Preliminary Task Analysis (SMC Magazine)

Before beginning my task, I did a preliminary task to learn how to use the computer software (such as Photoshop and InDesign). The task was to create a college magazine front cover, and a draft for the contents page.

I'm really glad I had the opportunity to do this task because it has given me a lot of new ideas for my final product, as well as showing me my mistakes and giving me lots of room for improvement for my final magazine. However, despite me seeing certain errors in my work, I am oddly quite pleased with it! :)

I quite like my front cover, the colours are funky, bright and eye catching (if a little gaudy) which is perfect for a magazine aimed at 16-18 year old college students. I think the colour scheme might be a little bit too girly, the pink and yellows are quite gender specific, so this would be something to improve, as the magazine is meant to be unisex, and the use of pink would probably discourage men! I think the title doesn't stand out enough, and really the title should be one of the first things you are drawn to, so this would be something to improve on. I also think the pulse logo needs to be more eye catching, so I would maybe like to work in some interesting colours. It has to be something you recognise.

I like the white background, because the rest of the magazine is quite busy, so the blankness behind makes the front cover easier to digest, however, this style probably wouldn't work for a rock music magazine. I used two different fonts, I think they both work well when they're big, but the smaller text would probably require a clearer font, so its easier to read. I also like the effect of the "student reviews" photographs being tilted slightly, it makes the page look more interesting. I really like all my photographs actually :) Billie was really good to work with, she was creative with her expressions so the different photos express different emotions, tying in with their particular subject. I like my text boxes too, they explain well what will be inside the magazine, capturing the readers interest. I would criticize the first one though, as it rambles on a little too much, and should be short and snappy like the other two.

I think my contents page sketch would've looked better once it had been properly done up :) but I guess it looks alright! I quite like the layout, but there's a few big blank spaces which makes the page look dull.