Title Ideas for School Magazine

Title Ideas for 6th Form Magazine

(I didn't realise I hadn't posted this work before I created my magazine)

Initially I thought of a few different ideas which I quite liked to use for the title of my School Magazine. I thought of, ‘Unique’, ‘Outcast’, ‘Matchless’, ‘Exclusive’ and then finally decided on using ‘Standout’. I choose these similar styles of titles because I wanted to emphasis on the fact that Fortismere School is a non-uniform school and 6th Form which creates more individuality, showing how different each pupil is. I also like ‘Standout’ as a title as it shows individuality- not only in the pupils, but also the magazine itself. For example; showing that this particular magazine ‘stands out’ from every other magazine in the media industry. Furthermore, ‘Standout’, also resembles the stand which holds magazines in the shops e.g. the shelves.

The first font which I liked is shown above. I decided not to use this as I think it will take too much attention from the imagery and it made the whole of the front cover seem too 'in your face'.

After I had played around with fonts before I even created my initial title for my school magazine. I choose the font which I will use for my final piece. The final title is shown below:

I liked my final font better than my first font because I think its bold and more effective, attracting my target audience more. Furthemore, I think it looks more modernised and school-like which is more relevant to my genre.

Evaluation of School Magazine

Evaluation of School Magazine

In what ways does your school magazine, develop or challenge forms and conventions for a real magazine?
I tried to create my school magazine to a professional standard, making it represent a real magazine with typical magazine conventions. Before I began the creation of my magazine, I researched all different kinds of magazines to find out different forms and conventions for different genres such as how, music, celebrity gossip, games, home life etc. differ from each other. Magazines have different conventions to attract and engage their particular audience. For example, a magazine aimed at young people would have less formal language and maybe use slang to direct their audience in a better understanding for them. I took all this information that I discovered into account when creating my ideas for my magazine and then the final piece. I decided to keep to the particular conventions of a school magazine, however using my own original ideas which were different to a typical school magazine that made it unique to other magazines. I used bold colourful fonts for the title to attract the reader’s attention. Furthermore ‘Stand’ was coloured black, whereas ‘Out’ was yellow to emphasis on ‘Standing out’ resembling individualism from not only other magazines in the industry, but also students who are the targeted audience. I also used slogans and catchphrases on the front cover (hinting what is included inside the magazine for the reader), this could attract the reader into taking their time out into actually being interested and reading the magazine.

Does your school magazine represent particular social groups?
My school magazine represents student social groups and tries to emphasise on the point of stereotypes in schools, as well as throughout the world. The title ‘Standout’ creates an aspect of being different to everyone else, and the students finding their inner soul and being their own characters. I created a contrast with the imagery and the title on the front cover of the magazine to make it obvious to the reader what my intentions of the front cover were, which were to show the importance of being an individual. In the photograph, it includes 3 students of different clichés- a sporty girl, the popular girl, and the nerd. These are typical stereotypes of students in school, especially within the film industry. I wanted to use this as, as soon as the audience see the front cover, they straight away know what it’s about- school life for girls (girls also being the target audience). I also decided on the costume for the characters- which was uniform. This was to creat contrast as Fortismere School doesn’t have uniform (which was the school I based the magazine on), therefore it creates a new aspect to the school for students, creating contrast which could be more interesting.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
The type of media institution, who would distribute my media school magazine, would preferably be the school which the magazine was written for as the genre of my magazine is a school magazine. Fortismere Secondary School- was the particular school I created the magazine for, which is the 6th form I attend.

Who is the particular audience for your school magazine? And how did you attract/address your audience?
The particular audience which I intended my magazine to be targeted at, were secondary female school children- aged from 12-16 years of age, as well as 17 and 18 year olds as the Fortismere School has a joint 6th form which involves older students. I was able to attract my audience by including themes in the magazine which would be addressed to them, for example help on exam revision, as well as music chart hits, student real life stories, celebrity vs. student look-a-likes, fashion week and more. I discovered from my research and questionnaire that my target audience would be interested in these particular features, therefore I think it would be able to entice my target audience into reading the magazine. Furthemore, the language I used throughout the magazine contents and front cover was fairly informal and child-like. This was so that the audience could relate to the text. The type of colours and text I used was also to attract my target audience, as I used pastel pinky colours which reflect my target audience.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing your magazine?
Throughout creating my front cover and contents page of my school magazine, I have been able to learn how to use Photoshop 7.0 and manipulate images. I experimented with the use of tools throughout the editing facility, and began to get more confident with my creativity on different tools. I also tried to work with publisher just to test it out, however I thought Photoshop gave better, more professional looking work as publisher also didn’t have as many tools and equipment to use. Therefore I used Adobe PhotoShop 7.0 for my final piece.

How did you find making this school magazine and what did you find particularly difficult or easy?
At the beginning of the project, I found it fairly difficult to start as a beginner on PhotoShop. This was quite a challenge, as PhotoShop is crucial for creating a realistic, professional final product. I think with practice and help from peers/ teacher; I was able to become more confident with it, making my final product realistic-looking. I think I found the research the least difficult thing to accomplish as I was already familiar with it from creating a toddlers magazine in GCSE. I was able to put my previous knowledge through my work now, which I think helped me a lot to discover what my particular audience would like to see in my school magazine, to help my magazine be appropriate for my chosen genre/ audience.

If you had the chance to do this school magazine again, what would you do different to improve it?
If I had the chance to do the magazine again, I think I would try and be more prepared from the very start of the project and begin my ideas for my magazine straight away rather than after my research. This is because of the time limit in which I had little time to complete the project. I would have also liked to have more time in being able to learn in more detail about PhotoShop 7.0 and experiment with my work more.

Contents page

Above is a print screen taken whilst I was editing my contents page on PhotoShop. I was still experimenting with the programme and the page, therefore, this wasn't the final design I wanted to use for my contents page of my school magazine. I noticed that the font coloured red made it harder to read the text and as the font overlapped particular parts of the images, such as the student's faces, it made it seem less effective for the reader. Therefore, below is an image of the final contents page I created. I changed the font layout and the colour which makes it easier for the reader to see what it says. I think I am fairly happy with the final contents page as I think it links to my target audience and I also like the organisation of the layout.

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.

Manipulating Images

I found an image which is about how models are photo shopped to an extent where they’ve been manipulated and it doesn’t look like the real them, which is a topic I feel strongly about. I’m interested in this topic as it has recently become a huge issue within the media industry as it is having a huge affect on young teenage girls especially and the self conscious, insecurity of the general viewers.
From the image above, it shows the complete change from before the editor had manipulated the image (the right), and after (the left). It really shows the drastic measures of technology that the media industry uses, especially within magazines to make them seem ‘picture perfect’. Both the images shown above, show the difference between natural beauty, and the beauty which viewers compare themselves to and are influenced by. It also shows contrast between real life and unreality. Furthermore, it is a prime example of how the media industry use stereotypical images of thin, beautiful models which the viewers think are natural.

Being an Image Editor

"Being an image editor"

Throughout my media lesson, my peers and I were given certain activities, to get us more comfortable with manipulating images to help us with creating our magazine. My group designed an image which we thought worked well and linked with the particular article we were given to create an image.
The article was a horoscopes page and I came up with the idea, of using one person in the centre of the image, with lots of winding roads around them. There was also a sign post to the right of the individual with different directions and routes to chose. The sign post had quotes from the horoscope which really links it back to the article. For example, “This way for Libras” and “Money will come your way” etc. I was happy with this idea as I thought it really resembled the article and could make it more interesting for the reader, rather than a simple image such as a crystal ball for example- which was our first idea. Whilst creating the image, many factors helped me which I unconsciously used. Such as, personal experience, mise en scene and creativity. These are all important for an editor to create a good image which captures the viewer’s attention. Reading magazines also help which links to personal experience as it gets you more aware of particular types of images which are used to stand out to the audience. Mise en scene is also very important as it captures everything the viewer will see, as well as maybe the meaning behind the image. Lastly, creativity is crucial in creating a well suited image for a particular article, as it gains more interest from the viewer. For example, if the image was fairly boring and didn’t relate to the article then the audience may lose interest.

Experimenting with fonts

Fonts
Initially, I still haven’t decided what the title of my school magazine will be. To get some influence I experimented with different fonts which would suit my target audience which some have been shown below. I liked this font shown above, as it creates a girly welcoming for the audience and it seems quite feminine. I also liked it because it seems quite creative as though its been hand drawn which gives off an art aspect, especially for those who do graphical and creative courses.
This font really above, seems suitable for a school magazine as it looks as though its type written. However, I don’t think it’s very exciting for my target audience as its aimed at teenage girls which could be an off-put for my readers.

I like this font as its quite simple, which could initially let the readers be more drawn to the images shown on the front cover rather than the text which could be the outcome which I am hoping to get. However, I think that the title (font colours, type of font and actual title) could crucially be the most important part of the front cover as it gives off an impression of what the magazine will be about.

Above is an image of a banner which I thought would be useful to use behind my title font using bright colours. This could make the title stand out more and seem more eye-catching for my particular target audience. It also relates to the school genre of my magazine, as it looks like a school sign, or a symbol used on school uniform, for example.

I also thought this font shown above, was quite interesting, as it seems quite scruffy and child-like which makes the magazine seem more informal and able for my target audience to relate to. I thought that the “O” in the word “Fortismere” could be changed in PhotoShop to the female symbol which again links to my target audience. However, I will not be using “Fortismere” as my final title, I just came up with different ideas to get more influenced to create my title.