This blog post looks at the school magazine mockup I've created as part of my media A-level coursework. In it, I'll give an in-depth explanation as to everything included in the below scans, ordered into four categories; research, the theme, the design, and content.
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(1) Research
Research for the magazine's eventual state came in the form of a google form, sent to a few people. What was ultimately decided upon by those few submitters was that:
- Articles made by members of Staff are fine
- Ads aren't to be included
- News about extracurricular activities and school clubs are to be included
- Comic strips submitted by students are to be included
- General information is to be included
- The magazine is to be weekly
- Any seasonal features may be used.
(2) The Theme
The themes included in the magazine cover are of climate change and deforestation, mainly. This was chosen because of one magazine researched to create a basis for what this magazine was going to be formatted like had it as one of their themes, and also because climate change is a realistic theme that would be in a school magazine. This is due to the fact schools frequently hold assemblies and powerpoints about climate change and its effects. The front cover was originally drawn, but needed to be changed, the new one is themed around autumn, while keeping around the same configuration as the original, sporting a tree and a sun, just with more background and a student in the picture to promote student identity.
(3) The Design
The design of the front cover is composed of a photograph background, with text layered atop it. The picture is of a friend standing in front of one of the trees in the lower school yard of Thirsk School and Sixth Form College, with the sun poking out from between the branches. The text layered on top is coloured in a similar fashion to the background, with autumn colours like black, white and orange. One detail I've added in is that all of the text has an 'echo' effect (essentially a shadow but with multiple of them chained), and angled them away from the direction of the sun, as if they were casting a shadow.
(4) Content
In terms of contents (For the contents page) several ideas from the google form were used, as well as relations to the theme of the cover and other things that may be helpful for a student. The 'Introductions and Editor letter' is meant to be because of this issue being the first, and so an introduction to what the magazine is about may be necessary. After this, the special guest author interview is placed, as to make it the most important and highest thing on the list, as well as it being a 'write your own answer' question in the form. As all participants in the form chose different answers, the writer was kept unknown in the contents page and fictional.
The climate awareness student article comes first, student-written articles are a trend in school magazines, and a few more will crop up later in this content description. This theme also relates to the overall theme of the issue and its cover. The student comic strip section spanning four pages was also from the form, voted in as an overwhelming yes, as well as in the fictional universe this magazine exists and belongs to a real school, it would be a good move to include students in the magazine as to present some student identity along with the student articles.
The articles submitted by staff was also a mostly popular vote-in, and is mentioned on the front cover, being useful for the above reason, only tweaked to portray staff identity instead.
'Useful information concerning school life' and 'Important extracurricular activities and clubs' would be for the students reading, as the question in the questionnaire 'do you as a student read school paperback publications' was mostly positive. The three student articles afterward called 'Why art doesn't require meaning', 'Why you should speak out' and 'Why you might not be studying right' would range from useful to interesting for the students reading it.
Kieran Cawood
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