Student Magazine: Photography

Photographs are a vital part in ensuring my chosen audience are drawn into reading the magazine. When someone is taking a photo, they need to ensure that they have a good angle, light and framing.

The needs of having a good looking photo on the front cover is important as it is a key focal point in making an audience pick up the magazine. The front photo also gives the audience some impression on who the magazine is aimed at and what it may possibly consist of. The first impression when someone looks at a photograph is the compositional balance: the way things have been placed in the image.

 As a photographer (when coming to put my magazine together) I need to take into account the Mise-en-scene, the background and where the person is or object situated.

 The rule of thirds is used when a photo is taken for the front page of a magazine. The rule of thirds is based on the fact that the human eye is naturally drawn to a point about two thirds up a page. My photo becomes more pleasing to the eye if the main subjects or focal points are in one of the intersection point.

Rule of thirds.

Perliminary Task: Brief Part 2

Who are you aiming your magazine at specifically?

My magazine will be aimed at students at college. The ages of the students will vary from 16-19 years of age. Because of this, I need to ensure that the content is appropriate for the audience. My magazine will also be for males and females. Although, to make the content more appealing, I could specify a female and male section.

What will my magazine be about?

Because my magazine is a student magazine, it will evolve around student life. However, it wont be purely based around student life for example pages of exams, subjects, what the must have stationary is.

It will have a more light hearted approach towards activities students do. The magazine will also have a Facebook and Twitter section where students who may have thoughts on particular subjects can share their opinions and get it in the magazine. The magazine may also have a section about music, fashion and entertainment. The suggestion of it being a student magazine shows that there may be some academics consisted in it. Therefore, I feel it would be appropriate to dedicate a section of the magazine to the academic area (keeping it in with the light hearted approach).

What are your ideas for cover lines? 

The cover line I wish to use for my student magazine is "everything a student needs in one magazine". The reason for this is because I wish for it to be easy to understand as well as draw my chosen audience in to reading the magazine.

What title have you decided on and why?

I have decided to call my student magazine "The Lowdowns" the reason for this is because the meaning of the word 'lowdowns' means the secret, inside information and I wish for the magazine to have this in relation to college life. An example would be inside information on how a teacher feels about a particular subject or even maybe an event the college have planned.

What fonts do you want to use?

Throughout my student magazine I have decided to use sans serif. I feel that sans serif has a modern outlook and is easier to read due to there being no tails in the text. I have done some research online to help me with my font types:

 Source: http://www.slideshare.net/donaldquixotec/using-serifs-and-sans-serifs-in-graphic-art-design

When in the year will it be published?

As my student magazine is new, I feel that publishing it at the beginning of a new academic year is appropriate. This is because it is more probable that new students would read it than current students.

What are the dimensions of the student magazine?

My student magazine would be available digitally using a PDF format that they could download. As well as this, I would have it printed on an A4 so that students who wish to have it on hardback can have so.

What colours and pictures will you have on your contents page? 

I will have a variety of pictures on my contents page relating to what is consisted in the student magazine. I have chosen to have numerous photos introducing topics in my student magazine on the contents page as it is vibrant and encourages the students to continue reading. A use of bright colours will be used however, I will ensure that I have stuck to the colour scheme as it will have a professional and modern outlook.

Preliminary task: Brief



This is a brainstorm contributing to the ideas of my student magazine. At this current time, I am unaware on what I should call my student magazine however, I will consider tying it in with the subjects consisted in the magazine. The target audience of my magazine are college students although, I wish to vary what is consisted with in it as it can reach to a wider student audience. For example: I don't wish to make my magazine purely aimed at science students and consist of scientific topics. It would be appropriate to have a contrast of stories so that is suitable for all students with different interests.

This is the flat plan for my student magazine. I have designed it on a Microsoft programme as well as annotated it by hand. I have taken a picture of my flat plan and uploaded it onto Bloggers as it shows a further step of creativity and is more appealing to an audience. When designing the flat plan, I took into consideration the target audience and what they would like to see. 



Task 5: Skills Audit

From the results shown in the above chart, I can see that I am unsure on how to scan images into a mac and Bluetooth files to the desktop. 

Due not understanding on how to bluetooth items onto a mac, I found this video on You Tube showing me step by step on how to do it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaiMp2bSs9Q&feature=related 

This is a reliable source as it guides me through the process of transferring files using Bluetooth onto an apple Mac PC. As well as this, examples are given by the creator of the video to support me in what I'd be doing.

Task 4: IPC Case Study

Part 1: Answering the following questions on what I have learnt

What types of magazine and target audiences has IPC been associated with over the years?

IPC Media have been associated with many different target audiences and of all ages. The UK's leading magazine and online consumer also have published magazines aimed at people with a variety of needs. From the research I have gathered, I can see that IPC have published more magazines in "sport and leisure" and the "woman's weeklies" area. Even though IPC Media have a variety of audiences, these categories suggest that a high percentage of them are woman and people interested in sports.

Recently, in January 2010, IPC Media made the vital decision to restructure around three key audience groups: men, up-market woman and mass-market woman. From this, we can again see that a high percentage of IPC's audience are woman. The company as well as the industry always reconsider on who their prime audiences should be as the changes are dependable.

Why might IPC be an appropriate publisher for a new music magazine?

In 1963 three well known magazine puplishers: George Newnes, Odhams Press and Fleetway Publications came together with the Mirror Group to form the International Publishing Corporation (IPC) striving to be a success as it is today. IPC would be an appropriate publisher for a new music magazine as the organisation are well known and continue to expand. Even though, IPC has a female majority for their audience, they are always keen in looking for new magazines as well as transforming their target audience. IPC would be an appropriate publisher for a new music magazine; the audience are so wide in range of age and interests.


What sort of genres of music/types of magazine might they be likely to publish?

It is difficult to specify what genre of music magazine IPC would publish as they have only published limited genres of magazine. Although, the reconstruction of who IPC's prime audience would be: men, up-market woman, mass-market woman, suggests that the corporation would be flexible in what genres that would accept.

Why might alternative publishers like Bauer be appropriate? 

A discussion of who a new music magazine should be published with is important. This is appropriate as other publishers may have a slightly different target audience or a different level of formality. Dependent on the audience of the music magazine, it is a high probability it would be aimed at a more informal/casual audience. This is due to the subject.