The name of my magazine is 'BreakTime'. I chose this name because it fits in with school life and it is something people can read in their free time. 'BreakTime' can make people think of relaxation and a time to chill out. It is a catchy name that people can remember. The colour scheme of my masthead is yellow and black. The bright yellow attracts the reader and makes it stand out on a page. The stroke around the text is in black, it makes it bold and contrasts with the bright yellow. It originally didn't have a stroke around the text but I felt it looked lost on the page without it. I believe these two colours work well together. The masthead is big on the page, this makes it stand out and lets the reader know it is the name of the magazine.
For my main image I chose to take a picture of a girl named Emily. My main image dominates the cover, it is a medium shot of Emily with the background removed so it solely focusses on Emily. Emily's gaze is at the audience and she is smiling which indicates she is a friendly person, her smile is inviting. The main image fits in with my story of 'new head girl', even though Emily is wearing comfortable clothes it shows that she is relaxed in a school environment. My main image originally had a brick background but I felt it didn't fit in with my magazine, therefore I removed it using Photoshop, I believe it has improved the image because the brick work was detracting from Emily herself as the main image.
I decided to have three subsidiary images of equal size, I made them a lot smaller than my main image so as to not detract from the main story whilst fitting as much content as possible on the page to draw readers in with different articles. I have placed my subsidiary images at the bottom left corner of the page all together because it gives my page a grid structure and a busy feel. Furthermore the layout of the subsidiary images are overlapping and tilted which creates a balance against the formality of other aspects of the page.
The image on the left was meant to represent a swimathon, it was pictured outside a leisure centre. I don't feel I have captured this image as well as I could have, ideally an image of a swimming pool or a swimmer would have been more appropriate. Nevertheless the boy taken in the photograph stands proudly and has the physique of a swimmer.
The next image regards exam results. The image was taken outside the main entrance of upper school which is where pupils collect their results. I believe I have captured this image well since the boys are showing relevant expression as they open their results.
The final subsidiary image is showing a glimpse of the choir's activity in the school. It was taken in the music room where choir is held, the piano and the music stands fit in with the environment. The music teacher is in between the two pupils pointing towards a sheet of music highlighting the practical nature of the work they're doing. The boy on the far left is shown to be singing which gives a clear indication of the story that it is representing. Also the boy on the right is smiling, which indicates how fun and enjoyable choir is.
I used six sell lines on my front cover, they give a clear indication about the contents of the magazine. They are straight to the point and informative. The way I have designed my sell lines draws comparisons to a school notepad to fit in with the nature of the magazine. I used red bullet points and black text so that it broke up the page, I introduced red to make the page more interesting and less plain. I didn't use any puns or alliteration because I felt it wasn't needed, I thought it would be a little unsophisticated on a front cover. I wanted to use a variety of different fonts to make it eye-catching, each section of the page uses different fonts so that it doesn't look boring. In addition to this, I made sure that the font size was clear and appropriate and legible for the reader. I wanted to find a balance, because too big would crowd the front cover and too little may look empty. Also I didn't draw away from the masthead, which is the main focus on the magazine cover.
The layout of my front page is clear and well organised, it doesn't look messy, it is very presentable. I believe that my front page is suitable for my target audience which is school children. It addresses topical information about school life and this would appeal to the wide tastes of school pupils. My design of the front cover is recognisable as a school magazine if looked closer at, but from a first glance it could be mistaken for something else.
I am extremely happy with my final front cover design. I believe that it looks attractive and inviting which would appeal to people of a young age. The layout of my subsidiary images is effective and I like how the pictures overlap and are tilted at slight angles because it looks engaging. Also I am pleased with how my main image turned out once I had edited it on Photoshop, I wasn't sure how it would turn out but I believe it made the picture look more professional. I felt I made the size of the text appropriate for each section of the magazine.
To improve my magazine further I feel I could have used subsidiary images that better represented the content, for example I could have used a picture of a swimming pool that better highlighted a swimathon. I need to pay attention to detail more when I complete my school magazine, as I haven't put the price, the issue date or a barcode on the magazine. Also I could have improved my text colour scheme so that it stands out more. Another target for improvement would be to more effectively show it is a school magazine through design. I could have used a literary devise such as alliteration to make my sell lines more memorable. Overall I am pleased with my front cover but recognise there is always room for improvement.
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