School Magazine EvaluationKATIE WINN

Front Cover - StrengthsI have used a masthead at the top of the front cover which follow the conventions of typical magazines, to improve this, and give the picture better visibility I used the ‘eraser’ tool to remove the writing that intercepted the readers view of her face.

The cover lines I created follow conventions and aligned with the side of the page, this creates a professional and conventional finish on the magazine cover.

I created a house style of monochromatic colours and pops of red, this makes the finish professional and neat looking as it all ties in together.

The photo I took and used as the feature article photograph is a mid shot as it follows conventions and makes the subject appear relatable and friendly, appealing to my demographic, secondary school children.

The picture is high quality and looks like a school picture as she is wearing a lanyard and a smart shirt, therefore fits in with the style of the magazine, giving the cover a positive mode of address I have included a barcode, following usual

magazine conventions making it look professional.

I have included a plug which follows the conventions of a magazine, it is flushed left which makes it look professional and neat.The mise-en-scene includes the

school field as the background, which has connotations of liveliness and energy, making school seem positive

I have included a puff to add information to the cover

Front Cover - WeaknessesThe masthead is slightly blurred making it slightly difficult to read – also the typography is informal and staggered adding to the text’s eligibility.

The background of the picture is slightly canted, creating a slightly unprofessional finish, making the text appear slightly wonky

The puff is at the bottom of the page meaning it may not be seen and also the colour of it is slightly difficult to be seen and could be improved by adding a block coloured shape underneath, making the colour of the writing pop

The two types of font contrast creating a confusing style and tone as one is garish and fun, whereas the other one it sophisticated and neat

The feature article photograph is slightly off centre which looks slightly unprofessional and makes the picture uneven

It isn’t clear which is a cover line and which is a plug

Contents Page Strengths

I have created a box over the image and made it a low opacity so the image can still be seen but so the writing is legible.

I used a posed-candid picture as the main focus of my contents page to create the impression the students are focussed and interested which connotes success and a positive image of the school

I have included a headline which makes it clear to the reader what information is on the page – I used large typography which makes it easy to read

WeaknessesThe typography creates a young, immature image

contrasting with the mode of address I’m aiming to achieve

I have included some pictures to fill up the space on the page and help to build up a positive image of the school

The orange and yellow backgrounds do not fit in with the overall house style of the magazine

The images are quite small and cannot be seen very clearly

Not a very large variety of information and it isn’t organised very well, in the future I could use columns to make it look neater and more professional

It doesn’t stick to a very strict colour scheme making it look messy and unprofessional

The two types of font contrast creating a confusing style and tone as one is garish and fun, whereas the other one it sophisticated and neat

Tools usedI used this tool to move things around and reposition them, I also used it to select things so I can resize them

In order to change the opacity of the picture I created a box using this tool and changed the opacity.

I cropped images using this tool to make them the correct shape and size

I used this tool when necessary to zoom in and out on my work

I used this tool to change the colour of text and shapes I inserted

I used the ‘text’ tool to create my masthead, cover lines, plugs, puff and headings, I selected the fonts I wanted and changed the size and typography appropriately

I used the shape tool to create a rectangle over my main image on the contents page so I could make the writing more legible

I used the blur tool to make the background of the feature article photograph appear out of focus, so more attention was drawn to the subject of the photo

I used the ‘eraser’ tool to remove the areas of text that covered the main point of the photograph so her face appears 3D and intercepts the view of the text