School Magazine Cover

I have decided on the final font to use on my final magazine cover. I will present this font on the cover as well as the other additions to the cover as I am progressing.



First Cover:

I chose this font because it is not very formal and has an element of freehand writing,which presents an interesting and intriguing look. I chose to use the colour pink as the child has a pink clip on her head, which is quite vague and not very visible however, I feel by using a pink font would bring this out more. The only critisism I have of this font is that it may be too freehand and not easily read. However, the magazine is aimed at young children and so the font has to have an element of 'movement' and personality to it.

I will begin to add things to the front cover and show the progress with screen shots.

FINAL COVER:

I have added three notices/bullitins on the front cover to highlight the fact that this is a nursery school magazine. I did not want to make it too busy and colourful as a child's magazine as the parents and guardians will be the people reading it and may find it a bit tedious reading a magazine full of birght colours and pictures. So I have given it a bright title and reasonable duller notices to show the topics inside.

Editing in Photoshop

Chosen Image:

The last image I chose to edit on photoshop was the one below, however I was not completely happy with it, as the model has a blurry cheek and I the background was unfinished on photoshop. 

Final Image:

 I have now completed the editing on the image and I am happy with the end result. I am now going to use this image in my final magazine cover. I will begin to add fonts to the image and choose which suit the image better, taking into consideration the colours in the image and the fact that the title must not be too formal as it is aimed at children and needs to be colourful and be eye-catching. 



Research for School Magazine themes

Colours used in nursery magazines are mainly very bright and colourful. Some of the ones I have researched are almost too compact and full of imformation that there is not one focus on the cover.

Such as this:

Some magazines are I have found are too formal, meaning that the target audience is in fact more for the parent of the child and not the child.

The magazine I am producing should have an element of this on the cover however, as it is to be for a nursery school it should have more of an educational outlook. The image would be of the child model, and the information on the front would be for the parents/guardians of the children aswell as things for the child to look at, which would have to be eye-catching and colourful. It should be acceptable for a school magazine.

Font Research

I have researched different types of fonts to discover which style I would ultimatley use on my magazine task. The font has to be acceptable to be used on a nursery school magazine and to go well with my image chosen.


This is my first attempt:
       

I initially liked the font at the bottom of the page however I feel as if it could be improved, so I completed another page of font research:

The font at the bottom of this page is my favourite because it is not too formal and the colours are simple yet effective. I will now go on and complete my magazine cover as I have researched each part which will go into it.

Final Font:

Photoshop Attempts

I have decided to Photoshop specific pictures to develop my skills on the application. I will show them and describe what I have changed with a before and after picture.

Before editing: 

This image has a wire in the background which needs to be removed and

the fence also has a bar coming from the back of the childs head which I

would like to remove.

I would like to clear the childs nose as it is not suitable for a magazine

cover and better the colouring on the fence.

After editing:

 I have removed the wire and made the fence more evenly coloured with no seperate parts behind the child. I attempted to change the childs nostrils as they were not clear and I am disappointed at my attempt as in my opinion the right nostril looks extremely round compared the other one, which does not look natural.

Before editing:

This image also has an uneven background which I would like to change and I could slightly change the resness in the childs face.

After editing:

I have sorted out the uneven background quite well, however, by doing this the right ride of the childs face is a little out of focus which is irritating and I am attempting to fix this.

once I have sorted out this blurry area I would like to use this as my magazine cover image.

Preliminary Task - Hand Drawn Designs

Front Cover:

Contents Page:

Photoshoot

I have a set idea that my magazine will be about young children, in an outside environment for a nursery magazine. Here are a selection of the images I have taken:

This is one of my favourite photographs as it is clear and shows the child laughing, which presents the idea of happiness and gives the idea of a good environment which is helpful as the magazine cover is for a nursery school.

This image also represents the idea of a child having fun, which is useful. However, the pose of the child is not the best and I would prefer it if this was different, although it does show a variety of expressions.

This image is very playful and shows a lot of expression from the child, I like this image as I feel it would represent a nursery school well. I will go on and photoshop this image and if that goes well I would like to use this as my magazine cover, as i feel the facial expression is clear and with a few changes through photoshop on the background that this image will be suitable for a magazine cover.

I do not really like this image as the child is not posed correctly and seems to be holding her ear, which is not suitable for a magazine cover in my opinion.

This is the second model I photographed. I chose to use two different children because then I would be able to compare them and see which one fits the specification properly. I like this photo however, the back ground would need to be cleared on photoshop. I also feel as if this child has a completely different look to the first child I photographed, this child has a more sensible and content look which is not as playful or interesting as the first child.

I do not like this photograph as, in my opinion, the children are positioned incorrectly. I also think that the background is too busy which would mean that it has to be photoshopped quite a lot. I will not use this image as it does not present an image of a nursery school.

I attempted to edit this photo, which is clear from the uneven fence in the background. I chose to edit the background as it was full of pots and plants, which would not be useful in a nursery magazine, however I am not fond of this image as this child is too formal and does not show a playful atmosphere.

I used both models in this photograph as I though it may present a playful atmosphere, however they are not positioned very well when looking back on the photographs I have taken, it would be difficult making this into a magazine front page image. Especially, as the second child is not facing the camera.

This is another example of both children, and it is clear in this image that both children have completely different personalities. One child is posed and smiling and the other is pulling a silly face, which is blurry and not suitable for a magazine cover. I think this image shows the difference in both models well and I am pleased that I have had the chance to compare them both, as I now know which model I would like to use for my magazine cover.

I think that this image portrays a playful atmosphere and the childs expression is clear, however in my opinion, i would prefer not to use this as a magazine cover at it is not portraying a nursery school. Although, I do like how clear the childs face is and the element of personality shown through the image.

Contents Research

I am now going to research into contents pages for magazines for my Preliminary Task. I will firstly find random magazine pages on Google and comment on which parts I like and dislike of  them. I will then go on to find contents pages which relate more to my theme of young children and comment on these as well.



The first image I found was quite bland. Just with black and white colours and a type writer styled font, I would like my conents page to be colourful and represent young children. This page has a dull style and does not represent youth, in the way I would like it to be presented.



2nd attempt:



My second attempt at finding magazine contents pages in my opinion was very difficult. There is not a variety to choose from and most of the contents pages I came across were made my students.
This image has a bold red image which is very eye catching, and draws in the veiwer to read the text. The colours used are well matched and interesting, however they do not represent a childs magazine, which would preferably be full of colours.





3rd Attempt:


This image is bursting with colours, and has a lot of information on it. Although I do feel that it is hard to read and does not represent children as there are no images of children on this page. I do lke the colours and will hopefully be incorporating these into my own page.







After finding these three images, I have decided that I would like to incorporate a focussed image much like the image on attempt 2 and to use lots of colours much like the colours used on attempt 3. By doing this I feel I would be able to create a solid contents page which will be suitable for a childrens school magazine. I did not find a contents page which I liked completely which is a sign that I should produce one which fits what I am looking for exactly. The contents pages I found were only for an older age range and there were very few which were for a nursery magazine. However, by finding these three varieties I feel that I have represented each part of the page in which I would like to incorporate e.g. colours, a defined image and clear text.

Magazine Research

My First task! I have to complete a Preliminary task in order to pass my overall coursework task. This is to complete and produce a school magazine with a contents page. I will research school magazines, and find an area which I would like to look into. I will update and show all of my developments as I go along! 

In this section I will be presenting a selection a random magazine covers which I have found on the internet.

They are all based around nursery school magazine images.

The first front cover I found is from a magazine called 'kids LA' I chose to use this image because it is colourful and I feel represents children well, as when people think of children they are reminded of a fun environment with lots of colours.

The child on the cover of this magazine looks palyful, innocent and cute. The way she is positioned shows a certain vunerability, as she is holding her knees to her chin. The text of the front cover also fits well around the image and all of the text is clear.

The second image I found was also of a young girl, she is also centered in the middle of the image and there is a certain variety of colours. This image is not a magazine cover although it does represent young children in a playful environment. The child in this image is the main object and she also looks innocent and playful much like my first image. Although, this image is in an educational environment and I would like my magazine to convey a playful image, such as a child playing outside and not inside a building.

I will now go on to research and find more pictures of childrens magazine covers, for nursery schools etc. This will include lighting and shadows, which will help me to identify where to position my model when taking photographs.

Image Research:

The next  images I research will be defined around the idea of a 'playful child' showing emotions and character. As I would eventually like my photographs to show this.

These images I have found show four different emotions. I think that being able to display personaltiy, character and emotion in a photograph is important and would aim to have my model for the magazine cover to do this. The emotion I would like to display for the nursery magazine would be 'playful' and 'energetic' and for the veiwer/reader to get a sense of a fun atmosphere, which would be useful if the magazine was in a store as it would be eye catching and readers would be interested in the nursery itself and not just the image on the cover of the magazine.

I have come to the conclusion that I would like my magazine cover to be energetic and colourful, representing the child's personality in the photograph. I will now go on to take photographs for my own magazine cover.