Main Task - Location Shots

I went down to New Brighton so that I could get some shots of the beach. I would like to do some of my actual magazine shots down on the beach because it seems like a fun and cheesy thing to do for a pop music magazine. I like the background of the beach because a picture can be drawn in the sand or the waves can crash behind the people which can make a good looking and fun picture. Here are a few examples of the photo ideas I had for a magazine cover or for the contents page:

New Brighton fort with the barricading rocks

A washed up eel

New Brighton Lighthouse

My friend holding the New Brighton Lighthouse for a cheesy pop idea

The waves crashing on the shore

It was a shame the weather was a bit gloomy but other than that I really like these photographs and may possibly recreate them using the rule of thirds on a better looking day for the front cover of my magazine.

Magazine Cover Research

I identified the key features used in a magazine front cover.

http://www.slideshare.net/AmazingAllan/magazine-front-cover-research-40287915
http://www.slideshare.net/sofi_not/magazine-conventions-40191507

Preliminary Task

Preliminary Task Completed

I have completed the front cover and contents page of my school magazine. The front cover went according to plan although  would of liked to have been able to take a shot that followed the rules of thirds without me having to crop it. Also I would like the photo to focus on the student facing forwards, rather than the shoulder of the other student. I also noticed a spelling mistake in the tagline (update) which would need to be fixed for a school magazine. I like the colour scheme because it matched the uniform of the student. The same house style is on the contents page with the same font and colours. I like the main image on the contents however it doesn't really follow the rules of thirds which could be improved. The contents also seems to have a lot of unused blank space.
Overall I like the layout and colours of the magazine however I would of liked to have had used a school logo on the front cover and contents, fixed the blurred main image and get more things to fill the blank space on the contents.

Contents Page

I made my contents page with the same background as the front cover to keep with the house style.  I added the title in the same font and colour to so the same. I then added a large image as a main image for the contents page. 

I then added the stories with the page numbers with smaller images next to it. I also put a page number in the corner of the page. The font of the contents was all the same with the same colour but just smaller.

Stages of Creating the Front Cover

I decided to remove the background from my image as it was too plain so I wanted to replace it with a colour. I did this using the quick select tool and then erasing the little extra features left over. I then created a new layer, put a gradient on it using the colour red as the background. The colour yellow was used so it wasn't too bold as a background but so the colours matched the uniform.

 


















I then added a title, some stories and the time and date all in the same font and colour. My house style will be red and orange colours.

I then put a tagline of it below the title in a smaller font. (The tagline has a spelling mistake which needs to be fixed/improved)