Media Coursework AS
VOLUME MUSIC MAGAZINE
PRELIM
PRINT BRIEF - PRELIMINARY EXERCISE PRINT
Produce the front page of a new school / college magazine, featuring a photograph of a student in a medium close-up plus some appropriately laid out text and a masthead. You also must produce a mock of the layout of the contents page, using a DTP programme.
During the preliminary exercise, I had a lot less time to plan out the shots which I wanted to use which made my magazine look a bit amateur and unprofessional. The colour scheme used on these photos are quite bold and dominant with no 'tint' or gradient change which I believe is needed to make a magazine look professional. Also the photo used was not shot on a white screen, but a white wall, which resulted in there not being a shadow off of the model again making the magazine look amateur. The layout of the magazine could use some work as the structure of the magazine is not set out in a professional way. For example the barcode is at the top of the page, the main cover line has no relevance to the main feature article, the font used on the typeface changes throughout the front cover, which makes the magazine look amateur as I have not stuck to one style / font on the front cover. Overall I would say that the magazine front cover needed a lot more planning and research of professional magazines was needed as well as a lot more work done to it before it was completely finished.
If I completed this exercise again I would definitely shoot my main photo on white screen rather than a wall to create the effect of a shadow and I would also fill up a lot more of the white space with more cover lines because the empty space makes the magazine look amateur. I would also stick to an overall colour scheme of blue and black without the red because I believe the red stood out too much and took emphasis away from the main feature article.
For the contents page, I placed basic story lines on the page along with the tittle 'Contents'. I did not use the same colour of text with that of the front cover which I definitely changed during my final / proper piece of coursework. Over the two pages, the font style changes which represents my work as being amateur and unprofessional. There is a lot of white space on my preliminary magazine contents page and front cover, which I believe makes the magazine look plane and too much like a poster, which is the opposite of what I have done in my final piece / proper piece of coursework. There is also no photo used on my contents page which makes the page look more like a poster than an actual contents page.
If I were to complete this exercise again, I would definitely stick to the overall house style and colour scheme of the magazine on the contents page. As well as this, I would use another photo to make the contents page look more realistic and professional, and I would use effects in Photoshop like the sponge tool and increase the clarity and shade of the photo etc... to make the image stand out more and look more defiant and realistic. Also if I were to complete this exercise again, I would structure the page to look more professional by having titles of the certain categories e.g. Features, reviews, interviews etc… to make the magazine much more easier to read and look more professional.
