My magazine cover

Write a summary of ideas of what you may expect to see on a magazine front cover and contents page

The things I expect to see on the front cover of a magazine are the main image of course, which attracts the reader to buying the magazine and the masthead which is mainly the name of the magazine. Other things I expect to see on a front cover of a magazine are subheadings briefly detailing stuff that’s inside the magazine not in too much detail, this will make the reader curious so they will then be tempted to buy the magazine. Colour is another thing I expect to see on the front cover of a magazine because a magazine cover has to be colourful or at least have a house style so that it is not too boring and can attract people d maybe the colours used can appeal to the target audience. There are lots of things I expect to see on a magazine front cover because that’s what’s sells the magazine basically, other than if a person familiar with the magazine already buys it.

The things I expect to see on the contents page of a magazine are maybe some little pictures supporting the stuff wrote on the contents page and I expect to see text supporting what’s going to be in the magazine as you read on, maybe on the contents page there could be a little message from the editor like in the pick me up magazine.

A summary of my magazine front cover

First of all when you first look at my magazine front cover you see the main image because that is what has the most colour in it as my main house style of the magazine front cover is blue, black and white and the person in the main image has a red top on so this contrasts with the colour of the colour in the background which makes it stand out and noticeable. Just above my image is the mast head of the magazine and this is wrote in blue bold writing to make it stand out and it is wrote in a clear font so that it is understandable and easy for customers or target audience of the magazine to read. Also in the top left hand corer of the front cover is the essential info and this is the date of when the magazine was released and the issue number and the price, these are called essential info because they need to be on the front cover of a magazine because people wouldn’t know how much the magazine was f they wanted to buy it or if was an old magazine or a new magazine. To go with the mast head there is a sub heading which supports it saying ‘everything you need to know inside’ this supports the masthead because the word ‘inside’ is used and that links to the name of the magazine. On the front of my magazine there is a picture of a Bede student sitting on a computer chair with a notepad in her hands and she is looking directly at you. Above this main picture there is a sub heading that says ‘how to cope with the stress of homework’ then underneath there is another sub heading ‘how I got through it’, by the way that the student is looking straight at you makes you think that she wants to help you with the stress of homework, that’s if you have stress with homework, also because she has a hint of a smile on her face which suggests a friendly person who wants to help. Towards the bottom of the page there are some other little pictures and sub headings describing things that are on the inside of the magazine, there is a little box with a sub heading of quizzes and puzzles inside and in that little box there is a picture of a magnifying glass and a crossword illustrating the sub heading. In the next box, there is a sub heading of students fashion and in that box there is a picture of a white dr marten also illustrating the sub heading. For the third little box there is a sub heading of WIN 500 POUNDS IN OUR YOUNG FILM MAKERS COMPETITION, then underneath IT COULD BE YOU, yet again there is a little picture of a film disc illustrating the sub heading. Underneath these pictures are some more pictures and these pictures are each member of the future heads which are members of a popular punk band in Sunderland. Underneath these pictures there is a little sentence that says ‘don’t miss our next week’s exclusive interview with a popular punk band the future heads. On the right hand side of my magazine front cover there is also a box that goes lengthways down the page and the sub heading of this box is ‘ subjects wards revealed inside for’ then underneath that are a list of subjects.

A summary of my magazine contents page

On the contents page in my magazine there is a title at the top of the page which says contents which is illustrating what will be on that page, this is wrote in a simple font and is blue with a black outline. Underneath the title there is a little sub heading that says ‘on the cover’ and this refers to what you seen on the cover and what pages they are going to be on inside the magazine. Underneath this sub heading is a bullet pointed list with some of the sub headings of the front cover and page numbers next to them so you know where to find that information. Underneath this list is another sub heading that’s says other things and this refers to other things that you will find in the magazine and underneath is also a bullet pointed list. Dotted around the contents page are pictures from the front page just to go with the little sub headings.

The program used

There were two programs I used when creating my magazine front cover and contents page. When creating the front page for my magazine I used Microsoft word. When using Microsoft word I created the back ground colour for my magazine by going to page layout and the page colour and I chose a light blue colour I added an effect to the background which was changing the gradient and I added whit to the background as well. I also created my masthead and subheadings using word, I just clicked on word art and wrote what I wanted and I could resize and recolor what I wanted the text to be. I used word for most of the front cover like drawing little boxes and writing text. The only thing I didn’t use word for is when I manipulated my main image. I used Photoshop to manipulate my main image. I have never used Photoshop before so it was a new experience for me. When I was using Photoshop I worked out which tool I needed to cut around my main image and how to use it. The only other program I used for my front cover was Google, I used Google to get some little animated pictures that could illustrate my subheadings. The programs that I would use again when creating my music magazine would definitely be word because I am familiar with that program and know how to use it properly, on the other hand I am hesitant with using Photoshop because I don’t know how to use it and it makes me very frustrated, but to enable me to manipulate my pictures properly with a high level of quality I will have to use Photoshop, so I will persevere and learn how to use it. What could I use Photoshop for when creating my music magazine? I could use Photoshop for manipulating the main image for my front cover and maybe some of the other images I will be using as well.

Appeal to target audience

I think my magazine appeals to the target audience of it, which is people who go to Bede College because, on the front the main image is a student from Bede College and people from Bede College can relate to that. The name of my magazine appeals to the target audience because it is called ‘inside Bede’, this appeals to the target audience because if they are from Bede college they want to read a magazine that is related to that and when they see my magazine on the shelf they will think that it is a good idea to buy it because they will find out stuff about Bede college inside it. The house style helps towards the attraction of the target audience because the colours and fresh, not dull and depressing and also the colours link to the colleges house style itself which is mainly blue. Also there is a little box at the bottom of the page that gives people an opportunity to win £500, now every college student would probably jump to the chance because they could buy something new they want or it could help towards their college fees.