Class Feedback

When evaluating my own work with the mark scheme, I gave myself a high level 3. My peer level came out as a level 4. My successes seem to be the photos that I took and the colour scheme and fonts. The improvements I was given was to make the cover story text on the cover smaller so that it's easier to read, to fill the space on my contents page and use some different camera angles and experiment and also to make the background colour of the double page spread the same as my other two pages.
The general comments all semed to be positive and saying they liked my drafts! :)

First Drafts

These are the cover page, contents page and double page spread that I am submitting as my drafts.

Double Page Spread Experimenting

This is exactly what I had in mind for my double page spread. It's simply laid out, not too busy, orderly and professional looking. The photos give it the quirky edge that's important in my magazine and the sections in the article make it look less like just big blocks of text. The only problem is the top right photo on the spread looks bigger than the other photos as it is more close up, so I might try experimenting with another photo there (although I love that photo ): ) and also changing the order of the photos to find out which looks best!

In this version, I have changed the top right photo for another and I think this works better as it looks more continuous so I am happy with the result.

Contents Page Experimenting

I do like this page but I think the black and white makes it look quite boring and bland. I don't think there are enough warm colours.

I prefer the colours in this page but nothing on the page shows any proper skill which makes it boring... Also I don't think the photo in the corner works very well, but if I changed it to something like a speaker or stereo, it may work better


I like the way the contents is set out here with the features spaced out a little more and a little description underneath. I took inspiration from this. Although I think that in terms of pictures, the page still looks a little boring and there isn't enough room to fit another photo in. To fix this I would have to make my features smaller and more together to be able to fit a picture in the corner.

Of all the experimenting I have done, I feel as if this is a combined effort of all of them. I used a photo of an amp from google but before I finialise this as my draft, I need to take my own photo and edit it in the same way. I copied part of the wire of the microphone and twisted it to change the shape and pasted it next to the amp so it looks as if it is connected to the speaker, which ensures that the music theme is still prominent. I have added more features onto the page to fill it out a bit more, and also included sub-headings, which adds a bit of character and quirkiness e.g 'shh... you didn't hear it from us'. This relates to girls and gossip which is a typical stereotype, targetting the intended female audience.

Here I have taken my own photo of a speaker (couldn't find an amp) and edited it to make the colours bright and vivid. I think it looks good on the page and takes away the boring feel. I changed the font of the title to match that of my cover to make it look less 'samey' and I think it breaks the page up a bit!

Front Cover Experimenting

The advice I got from my teachers and peers told me that I should use one of the close ups of my other model for my front cover because they are effective and good photos and work better than the blended photos. I decided to experiment with both models to find which I liked more, and experimented with fonts and techniques for my masthead...

I chose this photo to experiment with first as it is one of my favourites and is quirky and fun, setting an appropriate feel for my magazine. I used a music stave behind my masthead to relate back to the fact it is a music magazine and to keep this clear. Each letter of the title is wonky and out of place, like notes on a stave and I think it looks quirky fun and original!

I changed the font of the masthead to something less boring and something more characteristic and I love how this works because it's unusual and the way some of the letters are the wrong way around looks quirky. I added the text for my cover story on and I think it looks classy and quirky, a lot like this cover story technique.

I messed around with the fonts in this one and tried different ones, but I really like the ones used in the above photos so I think that I will stick to those. These covers remind me quite a lot of THESE sorts of covers from Lula magazine which was definately a look I liked and had got inspiration from.

Here I have tried adding some more wording onto the page to give it a little more body without making it look cluttered. I think it works nicely as it doesn't get in the way of anything, matches the other fonts and colours and gives a little more information to the magazine, drawing in the appropriate audience a little more.