Audience Feedback

Picture is effective, The white colour doesn't look too attractive in a few areas, would leave more space in the photo taken for the headlines

Contents page has simple+effective colour scheme, would maybe add a small border on the pictures to make them look more attractive

This was said by Danny Mail.

I think the picture used goes well with the colour of the text, which also has a good layout. The shot of the picture in the library shows off the facilities that the college has, as well as providing a good background setting for the picture.

The contents page is quite effective in the way it's presented, and the use of a pin on the top of the contents make it look like it's on a notice board, which is again effective and relates to the school based theme.

This was said by Michael Hill

Finished front cover and mock up contents page

With the recieved feedback, I have used up more space so that it fills the magazine cover but not that much. I have put on a headline which relates to the brand image which is "psychology student aces test" and made it purple so it stands out. I have added the price tag too. I have decided to make the text white as that's more visible as opposed to bright green and purple.

Front cover. 

Contents page.



Target Audience

The target audience for the magazine will be 16-19 year old students within the college and teachers too, if they're interested. The magazine will feature articles such as how to revise properly and guides to create a successful UCAS application. Because some students may struggle in revision and writing a successful application. It will feature social aspects of the college too, for example the Wyke Halloween party and the New York trip so there's fun elements to it. The magazine overall covers educational and social articles so there's a mix which creates a wider audience. The magazine is aimed at students at demographic E level because they're people trying to create a living.

ICT drafts of front cover and contents

Front cover.

Contents

Cover drafts and feed back

Feed back: "The lighting is suitable, the model can be seen well. The text seems a bit bright and a bit difficult to read. There's no headline which relates to the actual image. There is no price tag, so you could add one."

"The lighting is a bit dull in this cover, the text can be easily read which is good. The colours chosen relate to the Wyke house style which keeps theme. There's still no headline which relates to the image."

"The colours purple and green relate well to the Wyke theme. However they are a bit bright, so could they be toned done? The lighting is very good, everything is visible."

Photos that I took (selection of best.)

I took this picture as I thought I might use it for setting, to show off the front entrance. I considered using this in the contents page.





This time, I included the model in the setting. For these set of pictures, I didn't have the model wear the leather jacket and scarf.

I took this infront of Oak to perhaps show off the building a little. But I didn't use this shot as there was no meaning why I took it, it was just a test. The lighting is poor and it wasn't close up.



This was more close up, but the lighting was poor. I explored taking different medium close-up shots to see what would work.



I took another medium close up shot of two students to use for the contents page.

I decided to use this image in the end as it contains a brand image which is the psychology book and I decided to feature this for my main headline which is "psychology aces test", in my opinion the lighting in this shot is very good too. I took this in the silent study area.

I decided to take a shot of the student near a book shelf to have more educational themes in the magazine, but the model was obstructing  the books so I didn't use this one.

I took another shot of the student at medium close up but the lighting for this was poor and I didn't use it.

This was just a medium close-up test shot. It doesn't really convey any message as it doesn't have a brand image in it.



This was another test medium close up shot.

Scanned images - hand drawn drafts of contents and cover page.

Contents page.

Front cover

Digital Mock-up

Identifying and explaining my choice of college.

GoAnimate.com: Identifying and explaining my choice of College. by Dan.T

Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!

Price and how often published.

From doing some market research, 'College Lifestyle' is $6 which is about £4
However, I wouldn't sell it at £4 because that's too expensive and people wouldn't buy it. Therefore, I would consider making the magazine for free so that it's easy to access and students can just pick up a free copy any time. However, I would charge £1 because it's a low price and students can easily afford it. They will have a spare pound, surely.

I would publish it weekly so that it's updated quite frequently with the relevant and fresh information.

Initial ideas based on market research

Initial ideas based on your market research on Prezi

LIIAR interpretation of the brief

Language – This will include the main image which could be students working for example but making eye contact with the audience. There will be bright colour scheme will be used using two or three colours such as purple and green to keep consistency with the Wyke college font. For a thumbnail image to illustrate the magazine I could use the asterisk which is used in the prospectus. To reel the reader in, I would advertise parties Wyke is holding for anchorage. This will encourage them to be intrigued and possibly enquire about recent events.

Institution – I would be producing the magazine for Wyke magazine and possibly set it out in the layout of the Wyke prospectus as an existing publisher.

Ideology – The message I want to make via this magazine is Wyke is an academic college which takes its education seriously and wants everyone to achieve high grades to go on further in life.  By using a smart, casually dressed model it gives off the impression that Wyke has sophisticated morals and they want the best to attend their college. It makes the target audience think “they don’t want students who don’t put in the effort into their studies.”

Representation – I intend to represent college students in such a stereotypical academic light by using a picture of a student(s) studying or carrying books which suggest they’re studying at a high level, for example Law or Business. The student would be smiling so that this reflects the positive attitude of the college.

Conventions of a college magazine contents

This college magazine contents page is simple and clear. The theme of this contents page is green and black mainly. Down the left hand side is a welcome note and contact details. That is there because if the readers have any feedback, complaints or queries, they can easily contact someone. There is a welcome note in the top left hand corner. This gives off a positive feature of the magazine as when the reader sees the welcome sign; they make the reader feel like the editor of the magazine is directly talking to them. The contents page lets its target audience know what’s inside from this page. Each heading has a kicker going into some detail about what the reader will find inside. The magazine has put pictures on the contents page with numbers on linking them to a specific story within the magazine. This gives its readers a visual interpretation of what the story is going to be about. It also makes the page look attractive and appealing. On this magazines contents page it shows logos and organisations they support such as recycling. I think the purpose of doing this was to get there readers to also support the same organisations they do.

This cover and contents is clearly for a much younger audience. I think this magazine is for people who haven’t actually started college yet but are maybe going into it. On the cover is a cartoon woman. This clearly represents it’s for a younger audience.  The font styles are bubble like and have a fake look about them. Both pages are very bright and shocking. The contents page has very detailed descriptions about what is going to be in the magazine, set out very clearly in separate, numbered bubbles, which also adds to why I think this magazine is for a much younger audience. I believe it’s probably a free hand out, especially as it’s for teenagers. The target audience age I would say would be 14-16 year olds. This range is very small but people younger than 14 do not attend college and I do not think anyone over the age of 16 would purchase this magazine due to its simplicity and kid like effects. I would say this magazine is a guide for high school kids approaching college. 

Conventions of a college magazine covers

A large, bold sans serif font has been used for the masthead, in a bright yellow colour, a feature obviously designed to catch the attention of the audience. This is the magazine’s logo – its brand identity that will allow readers to recognize it easily. The teller, sell lines and screamers of the articles have been printed on either side of the image of the model. The colour scheme of the magazine is: yellow, black and white. The black and white gives the magazine a smart appearance, whilst the yellow colour gives it vibrancy, perhaps to draw its audience which is college students. Adding to the professional appearance of the magazine cover is the fact that it is not cluttered with graphics. There is only the barcode, and the “Splat!” image.

This particular college magazine doesn’t educate students; but instead it informs them on the lives of students today and what particular concerns they have for example “Why we love Blackberries” in the young generation a great majority of students have a Blackberry device therefore this is what students can relate to.
The target audience of this magazine is clear. It is aimed at the market of professional students. We can tell this from the model. For example; one of the books the model is carrying is titled “Law, Business and Society” – Law and Business are seriously academic subjects.

This is an example of a college magazine, one published by The New York Times. The designers of this cover have gone for a colourful, artistic approach which is giving the cover the overall appearance of a collage, or perhaps a noticeboard where many colourful flyers have been torn off.

There is no model and barcode on the magazine; instead there are a number of artistically torn photographs and images in a variety of styles such as silhouettes. This further adds to the sense of the overall image being of a noticeboard, such as one would find in a college.

The creative and unconventional layout of the cover suggests that the magazine is aimed at students in general. Nothing specific such as art students or academic students.
The main focus of the cover is the masthead, and everything else is small and almost insignificant besides it. This goes against the traditional layout of magazines.

In this magazine, it consists of a photograph of a student at Ridgewater College sitting on a red chair with another empty seat beside her; the empty chair besides her may be used as a subliminal way of trying to welcome you to the college. Below the student, there is a globe which could connote that Ridgewater is a college of mixtures of different people from different parts of the world.
The student from Ridgewater is smiling sitting on the chair in a relaxed position, which gives an impression that the environment at Ridgewater College is a happy and friendly place. The student appears to be in high lighting as there aren’t any shadows in the image, this may reflect how bright the students who study there are.


The main coverline of this magazine is called “Global Learning”; this is displayed on the right side of the magazine in the white and blue colours. It is displayed in bold san-serif fonts, possibly to give a more modern look to the magazine. This coverline also helps to inform the readers about what is featured inside the magazine; is features a story about two students from different sides of the world who made a great conclusion of going to the college for a “Ridgewater Education”. There is another feature of a coverline called “Inside”, where it gives way some more information of what is held in the magazine, “How Dave Farber Made It in the Music Industry”. This can attract the audience’s attention which can lead them to taking interest in the magazine, as it influences them into thinking they can do the same.

The dateline of this magazine is not shown, so the time of is not exactly “Ridgewater College” known. The only thing that mentions some sort of time is the selling line underneath the Masthead, which says; “Willmar and Hutchinson a Community & Technical College Spring 2009”. This gives us the information that it was given in 2009 during March, April and May, it may also suggest that the magazine is a seasonal magazine and not one that is made on a regular basis.



This magazine does not have a bar code; this may be because the college magazine is given away for free. This magazine may be simply handed out in the Ridgewater College by students of members of staff.