College magazine front cover

Front cover idea

Here is the final front cover idea for my college magazine. I have made significant changes to it from my first idea. I think that now it is more stylish and inviting to readers. The layout of the cover is still what I had intended although the sub-headings have been changed to not such an orderly state, I did this to take the attention away from the reflection in the windows. I added in a college logo as the space needed to be filled otherwise it would look unusual with the heading being below the top half of the page. I kept all content away from the right side of the cover as that is where the focus of the cover is intended, so that it clearly shows a cheerful student. 

College magazine contents page

Contents page idea

This is my idea for the contents page for my magazine. I decided not to change the layout idea I had. The contents page was aimed to keep a friendly sense about it, a welcoming to the magazine which is why I decided to write a welcoming message to readers. As it is only a practice I only used boxes to represent some of my images but I designed it as I would if it was to be an actual magazine. The line on the left of the magazine represents the margin, I intended to remove that once I was done with it but this is just the basic idea for my magazine. I kept to the colour scheme of my magazine, blue, red, white and black but added grey to the contents page.

College magazine Contents page

Contents Page Layout

Here is my first layout idea for my magazine. The inspiration for the design came from a previous possible idea that i'd posted. I decided to use an intro message to greet readers, telling them what the magazine contains. To go well with the message, I decided to rearrange one of the images for the contents page to help welcome readers as it is a student with a smile. This can help give a cheerful, inviting sense. I will be using different font for each sub-section of the page to help distinguish them apart. The margin is used so no content will be ignored in the sole of the spine of the magazine

College magazine front cover

College magazine idea

Here are the changes I've made to my front cover, it is a more improved, suitable version. Using the editing tools from iPhoto, I made the images colours more vibrant and I zoomed in on the image more, capturing the students expression and removing some of the inappropriate content of the image. I decided to remove the bold 'college' wording and replaced it with the heading for my magazine, as i think that it would be more suitable and would stand out. It is still unfinished but this is the prime layout and design for my front cover.

College magazine front cover

College magazine idea

This is my first idea of my front cover, I wanted to go for something that would catch the audiences attention. The colour scheme of the magazine is intended to be friendly, this is so that it is very welcoming. The image is used is ideal as it is taken in front of the college's main entrance with a cheerful student, this is to help give a friendly sense and show that it is a friendly happy place for students. There are some problems with the front cover which urges me to change it. The reflection in the glass attracts the readers attention, drawing them away from the main image. The steps are dirty which is not ideal to represent a happy, clean educational establishment. The sub-headings do not grab the readers attention as there is too much going on with too many words. I want to change my idea for the heading of the magazine as it is not suitable for a magazine. I may need to adjust the zoom of the image so that the steps are not shown and I can position the sub-headings to cover the glass reflection.

Front cover ideas (College)

College magazine layout

I got the idea for this layout from another college magazine I had found. The layout of the sub-headings have been placed on both sides of the cover because I decided to change my idea from the one I have decided to use for my music magazine. I did this because i though it would give a more appropriate, friendlier sense. I want to focus the readers attention on the image used for the cover so that readers can see the kind of environment to this educational establishment, positioning the sub-headings around the main image helps focus the attention to the image.

Front cover idea

Front cover design idea

Here is one of the designs for my magazine. It still would need adjusting as the background image is not suitable for my genre of music. This idea came from inspiration from a EMM magazine front cover. The logo of the magazine covers the top of the left third, this is so that when displayed in the stores half is covered and only the left third is displayed. Readers will see the logo and either recognise the magazine or be intrigued to the design pattern. The masthead is in a different font and colour so that it stands out to the readers eye. Then colour scheme I have used for my front cover fits quite well, the design format of the text and images should interest readers.

Double page spread design ideas

Double page spread inspiration

This design does not come from a dance or electronic music magazine. The reason why this design caught my eye is because I like the idea of the silhouette design with the text. If i were to use this as inspiration for my own design idea I would obviously change the colour scheme to a more appropriate pattern for my genre of music, I would layout the text around both images on both sides, and I would change the font design to suit my genre. The two images would be changed but I would keep the original format of the design.  

Front cover layout ideas

Front cover layout design

Here is a layout design I have created using Microsoft publisher. I was aiming for a organized, simplistic layout. The picture needed to stand out which  is why i decided to not cover any part of it with text, keeping the focus on the image. To represent the magazine, I decided to make the logo stand out rather then have a title by itself. Doing this I think it will catch the readers eye because of the design of the heading. The inspiration for this design came from this EMM magazine. The reason why is because i think the design layout of this front cover stands out well and it works well with the genre of music the magazine is aimed at.

Contents page design ideas (School magazine)

Comparison of two contents pages

Here are two different contents page ideas for a school magazine. The one on the left has little design and thought to it. The colour blend does not match well and is not really appropriate for a school magazine. The colour used for the text is too bright, cannot read the text. The idea on the left is not suitable or ideal for a magazine, it misses appropriate design. The design idea on the right is much more appropriate design. The colour scheme suits the topic and aimed audience well. The font style is simplistic but suitable. The layout makes it look more interesting and appealing to students and parents, it makes it look welcoming and gives an idea to readers what the school is like. Very little design and interest has been put into the idea on the left, I do not like this idea but it is still helpful as to what I don't want my own to look like. The idea on the right appeals to me more and I do like the idea of the colour scheme and layout as it gives a more welcoming and inviting sense, which is ideal for readers of a school magazine.

Front cover design ideas (School magazine)

College magazine cover

I like this magazine cover because it is friendly and inviting. The font styles are simplistic and the colour scheme gives a sort of friendly sense. I do like the idea os simplicity for a school/college front cover although I think there needs to be a different style for the title, one thats more smooth and welcoming. The image used for the cover works well for the magazines topic and who it is aimed. It works well because it gives the impression that students are happy and delightful. That students here enjoy themselves, and are well mannered and upright. That the grounds are looked after well and students love them. The layout of the text is spread around the image, focusing the attention on the image. I like the layout, the styles used, and the idea for the image used, I may use similar ideas for my own school/college magazine.

Contents page design ideas

MixMag contents page

The layout of this design caught my attention because I like the match of colours and the positioning of the images and text. The image has been enlarged to cover the majority of the page, the image fits in well especially because it suits the genre of music. The font styles used on the right side of the page do go together quite nicely, I may consider using this style for my own although the text at the bottom seems too small to read, if I was to use this style I would make the text considerably larger. Overall I think that this style and layout matches the music genre well and I may get my inspiration from this design when it comes to creating my own contents page of my music magazine.

Front cover design ideas

VIBE Dance music magazine

Even though the music genre is different, what caught my eye about this cover is the layout of the information is spread around the image and has been brought forward, covering a part of the title. They seemed to have aimed to focus the readers attention on the image rather than the information given, trying to catch their attention. The mixing of the different colours of the wording used fit together nicely, I may consider using this layout and design as inspiration. The positioning of the information is more appropriate, it is not spread out as the last design cover was and a larger size is used to cover more of the page.

Front cover design ideas

MixMag Dance music magazine front cover

I'm not sure about the layout of this front cover but I am intrigued by it. The magazines title is quite bold, I may consider using a design similar to this. What puts me off this front cover is the layout. The information is spread out, there isn't much information given so there is much space, this makes it look plain. The font designs used for the text do suit the genre of the music, but I think that there needs to be a more vibrant design and layout to this front cover.           

18/11/2013. Hello, this is my media studies AS blog for my magazine project.