The Brief…As part of my coursework for media I have been asked to create a school magazine, the contents page and the front page. These two pages should have some sort of link in some way and should be clear that is for a school, therefore a formal magazine. I intend to make sure that my magazine is formal as students will be reading this for some inspiration and useful tips and pointers making it a very formal magazine but also make it appealing to the eye so that people would want to pick up a copy and suggest it to their friends. I aim to do this by contrasting the Grey, Red and Black theme which links in with the school as it makes it clear what school I am talking about. I am also making sure that I have inserted the school logo so that without reading you are aware of what school the magazine is from. I will as make sure that the magazine will be balanced with images and words because the magazine will range for all students therefore it needs to be pleasing to everyone, so pictures for those who want a quick flick through the magazine and the words for those who are interested in the topic and what to read on further.

Date Line- the smallest part of the magazine cover as it is the least important. It is still important to have the date there to make sure that the information is to date and that they have the latest information.

The Schools Logo- this logo symbolises the school which means that the magazine is targeted for a specific audience (people who are interested in the school) this means that the audience are familiar with the magazine and more likely to pick up the magazine as they know what the magazine is based upon.

The School Website- is separated in a box to show it is separate information from the other information which is published. This also is highlighted because it is the only one which is in a yellow box which draws attention towards it, this is very useful as it allows the readers to look up more information on the topic.

Masthead- this is the main title of the magazine, which is obvious due to it be the biggest size font on the page as well as the only text which is yellow. This is important to be included on the front page as it allows the readers to be aware of the magazine making it easily recognisable. I think that the Hampton being bigger than the rest of the heading, works really well because you instantly focus upon that keyword.

Secondary stories- this magazine has many secondary stories which are listed on the front page. This makes it seem that the magazine is packed with loads of information which is important and relevant which everyone should read. As are many stories included it makes people want to read all of them as they have small statements of them and they are intrigued to find out more.

The main image is big and the centre of attention as your eyes immediately focus upon the image. This shows that the magazine is focusing on sports as it is heavily sports based. The picture looks professional and high quality and makes the school look good as there is nothing negative about the image.

The secondary images links in with the main images therefore the theme continues implying it goes throughout the whole of the magazine.

The subheading- is simple and the second biggest text on the page. It links well with all of the images displayed on the front page and show as sense of achievement.

Main Image- this is clearly the main image of the magazine as it is central and it is the biggest on the front cover of the magazine. This is big and bold and links in with the title as the kids seem like they attend the ‘Prep school’

The date line- this is smallest text on the page this is because it is not as important as the rest of the information which is present on the page. It is present because is make sure that the regular readers have the latest issue possible.

The Issue Number- just like the date line the issue number is the smallest text size on the page as it is the least important. It is present on the page because regular readers are able to check whether they have the right issue or that they haven't missed one. It is also for those who have only recently started to read the magazine as if the wanted to catch up they would know how much they have missed.

Masthead- this is clearly the headline of the page because is it the biggest text on the page as well as the only text which is black with red highlighted. This links in extremely well with the picture below as the colours in the picture are black and red to show that they are part of the school and the same topic of the magazine. The headline is clear and easy to read from a distance therefore people being drawn towards it.

Sub heading- this heading is below the Masthead which makes you read it as you follow on from the heading. It is a small simple heading which symbolises the school making it familiar to those who attend the school or are interested in it (such as the parents)

Secondary Stories- this brief statement of the stories which are ahead, keep the readers wanting to know more and read on to find out more information. This has only given two examples suggesting that people will have purchase or read the magazine to find out all of the information. As the Reading Matters is bigger and bolder it shows that that is the feature article and the main story in the magazine.

Market Research…For my market research I asked 20 students from The Priory School three simple questions: 1. What would expect to find in a school magazine? 2. How much would you be willing to pay for the

magazine? 3. How often would you expect the school

magazine published? These question where very open allowing the students to express what they felt was best, therefore giving me a range of different answers to suit different opinions.

The Results…These are the following results I received from my fellow peers: What do you expect to see in a school magazine? Question and Answer page A Sports section English section Maths section Teacher talk- where the teachers share an interesting fact about themselves Bulletins Information about upcoming events-5 Information about recent activities within the school-2 Opportunities-1 Achievements Specialised magazines form major events- 7 School Clubs Letter from head

The Results Continued…How much would you be willing to pay? Nothing-8 50p -2 £1 -4 £1.20 £1.50 -5How often would you expect it to be published? Every week-5 Every two weeks-5 Once a month-8 Termly-2

A Conclusion From The Results…

From the market research I have concluded on doing a special featured magazine on sports day where I will give all of the results for each of the different sports as well as mention any records broken within the school. Even though it will mainly feature Sports Day I will also include a letter from the head as well as a mention of The Zoo Trip and the Honour Students. I believe by choosing all of these different topics it has suited a variety of audiences as everyone is able to relate to the magazine as the whole school participated in Sports Day and for those who went onto The Zoo Trip are able to reminiscence about their time there. I have also concluded that I shall make the magazine free because the market research advices me that more people would want the magazine for free.

AS Media Studies Preliminary Task – School Magazine Front Page Proposal Form

Target audience: (age range, interests)Although it is a school newsletter you still have to think about your audience and how to appeal to them. 

The school magazine is aimed for students of the school (11-18 years of old) this is because it is information to keep them updated on the school. The teachers and parents are able to read the magazine however the main priority are the students therefore the language choice may not be as formal. The magazine can also be aimed for those who are potential students of the school and what to find out more. This means that the images and content have to be balanced in order for it to be suitable for the different range as well as have a simple guideline.

Possible title ideas: (masthead / title block)What is your magazine going to be called? 

Priory news Priory Talk The Primary Source Primary Priory The Primary Say

Main image:What will be the focal point of your front page, remember, your work “must include a photograph of a student in a medium close-up” 

As I have chosen to do a special edition on sports day for my main image I have decided to have a medium close up of someone who is a sporting star, it will be located roughly in the middle of the page so it is the main focus of the magazine and everyone will pay attention to it and know that it is the main focus of the magazine.

Main cover line:What will be the main story? 

My main cover line is the Sporting Success as this links clearly with the image and will be an ongoing theme throughout the magazine, I also have two subheadings which are sport day results as the magazine is a sports day edition as well a head teachers accommodation.

Additional key images:What other images will be on your front cover?Remember, it is a school magazine. 

The school logo The name of the school The issue date

Additional cover lines:Other features, stories or selling points which will be inside the magazine, these need to be audience appropriate.  

As the additional cover lines which will be included in the contents page are: A level and GCSE results fantastic Award Ceremony Letter from the head Dates for your diary The zoo trip Honour students

Typography: (style, size, colour of copy)Think about the writing and the style of the writing on your front page. Background colour/image:What will be in the background, remember you don’t want to take the focus away from the main image.  

For the front cover I will have a grey and white gradient but when you open inside the background is plain white but there is the theme of the red strip present on the bottom for both the front an contents page and the school logo at the top right hand corner of the magazine. I also have the writing which will be black for both the contents page as well as the home page and for the front page I shall I have the coloured boxes which will go around the text so this would be either black or red.

Technical considerations:(equipment, setting, props, costume, lighting)Be realistic and creative, think about what you have access to and how you could use it. 

The props would be links to school websites and educational ones which will help the students to further their education and also include some images of sports day, which represent the whole of sports day.

Preliminary exercise: produce a front page and contents page of a school magazine. Front covers must include a

photograph of a student in a medium close-up with appropriately laid out text and use of an image manipulation

programme (Photoshop).

Below start to sketch what the front cover of your newsletter will look like.

Preliminary exercise: produce a front page and contents page of a school magazine. Front covers must include a

photograph of a student in a medium close-up with appropriately laid out text and use of an image manipulation

programme (Photoshop).

Below start to sketch what the contents page of your newsletter will look like.

The Front Page…

The Contents Page…

The Heading of the Magazine is clear and out of the way from the other information which is presented. You can clearly tell this sis the heading of the magazine as it is the biggest text compared to the rest of the magazine.

The TPS is highlighted in the title to emphasise the link between the title and the School As The Priory School has the initial TPS, showing a clear link to the school.

The school logo is clear and stands out, so it is instantly recognisable allowing students to know which magazine to pick up. The logo gives a clear identity to the magazine.

‘Sporting Success’ subheading is seen to be the most important heading out of the three because it is slightly bigger than the other two and is the only one surrounded by the red box which shows it significant, I have chosen to do this as inside you will find a main article about this where as the other two are features inside the magazine and are not as important. All of three headings are nicely boxed to keep it formal and tidy

The ribbon at the bottom of the page is there for anyone who is not familiar with the school so they know which school they are reading into it also shows the issue date so that people are aware of how many have previously been published and if they wanted to read the rest of them.

How I Changed The Image…

I began with this image and wanted to begin by removing the background, I simply id this by using the quick selection tool which got rid of the background easily.

It then left me this, I believed that the picture looked quite dull so I thought I would change the brightness and contrast of the image. I did this by going onto Image then Adjustments and finally brightness and contrast, where there was a panel where I decided how much brightness I wanted to increase as well as the contrast.

How I Changed The Image…

The Picture resulted to become like this which is slightly brighter than before. To enhance the image further I changed the vibrancy and saturation of the image, which made the image stand out much more which I believed benefitted the magazine.

The Finished Result

A consistency from the front page to the cover page showing the link between them. It his highlighted as the logo of the magazine because it is at the top left corner of the page where it is clear and noticeable.

All the images are linked to the main theme of the magazine so the audience are aware what it exactly is and whether it would suit them. There is also page numbers beside them so if they are only interested in one topic of the event then they can turn to the certain page to find out more information.

The logo ion the top right hand corner show the identity of the school just like the homepage to show consistency throughout the magazine.

The title of the page ‘Contents’ is placed on the side and is bold from the rest of the text, I placed it on the side as I didn’t believe that it was highly important however still essential for it to placed on the page.

The ribbon at the bottom of the page is exactly like the one show on the front cover to show the link between the two pages, however instead of having the Priory School on the ribbon I decided to have the web address for the School then on the later pages you will see more information on The Priory School, so the Address and contact information.

Why I choose the image? I choose this image as I believed that it was the best out of the three as the first image she is on the side and her finger is covering her face. This means that the image is not good for use and therefore I did not use the image. The second image is not acceptable to use because her neck is not shown and she is looking away from the camera this is why I didn’t use the image. With the last image she is looking directly at the camera and the image is clear and there is a gap between the two sides unlike the second image.