Prelim

Prelim: Flat Plans

For my College Magazine named i-Q I have used a three colour palette; black, purple and light blue. I have chosen these colours because they compliment each other very well and whilst people may associate black and purple as dark emotive colours they show the seriousness of the magazine but on the other hand the light blue shows fun and happiness. These colours suggest a "healthy" balance between work and play which students should come to do. Also using a three colour palette balances the colour evenly so it's easy on the eye and doesn't confuse the reader or make the magazine look messy and complicated.

I have positioned my masthead on the left side of the page on the Front Cover and the Contents page as it is easily recognisable there, because if it was central it would be directly above the image on the front page making everything too central. I've positioned my main cover line at the top of the left hand side in large font to make it stand out and catch the readers eye. The main features are in a larger font as they are the most important articles, and the other articles are in a smaller font and a different colour to add variation.

My Cover Lines are a good mix of different articles in the magazine, from Food and Cooking, to Fashion to Academic information. My main cover line is "How To Get The A-Levels You Want", I think this is really effective and a good sell line because the genre is a College magazine so students reading will want to get the best out of college which means obtaining the best A-Levels they can. Also on the front cover is "10% Off the Student Shop inside", this makes the reader pick it up because of the discount and draws them into maybe reading some of the articles featured. Another cover line is "Best Nightlife Uni's & Top 5 International Student Cities" this draws in students especially in their second year as they are looking for Universities and also may be interested in International study. Some students are on a tight budget or want to try and save money so "10 Easy Quick Packed Lunches That Can Save You Money" can catch readers attention. The articles that aren't on the front cover are featured in my Contents page. There is a feature "Contraception; The Truth" which is accompanied by an image relating to the article, this gives readers something visual and draws them into reading it more. It also gives young people lots of vital information that they may be too worried to ask so fits into a College magazine really well. There are also articles under the category News; so my magazine, i-Q, has something for everyone as everyone is different.

For my decision regarding the main image I have chosen a college student, as the magazine is aimed at students this makes it relatable to the target audience. My model is wearing in-trend clothes and accessories which also makes it relatable to young people and the clothing also goes with one of the cover lines "Spice Up Your College Wardrobe" so gives the reader a taste of what's inside. The photographer is in ultimate control of what the viewer sees so my image is central so the model's eyeline falls on the top third line. This creates direct address with the viewer, making them feel comfortable and makes the product appear more personal. The image also has lots of lighting to make the magazine appear up-beat and fun.

For the font I have used Century Gothic as most of the letters on my magazine front cover and contents page are in Capitals and Century Gothic font works really well in capitals to make the words really bold and eye catching to the reader. For the word "Contents" I have used Lucida Handwriting, as this gives a handwriting look and fits in with the theme of studying and College itself. The font size varies from 30 - 200 pt to give variation.

Print Prelim

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