Evaluation of my school magazine

Evaluation of my school magazine

To help me create a school magazine that could be published in a real school environment I studied and evaluated many other magazines such as “chill” and “evolve”. Both magazines had a clear mast head and i chose to incorporate this into my magazine. The use of the name “The Bay” relates to Whitley Bay High School and also the location of the school which is commonly referred to as “the Bay”. On the front cover i chose to put tag lines that were relevant to the recent happenings in the school, this would allow the students to relate to the articles. I chose to use a font for my title that is often related to American high schools to make my magazine look more interesting. The background is a student’s artwork which immediately makes the students of the school feel more involved in the production of it. I used a picture of a student on my front cover to involve the students and to grab their attention. On my contents page i chose a layout similar to that of “Marie Clair” this gives it a more high class, sophisticated look. I included a picture of two students who you would later find were editors of the magazine; this gives it a more personal appeal. The school logo is included on the contents page, this is a convention used by the majority of school magazines. The background is a pale pink, i chose a plainer colour on the contents as the front cover is already very gaudy and draws allot of the attention away from the main stories.

My magazine represents stereotypical students who are enjoying life; you can see this by the smiles on their faces and the background used on the contents’ main image. My magazine shows two white students however it features both a male and female student. The front cover shows a male dressed rather stereotypically as a smart child, this is done deliberately to bring some humour to the magazine. The school is represented on both pages as a fun and enjoyable school. My magazine would be distributed in both public and private schools as it doesn’t appeal to one social class more than the other. The magazine would be placed in main offices and places with seats, the articles are short and allow for light reading so it can be read when waiting to talk to a teacher or in-between classes. It may also be available in the feeder schools as it would give future students an insight into what is happening and it may make the process of moving to a new school easier. It is reasonably cheap to produce and could therefore be distributed in school events such as parent’s evenings, local shops may also want to supply it as many potential students may shop there.

My target audience is students both current and potential, it shows the highlights of the school and may make the school more appealing to lower school students soon to be moving onto a high school, therefore the ages would range from as low as year 7’s to year 13’s. To attract my audience i included on the front page a humorous image and three exciting stories such as school trips and current productions.

I have furthered my knowledge of Photoshop while creating this magazine, i feel more confident and able to reach deadlines. Using the camera to take a medium shot indoors proved reasonably simple however the flash created a problem when it reflected on the glasses shown. The layering tool on Photoshop became easier to understand as the project went on, other tools such as the lasso and rubber also became more understandable as i used them more.