College Magazine Draft

Magazine Draft
Progress of my draft for the college magazine, with the happy Katie Mitchell as my model. I have used Photoshop to edit my photography and Indesign to create the layout and composition. I decided to name the magazine: "Happy Campus" with the tag line: "The student's guide to college life".

 

Originally the masthead was coloured blue and purple to carry on the theme already established by the main images filter. The shot used is a medium shot which includes head and shoulders, although there is a little flair of the hand which creates a happy and welcoming tone. The image fill the primary optical area and there is a direct mode of address which entices the audience.

 

The headline based on an exchange trip to Spain is placed in the left hand third (to be sure that the audience can view as much as possible when the magazine is on display), the colours reflect the Spanish flag, all adapted to be subtle against the blue coloured theme.

The font I have used is Gill Sans Ultra Bold which is bold and informal, suitable for a student reader. Keeping the text in upper case also draws attention. The language is informal, reflecting the relaxed attitude of majority of students.

 

You can see below where I had placed the outline of the selling line, this position, although at the bottom, is still noticable because it would have been isolated from the rest of the text.

 

In the end I decided against having 5 different colours of text for the masthead and cover lines, as this looked unprofessional and defeated the point of having a themed colour of blue. Instead I erased or minimised the amount of colours used. For example, I wanted to keep the connotation of the Spanish flag so instead I used blue and green as the main fill, along with yellow and red (not out of place becaus of the red highlight in Katie's hair) as a small, subtle outline. Apart from this the other cover lines appear mainly as white with some green and kickers in blue and white. To highlight the headline I have placed an almost transparent border behind.

 

The mast head now features white which is bold and contrast the background with a green outline to separate the title from the main image. Blue is used for "Happy" and the tag line. The taglines font is Monotype Corsiva to highlight the text from the other features. Below the masthead the date is featured so that students can keep up to date with the magazine and new issues that are released.

 

The cover lines include content fromt he magazine that would hoefully attract the audience, such as the opportunity to travel, save money and entertain themsleves.