Final Draft

Here is my Final Draft of my school magazine:

Colours and image:

-The target audience for my magazine are students between the age of 12 and 18 as the magazine is aimed at a school or college. One of the ways the front cover represents its target audience and the magazine itself is the use of colour. There a lot of bright colours on the page which suggest many things like youthfulness, light heartedness and excitement etc. which is ideal as front covers are meant to draw the reader in. despite this, I have kept the masthead Navy blue as it follows the schools colour scheme. I have only used one image which is of two school girls in school uniform holding school books which clearly denotes who the target audience is. The fact that they are smiling and their surroundings are bright and cheerful (sunny day) connotes that their school is a positive place to be and the grass and trees and the natural setting suggests that’s the school is also healthy and well cared for environment. The fact that the girls are standing close together in open postures again connotes that the school is a positive, friendly place.

Connotations of the Title and Taglines:

-The masthead, ‘FSG student news’ makes it very clear who the target audience is. I used a curvy font for ‘FSG’ which is laid out in a relaxed bouncy way which suggests the creativity and activity (movement) of the school. The ‘Student news’ font underneath is quite plain and formal which suggests the school also has an academic side.

-The colours I used are blue and white which follow the schools colour scheme.  As well as following the colour scheme, the colours of the masthead, white against a blue background, are suggestive of the sky and the sky is often used symbolically to connote the idea of progress, ambition and development. For example as in the sayings, ‘reach for the sky’, and ‘the sky is the limit’

- Aside from the font style I also used different graphics to make the title more interesting. I used a glow effect which suggest the brightness and liveliness of the teachers and pupils and a mirror effect which suggests the clear qualities of the teaching and learning.

-The size of the masthead is quite big in order to catch the attention of the readers.

-The brightness and colourfulness of the straplines suggest that the information is exciting and the ellipses suggest that the reader should read on. They give you an overview of everything in the magazine and reasons why people should join the school besides the curriculum.

-some of the straplines are directive towards the reader, ‘Don’t miss’, which points them in a bold, clear direction towards things the school has to offer other than the academic curriculum.

-At the bottom of the page is the most important strapline as it is the one which will encourage the target audience to buy the magazine because of the prize they can win.

-The strapline is the only one in a box which highlights the importance; it also follows a different colour scheme.

- The font is clear so it’s easy to read and the key words are emphasised in a bold red and the red connotes urgency and importance as well as drawing attention.  

Layout:

- The layout is a combination of naturalistic photography and stylistic graphics which conveys sense of variety and versatility.