My magazine evaluation

My Evaluation

My magazine is called "Sixth Sense" and is a student magazine to let them know all about their college and whats going on. The magazine cover is an image of a student eating a muffin, smiling with his thumbs up; inviting people to read. The cover lines are up to date and suitable for college students giving an addressing feel. The title of the magazine is bold and stands out, it is also in the college colours. I decided to undertake research to ensure that the college magazine met the majority of expectations and needs of current students. I did this by asking students eleven questions about content and style that they preffered. By far the most popular requests were for college news and gossip and the style most preffered was 'chatty'.

My contents page is a mock-up of another magazine and is a design draft. It has no pictures or proper writing, just note form. I based the contents on the results from my research. College news was one of the most requested items and so this has been placed near the top followed by events and then the most popular request gossip. I think its important to include student achievements and sports results as this promotes a sense of community and belonging within the college. Of course students like to know how to spend their spare time so I have included film reviews, gig guides and music reviews. Finally to ensure all the students stay healthy so they can attend college(!) I have included a section on health.

The magazine cover I made was good and I found it quite easy to edit, but it did take some getting used to. If I would of taken more time on the magazine I think I could of made it better. The changes I would of made would have been to the writing i.e the title and cover lines could have been a more interesting font and brighter and eye-catching colours. My contents page could have been improved alot. It doesn't look like it would be in a college magazine as it is from an action cartoon magazine. I could of changed the colours and made it more grown-up for the suitable target audience.

What I have learnt while making this magazine is new techniques using photoshop. The thing I found most difficult was fitting the photo around the college title so that it looked professional. I also had to import pictures from other devices i.e digital camera and size these to fit onto college front page. I also realised the importance of research which ensures that a product is right for the target audience. Producing a magazine that needs to target a wide range of students is not easy due to the varied needs and expectations of students at college. And finally everyone knows that students are always skint and so I needed to produce a magazine that looks as professional as possible for the least amount of money.