Front Cover Images + Final Front Cover

Images for my school magazine

I took some photos of my own, as well as a friend taking them for me as I was in the shot, therefore I couldn't take it myself so I just discussed how I wanted the image to look. My friends and I experimented with different stereotypical characters acting as school girls for the image. For example the characters I choose was a nerd, a sporty girl and the popular girl to show different cliche's. I wanted to create this because it's a typical school atmosphere and it makes it really obvious for the viewer of exactly what type of magazine I created

I thought this shot worked well as it shows the different levels resembling status' of the different characters. For example, in a school the nerd would be classed as having the lowest status, whereas the popular girl would be highest. The different movements and different body language, I also chose to include in this shot as it really shows the contrast between characters which I think works well. For example, we can see the figure in the middle has lots of attitude from the blow of the bubble and her facial expression.

This is another experiment image which I asked my friend to take, which I thought would work well. However, I wasn't as happy with the image as I thought I would be, therefore I knew I wouldn't be using it for my final front cover of my school magazine. From the characters facing away from the camera, it almost makes the viewer want to know what they're looking at which I thought could be quite effective. Furthermore, I think it shows the difference between each of them, the image looking as though it's an image for a character profile of them individually.

In this image I tried to create a more natural approach, making it seem like an average school day. The 'popular girl' is on the phone, ignoring 'the nerd' gesturing her away, whereas the 'sporty girl' is shown in an Adidas sport jumper with her tie undone, making it clear to the reader what type of person she is.

This is the final image, which I chose to use for my final front cover image for my school magazine. I liked the use of different levels again, showing status' between the characters. Furthermore I liked the background of graffiti which creates a child-like school, informal effect for the viewer. It also captures the viewers eye from the bright colours.

Below is an image of my final front cover which I created on PhotoShop. I was able to manipulate the photograph and transform it into my final cover.

'Standout' wasn't the font I initially intended to use for my front cover, however I decided on using it, as I thought it would work well with the imagery and the font looked quite modern and technical, more school-like than the other fonts I experimented with. Next to the title, it says '... From The Rest'. This is a play on words with the title, as it is telling the viewer to be individual and different from every one else by 'StandingOut'. I liked this idea, as it creates a link with the image, as we can see the vast difference between the characters personalities, even having to wear the same uniform. The title looks as though it's hiding behind the right person, which gives the magazine a more 3-D effect, making the actual magazine 'StandOut' to the audience, which is the approach I wanted to have. 'Issue 37' I used specifically, rather than 'Issue 1' for example, as I wanted it to seem as though this isn't the first magazine out, which makes it seem more popular as this is the 37th magazine so far. I also placed a barcode on the page with 'FREE' on it making it clear that the readers do not have to pay, this could make it more popular as students may not have a lot of money, especially with the recession and sales of magazines are decreasing.
Overall, I think I am fairly happy with the results considered on the minimal given time that I had to create and develop my front cover.