Planning

In order to cover everything I need to when planning my final project, I have created a quick list of ideas which I will need to consider:

• audience's requirements
• genre
• name
• colours
• fonts
• images
• editing
• layout
• features

I will plan the above items using a variety of methods such as questionnaires, mock ups, and research from my existing products.

Preliminary Project (contents page)

This is the contents page to my preliminary project.

The contents page took less time to create than my front cover as I had better knowledge of how to use programs such as publisher and fireworks. I also had more ideas on the colour and fonts I would be using.

I created this document in publisher, however I did create certain items in fireworks such as the title. For my final project I think I will be using fireworks as it has better features and I have now had more experience using it.

Images: I have only used two basic images on my contents page. I think i could have improved the page if I had used more pictures which had related to the articles featured. I did not do any editing of these pictures as I wanted them to look natural. For my final project it is likely I will need to do quite a lot of editing to create the image I need.
On the background of the contents page I used a blue “fire” image which I downloaded from the internet, I think this has given the contents page a more professional and unique look. I am considering using a similar image on my final project.

Colours and fonts: I have used a colour scheme of blue and white as I think they work well together and they also link with the blue used on the school’s logo. The fonts I have used are basic and are easy to read by the audience however I think it would have looked better if I had used a different font as the text in the boxes looks very plain.

Layout: I have used a conventional layout for my contents page with the title at the top of the page and the articles down the left hand side. I think the layout works well for a school magazine as it is easy to process the information, however for my music magazine I think I will be using a more unique layout.

Preliminary Project (front cover)

This is the front cover to my preliminary project.

Doing this project has allowed me to experiment with different programs such as publisher and fireworks and has given me a better understanding of how to use them when creating my final music magazine .
I created the front cover using publisher and although the program was easy to use I think if I had used fireworks it would have given me a more professional looking magazine due to more variety of features available.

Images: I decided to use just one image on the front cover, I did this to attract the readers attention, it is also conventional of a magazine to have just one main image. I took a number of pictures but decided this one was the best as the lighting was better than in the other ones I had taken. I decided to take the photograph on a plain background to avoid having to edit the background, it also allows the two students to stand out more.
The only other image I have used on the front cover was the school’s logo, I used the logo so the magazine could be easily recognised by the audience.

Colours and fonts: I decided to use a colour scheme of yellow blue and black on the front cover as I thought they worked well together and they also fit in with the colours on the school’s logo. I have used quite basic fonts which are easy to read by the audience, for my music magazine I think I will need to have a bigger variety of fonts which are more original.

Layout: The layout of my front cover is quite conventional, for example the mater head is at the top of the page and the main image is in the centre. I think the layout is good for a school magazine front cover, however on my music magazine I think a more unique layout would be likely to attract the audience better.