Name ideas

Name Ideas:

• Ludlow Link
• Student Link
• Ludlow Collage
• Timetable
• Ludlow Timetable

I think I'll go with the 'Ludlow Link'.

Colour scheme tests

Font test

Calibri (Body)

Arial

Ciscolight

Arial Narrow

Arial Unicode MS

Bell MT

Comic Sans MS

Times New Roman

I like the look of the Calibri font. I think I’ll use this for the bulk of the text.

Initial ideas

House Style/Colour palette

Maybe the school logo should have a colour tie to house style-a primary colour being shared, for example. A blue and silver masthead, perhaps? I like the idea of a nice cool blue colour being part of the colour scheme. For the background, I think I’ll go with a generic white to keep things clean and simple, as well as black writing. Different sections of the magazine could have blue borders, perhaps. This would be most apparent on the contents page. The fonts used for writing shouldn’t be anything fancy, just quick and easy to read.

Language+ Mode of AddressThis is a student magazine, so it can be fairly informal and chatty. It’s aimed at teens/young adults, after all. Some slang can be used as well. On the other hand, it needs to be fairly polite- keep it clean!

Central image
I’m thinking something in an outdoors, sunny setting for the image, if the weather permits. If not, maybe the college library would be a good setting. The image should be of a student or two relaxing, looking happy. I should try to make connotations of a friendly, cheerful environment easily visible.

Content
I think the best sort of content would be along these lines:

·         Sports match results

·         New teacher interviews

·         College news

·         Puzzle page

·         Comic(s)

·         Reviews

·         Editor’s introduction

·         Article on recent events in college- e.g., drama production.

·         Tips+tricks page- studying-orientated?

Target audience research

In my research, I'm going to ask people the same group of questions, in relation to their preferences for a new student magazine.

1. How much should it cost?
2. What kind of articles would you like to read in the magazine?
3. What colour scheme do you think would be fitting for the magazine?
4. Would you like it to be written in a formal or informal tone?
5. Is there anything else you think should be in the magazine that hasn't been mentioned already?
6. What sort of locations do you think would be best for the front cover image?

                                                                                                                                                                   

1. £1.99. £1.99. 80p.
2. Fun ones- no 'basic guide to studying', stuff like music, music artist interviews, cool stuff happening in Ludlow.   Maybe some polls.  Stuff related to college-sports events.
3.  Bright colours- Red, yellow. green. A rainbow magazine. Definitely bright and bold. Orange and black maybe? Ones that relate to the college logo, so blue and silver.
4. Informal, maybe a couple of pages that are formal to show that it's an educational magazine.  Very informal. Colloquial. Informal.
5.  Costa and subway vouchers. It'd be useful for students with all the stuff that need's paying.  Competions. Films reviews.
6. Outside the castle. Or Costa. Places where students would be.  In front of the main entrance.  Outside the college gates, or in a classroom.

(Each colour is tied to one person in particular-I asked 3 people for their opinions.)

Student magazine conventions

Magazine Mock-up

Student Magazine Analysis

Action Plan

This blog is basically going to be a record of my AS media work. For the preliminary exercise, I have to produce the front and contents pages of a magazine, as well as evaluating my work.I will be posting the finished products, and document the design process, on this blog. The deadline for this exercise is the 10th of October.

Plan of Action

Week 1 (15th September): This is the week for research and planning. I am going to research the target audience (students), as well as plan out the pages I am producing.

Week 2 (22nd September): This week is focused on the production of the front cover. I will have a short photo shoot to provide images for my magazine. Additionally, I will be completing the front cover, and begin planning of the contents page.

Week 3 (29th September): Finish the contents page, and begin evaluating my work.

Week 4 (6th October): I will have no more in-class time to complete my work now. At this point, it's just a matter of completing my evaluation as homework.