Foundation Portfolio Deadlines

School magazine cover: Friday, 11th November 2011.

·       School magazine cover completed and saved as a JPEG and posted on blog.

·       Evaluation of the school magazine front cover on the blog.

Blog Deadlines: 11th November 2011

Your blog should contain the following entries:

·       School magazine questionnaire

·       Evaluation of school questionnaire

·       Photo of draft pages of cover

·       At least 3 images to be used on the cover.

·       The front cover of the school magazine.

·       An evaluation of the school magazine cover.

School Magazine Images

Magazine Photo Shoot Planning Document

 Use the following document to plan each of the photographs on the front cover of your school magazine.

Shoot date and time
Image Description
Shoot Location
Model / person contact Details
Permission Details
Props
Plan of shots

Examples of Good School Magazine Front Covers

Analyse the following School Magazine front covers. What makes them effective in terms of the following:

• Masthead - Name, layout, size and font
• Main Image  
• Subsidiary Images
• Sell-lines
• Layout
• Design

                                                      

School Magazine Cover

AS Preliminary Task
School Magazine Front Cover

The preliminary task is designed to help you learn the basics of page layout and design. You will not achieve a mark for the finished product, but if you do not complete the task, then fifteen marks will be deducted from the main task, the four pages of the music magazine.

You need to think about the following codes and conventions when you design your front page.The Masthead· What is the name of the magazine?
· What are the connotations of the masthead?
· Is the colour scheme of the masthead appropriate?
· Is the Masthead a sufficient size?
Images· What is the main image on your cover?
· Is the main image an appropriate or conventional size?
· Does the main image give a clear indication of the story that it is representing?
· Is the composition of the main image clear on the page?
· You should include at least two subsidiary images.
· Are the subsidiary images an appropriate size?
· Have the subsidiary images been placed in an appropriate position on the page?
· Do the subsidiary images give a clear indication of the stories that they are representing?
Language· You should use strap lines and sell lines on the front cover in order to give the reader an idea of the stories that can be found in the magazine (Should be at least 3).
· The strap lines or sell lines should give a clear indication about the main stories within the magazine and should appeal to the target audience.
· The language should be informative and entertaining.
· You should try and use literary devices in order to make your cover more interesting.  E.g. puns, alliteration, etc.
· Spelling and punctuation must be accurate.
· You should use a range of appropriate fonts. (At least 2)
· The font size should be clear and appropriate.
· You should use a consistent and appropriate colour scheme that appeals to the target audience.
Layout and Design· The layout of the front page should be clear and well organised.
· The front page should appeal to the reader.
· The design of your front page should be recognisable as the front cover of a school magazine.
Key Tasks to Complete During the Planning Stage

1. Analyse the front cover of at least three different types of magazine. Try to identify the key codes and conventions of layout and design.

2. Plan your ideas for your front cover. Think about the following: Masthead, Sell Lines, Strap Lines, Slogan, Main Image, Subsidiary Images, etc.

3. Find out what the target audience for your magazine thinks about your ideas for the front cover. Create a questionnaire in order to help plan the content of your page.

4. Create a rough draft of your magazine front cover.

5. Complete the planning documents to plan your photo shoots.

6. Take your photographs. You will need to book the camera if you are using school equipment!

7. Edit your photographs using Paintshop Pro. You should spend a minimum of 1 hour using Paintshop Pro.

8. Create your cover using Adobe Indesign or another suitable Desk Top Publishing Programme. You will need to book your sessions in the media room. You should aim to spend a minimum of 3 hours using Adobe Indesign.

9. Evaluate your front cover.

10. You should update your blog at every stage of the production

AS Preliminary Task

AS Media Coursework

Print Production

Preliminary Exercise

Using DTP and an image manipulation program, produce the front page of a new school magazine, featuring a photograph of a student in medium close-up plus some appropriately laid-out text and a masthead. Additionally, candidates must produce a mock-up of the layout of the contents page to demonstrate their grasp of DTP.

Research and Planning

Before you start to create your front page, you will need to research the codes and conventions of magazine front covers. This will involve analysing how front covers are designed and how they communicate with the target audience. You will need to study the layout, masthead, images and text in order to understand how magazine front covers work.

You will also need to carry out some market research into the target audience for your magazine. This will involve creating a questionnaire in order to find out the views of the audience which will enable you to include content that will appeal to the people that are going to read the magazine.

Drafting will also be a very important aspect of the planning stage. You should always come up with a number of different ideas for the layout, images and text that you are going to use to design your magazine page. For example, you might come up with four or five different ideas for the masthead of your magazine, and then find out which is the most popular with the target audience by creating a questionnaire to find out their views.

Any drafting that you do should be presented as neatly as possible.

Create the front page of a school/college magazine.

• Remember, this task is designed to allow you to become familiar with the relevant codes and conventions of magazine layout and design as well as the desktop publishing software Adobe Indesign.
• This preliminary task will prepare you for your main task which is to produce the front cover, contents page and a double page spread of a music magazine.

Use the following elements to create a draft of the front page of a school magazine:

1. Masthead: Think of a name for the magazine.
2. Images: What picture(s) are you going to use?
3. Strap lines or sell lines: What information are you going to include on the cover?
4. Captions: These are used to place the pictures into context.
5. Codes and Conventions: Details you would expect to find on the front of a magazine
6. Layout and Design: The way the words and pictures are organised on the page.

·        You should aim to spend at least 3-4 hours using the computer during the construction of your front page.

·        You must book your time in the computer room in advance.