Preliminary Task Research and Planning- Research into school/college magazine front covers

For my preliminary task I need to create a front cover and contents page for a college magazine. To help me understand what college magazines are like I looked up college magazine on the internet and analysed each cover to help me pick out the certain features that I may need to feature in my magazine.
This magazine cover is a very simple cover which focuses on the header that says ‘class of 2009’. By having this the main focus it indicates to the audience that this is what the main feature is in this particular magazine. On the side of the magazine in a thick orange block with ‘2009’ inverted into it.
By doing this is gives the magazine a better structure and makes it seem more structured. The colour scheme of this magazine is orange and white, i think these colours were chosen because theses colours are very bright and natural colours. These colours represent serene which i think is the message this magazine is trying to get across. To represent this idea of serene this model in this magazine who is supposed to be a student is laying down on a bench resting on some books under her head. This image suggests that she is relaxed and is in college because that is what the books represent. The words ‘my college’ is the master head of this piece and it highlights that this magazine is a magazine for the individual college student. It suggests this by having the font in a relaxed style which looks like someone’s handwriting. This shows that this magazine is meant to be personal for the students. This magazines looks like it would attract students that may want advice when starting college.

This magazine cover is very different to the magazine before. This magazine cover suggests a more youthful and social able aspect to the college life. The young attractive girl on the front cover is smiling brightly towards the camera, which suggests that they are being friendly and also that they must enjoy college. This may appeal to those who are worried about maybe not enjoying college and also i think it will appeal to the male audience because it may suggest that these are the types of girls there are at college. The colour red is used on the main master head ‘College’ and also is the colour of the young girls top in the photo. This colour represents confidence and is a bright colour. This makes us look straight at the picture of the girl and the master head because they have the boldest colours and are complimenting each other on this magazine cover. Because the image is the main feature the background of the grass is blurred which helps the image stand out and also helps the text stand out against it. This magazine has typical features like the master head, sub headers and also the bar code. The price code indicates that this magazine is something that the student may have to purchase because if they didn't they wouldn't need a bar code on it. Overall by having this magazine as something the students would choose to buy this magazine has tried to go for the most appealing and idyllic look to the college life.

This magazine cover shows the college of Austin in an idyllic ay. Thee image of the college is appealing to those who see it as it looks very different to many colleges. This shows the reader what they’re missing because most college grounds are boring and dull. However the way that Austin college is presented in this magazine is that its a natural and well looked after college. The water from the water fountains, the flowers and the plants suggest nature and naturalistic which is appealing to most people.
The main master head ‘Austin College’ is in a formal font and in burgundy and deep orange colour. These colours represent richness i think and contrast against the blue sky in the image. In the bottom right corner a sub heading is used which is in a fancy font style and is also a rich yellow colour. When you think of yellow/gold you think of gold, first place and rich. This represents the word ‘grand’ in the subheading and also suggests to the reader that if they come to this college that they will succeed and get really good graded.
This magazine overall is representing the college building itself, and doesn’t represent the students that go there. This can be seen as a flaw because it doesn't indicate that this magazine is for the students, the parents or maybe other people looking to come to this college.