Initial Research

Here is the evidence of my research. A list of all the music magazines I could find that are currently in production in the UK.

I have ordered them based on genre because it will be easier, when I decide what genre I would like to do, to compare prices and determine a main competitor.

School Magazine Preliminary Task

Here is the initial flat plan for my magazine.

Evaluation

Overall I am pleased with my front cover as a first attempt. I think my cover image and masthead are both suggest youth but professionalism so it is suitable for the sixth form magazine. The pink and red colours I have used for the cover lines compliments the pink in the scarf. I used shadow on the headline to make it stand out against the detailed background and make it jump forward on the page.

However there are some improvements i could make. The Masthead is a little boring because it is all plain black text I could have used some colour to make it more memorable and stand out against the rest of the cover. There is also a lot of blank space at the top of the page I could have included a banner along the top to further advertise the contents of the magazine. Also the Headline and the strapline beneath  the headline do not stand out very well and in order to grab the readers attention they need to be bolder and more noticeable. This is because the image I took was too dark I will have to be careful of that in my final cover.

Compared to my flat plan my front cover is fairly similar. I have moved the date to the opposite side to try and balance it more because it looked very plain on one side and very busy on the other. i have also centralized the headline again in an attempt to balance the cover. 

This task was very useful to me simply because it gave me an opportunity to get to know the InDesign program without the pressure of it being my final piece. I know have a basic understanding of the program and will develop my skills further as I work on my final cover.