Print brief research and planning

Print brief research and planning

1) Research magazine cover key conventions. Look over the magazine cover key conventions notes sheet and write which of these you will use for your magazine cover.

Title of publication, slogan, central image, cover lines, colour scheme, language, direct address & asking questions.  

2) Find at least five culture magazine front covers (either current or former magazines) aimed at a similar target audience to your project (adults interested in popular culture). For each one, pick out one design idea that you could use in your own print work. Some examples you may wish to look at include the Guardian Guide, Sunday Times Culture magazine, Time Out, The Face, the Radio Times, Aesthetica, the move and Paper:

I like the surreal aspect to this front cover which reflects the modernism and effects of growth in technology on the media. The visual effects makes the magazine more visually appealing and makes it different and stand out from other magazines.

They've used lighting as a key element in this magazine front cover which is inspirational to attempt to try using lighting in different ways and experiment with it to make it more effective for my magazine. 



This magazine front cover has incorporated another image on top of the main image which gives me ideas as to how I can add in my two additional images that I need to include in my own front cover.

I like the use of colour in this magazine as they have used strong and bold colours in the magazine which are very eye-catching, however it doesn't look like there's too much going on, on the page and isn't too overwhelming for the audience eyes.  

3) Find at least three contents pages from culture, lifestyle or music magazines on Google images. How are contents pages designed? How do they use a combination of text and images to create an effective design?

 

This contents page has a very simple design and is easy on the eyes. The use of texts and images makes it more visually appealing to audiences and the layout also makes it a lot easier for audience to understand and navigate around the magazine. 

This contents page has been well structured because they've used images and texts and made the main text stand out more by enlarging it. There is also a colour scheme going on so that there isn't too much going on and the screen doesn't look too 'busy'. They have also provided both text and numbers of pages to make it easier for the reader to find out what they're looking for.

This contents page has been well structured with a neat layout and has balanced out the use of visual and the use of text very well. They've also made the title of the pages and the page numbers bold to make the important information stand out which makes it easier for the reader whilst also providing a summary of what's featured on each page so readers know what to expect before flicking through pages.  

4) Find at least three double-page spread features from culture, lifestyle or music magazines on Google images. How are they designed? How are text and images displayed? What design tricks can you borrow from your examples?

5) Read at least three example features from newspapers and magazine to learn the format, writing style and content for a culture magazine. You may wish to use the following to help you:

Guardian review of The Morning Show - new Apple TV drama (500 words)

Time Out - The 10 Best TV shows of the week (1,500 words)

Benedict Cumberbatch hints at female future (250 words)

Planning, sketching and writing

1) Plan a title and slogan for your new, original culture magazine. Sketch out possible designs for the masthead - font, style, colour etc.

Title: Trendinn' (bold text in a bold colour; black)

Slogan: 

2) Plan the content for your magazine front cover. Your double-page spread will be the main story but what other cover lines, images and more will you include on the cover?

3) Write a list of the all the features, regular sections and more that will appear on your contents page. If you've chosen to produce a different internal page, plan that here instead.

4) Create a spider diagram or bullet point list of all the issues or topics your TV drama addresses. How can you use this information to create a main feature for your culture magazine about your TV drama that will appeal to your target audience?

5) Write the text for your double-page spread feature. This needs to be a minimum of 400 words and be completely original and feature an aspect of your TV drama. Make sure you include a headline, subheading and any pullout quotes or sidebar contents. 

Writers from Trendinn’ meet the cast of ‘save yourself’ to give you all the insights of the series and behind the scenes tea! We start off by talking to Rathu about how she managed to pull off such a realistic character and stole the hearts of so many young people by being able to voice the issues that several of them would face in real life. ‘I loved doing this character actually. I like to think very positively and although this characters life started off at a downfall, being able to show change in her life and being an inspiration to people; especially fellow youngsters who actually go through problems like this in real life is a true blessing.’ I think it’s fair to say we were all on an emotional rollercoaster along with you throughout your journey Rathu.

Let’s talk more about the cast! How was the experience of working amongst fellow upcoming talents and how did you all get along with one another on set behind cameras? ****: ‘well, I wouldn’t say it was completely off  camera cause there was just constant messing about on snapchat, making triller videos and having a whole lot of fun without a worry in the world. Even though you saw a lot tears in the series, it was nothing but fun and laughter behind the scenes and we all honestly became like a family. This is my second family.’

‘Shit would get real crazy when all of us were behind schedule cause we’d be dancing around and taking our sweet time to get ready until the director starts screaming at all of us lol’; Rathu added.

6) Produce an A4 sketch of your front cover including the key conventions and design tricks you have studied in existing magazines and then planned in planning task 1 above.

7) Produce an A4 sketch of your contents page. This can be a single page of A4 or alternatively a double-page spread (A3).

8) Produce an A4 landscape sketch of your double page spread design now you have chosen the subject matter.