College Magazine Cover

Evaluation:
Denotation

Black Background: Very plain background, so you can work on it and put whatever you want there without certain colours clashing together, or having one big photograph on the back which can look quite confusing when text and other insets are put on top of it.

Park Photographs: Shows fun and being playful. A-Level students going back to being kids and messing about on a park. Their faces are ones of enjoyment and happiness which could make the readers think that we have a brilliant time here and it's a great college. It can also show that our magazine is a great one that's full of fun and interesting stuff so it makes them want to read it.

Students on the Bottom: Look like typical teenagers. One is colourful and loud - guesturing to the camera, one typically sleepy like most students are, one too shy to really look at the camera and one just smiling forwards. This targets different types of teenagers - the ones that are shy and the loud ones that are up for a photo, not forgetting that lazy, sleepy ones too. Main cover line relates to them so we know that they are musical people. The black background really makes them stand out as the background that was originally in it's place is gone, so we don't focus on what would've been there, just the sharp black that makes them stand out with their colours.

Using Students: Using students on the front cover shows more involvement of the students in making this magazine, meaning that the audience will be more willing to read it as it was created and features people of their age group.

Lighting: The park photographs were taken outside so there was natural daylight shining on them, but they're not very bright. The bottom student photographs were also taken outside but with a much brighter light, so they look more happy and colourful.

Compostion: Strong square shape on the park photographs. Smooth on the other students. Sharp black to help photgraphs stand out.

Technical Code

Camera Angle: Park photographs were taken from quite close up, some are blurry as the students were on a moving swing at the time, so it was hard to catch them clearly. Other students - taken from straight on, right infront of them. They were sitting down and photographer standing up.

Shot Angle: Medium shots and long shots.

Focal point of image: I think the students at the bottom as they are the brightest and most colourful.

I think my cover is perfect for my target audience because it is fun and bright and it includes students, which is what students will really want to read about in the first place. It also has cover lines that will appeal to a large amount of students - Enter Shikari is a popular band that people will want to read about. The people who went to see them play will want to see what's been reported about them by us, and those who didn't get to go will be able to see what they missed. It also shows students messing around and having fun which is what most of us still want to do. I think the O2 offer along the bottom will appeal to most students as most can't live without their phones/texting. However, although I think there are lots of bright elements of my cover, I think it may not look very eye-catching so people may not notice it against other more attractive ones. I also think that I will only attract a certain stereotype of people: Rock fanatics etc. And although this could be a good thing as it is what I'm interested in, I might not attract enough people so my magazine wouldn't be very popular.

Skills I think I have gained:
My PhotoShop skills have improved greatly. At the beginning of the planning, I could barely use any of the tools on the program and had to ask how to find a lot of them, but now I feel I can use them quite easily and effectively too. I've also learnt how to create a cover correctly, i.e.: not filling it with far too much information, or using colours that look ridiculous together.