Preliminary Task

College Magazine Cover

I have chosen to use this image, as it is a college magazine and the target audience is college students. The subjects of the photo are students and so will appeal to other students. It helps suggest the genre of the magazine and its purpose, as students are linked to colleges. It also shows the target audience. Also, the image is anchored by the cover story 'A LEVEL RESULTS ALL TIME HIGH!!!'. I chose to call the magazine 'Mary's Mag' as it is a college magazine for St. Mary's College. Also, it is alliteration which would sound catchy and therefore stick in the audiences mind. I chose to use a blue colour scheme as it is a colour used around college and in the logo. This is therefore representative of the college and helps signify which college magazine it is. The image I have used uses a direct mode of address whereby the subjects are looking towards the audience. I used this as it is a generic convention of magazine covers, and it helps create a link to the audience as it is as if they are looking at them. In order to make the magazine appealing to its audience, I have used bright lighting in the imagery, and bright, clear text / text boxes so that everything is visible and easy to see. When designing the layout of my magazine cover, I obeyed the generic conventions of other magazines. I did this by placing the header at the top and placed a slogan, "Mary's Mag... For those who need more in life than work...", below it. This slogan outlines the purpose of the magazine, which is to show that there is more to college than just doing work all the time. I have included a strapline at the bottom that gives extra detail on the cover story. I have included three subheadings that outline other stories contained within the magazine. I have also included a barcode which is a necessary part of any magazine. As well as including the publish date for the magazine, I have included a web address, as it entices the audience to use the website.