From
the preliminary task I think I have come a long way, because when completing
the preliminary task I didn't’ do a lot of research into what the
conventions were and into the layout of a front cover. The reason why I don’t
think my front cover for the teachers magazines was very good was because I had
trouble with laying everything out to make it look like an educational magazine
for teenagers aged 11-18. Also looking back at the front cover there wasn’t a
lot on the page. Compared to my Bassline front cover everything fitted well and
complimented each of the things on the page, and it looked like I have done a
lot of research into the conventions of an music magazine.
Front Cover
Masthead
Looking at both of the mastheads from the teachers magazine to my music magazine there is a big difference. For the teachers magazine I used a very plain front for the masthead, now I can see that by having a pain masthead it wouldn't attract the audience and it brings the whole front cover down. The masthead for my music magazine is bold and stands out from the background, this masthead is much better than the teachers masthead because I have used a much more creative font which brings the magazine to life and makes it stand out from other magazines. To make my masthead for my music magazine even better and different I added an heart beat running through the text. When researching into different music magazines I noticed that they there mastheads were plain, so I made the decision to go against what was the norm and add the heart beat to the masthead.
Main Image
The main images for the teachers and music magazine I still think they both suit the subject of the magazines. The main image for the teachers magazine suits the magazine well because the model is holding a folder which is linked to school and education. Also the model is carrying her school bag, this shows what the magazine is about without even looking through the magazine.
The main image on the music magazine front cover shows that what I have learnt from what I have researched. When I researched into the conventions for music magazines front covers I found out they always use a medium close up, the reason for this is because I think the shot holds all the detail that needs to be included on the front cover, also by using this shot it makes the magazine more personal to the reader and the eye contact draws you in to the magazine and makes you want to read it. Another reason why I think the music magazine front cover is better because the image is cut out well and it looks professional compared to the top magazine.
Layout
From looking at the layout of each front cover, I can see that I have learnt a lot from the preliminary task because the teachers front cover there was not a clear layout and where everything was placed there is not a balance on the page. The difference with my music magazine front cover is that I had done a lot of research into the layout of front covers, what looks best, positioning of the text, main image and masthead. By looking at the music magazine front cover you can tell that I had done a lot of research into what it should look like and conventions.
Colour Scheme
On the teachers magazine front cover there was not a clear colour scheme on the page, this brought the front cover down because the colours I did use were dull and didn't match the subject of the magazine. The background was very dull for the teachers pet magazine, this was because I didn't add an background and I just used the background for the image. There is a major difference between the magazine because the background for my music magazine is very bold and bright, and this would attract the audience to my magazine. Also all the colours on the front cover match and go well together which shows that I have thought about what colours to use.
Contents Page
From looking at both the contents pages I can see a major difference between the two. The contents page for the teachers magazine although there is a clear layout for the text and the images it looks very plain and there isn't a lot of colours used on the page. Also on the page there is a lot of blank space, which have been filled up if I thought about the layout more, and placed the text and images in difference places.
Colour used
The top contents page there is a very limited amount of colours used, the only colours I did use were white, black and yellow. The colour black and white are very simple colours which didn't stand out but I think the colour yellow added some brightness to the page but it did still look bland.
My music contents page although it use many bright colours I still think it is better because they colours work well together and they match the genre of music chosen well.
Photos
The photos I have used in both contents pages go well on the page and they link to the subject of the magazine. The photos I have used on the music magazine I added an outline to make the photos stand out even more from the background.