Evaluation Of College Magazine Front Cover

On the front cover of the magazine, I have used the main image of a medium shot of a young girl which would present that the target audience is 16+. I have used this type of framing as it draws the audience’s attention to the blue/white contrast of text on the models folder, which is also the same colouring as the masthead and that the girl looks happy and confident, giving the college a positive representation. The use of the blue masthead and the pink cover lines (used as the models scarf is pink) creates a colour scheme for the magazine - using the model as the main focus, connecting the model within the college. By having the image of the girl on a plain background it shows that the girl is the main focal point. 

As I wanted to create a college magazine that would appeal to the students at Wyke College, I specifically aimed students who are solely focused on achieving and always aspiring to be better. This is why I eventually named the magazine "ASPIRE" rather than the initial "College Life" idea. I decided against this as when it came to choosing fonts and sizing of the masthead, it didn't look very appealing as it looked overcrowded. I also wanted the masthead to be quite large as it is a typical convention of a magazine to have the masthead presented in this way. By using the name College Life, it was hard to fit the word Life under College as it covered up half of the models face. As the masthead and the girls’ folder are blue, it gives the connotation of relaxation, calmness and knowledge which links with the name of the magazine. Also by using the blue colouring, it makes the magazine look more gender neutral rather than if I used more pink text and makes the magazines colour design more consistent. 

The overall presented ideology of the magazine is to give a positive impression of the college. The model is smiling on the front cover which signifies that she is working in a hardworking but happy environment and that she enjoys working at college. The use of the models clothing would appeal to the target audience as she is dressed very casual with her coat and scarf which gives the impression that she is relaxed and may be off to attend her next class. For my front cover, I took a couple of photographs - centered around the model looking confident with her college folders which gives the ideology of her being happy tying her nicely in within the main Cover line "Coursework Confident?" I am happy with my main image as it fits in with the conventions of a confident, hardworking student, as the model clearly looks happy and this gives the reader the idea that the colleges aim is to be a positive and hard working environment. The model has been placed in bright lighting to present that college is a positive place to learn but also to show that the audience will have a bright future if they attend the college or read the magazine. 

I positioned the bar code in the bottom right hand corner which is also a convention of different magazines. Although college magazines usually do not have bar codes because they are usually free of charge, I decided to use on as it makes the magazine look more professional and could be sold in general stores or if the college wanted to charge for the college magazine. The magazine would appeal to students as it is named Aspire, which to different students would mean different things such as aspire to be greater or aspire to be successful within college. By using a model which looks to be the same age as a student makes the magazine more relatable to college life and to the reader - this would encourage the reader to read the magazine as the articles featured would appeal more to them.

I have used language such as "Meet the students behind the crew" as at Wyke College we have a student crew which would help the reader relate to the magazine more. I also used different cover lines to appeal to a college student such as "coursework confident" as many students could relate to this article as often they struggle to balance their studies with other coursework subjects. Exclusive interview is in a white text because it stands out more from the magazine and because I wanted to show that I have used a pull quote on the front cover. "College made me succeed" this would appeal to the target audience because it gives the idea that without college you would not succeed which links in with the masthead aspire and with the model looking confident and hand working. I chose to use a selling line which says "Win high street vouches for school supplies and save money with your NUS card" as many students would read the magazine to see how to win as many of them may need to buy new college supplies but not have the money. 

Overall, I think my magazine front cover has several conventions of an actual magazine, if I were to recreate my magazine I would probably use more cover lines to interest the reader as my magazine looks slightly plain and simple. I would also plan my idea more so that I could improve the appearance and concept of my magazine. If I did anything differently it would be the use of my pictures, I would in fact use a higher quality image of my model and use different facial expressions.