Questionnaire

              

Thought Process Behind My Magazine

I put a lot of thought into my college magazine, I started by looking at what I expect from a college magazine and from this I gathered a lot of connotations that I wanted to use on my magazine. I learned that I would expect a college magazine to be free to all students and lecturers because that way more people would read the magazine as if it had a cost attached the student would spend there money on a magazine that interests them the most. Another thing I learned was that the magazine front cover should be colourful and have relatiable articles that appeal to the target audience ages between 16 and 18 and also both males and females.

PLANS

The first thing I thought about was a plan for my magazine, to get ideas for I researched current successful college magazines and what features they had. From this I considered the lay out and how I could make it stand out and looking appealing,  I decided that my title would be large at the top of the page to instantly show what the magazine was and that it would be in a bright colour, again to grab attention. After this I decided that  I wanted my background to be an image of a student and I wanted this to be the focus of the cover, I then considered the layout of my subheadings. I decided that the subheadings should overlap the image and that I would only feature 4 titles on the front to ensure that it wasn’t to overcrowded. Initially I wanted to have 3 images at the bottom of the page of the college to give people and insight into the college and what kinds of other stories were going to be included but when creating my front cover I decided that this would make the cover look unorganised and too busy so I did not use this idea.

I then thought about my plan for the contents page, I decided that i wanted the word ‘contents’ down the side of my page to add an edge to it and also because it isn't typical of a contents page so it makes it different and more appealing for teenagers. I wanted to make sure that the stories were very clear and that the contents page was organised and easy to understand so I decided it would be best to put them in a simple list down the page. Although this may seem boring I decided I was going to liven it up with colour. I also wanted to include an image on the page because often the target audience pays more attention to images rather than lots of text.

ACTUAL MAGAZINE

The next thing I did was begin the creation of my magazine. I went around the college at took lots of different images so that I had a lot of options and stuff to work with. We took images of students outside the college, students working on apple macs and then lots of images of the college itself including the reception area and corridors. I decided to do this because I knew that these images would be appropriate for my magazine and that they would fit in with the theme and articles I used. The next decision I had to make was which image I wanted to use as my background, in the end I choose an image of a student sat outside of the college on a bench looking through a work folder. I felt that this was appropriate because it was relatiable for all students and it portrayed the students throughout Bede well. After doing this I edited the photo so that it was eye catching and then began adding my headline and subheadings. I named my magazine ‘bedes best’ because it is alliteration which draws readers in and also because it includes the colleges name which shows who the magazine is for and what it is about. I decided to add a bright yellow background underneath my heading because it is eye-catching and very in trend at the moment so it is relatable and appealing to the target audience.

I emphasises the fact it is free for students by making the writing very big making it stand out and by adding a black background. By highlighting this I feel it would bring attract more people into picking up the magazine and reading it. I carried on the yellow theme through the full front cover and contents page by writing my article names in the colour. I choose my front cover articles by deciding which were most appealing such as ‘win an iphone 5’ and ‘student discount’.

My final thought process was on my contents page, this was easier because I simply had to carry on the house style onto this page. To do this I gave it a black background which emphasises the yellow writing and also made the photos stand out. I put contents big down the side of the page to draw attention to it and then put the different articles in a simple list down the page so that it was all clear and understandable. I put page numbers next to the article names so that the readers new where to look, I put these is red because they were a big contrast to the yellow font I used for the subheadings. Finally I added 3 images along the bottom of the page because often my target audience look more at images than the do lots of writing. The images I used were of the college. 

My College Magazine

               

I made this magazine on publisher because I hadn't had any experience on photoshop previously and felt more confident making it on a site I had used before. All the images I used were taken by myself in and around the college, I did this to avoid any copywrite issues. My main image is of myself sat on a bench outside the college looking at my work, I took the bright yellow from the folder and used this as my main colour theme along with black. The colour yellow is also very bright and this, in effect, will appeal to my primary target audience of teenagers. 

Flat Plans For My College Magazine

                   

Expectation's Of A College Magazine

There are many different things that I believe should be included in a college magazine including relaitable articles and information on the different courses/changes around the campus. One of the most important features would be that the magazine was free to all students, lectures and parents, I feel this is important because it appeals more to the target audience. If the magazine had a price attached there would be less people reading it as the students would rather spend money on magazines that interest them more rather than choosing a college magazine. Because the students are the primary target audience the magazine should include articles that appeal to them and are written in a form they would understand, for example the text should not be to formal. Articles such as revision tips would be useful for the students and the magazine should be split so there is a section for year 12 and a section for year 13.

Another expectation of college magazines is that they look appealing, the cover photo should be a recognisable face to draw in the students. The magazine should be made up of a front cover, contents page, a section for the students and a section for the parents. Another thing you would expect to be included is activity's for the students to keep them interested and also boost their learning. The activity's and articles included should be suitable for all ages of students which ranges from 16-18 therefore the stories should not be too immature yet not too serious. To draw in this target audience you would expect to see use of bright colours and interesting headlines. The name of the magazine must also not be too cheesy because this may put students of reading.

Finally I think another expectation would be the use of images. Images of the college, students and staff would give the magazine a relaxed feeling because students wont feel out of depth reading the magazine and may also provide a humours side. The magazine should show an equal amount of male/female related images to make them feel equally and also to appeal to both parts of the target audience. I think the magazine should avoid stereotypical genres such as football to draw in males because throughout the college there will be a wide interest into different things as the students are maturing.