Preliminary Task

For my preliminary task, I designed the front cover of a magazine about Lordswood Girls Sixth Form.

I decided to use a maximum of 3 colours only, ensuring that they contrast together. I used red for the title, as it is very bold and stands out. For the kicker I used a dark blue and for the strap-lines I used light blue, so that the colours would contrast together appropriately and so that it suited my background and wasn’t too bright.

For the title, I wanted to design a unique masthead that has not been seen on ny other magazine. I placed the ‘LG’ on top of the ‘SF’ and made sure that it was a bold red on a plain background so readers would know what it was called.

To make the magazine look more realistic, I put an issue date and barcode underneth the masthead because I think that the audience and readers would take the magazine more seriously.

For the background, I decided to choose my main image as a student of the Sixth Form. I did this because I thought it would be simple yet effective, so that not a lot of images would be crammed onto the front cover, overwhelming the readers. Because there is just one student as the main image, it gives the readers chance to focus on that and the remainder of the front cover.

For the kicker, i decided to place it right in the middle of the page and made it bold and dark blue. I did this because it would be the first thing that the readers saw when they looked at the magazine and it would be useful, because it is the main subject and content of what the magazine is actually about.

For the straplines, i decided not to make them too small, as it would put the reader off. I made the font light blue, medium sized so that it would be clear to read and give the readers more of an insight of what else the magazine contains. I think this comes in useful, as it would be helpful to the readers who need more information on the Sixth Form which is what the magazine provides.

I placed two small images in the two bottom corners of the magazine, so that the magazine didn’t just have one image then loads of writing, because it wouldn’t appeal to the readers. I put a picture of a sixth form student at a computer, to show that it is a hard-working sixth form and another picture of students playing in the new basketball court. I chose these two images because I think it promotes what my magazine is about- the sixth form and the new change that have been made to it.

For my pug, I wanted to choose something that would attract readers, but still had something associated with the Sixth Form. I decided to advertise a free folder inside for every student that bought the magazine, as it is useable and would come in very helpful to working students.

To improve my magazine front cover I think I could have made it looks more 3D. For example, I could have put more images on there and texts behind and in front of it and I could have made it look more appealing by changing the background and colour scheme to make it look more eye-catching.

To change these, I could use more layers and I could take a range of images and see which ones fit in with the texts and colours I have used.