Plantsbrook School Magazine Contents Page

This Plantsbrook school magazine contents page was designed on Adobe Fireworks and aimed to incorporate all of the key conventions of a magazine contents page.

The magazine masthead is featured prominently in the top left-hand corner of the page in order to make the magazine instantly recognisable and so that the reader sees it first and knows what magazine they are reading.

The title of the contents page is in clear bold letters in order to make it easy to see and understand. It has been placed at the top of the page so that it is the next thing that the reader's eyes are drawn to after the masthead.

The two images are designed to be the next thing that the reader looks at. They are large and colourful so that they are eye-catching for the reader. They are also relevant to the page number and article that they are linked to in order to give the reader a better understand of what the article is about.

There is a clear theme and house style on the page and the Plantsbrook school colours: red, black and white have been used extensively to create a clear pattern and to match the front cover and the rest of the magazine. The same two fonts have been used throughout the whole cover with the larger titles and headings written in Bodoni MT and the smaller text written in Times New Roman. This was designed to create emphasis on different words and to make different words more eye-catching.  

   

Plantsbrook School Magazine Contents Page Layout

This design template for the Plantsbrook school magazine was designed whilst considering all of the main conventions of a magazine contents page.

The visual syntax was designed to be simple and flowing with a clear layout that makes locating different articles easy for the reader.

The title is designed to be clear and bold so that it is easy for the reader to know what is contained on the page.

It was designed to be eye-catching and aesthetically pleasing, therefore two large pictures were planned to be on the page. This would make the contents page more interesting to the reader.

Denotated Q Magazine Contents Page

The title of this contents page in Q magazine is very big and is written in a simple bold font. This makes it clear to the reader that this is the contents page.

The page is full of pictures of various different people and things. This is designed to add more detail to the title or article and also makes the more interesting and aesthetically pleasing.

Along with each picture relating to the articles there is a small summary and a page number reference. This is designed to give the reader a simple and easy way to quickly get to the articles that they are most interested in reading. The page references do not have to be in chronological order and are often put in order of which articles are expected to gain the most interested.

There is information regarding the date of release and the issue number towards the top of the contents page. This is featured in order to give the reader a brief idea about the time frame of the magazine and its contents.

This contents page was clearly designed using the house style and colours of Q magazine, which are red, black and white. This is designed to make it instantly recognisable and so that it matches the front cover and the rest of the magazine. There is also a clear flow that is structured to make the reader read in a circle around the main starbust in the middle of the page.

Plantsbrook School Magazine Front Cover

I used Adobe Fireworks to create this school magazine front cover for Plantsbrook School, I tried to use as many different effects as possible and I tried to stick to a clear house style and colour scheme.

This front cover features all of the main conventions of a magazine front cover such as a large, clear, eye-catching masthead at the top of the page which is designed to be the first thing that the reader looks at. There is also a small puff just below the masthead which is the school slogan 'be the best that you can be'.

The next thing that the reader should look at in this visual syntax is the person in the picture, the picture was taken with the person making eye contact in order to catch the attention o the reader who is then expected to follow the line of the person's body down from their eyes.

The reader is then supposed to look at the headline, which is large and clear and also gives a brief idea of what the article is about. A slightly smaller strapline is also featured just below the headline to add extra information and to entice the reader into reading the actual article.

At the very bottom of the page there is a banner which features some lures in it. This is designed to give the reader a little bit more information about what is actually contained in the magazine and to lure the reader into reading the magazine.

In the top right corner of the cover I have featured a pug/starburst which is eye-catching to the reader and is designed as a simple self-promotion to the reader.

Throughout the whole front cover I have used a fairly obvious house style that features the Plantsbrook school colours: red, white and black throughout but particularly in the masthead, headline and pug/starburst. I have also made sure to use the same font throughout the whole cover, however I have varied the font size in order to draw attention to different parts of the cover and to create different effects.

Target Audience

I created the magazine front cover with a clear idea that my primary target audience would be secondary school children aged between 11 and 18 as it was designed as a school magazine. I have therefore tried to use eye catching colours and large fonts to make the magazine seem more interesting and appealing. I also understood that I would have a secondary audience of young and middle-aged adults; predominately teachers and parents. I therefore made sure that the whole front cover was relevant to the school and included things such as exam results, clubs, sixth from etc