Evaluation of College Magazine Cover
Language:
I think that my magazine challenges most college magazines conventions because they mainly include the college title in their masthead, putting students off because they may deem it too ‘swotty’ whereas I think that my magazine means it is more for students and not a representative of the college, a representative of them. Constructing this media product has taught me a lot more about how Photoshop works, especially with typography, how to blog efficiently and about online software’s like Prezi or GoAnimate which make the blog and all course work a lot more interactive and also easier to process. This also links to my magazine because it showed me how important the backup website is for a ‘community’ element to the magazine and also to make it more interactive.
I think that the anchorage of the magazine works well because the ‘THE’ in the top left corner draws your eye to read across the whole skyline and also down onto the masthead, meaning that ‘THE’ connotes two meanings (The College Journal & the place to be for: Cinema, Fashion, Music, Students.) then the slant provided by the date and price leads you across them, after that they drift towards the main image, then down the cover lines. This works well because it means the magazine isn’t cramped and doesn’t have too much information for you to process at once like a lot of magazines. By making the ‘COLLEGE’ part into a banner head I think it looks more professional and attracts your attention a lot more than if it wasn’t this big.
The image works well because it is casual as the attire is laid back, meaning it keeps the image friendly and not overwhelming while it doesn’t look out of place. The trees and vegetation in the background, I think, helps to make the college like a much fresher place and very vibrant rather than dull and grey buildings. I wanted to capture the ‘Wyke’ part of the handbook in order to instil a sense of pride in the college on the image without actually using one of the college signs, so that it was coming from the students not as something from the college itself.
While arranging the layout, I wanted to make sure that I had a left third and a right third (not full however) which were both at least used. The left third is used for cover lines as this may be sticking out when in a rack of magazines, therefore drawing attention to it and straight away telling consumers what is in it. I used the right third for factual information (date, price, barcode) as this may also be standing out so may tempt people by a good, worthy price however the right third does not encroach over the main image and clutter the magazine by doing so, which I think would make it look cheap and tacky. I made sure that I used a skyline so that this also conveys information to a consumer if showing, and have used only four words because these are probably suited best to the target audience.
INSTITUTION:
My media product would be distributed by the college and at the college because it is for the students. It would be ran by students however separately without an overbearing input from the college in order to maintain its independence, which would represent the target audience more than if the college wrote it, which would be aiming more to advertise the college to others who saw the magazine and not give the college a more ‘community’ magazine. I have seen this done through most of my market research which means that the magazine isn’t really exclusive or as appealing to the students of the college when this happens.
This is shown by the cover lines because it never slates the college, and the image does not portray a dismal, unhappy college but a sunny, bright college denotation which can be connoted to mean an opportunistic college with future and ‘Bright Horizons’
IDEALOGY:
The ideology for my magazine is to create a magazine that is ran by students, read by students and also revered by students, creating a community sense with it and making it read by everyone in the college as more of a ‘local’ newspaper telling them about what’s going on. This sense of community will be broadened by the interactive discussions on the website so that everyone who buys the magazine, hopefully the whole college, will be involved in their college.
This is represented on the cover by the use of students and also by the inclusion of more social events like music reviews and film reviews, and also by the ‘Letters From Students’ cover line being the foremost line therefore this can be connoted as being the most important part to the magazine: the inclusion/interactivity of students.
AUDIENCE:
The audience for my magazine would be the students at Wyke College, and if it developed into a franchise could expand to other colleges or be a template for other college magazines. It would be aimed at people aged 16 -19 and male and female students equally so that it applies to everyone. It would not only tell them about the college but also be a social reference for fashion, music and television/film or general everyday talking points to students of this age. By doing this it means that it would be more likely for them to regard it as ‘their own’ magazine and give it a sense of community.
To do this on the cover I have included a student dressed casually as they may be on any day, therefore making it accessible to students because to appoint it adheres to their stereotype. Also I used a compressed font in order to create an impression of a smart sleekness which is fresh and also represents the college. I have used yellow and blue for the masthead as they are friendly colours which appeal and attract readers, and they also complement each other very well.
REPRESENTATION:
The magazine will represent the college as a very social place; with fashionable, popular students as this is the description any student would want so therefore students look up to the representation of them. It has to be fresh and classy in order for it to not look tacky and average, as students/consumers don’t want to be taken for fools. Also the magazine has to represent the college in a good light to other people who may come across the magazine so that the college looks like a good learning centre and somewhere people are proud to say they go to.
To do this I have made the magazine look professional through the image quality and the writing which is embossed onto the page giving it more depth and a refined quality about it. The use of the thirds and the skyline in the layout helps because it has reason to be there and is not just spontaneously scattered around or across the page making it look cheap and unprofessional.
