Preliminary: Ideas for Contents Page

As the overall theme of my school magazine revolves around A-Levels, revision techniques and dealing with the stress in which students may face, I have decided to include images which reflect this within the contents page. I also did this on my front page of the magazine where I have used an image of a student revising the content of an A-Level subject to ensure that the aim and theme of the magazine is clear to the reader before they begin to read.
The images I have considered including are:

• A group of students doing extra revision 
• Students in a classroom during a lesson 
• A number of revision supplies i.e. stationary, textbooks etc.
• A student speaking to a teacher or another member of staff. 

I feel that all of these possibilities hold a good level of reflection of my magazine and I feel that, if done correctly they can be the most appropriate. 

Preliminary: Front Page Analysis

Analysing other front pages allowed me to decide on the final decision for what to include on my front page and what kind go image to use. Also it allows me to make a judgment on the appropriate way to layout the front cover.

This particular front cover has used a constant colour scheme of yellow which seems to represent that of their school. I like this because it is an accurate representation of the main topic of the magazine. This is something which I would like to incorporate when creating my own front cover. As well as this, I like the way which different images have been used, to give a variety of topics on the front page. Although, in my opinion I think that there is too much information included on this front cover and it causes interest to be lost rather quickly. 

This next front cover goes for a simplistic theme where it is simply a a title, a name of the magazine and an image of whatever links to the magazine. I like the way that the image which has been used has a similar colour scheme to the word "life."  However, I am not entirely sure as to whether the simplicity of the magazine causes it to be less visually appealing. 

This front cover for the boarding school magazine has been left reasonably simplistic but still allows the reader to have a general understanding of what is likely to be included inside the issue. This is effective as it does not overpower the reader with information but keeps them interested. However, I dislike the white writing against the brown/grey background as I do not think it stands out well enough to entice a reader. As well as this I do not think the name of the magazine is big and bold enough. Though the use of the greyish background allows the faces of the children to stand out more. 

This front page differs from others as it merges the front cover and contents page together as oppose to having them separate. The use of this saves time, and it allows the reader to have an insight to what is included straight away. The word "PLAY" is written in bold and bright colours which would stand out to someone walking by.  However, I do think that by including the contents on the front it can cause a reader to lose interest as they may not have time to read it all whereas if a small yet catchy comments are made on the front page it entices a reader in further and means makes them more curious to continue reading. 

Preliminary: Contents Pages Analysis

The next process of creating my magazine is going to be analysing different college and school magazines and observing how they layout their contents pages and what they include. This will give me an accurate insight to what I will include in my contents page and how I make up my mind on deciding the page layout. 

This particular contents page includes different images which reflect the topics of the magazine. This is effective because it co-operates well with the context of the entire magazine.  As well as this, the colours chosen for the magazine seem to compliment each other well with the contrasting darkness and boldness of the black against the light softening blue.  However, I do not like the use of the font used to create the title of "Contents."  

This contents page differs from the previous one as it has went with more of a formal technique to it with a simple yet bold font for the title as well as strict even sized images. This magazine has decided to organiser the contents page into two sections being the "FEATURE CONTENT" and the "REGULAR CONTENT."  This provides the audience with an easy guide to viewing the magazine and staying interested. However, I think the simplicity of the contents page could cause the reader to lose interest.  Also, I feel that the images used lack the sense of professionalism and realism.

This contents page of a particular magazine differs from the ones previous as instead of simply being a page used only as a contents page, a smaller box indicating where topics can be located has been included in the bottom right hand corner. I like this idea as I think it doesn't take up too much unnecessary space that doesn't need to be used simply for a contents page. Although, I do think that the contents feature could possibly be overshadowed and missed due to the intensity of content on the rest of the page. 

Preliminary: Magazine Process

At this point of my preliminary project I have decided the topics to be included in the magazine; taken the most significant photo which is included on the front and decided on a headline as well as the name for the magazine.
The remaining aspects of my magazine which still need to be included/completed are the image to be included in the background behind the midshot of the student. As well as as final decision on the colours of the text featured on the front page. As well as this, I need to decide on the contents page i.e: how to set it out; what to include; what images to put etc.
The aim of todays lesson is to decide on the finalising colours of the text on the front page and to make a clear decision as to what I want the contents page to look like (a sketch/ template) and possibly make a start on doing so. 

I have chosen the theme of blue for the text of my magazine because this particular colour is the main colour scheme of the school/sixth form. This means that the magazine presents an accurate representation of the school. 
I chose to include the image of the student doing college work because the main contextual theme of the magazine is dealing with the stress of A-Levels and revision techniques, therefore the image of the students reflects this topic well and gives the audience an accurate insight as to what the content will be. I like front cover as I think it is very effective. 

There were a number of different images that stood as possibilities for the front page of my magazine how ever each of which stood with its own problem. The image which includes the male and female student lacked clarity, professionalism and did not sit as a very clear mid-shot so it was not a very accurate image to use. 
The image of the male student smiling was an accurate mid-shot and was very clear however I felt that the main theme of my magazine was concentration in sixth form and whilst doing A-Levels, so I decided to make a final decision on the photograph of a student actually completing work. 









Even though these were the main images which I looked at there were a lot which could have been included as a front cover. The reason why I didn't use these as front covers is due to the fact that some of the images may have lacked realism or the quality of the photograph may not have been very suitable e.g. blurry. Also, I found that a few of these images may have been difficult to edit.