring, it had no cover lines about what this issue had to offer it was too plain. There was only one picture and it was the building of the collage. It looked quite sophisticated, although very bland and nothing really stood out especially as it was trying to attract a teenage audience. It didn’t really appeal to me.

Institution: The institution was east riding collage. You could tell as it had a picture of the collage and it had a logo saying east riding collage, this was the biggest piece of text on the front cover so it was easily noticed and well advertised. It also told you about what courses they do at the east riding collage. It shows that they are proud of the collage.

Ideology: Looking at the front cover of the magazine you cant really interpret what the ideology of this collage is. It looks like the values are more to do with the building and less to do with the students as no-one is shown in the picture. The building may be a significant part of the collage and they may have values of respect towards the collage. It looks like they are proud of there surrounding and like to show what there collage is like and hat it can offer. It also has a small piece of text saying such things like ‘hair and beauty’, ‘healthy eating’, and principle. I think this is what they must feel strongly about in this collage. I think that the must have expect for the principle and I think it must have great success in the courses of hair and beauty. I think they must also offer a good rang off food and one of there collage values would be healthy eating.

Audience: I believe that the audience for this collage magazine would be all the collage student. It doesn’t focus on one subject so it could be of an interest to all the collage students who attend east riding collage. It has a general picture of the collage, this could attract new students to the collage.  It looks very sophisticated so I think that it could also attract the students parents, as it has no cover lines it isn’t very clear what this collage magazine is about and ho it would appeal to.

Representation: The image of the building is what is represented in this collage magazine. They have made it the central focus. They have took to at a low angle so it looks like you are looking up at it, so it looks big and modern. The lighting of the building makes it look modern. The structure of the building looks new.

LIIAR interpretation of the brief - College Magazine

The magazine cover I am going to produce is going to be a Collage magazine for Wyke Collage.

Language
 I was looking at the language I was going to put on my cover and what’s the connotations of other Collage magazines. I came up with the essentials I needed. A Masthead, it needs to be something that isn’t too long and will stand out to the rest. Also it needs to be quite memorable, and should be  bold and eye catching as this is what people remember the magazine by, and the first thing they see of the magazine in a shop. I need a slogan that is quite catchy and snappy, and not to long to go with the Masthead what will make it memorable.  I will also be putting cover lines on my front page so people will have a preview on what is inside my magazine. This will give them an idea of what the magazine is about and if they are interested in the issue of the magazine before they buy it. I will be charging for my magazine to cover the price of the printing and anything left over will go to a local charity. This may encourage more people to buy the magazine as they know the money is going to a good cause.

Institution

The institution I am doing it about is Wyke Collage. I am doing this as I know a lot more about Wyke as I attend there myself and have more information on it that any other College.  It has over 1300 people attending the collage so a large audience to sell to and of both genders.  Also as it is a 6^th form Collage most people are aged 16-19 so will relate to things I will write about in my magazine.  Wyke Collage had a 99.7% pass rate last year and it was the best results in Hull and East Yorkshire, it is one of the best collages so many people will want to read about it and know if it is keeping up to the reputation. It is all on one site and has recently been refurbished with £20,000,000 spent on it, so it will get more publicity as people will want to know about the new opening and how they have improved the collage even more.

Ideology 

Wyke collage has the Ideology of respect to all and no bad behaviour will be tolerated in any circumstances. They believe that education is the start of a successful life and everyone who attends Wyke should always try their best and work to their full potential. Wyke have very successful results and believe that they will continue to be successful. Wyke has a strong sporting background and has many achievements through sport and believes it’s a good start to a healthy lifestyle, many different types of sport classes are available to everyone’s taste.  Wyke also try and provide a healthy lifestyle with the option of food they provide, giving lots of different option and choice for everyone.

Audience

The audience of my magazine is students at Wyke who are usually 16-19 and are hoping to achieve.

Also some parents of the students may want to read the magazine, so the magazine will be appropriate for all. The magazine will be mainly aimed at Wyke college students as its about things in the collage and what will be going on within it, although it may appeal to parent as they may want to know what their child is doing at their collage.

Representation

The representation of the people in my images are going to be happy in the place that they study and will represent a good image for the collage. Also giving a positive attitude towards the collage. This will give a good representation of the collage for the audience reading the magazine.

Outlining the brife - Collage Magazine

Preliminary exercise: I will be creating a front cover of a Collage magazine. My chosen Collage is Wyke. My magazine will include three digital photo's and text with a suitable Masthead. I will be using Photoshop to create my magazine front cover as I will need to edit and transform my images. Additionally I will be producing a mock up of the layout of the content page to show how my magazine theme will run through out it. Before I create my magazine I will be analysing other Collage magazines to see what the conventions are, and what is expected of a collage magazine. This will then give my inspiration to do my own Collage magazine with my own original ideas.