This is the contents page to my prelim magazine, i picked the layout i have because it is influenced by the NME contents page i used in the previous blog. It looks similar because the page numbers are listed down the right hand side but i decided to do a stairs border because it looks abstract and interesting, the image i will use will be one of an outside scenario such as students doing homework in the park.

I chose to have my front cover like this because it has a striking appeal to it, i used both covers as an inspiration to design my cover. i put the main sell line in front of the picture so the reader can see what the main topic of the magazine is. i have also labeled what colour's i will be using so it is easy when it comes to designing it.

Photographic Composition

Covers + Contents Pages Of Inspiration

Below are examples of magazine covers and contents pages that i am taking inspiration from for my prelim.

 This is a contents page to NME and i like it because it uses a house style which involves yellow and black to highlight key articles in the magazine, the colour scheme does not match the front cover but this suggests that the page is about a different band to the band shown on the front. The size of the image is in correlation with the importance of the topic on the page, for example: the biggest images is on the left which indicates that it is the main story on the page and the details of where to find the story are found at the top right corner. I like all these features because they are simple and easy to understand.

On this front cover the main mast is the title of the magazine "Kerrang!" and the main sell line for this magazine is the band "Metallica" and you can tell this because it has their name in big bold red text and an image of them behind it. Posters and exclusive stories are also sell lines on this front cover. The house style for this magazine consist of 3 colours: Black, red and white with straight bold text. I like the layout of this page because the colours are used appropriately to match the theme of a band and the magazine which works well.

On the front cover the main mast is the title of the magazine, "NME" and the main selling line is "Beady Eye" and you can tell this because the name of the band is in big white bold writing with a catch line above it with a medium close up of the band themselves. This edition of the magazine is a Christmas one and you can see this because extra sell line's are in Christmas decoration shapes and the main mast has a snow pattern on the top of it, which is the main theme for Christmas. I chose this cover because it was useful inspiration for a seasonal addition of a magazine.

This content page uses 3 main colours to match the house style and one extra colour to advertise a separate subscription item, the main colours are black, white and red. This contents page also uses banners to split features up into separate section's. Another thing which is good about this contents page is the A-Z band index, its easy to read and in a useful place because it doesn't take up a lot of space but just enough to be noticed.

Brief;Print

Print Prelim

Preliminary exercise: Using DTP and an image manipulation program, produce the front page of a new school/college magazine, featuring a photograph of a student in medium close-up plus some appropriately laid-out text and a mast head. Additionally you must produce a mock-up of the layout of the contents page to demonstrate your grasp of DTP

Main Task

The front page, contents and double page spread of a new music magazine. A minimum of 4 images must be used. All images and graphics must be produced by the candidate.

Print Prelim deadline is the 26th September (flat plans + products + evaluation) Failure to submit prelim results in a 20 mark deduction.