Masthead - Final Choice

I have decided that this will be my final choice for my masthead. I have used the font style "All Over Again" from the website Dafont. I chose this font because it looks slightly messy yet it is still readable. I think that this font links in well with the genre which I am doing as on most alternative magazines - the masthead has slightly messy writing. In addition when something is messy it can look harsh - and the word "Infectious" sounds like a negative word so this links together. Furthermore the font uses san serifs which can make the font more modern looking. I used the colour red because it is eye-catching. The colour red can imply danger and because the genre alternative can be seen to have a harsher beat and sounds quite negative at times. I chose the word "Infectious" because it sounds quite harsh on your tongue and that can reflect the style of music. I also chose that word because when I asked people about what name to use - it got the most votes. As the word sounds harsh, this means it can grab the audiences' attention - meaning that they would be more likely to remember my magazine.

Planning - Colour Scheme Ideas for my Masthead

As well for my masthead I will need to think able apporiate colour scheme which I will link into the genre alternative. I will research this by looking at other alternative magazines and see which colour schemes are common to use. I would like to use the colours red, purple, blacks and maybe a dark blue. I like the idea of using maybe a bright colour to contrast with all the darker colours. I will need to use the colours from the masthead as part of my house style to show that I have an organised house style. In addition, this will make my magazine look more professional.

I have tried using different colours with my masthead to see which one would go well on a magazine.

I think that if I had my masthead in red then it would work quite well as the red is eye-catching. The colour red can be seen as danger and quite harsh and links into the word as "infectious" is seen as a negative word. In addition, it sounds harsh. However a weakness of using red as a colour is that not all coloured backgrounds go well with this colour. Although I could place banner behind the masthead or have a black outline going around the words.
 

 I think that the colour blue would be an okay colour to use. As it colour is slightly bright so it would catch the audienes' attention. Furthermore it looks quite well on different colour backgrounds. However I don't want to use it as a background because it isn't as eye-catching as the colour red.

I think that the colour purple would be an okay colour to use because the colour purple is quite bright. However it wouldn't be a good colour to use as it can be seen more of a feminine colour and might be not be

associated with the genre of my magazine.

 

The colour black would be a good colour to use as seen as a darker colour and this would work with the style of my magazine. However the colour black is used quite a lot and it could become quite plain. I want my masthead to catch the audiences' attention.


In the end I think I will use the colour red for my masthead as it is the most eye-catching out of all the colours. In addition, I think the colour red links into the music genre which I am doing better than any of the other colours.

Planning - Fonts for Masthead

For my masthead I have to chose a relevant style of font. The font of the masthead needs to be eye-catching however it also needs to resemble the genre of my magazine. Because the genre that I am doing is alternative, I need to make sure my font looks slightly harsh. I want to chose a font which looks slightly broken and messy, yet is still readable. I would like my font to be unevenly placed as I think it will fit into the style of genre.

I will research different fonts on the website Dafont and then see which fonts look the best and would be ideal for my masthead.

I found when researching that I liked the style of these fonts. I then selected three of these fonts which I was considering to use.

This font that I have used is called "All Over Again". I like this style of font because it is slightly messy, yet it is readable. The font uses thin styled letters and uses a san serif font, this can make the font look more modern. The fact that this font looks messy makes it look like the font looked rushed, and this will link to the genre because some of the music in that genre can sound rushed at times.

This font that I have used is called "Sickness". I like this font because how the some of the words are missed off - this makes the font looked slightly smashed and that is something that I wanted to include in my masthead. I like how the words are uneven. I think the layout of this font is pretty good and work well as a masthead, however I don't like how thin the lettering is as I think it makes the font look less unprofessional.

This font that I have used is called "Knife Fight". I like this font because it is messy-looking and most fonts on alternative look slightly messy as it fits in to that style of music. I think it would be bold on any colour as it does seem to stand out. However I think the letters are too messy-looking because the letters "u" and "s" look too close together, making the font hard to read.

Overall, I think all of the font would be suitable to use, however I think I will use the font "All Over Again" for my masthead. However I am going to make some changes to the font e.g. I will move the placement of letters around so it makes the font look uneven. I am also going to remove some of the lettering like in the font "Sickness" as well as it will make the masthead look more harsh and infectious is a harsh sounding word.





Planning - Masthead

I have started to plan for my magazine, I came up with ideas for different names for my masthead. I had to make sure that the name I finally chose would be able to link in with the genre of my magazine.

The names I came up with were:

• Escape- I like this idea because music can be an escape for some people. Also the word discharge can sound slightly harsh and this could link into the genre of music in the magazine.

• Infectious - I liked this word for a masthead because the lyrics in some pieces of music can be quite catchy and get stuck into your head. However the word sounds quite negative but this could reflect some of the genre of music in the magazine; as I am doing including alternative music - and they can sound harsh and negative at times.

• Panic - I liked this word because it is a synonyms for the word "alarm" and when something is alarming it can catch attention of an audience and that is something which I want my magazine cover to do. The word Panic can imply danger and danger can catch people's attention.

I will suvery people to ask their opinion on which name will be best for my magazine and this will also give me a better understanding of what name will catch my audiences' attention.

 I asked ten people which name they prefered for my masthead and the most chosen was "Infectious".







I am chosing the name "Infectious" because I think it will link into the gerne of music that the music will contain; also it was the name that the people I surved liked.

Evaluation of the Preliminary Exercise

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of a school magazine?

My magazine uses the conventions of a school magazine as I have used a medium close up of a pupils and I have found this is commonly used on school magazines.




I did this because I wanted to make my magazine easily recognised by my target audience. I have included the school’s logo as the masthead for the magazine because it would be easily recognised by a pupil. In addition, I have used school events on the context page. I have also used a house style throughout my magazine cover and context page and this makes my magazine look more organised. The font that I have used is a san serif font, and this causes the text to look more modern and this will appeal to my target audience.

I have developed the conventions of a school magazine as I have included the school’s website on my magazine cover, so pupils can find out more information about the school. I placed colour text boxes over the writing – this can cause the writing to be seen more clearly and stand out. Furthermore the colours which I used were the same colours that I had for my house style and this shows that my magazine is well organised.

I have possibility challenged the conventions of a school magazine because not all of the colours I used were school colours. However the colours which I have used are bright and compliment each other so this causes the magazine to appeal the audience as they contrast against each other. Another way on which I have challenged the conventions of a school magazine is that I have used a kicker on my front cover.

2. How effective is the front page of your magazine in focusing on the ethos of the school?

My front cover links into the school's ethos, as it uses some of the school's main colours, this can show easily which school the magazine is aimed at. As well it keeps the magazine to a house style and this shows that it is well organised. I had also used the school's logo as the masthead; this links into the school's ethos because it shows that I have a clear house style. I think another way how they link together is that I have used a medium close up on my front cover and on the school's website they use images with medium close ups. This makes the front page more effective because it shows I have used the same style which the school would use; this makes my front cover seem more professional because it shows I follow a constant house style. Furthermore I have used the school's website on my magazine covers; this is effective because it shows that I thought where target audience could get more information about the school from.

My magazine cover can also link into the school's ethos, which is "pride, respect, dignity". As the students on my front cover are smiling - this can imply that they are happy and proud to be at this school. My front cover can show respect as their uniforms are quite neat, so this could hint that they respect the school's rules. My front cover can show dignity as the students are looking directly at the camera, this can show they could have pride for this school.

3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?

I have learnt from my audience feedback is that my magazine and context page contain both strengths and weaknesses. A strength of my front cover is that it includes the school's colours and this shows solidarity. As well it shows that the magazine is well organised and it makes it clear which school the magazine is based on. A weakness is that the background image doesn't really show the school and to improve I could have used a better image of the school. Another strength is that I've used a medium close-up and they are most commonly used on school magazines. However another weakness is the placement of the text. As some of it is lost when placed over the students and this makes the magazine look less professional.

A strength of the context page is the layout as it looks easy to read. While a weakness of it is the amount of text in the coloured boxes differs, so this makes it look unorganised and messy. However a strength of the context page is the colour theme is the same as the front cover so this links them together. As well it shows that I have followed a house style, making it look more professional. Another weakness could be in the text box for house events, there isn't any page numbers and it could make the magazine seem less organised as it looks out of place.

4. How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Before I made my preliminary magazine I researched images of other school magazines, this gave me an idea of how I could present my preliminary. In addition it gave me ideas of what conventions are included in a school magazine. Before I made my preliminary magazine I made a mock-up layout on publisher; I did this so it would give me an idea of what my preliminary could look like.

I have used the website called dafont to be able to find the text I wanted to use. The text that I picked was called Top Modern. I chose this because it includes san serifs and this can make the magazine look more modern. This can make my magazine be more effective because it will appeal to the target audience. I have used a program called Adobe Fireworks CS6 - which is a new version of fireworks. On this program I have been able to make my front cover and context page. I have been able to merge images together - so that they look more professional I’ve been able crop around images e.g. the students and get rid of the unneeded parts of the image. By cropping around them, this made them easier put them on another background. This makes the magazine cover look more effective and it also gives me practice for when I make my actual magazine cover.

By evaluating my preliminary it will help be able to improve my mistakes when making my actual magazine. As well it will give me more ideas on how to present my magazine, as well as deciding a suitable house style which will appeal to my target audience. By getting feedback from others shows me how realistic my preliminary looked as well it shows me areas on which I could make more realistic. Overall the evaluation of my preliminary will help me understand how I could make my actual magazine more realistic and professional towards my target audience.

Colour Symbolism

Colour symbolism is when a certain colour can cause you to feel a certain why or when it can be linked to a certain emotion or idea or even trait.

 

For example the colour red can be thought in a negativity way. As the colour can represented as anger or blood or violence. The colour red can also be seen as danger because it often used on stop signs and the idea of the big red button. The colour red also been seen as fire, which can emphasis the idea that the colour red is dangerous. However the colour red can also be seen in a positive way. The colour red can be seen as love and romance, due to red roses. In addition, the colour red can be seen as sexual and desire, e.g. bright red lips.

 

 

The colour blue can be seen in various ways. A lighter shade of blue like turquoise can be seen as natural and be linked to nature, e.g. lakes and skies. It can also be seen as calming as lighter colour are easier to look at than darker colours. However a darker shade of blue can be seen in as cold and represented sadness. In addition, it can be shown to represent depression; this because darker shade of blue isn’t as brighter as the colour turquoise so this can affect your mind in different ways.

The colour purple can be seen as royalty, this is because it used to be the most expensive dye to buy. As well it can thought of as spiritual because it is often used on candles and candles link to the idea of being spiritual. Mysterious also what the colour purple can be thought of, as it a bold colour, which stands out. While a lighter shades of purple like lavender can be seen as more feminine; and this can also cause the colour to seem more graceful and elegance.

 

The colour grey isn’t a bright colour, so this can cause the colour to be seen as boring. As well the colour grey is used on metals and locks – so this can create the idea that the colour grey is secure. As well colour grey is liked more by older people so this can cause the colour to be seen as sophisticated and well as old. Because this colour is quite simple it portrays the colour to be modesty. As well the colour grey can sometimes be seen as calming.