Ideas fo my magazine

Today I found an old school magazine on the internet and considered using key features such as the context boxes and the colour scheme more similarly on my own front cover as this existing magazine looked professional but yet still reaches out and intrigues both the primary and secondary audience.

Cover Image

On the front cover of my magazine I am going to have a medium shot of a four year old pupil of the school the magazine is for by using this shot you will be able to recognise what the child is doing,but also be able to recognise the uniform in which she is wearing .In the picture the child will be siting at a table with a peice of paper and a pen colouring in;she will be smiling at the camera (as if to say look at what a good job i've done.She will look happy in her own achievements, therefore giving the audience the impression she is enjoying herself which entices the audience to want to read the magazine as the picture conveys elements of fun within the magazine).The picture will be taken from below the eyeline,to enable the uniform to still be seen.
The headline will be 'fun times with me' the main image will be negative so there is enough space for titles I will then fade out the background to make all the focus remain on the child showing the nurture of herand to make the audience focus on the main theme.

Masthead

Namesss from autumngordon

Exsisting Magazine Front Covers

Theme from autumngordon

Magazine layout from autumngordon

Magazine Name

For my school magazine i have choosen the name 'Each little step…' imitating the growth of a child within the growth of the school.This could also show the fact that the magazine is suitable within an age group as it also portrays growing older showing the childishness of the magazine but also showing the maturity of it .This name is fun,clever and fit for purpose meaning that this as the mast-head will be extremely effective attracting the child (the primary audience) by bold coloring and attracting the parents/community (secondary audience) by the metaphorical purpose of the name.

Semiotics of images

The semiotics of images is the literal meaning of the purpose (denotation) and what you perceive it to be (connotation).these are important aspects of the magazine as it allows the consumer to get an idea of what audience the magazine is targeted to without having to read it. Therefore I want to make my front cover for my school magazine as clear, fun and interesting in order as possible in order to entice people to pick it up and have a read. For my front cover I am going to take a medium/longshot of a primary student in their uniform having fun doing an activity, this image will be used to emphasise that the school is fun and that the contents of the magazine can be deemed fun too.

Semiotics and Magazine names

Semiotics are the literal meaning of my magazine names ‘denotation’and the explanation behind what these names mean is the ‘connotation’. I have brainstormed some names for my school magazine and said what the connotation for each is.

 Crash! Bang!-Destruction of the youth and how things go pair shaped and to explain the magazine as chaotic.

Gold star -known as an award for doing well to young students this magazine would contain pupil achievements school achievements etc.

Razzle dazzle –High light of the youth there confident and flamboyant

Let it all out!—In respective to let all their energy out after school and complete quizzes and colour in but also, feeding the audience all the information the school has to offer.

In the school garden-influenced by popular infants television programme ‘In the night garden’.

Animal-The children’s houses are based on a variety of different animals but also as children are wild and free, can be compared to the different types of children there are.

Nurture-The development of the child and the maintenance of them.

Fun factory-Makes the children think of fun places like wacky warehouse, funsters, rumble tumble etc. Therefore it entices the children to read the magazine.

Time out-Time out from all the hyperactivity a cool down session when children can do fun things minus the chaos.

Optional madness-explains that the magazine can be taken in a really exciting way or you can just get on with it.

Each little step…-imitating the growth of a child within the growth of the school.

Genre Conventions

  A genre convention is the category in which the magazine is placed combined with similarities of those from other existing magazines from the same genre. In the school magazines I noticed a range of genre and sub-genre conventions one of which was the mast-head. It was written in sans-serif font and was simple and bold on both magazines, making the magazines appeal to a more formal audience suitable for A, B, C1 the primary source being the student and the secondary source being the predominantly parents/general community, Therefore the magazine had a clear and uncluttered layout on both covers expressing clearly what they are about meaning. The sections and context were situated at the bottom of the cover to lure the audience inside. The front cover poses practically the same image each with three student’s in a medium/longshot, which in both was relevant to the article. On both magazines there were clearly marked issue numbers or a term (convention on school) to let the audience know whether the articles are up to date etc.

Audience

 I am aiming my school magazine to students aged between 4-8; which are the primary audience. The majority of these students live in a market area in which most children are part of working class families they are in the group C1, C2, D, E. The secondary audience which would be the parents who show interest in the community and what is available to their child and what their child is doing The student will be in full-time education and this magazine will develop the pupils. There and the parents knowledge of what’s happening in the school, the magazine will also offer a range of information and advice but also offer them interesting information in which will make the magazine more enjoyable for the pupil there will be articles about their favourite fictional characters, what’s going on in the school, excursions, local community events, extra curricular activities etc.