Contents Page and Layout.

After doing much research also on conventions of a contents page, i have now planned my own for my School Magazine.
I have included that main conventions of a contents page so my magazine looks realistic and easy to read. The contents page navigates the audience around the features and articles of a magazine. The certain conventions of a magazine are;

Masthead - this is a bold title, which is usually the biggest text on the page. It is the most eye catching and needs to be sharp.
Menu - The menu is key as it navigates the audience around the magaazine, as it lists the content inside the paper.
Pugs - are used to catch the readers eye. They are usually place at the top left or right hand corner of the magazine. Usually a logo or price or feautures in the magazine.
Main Image - The main image is usually related to the front cover image of the magazine, however slightly different. A different picture is used, however related to the main issue of the magazine.
Ordering and Structure - The articles are set out in chronilogical order, so its easy for the reader to locate themselves around the magazine.
Colour scheme - The contents page follows more of a colour scheme than the front cover. It is always very simple, so that the page is easy on the eye, and the colours do not distract the reader from the content.

I followed these conventions so my magazine contents page looks realistic and proffessional. I followed the convetions so my mgazine is easy to read. Simple but effective. I followed the Z rule as studis show succesful magazine companies follow the Z rule when publishing issues.

Front Cover Layout

Front Cover Ideas

After doing much research on front covers of a magazine, and analysing them, i have now designed my own magazine cover. When planning my magazine, i have linked to the way it is layed out due to the Z rule, as research shows that is how the audience veiw the front cover of a magazine.
I have placed the mast head at the top of the magazine, as it attracts the audience's eye, and gives information on what the magazine is about, clearly showing it is a school magazine, and is the most important text on the front cover. I have placed a sub-title underneath the mast head as it gives exclusive information, and appeals to the reader, as it is very close to the mast head.  In contrast to this I have placed the barcode at the bottom right hand corner, as it is the last place the audience will look.
I have included cover lines amd sell lines, in the thirds of the magazine, so the magazine comes across as exciting and appealing to the reader, the sell lines advertise key things that will be imcluded in the magazine. I have also included a buzz line, as it is exciting and makes the audience want to read the magazine.
I would like my magazine to appear simple and not in anyway messy. I want to keep the front cover simple so it is easy to read, and the audience can easily grasp the theme and meaning on the magazine. I will be sticking to a simple colour scheme, which is in some way related to the school and the theme of my magazine.
The school logo is placed at the top left hand corner of the magazine as, it represents the school, and clearly represents that it is a school magazine, and that the magazine is very formal.

Questionnaire Analysis

Magazine Analysis

After asking 20 people my questionnaire, i calculated the results and put them all in a pie chart, so i can clearly read my results and make judgements from them.

1

What theme do you think is the best for my magazine ?
I asked what theme people preferred my magazine to be, the majority of the people i asked like the Autumn Term themed magazine, because it is currently Autumn Term, and i can give advice and publish reports which are current and relevant to the pupils in school

2

Which name do you prefer, for my school magazine ?
I was struggling to choose a name for my magazine, so i decided to put my favourite ideas and ask people what they preferred. Chislehurst Times seemed to be the most popular name, as you can see from the pie chart above. I think this is because it is simple, instead of using the "Weekly", because that means i will have to publish a magazine every week so the magazine is true to its name, and the name Chislehurst Mag, is very informal.

3

How often do you think my magazine should be released ?

The majority of the sample agreed that i should release my magazine Termly. I agree with this as it gives me time to publish and release a new issue. 

4

Which colour theme, do you believe would be appropriate for my magazine ?
The majority of the people agreed that, Orange and Red should be the colour scheme of my magazine, however i disagree with this, as i feel that Blue and Green would be more appropriate to the school. There fore i do not agree with these results and i am unsure wether to follow them. 

5

How much would you pay for my magazine ?

From my results i found that, 20p was the amount of money that people will be wiling to pay for my magazine. I agree with this as it is only a school magazine, and will be published in an amateur way. 

6

What articles would you like to be featured in the magazine ?
The majority of the people that i asked, liked the Ideas for fashion in the Autumn/Winter term. I will be using this option and also another popular option such as Help for revision. 

Questionnaire

Before i begin to create my magazine, i am going to carry out a questionnaire, so I can make final desisions about my magazine, theme, titles and ideas, etc.

I will be carrying out the questionnaire with 20 people, to make it a fair.

Questionnaire

Which name do you prefer for my magazine ?

1. Chislehurst Weekly.
2. Chislehurst Times.
3. Chislehurst Mag.

What theme do you think is the best for my magazine ?

1. Autumn term issue - includes autumnal themes and back to school advice.
2. Winter term issue - includes Christmas themes.

Which colour theme, do you believe would be appropriate for my magazine ?

1. Blue + Green
2. Red + Blue
3. Orange + Blue
4. Orange + Red

How often do you think my magazine should be released ?

1. Weekly
2. Monthly
3. Termly
4. Anually

How much would you pay for my magazine ?

1. 10p
2. 20p
3. 50p
4. £1

What articles would you like to be featured in the magazine ?

1. Ideas for fashion in the Autumn/Winter term
2. Help for revision and advice for future exams
3. Updates to do with the school
4. Educational games, like cross words and suduko

Possible Ideas ?

After researching the conventions of magazines and different types of school magazines i am now going to brain storm my ideas for my own. It has been useful researching magazines as i have an understanding of what a school mgazine should look like and what it should include.

Possible Themes for my magazine ;

• Autumn Term

I can take pictures of students in autumnal settings, and include autumn reltaed things such as, appropriate fashion/clothing accessories for school, back to school advice, and an allround magazine for events that are taking place in the autunm term. I can use autunmal colours like orange, red and burgundy.

Or

• Winter term

For the winter theme i can include significant events from the winter term and highlight them. Christmas could be a very exciting theme, that ties into 'Winter'. I could possibly take pictures of students dressed in winter clothing or christmas hats. I can use colours that relate to winter.
I can include fashion ideas for the winter term, and talk about exciting events, that will be coming up like pantos.

My possible titles for my magazine ;

• Chislehurst Weekly

• Chislehurst Times

• Chislehurst Mag

Typography

Typography

Typhograhy is the way text is presented on a page. Typography such as colour, spacing and font. When you make a magazine the font is an important factor, this is because it has to be easy to read, and fit into the theme and style. Therefore typography is very important when producing a magazine.

Serif and Sans-Serif Font.

Serifs are semi-structural details or small decorative flourishes on the ends of some of the strokes that make up letters and symbols. An example would be the Times New Roman font. Sans serif does not have these details or flourishes. An example would be the Arial font.
It is said that serif fonts are usually easier to read in larger text areas like in books, magazines, in body content on websites. And sans serif fonts are used regularly because of how clean they tend to look in those main text areas.

Conventions of a Magazine.

Mast head -  The title used by known typhography to make the readers become familiar with what magazine they are reading.
Main Image - Typically shwing the person(s) or object directly associated with the main feauture/article.
Sell line - Seen as an introductory headline below the mastheaddescribing the magazine.
Pug - 'The ears of the magazine', can either be at the top left/and right-hand corners of the front cover. The prices of the paper, the logo or a promotion are positioned there or even a freebie is placed here to catch the readers eye.
Tag- The word of phrase is used to engage a reader's interestin a story by categorising it, e.g, 'Exclusive', or 'Sensational', this showing that the magazinehas high cmpliments.
Cover Lines - The essential articles inside the magazine are stated through sell lines, these are regulary seen at the right hand side of the cover.
Barcode-  A barcode is an optical machine-readable representation of data relating to the object to which it is attached. Originally barcodes systematically represented data by varying the widths and spacings of parallel lines, and may be referred to as linear or one-dimensional
Colour Scheme - The colour scheme makes the magazine aethestically pleasing, and eyecatching for the audience.

Contents Page Analysis 2

Contents Analysis 1

Magazine Analysis 2.

MAGAZINE ANALYSIS 1

Researching Magazines

Introduction

My name is Millicent Sharratt, and I am an AS Media student. I have made this blog, which will contain all of my AS level course work. On this blog I will be showing my progresses to creating a school magazine.

WHAT IS A SCHOOL MAGAZINE

The school magazine is a historical document of the growth of the school. It informs the future generation of students about the traditions built up of their school. This valuable publication is the opportunity that students require to show their creative talents.Along with academic studies, students are encouraged in games and athletics, art and craft, science clubs, dramatics and various other activities. These make the years in school interesting and worth remembering. But intellectual activities like debates, elocution and essay-writing competitions are rarely found.


My first task is to analyse 3 school magazines. Before I begin I will be researching into the conventions of a school magazine, looking into how they are structured, and laid out. The conventions of a magazine are very essential. It is essential that a magazines follow conventions ensuring that the magazine looks professional, and realistic.
After doing some research I have personally picked out 3 main conventions of a magazine;
·       The Mast Head, is the title of the magazine. This is vital as it explains what the magazine is about, whilst giving the magazine individuality and information on what it is about. Traditionally the mast head is located at the top left hand corner of the magazine, as this is where, the audience first looks, as studies show. This has noted that when I create my magazine, I will place the title on the left hand corner of the magazine.
·       The image on the magazine is also very important as it is the main focus of the front cover of the magazine. The image indicates what the main story is about on the inside of the magazine.
·       The colour scheme is essential. As the colours used on the front page have to be eye catching, in order for the audience to pay interest in the magazine