Evaluation:

For the preliminary task within the foundation portfolio, I was required to create the front page of a new school or college magazine. I have therefore produced the front cover of a College magazine, including the mock-up of a Contents Page.
Firstly, my finished product uses various conventions that are used in real print products. For example, published magazines each contain a masthead, cover lines, a main cover line, dateline, and a main image. My own magazine also contains each of these conventions. Although most magazines include a price and a barcode upon the cover, it was unnecessary for me to do so because my magazine is produced by a college, and therefore freely available to college students. If it were to have a price, the price would need to be minimal, in order for students to be able to afford it. The Masthead upon my magazine is the simple title of ‘STUDENT’. I chose this title due to my target audience being college students, feeling that it captures exactly what the magazine is all about. As stated upon the dateline on my cover, my magazine would have been published in September 2009. Therefore, I have chosen to make my magazine a ‘Fresher’s’ issue, with the main cover lines relating to new students of the college, beginning their A-levels in that September month. However, my magazine would still also contain content for all other students, as stated in the rest of my cover lines. The main image upon my magazine is of both a male and a female. I feel that this particular image creates a positive attitude towards education and the college lifestyle, as both students within the image seem to be enjoying themselves whilst reading a textbook. Both students also have their bags upon their shoulders, creating the idea that they are prepared for their lessons and suggesting they are ready to learn. Therefore, overall, my chosen image represents positive ideas about the student lifestyle back to us as the reader, far from the typical stereotype of teenage students, in which all sixteen to nineteen year olds are only interested in drugs, sex and violence, and far from interested in education.

Furthermore, I am confident that my finished product meets its target audience of college students. Within my target audience, I did not specify a gender that my magazine would appeal to the most, and simply hoped to make my front cover, in a sense, “unisex”. Therefore, to achieve this, I have included both a male and a female student within the main image. If I were to have merely included a female, it may have suggested that my magazine was aimed slightly more towards that gender. Though my magazine is widely targeted towards new students of the college, or ‘Fresher’s’, I have also included various ideas within my cover lines for content that would appeal to all students and all age groups of the college. For example, ‘STUDENT rules for achieving that career’ is an area of content that all students can relate to. I have also used colours that are not associated to a specific gender group. If all text upon my front page was pink, this would change the entire outlook of the magazine, placing it in the stereotype that it must be a female magazine because “only girls like pink”. Instead, I have used both purple and green, neither of which is associated with a specific group of people.

Moreover, in order to create my final print product of a front cover, I had to use various ICT programmes. For each of my layout drafts, for both the front cover and the contents page, I used Microsoft Publisher, in order to demonstrate my ability to grasp and effectively use the programme. I also used this same programme to add all items of text onto my final product. In addition to my use of DTP, I also used Photoshop, in order to edit and manipulate my chosen main image. I found that Photoshop has a wide range of tools that ultimately helped me to create my final picture, so that it stands out upon my front cover. Firstly, I selected and removed the background of the image so that it remained plain white. I then adjusted several settings, including hue, saturation, lightness and contrast of the image, to make it stand out even more against the plain background. After resizing and cropping the image, I transferred it across to Publisher, on which I continued to add text and colour.

In conclusion, I feel that my magazine cover successfully meets the aims of the preliminary task. I have created a new College magazine, using an image of two students in medium close-up, with appropriately laid out text. I also feel that I have met my target audience, used conventions effectively, and proved my ability to use various ICT programmes. Overall, I am pleased with my magazine cover, as it meets the conventions of already published magazines, such as the ones I analysed within my research, but includes unique aspects of my own. I feel that my photo's portray a positive vibe towards education and college, and am pleased with the edited image, as I feel it stands out upon my front cover. However, I feel that the layout of my front cover could have been better structured, and therefore within the main task of the foundation portfolio, I shall take this into account and perhaps do several layout plans, rather than just the one. Additionally, I am also pleased with my choice of font, Arial Black, as I feel it is bold and therefore stands out upon my magazine cover, without drawing too much attention away from the main image. Finally, I feel that I struggled slightly with the time management of this particular task, but will use this effectively in the production of my music magazine, making sure I make good use of the time available.