COLLEGE MAGAZINE

PRODUCTION

Font: Gunplay.

Font: Allstar.

Font: Harabara.

Font: Verdana Split.

Features I liked about this font was that it stood out well due to the solid colouring and I also felt that the stylization of several characters, seen here with the letter “e”, gave it a more personalised feel. However, I decided not to use it because I felt it was too militaristic which would have given off too much of a formal impression to the reader.

I think that the “S” character in this font stands out well due to it’s common use in American High Schools and therefore this would provide a sub-conscious link between the magazine (and masthead) and other similar institutions and publications. However I don’t feel that the font should be used for the entire masthead because I feel a combination of this one and another would provide greater effect, and this was inevitably the decision I decided to make.

This font looks very modern and sleek due to the curves and how easy it is to read, however it would be too stylized to use throughout the whole front cover. Therefore this would suggest it’s usage on the masthead of the front cover, which was what I decided to do alongside the “S” character from the Allstar font.

I like the stylization and design of this font and the fact that it would stand out well alongside either a block-colour background or an image. This usually means it would be suitable for a masthead or as a header on the front cover or contents page. I decided not to use it however because I felt that the Harabara and Allstar fonts would work better together and I was unsure as to how the outline and shadowing on this font would react to editing and manual-outlining.

Stylized characters

Outlining stands out and defines the font

Curves and rounded edges define this font as modern and sleek

Very stylized and detailed.

This is my sketch where I designed the main layout of my front cover and added annotations explaining details about the fonts and background. I also wrote the articles detailed in the

This is my original medium-close up photo. I decided to ask my model to hold up a £5 note due to already knowing the nature of my front cover which is concerning money issues around college students. Therefore the image would relate to the information displayed on the front cover and help get the message across to the reader.

I decided to take the image with my model in front of a plain brick wall. I felt this would help me in editing the image as it would provide an easy template for which to change the image but at the same time showing detail and I think is more interesting than a block-colour background.

I started off by changing the hue and saturation of the image to give a more red-inclined background which I felt was more interesting than the colours of the photo I had taken previously. Also it gave more colour to my models face and made the entire thing stand out more.

I created the masthead by using fonts, detailed in the previous font slide, and creating a block-colour for them to be placed on. I used the Allstar font for the “S” character in the masthead and then the Harabara font for the remaining part of it, “tudent!”. I then used a simple sans-serif font for the other text in the masthead, notably “THE”, “£1.00” and “SEP ’10”. After that I pasted a barcode that I copied from Google and rotated & transformed it so it blended in well with the rest of the masthead.

I then used an italicised serif font for the slogo and positioned it below the detailing around the masthead.

I then created the lead title by choosing the Britannic Bold font, colouring it red and then outlining it in a glow. I felt this would help it stand out which is important and also I chose to increase the size of the “20” in the title to make it stand out more and draw the readers attention to it.

After this I created the sub-heading and chose to colour it in different to make clearer the difference between the lead title, which draws the reader in, and the sub-heading which then provides more information to the reader in a punchy way.

I then created a bar dividing the articles displayed on the front cover and stylized it so it would fit in with the rest of the style on the cover, meaning I coloured it in a dark grey (to go with the bullet points and masthead) and gave it a red glow (which combines well with the text above and below & also helps to define it on it’s own). I chose a serif font (Chaparral Pro) because it could inform the reader that there are parts of the magazine which are more serious and contain real, useful and important information implied by the formality of the font. However at the same time, I italicised the article titles and sub-headings for the second story to make it stand out against the lead article. I also decided to use a lower intensity glow & outline for the second story which helps identify it against the lead article and also helps the lead article stand out more to somebody viewing the front cover.

After that I did a similar thing for the remaining stories on the front cover but decided not to make the third story (GETTING READY) in italics because it would remove the point of making the above story in italics in the first place. However I did decide to use the same glow and outlining settings which provides a similarity throughout the cover and is repeated throughout (barring the lead article) the front cover & is generally easier on the eye.

As a small point, I also decided to change the glow colour for the “S” in the masthead simply so that it combines better with the rest of the masthead.

In the next screenshot I have finished the text for the final article on the left third of the magazine and I have also decided to mix the colourings around for the final sub-headings. I did this so that it stands out differently from the other articles but at the same time doesn’t draw the readers attention away from these other articles unnecessarily. I have also started the bottom information bar by filling it in with colour, in this case Black, in order to define it against the image above. I once again chose a serif (Chaparral Pro once again) this time for the information bar at the bottom because it helps bring out the message that this section of the front cover is mainly just about providing information to the reader, in this case about what else is in the magazine. The main image contains a variety of colours therefore it would be difficult to choose a colour of text which would stand out well and be readable throughout the entire magazine. This is also why I chose to outline most of the text on the front cover because it gave me more flexibility in choosing which colour it should be.

I also decided to give the bottom bar a blue glow simply because it would blend well with the other features of the magazine which contains glows and also provides a divide between the story above and the information bar itself.

Next I entered the text for the information bar at the bottom using the same font as detailed in the slide beforehand, which I felt would bring a small sense of continuity to that section. Overall I feel this section stands out well enough on it’s own and contains a good amount of information which will encourage the reader to purchase or enquire the contents of it even more, but at the same time doesn’t unnecessarily draw attention to it which would be better for a different section of the magazine, such as the lead article or masthead.

With the front cover completed, I now started on the contents page. Once again I created an A4 size canvas and brainstormed about the format and detail of the page. I decided to use one of my photos for half of the page, the brick wall photo, which I edited so it would fit my plan. I darkened the image and increased the contrast whilst at the same time stylizing it with different artistic effects, to end up with the result as shown in the image. I then cropped this image so it would take up exactly half of the page, highlighted it with the Rectangular Marquee tool and used the Paint bucket to fill it in black. Then I created the red bar on the black side of the page which would be used as a heading in the contents. I used red for this so that it would stand out against the rest of the black-themed background.

Next I repeated the red bars down the page, leaving enough space for me to enter the text below them detailing the actual contents of the magazine. After this I entered the text for the headings which provides a clear indication to the reader as to the different parts of the magazine. I decided to use a sans-serif font (Garrison ExtraCond. Sans) in order to ‘informally’ welcome the reader to the actual contents of the magazine, which is aimed at being informal yet informative at the same time.

Next I created a red bar which serves as a connector between all of the heading bars and is simply there for cosmetic effect. I then entered the “Contents” text at the top of the page, outlined it in white and filled it in black in order to make it stand out against the red & black feel of the rest of the page but also combining with the white present in all of the text so far on the page. I also decided to warp the text slightly in order to make it stand out slightly more and feel as if it was coming out of the page and in a way welcoming the reader to the page.

I next entered the remaining text on the left side of the page which details the actual sections of the magazine, choosing to use a simple sans-serif font (Franklin Gothic Demi) in order to provide continuity throughout the text formatting on the page. I also decided to colour it in white once again so it stands out well against the black background and is easy on the eye.

Next I entered the page numbers on the right hand side of the page aligned with the magazine details on the left simply to show the reader what information is on what page and also once again I decided to keep the font white so it stands out against the dark background.

I decided to enter some of the other photo’s I had taken so that the contents page would be more interesting and varied, and also to bring a little bit of controlled colour to what is so far a dark page. I found several photos and edited them, increasing the hue to a more red colour and also slightly increasing the contrast. I also edited the shape of these images to shake things up a bit on the page, and then transformed them by resizing and rotating. Another photo currently being edited can be seen alongside the contents page in the screenshot to the left.

I repeated this process of editing photos and inserting them onto the contents page, which I feel just breaks the page up a bit and makes the page more interesting. It also provides continuity between the contents page and front cover by the consistent use of my model and could provide a link between the two pages. I used similar levels of hue/saturation and lightness/contrast for all 3 of the photos shown now on the contents page.

I also decided to enter a page number at the bottom left of the page, which is a feature expect to be present throughout the magazine.

Front Cover Contents Page