Introduction To The Preliminary Task

For the preliminary task we will be designing a front cover for a magazine aimed at sixth form/High school.

The magazine cover that I will be creating should appeal to its target audience which would be the school’s students. It is obligatory for the cover to have an image with a ‘medium shot’ which would be more appealing as it would show a more natural posture and the students would relate to it more effectively. My magazine is going to be called ‘The Hestoner’, I chose this name because it associates clearly with the name of the school. If the magazine went into production it would aim to distribute copies at the end of each month, this is because there would be more material to update the school about.  This magazine cover has to be produced in ‘Adobe Photoshop’; my aim whilst using ‘Photoshop’ would be to improve the covers appeal and to simultaneously enhance my Photoshop skills.

The magazine cover will include main stories from around the school. My main story and my main image on the cover will be on the subject of exam stress. I have taken a medium shot of myself in a library surrounded by many books as this visibly relates to the topic. I have included other stories, such as: ‘Sixth form trip to New York’- which would include news and pictures of the trip the students went on. Exam stress is a common issue amongst students of all ages. It can lead to huge build-ups of pressure, breakdowns and severe anxiety. I choose this topic as the main story as I have been through it and can relate to it well. Also, students would get advice and information about how to reduce their pressure and stress levels.

After this I designed two flat plans of my own magazine cover as these would give me a rough idea of how objects will be positioned it and what features it would include. I also produced a research on typefaces for my master head, as this would give an overall view on what types of master heads would be suitable for my magazine.