Not enough headroom

Space around the edges distracts from

the model.

Shot from upward angle so the model is made to look

less appealing.

Intruders in frame looks unprofessional.

Too much headroom

Wind direction means model 2’s hair looks strange and distracts

from the image.

Just enough headroom

Model’s hairline is shown which is

distracting and off putting

Colours are washed out and

there is not enough contrast

Initial photographs

I wanted my magazine to look like something young people would want to read. I find the most common issue with common school magazines is they patronise the reader by producing editorials about “youth” topics. The issue with these is they also try to be parent friendly and so are often lost in translation resulting in a disjointed brand image. For my magazine I aimed for a bright appealing youthful look, which advises readers without telling, it also features light relief from the respite of school life by providing stories that interest students. School is such a large part of student life that to overwhelm them with a magazine fuelled by school alone would be both naive and ill-planned.

I was aiming for a legitimate student magazine and so I chose a fashion

photography picture, which frequents the cover pages of Vogue, among other popular editorials. The decision for this was to create a more grown up brand

which didn’t play to stereotypical trends

The colours were also important because often school magazines are very

formal, making them hostile to young people. I stuck with bold, stylised, almost cartoon text so that it stood out, as well as bright colours so it was eye-catching.

I wanted to involve fashion as well as interesting topics and avoid condescending and off-putting

“advice” stories. Hence why the photograph focuses on the

model’s look.

I wanted the school to play a small part in the overall magazine so, though it is present, I made itt’s involvment subtle. This is to avoid asscosiating it with the concept of schooling and the formality

that derives from it.Having studied magazines like

wired I decided that the Primary Kicker needed to be both succinct,

to the point, and also visually incising. If the brand is sound

enough the kicker should be what sells the magazine.

An introduction to my magazine

Revisions to the original

The date line was too small and featured an almost unreadable font which looked out of place when grouped with the hyper-

modern and youthful text around it. This has been sized down and matched with the other fonts in

the magazine.

The gaps between the kicker were too large and lacked any

symmetry, this has been resolved making it clearer and

more striking.The stretched barcode has been replaced and made to

look more natural.

The identity of the brand was clear from the first attempt so few revisions were needed, the text required minor attention and small issues such as the stretched barcode had to be resolved.

EYE FLOWThe title is bright and catching so that

is where the eyes are immediately drawn to, then they flow down through the model’s eyes, to the secondary kickers and finish on the large primary kicker. We read left to right so that is why the kickers are positioned as they are, so that the eyes finish on the main story. The bright colours lead the way and the secondary kickers are slightly out of line, so that they lead the eye down and across.

Excellent layout and eye flow

Good imagery

Consistent fonts from cover

Appealing strapline

Good caption

Interesting editor’s note

Good editorial pillars

Page numbers missing from articles

Off-black lines at the top right

“Features” could be lighter

Try to balance the images with more contrast, less brightness

In future: vary the locations, very the shot and angle.

Final TOCThe black has been darkened so as to match the rest of

the page

Page numbers added

Colour changed so it has a larger contrast

with the ‘whats inside kicker’