Masthead: The text is in blue in a serif font, because it matches the house style of our school. It also gives a formal feel, making the audience think that our school is formal as well. I included the transparent yellow background because yellow is part of the school house colour, and it makes the blue text stand out more. I made it transparent because it will give a connotation of purity, and make it feel like the students in our school are pure as the transparent yellow. The text next to the masthead “ ‘s monthly” was originally diagonal, as you can see in the draft. I originally thought that it will give a less formal feel, so even younger students will be interested in the magazine, because rather than straight squares and rectangles, teenagers prefer a slight messy-ness in the magazine and it could easily inform them about our school as in Blumler and Katz’s theory of the audience being informed and educated by the media. But as I thought about it more carefully, I thought that the tilt of the text could give a different connotation. The tilt could be like a graph going down; the level of our school going down. This would make people feel slightly uncomfortable to take the magazine, so I made the text straight instead. This text is in a handwritten font, because younger students will be more attracted to it rather than serif font. The text overlaps slightly over the yellow background, because it will then catch people’s eye easily because it isn’t perfectly neat. This will help emphasize the fact that it is handed out every month. I didn’t add a skyline because I thought it would make the masthead look slightly messy, and I had all the information I needed in the triangle puff. The more text there is on top of the image, it looks like he’s not on top of everything, and by adding less text on top of him, I’m giving a connotation of him being on top of the world. This shows how the students in our school are always the top.
Main Image: At first I had hoped to take a photo of our headmaster, Mr Gordon for our front page, but as we couldn’t get the timing right, we took a picture of our teacher, Mr Ashley. We tried to take photos in front of the clock as we planned in the draft because time connotes punctuality and how the students are well behaved, but we couldn’t get the angle right and instead, I used a different background. As I write this now, I think I could’ve used a layering technique and used the same background and cut Mr Ashley into the background. Next time, I would like to consider the layering. The background I used instead, is a wall with water drifting down against it. The lines on the wall looks like a ladder, which shows how the students in our school are always climbing the ladder towards the highest point. Mr Ashley’s face is just above the ladder as if he has already reached the top and he is looking above us, which shows his power. The water connotes cleanliness and how we’re protecting the environment, giving a better impression of the school. But as I analyse it now, I think the encoded message behind the water droplets on the wall could also be misinterpreted as the students going down the ladder, as the water droplets are falling down. This would give a bad impression to the audience, so I should’ve used a different background. Mr Ashley is wearing a blue shirt with a blue check tie, which relate to the masthead because of the same colour. The check relates to mathematical graphs and shapes, which connotes education, and how we’re the best at it. His mode of address is towards the audience, so the audience can relate to the magazine. It would’ve been better if his eyes were widely open, and he had a bigger smile on his face, because it would make the audience feel comfortable, so I would like to consider this next time. His arms that are behind him connotes power and pride and how he’s the top, relating to how our school is on the top.
Anchorage text: Originally, I had no intention of covering the main image with text, but because we changed the main image with Mr Ashley standing in the middle of the page, I decided to cover him with some text, especially the main text; the anchorage text. This will emphasise the the text more, especially with the white text. It is once more in handwritten font to attract younger students who come to our school. White stands out in front of the blue and black background, and once more connotes cleanliness. Once more, as I analyse it the text with a mix of capital letters and smaller-case letters could give a bad impression, especially if they are words said by the headmaster, because it is grammatically wrong. This would make the audience think that our school’s education isn’t a good quality. The text is a well known quote in our school, so it represents our school, attracting more people. The two full-stops show that the quote doesn’t end there and will intrigue people and would make them want to read the rest. The fact that there are speech marks shows immediately that it is a quote said by someone from the school, and before they read the subtext of the anchorage text, they will be interested to know who the quote comes from. The subtext of the anchorage text includes the words “Preaches” “Exclusive” and an exclamation mark. The word Preach, sounds as if the what he said is a life changing quote, as if someone amazing has said the word. The word Exclusive makes the interview sound like the most amazing interview ever, and the exclamation mark emphasizes the whole text. This all helps attract a wider readership. I used this type of language because I am aiming for a high readership, and even I would rather pick up a magazine with interesting languages rather than boring ones.
Sell Lines: I didn’t add many sell lines, to the magazine, because I thought it would make the magazine look too messy. The text is in yellow colour, once more, relating to the house style of the school and magazine. It has the same font as the subtext of the anchorage text, to give it a relation, and matches the house style. This can connote how students from our school work as a group, and are always together. The sell lines are on the same level as Mr Ashley’s eye which seems like Mr Ashley himself is saying the words, making more people attracted to the magazine. It is also in three lines, which makes it more memorable.
Triangle Puff: We added the puff to emphasize the fact that it is free! The letters are very big, and it includes three exclamation marks, to catch more people’s eyes. It is in white, to stand out from the orange background. The word “silver” is in a grey colour, making it look like silver. People will notice it more, because they will soon know it is a special edition. It is in a serif font to let people know that we’re formal as well as student-friendly. I chose the orange colour because it is the complementary colour of blue, giving it a relation to the house style. I made it a triangle shape to make it look like it is flipping the page, ( although it is the wrong side of the page ) to make the audience want to flip it themselves.
Generic Conventions: We didn’t add a bar code as it is a free magazine. The dates and issue number is in blue, again relating to the school colour, and I made the text “50th” in a larger font to emphasize once more, that it is a special edition. The text is becoming smaller, as the text goes down, relating to how the level of our school gets better and better.
This prelim task will help me improve the final magazine in many ways. The main parts I need to improve are to have a larger and more obvious masthead, to use more photograph techniques, to use a variety of fonts etc.
I created this and the contents page as a group work with my group partner, Nach Suphakawanich.
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