School Magazine: September 2015

Tuesday 22 September 2015

Questionnaire Results

Questionnaire Results

I found that 70% of the people who took my questionnaire liked the name "Chislehurst Weekly" better than "Chislehurst Times" or "Chislehurst Chat".

60% more people wanted to pay 50p for the magazine where as only 20% would pay 60p and the same amount would pay 70p.

60% again said that they would prefer a weekly issue of the magazine rather then a monthly, fortnightly or every term.

Most (90%) wanted a magazine that was directed toward the entire school body.

60% of people preferred the blue and white colour scheme.

50% of people wanted more news about the school and information about upcoming events.

More people wanted to see a Halloween issue of the magazine than any other seasonal issue.

Friday 18 September 2015

Questionnaire

What magazine name do you prefer? (Circle one)

A. Chislehurst Weekly

B. Chislehurst Times

C. Chislehurst Chat

How much do you think the magazine should cost? (Circle one)

A. 50p

B. 60p

C. 70p

How often should the school magazine be released? (Circle one)

A. Weekly

B. Monthly

C. Every fortnight

D. Every term

Who should the magazine be targeted towards? (Circle one)

A. Lower years (7,8 & 9)

B. Upper years (10 & 11)

C. Sixth form

D. Whole school

What kind of content do you want to see in the magazine? (Circle one)

A. School news (upcoming events and trip information)

B. Games and puzzles

C. A page per subject for displaying students work and news within the department

Which seasonal issues of the magazine would you like to see? (Circle one)
A. Christmas

B. Halloween

C. Easter

Tuesday 15 September 2015

Mode of Address

Mode of address is the way you tailor your text/media to accommodate the needs or expectation of your audience. There are four types of modes of address: first person, third person, formal and informal. Within these categories there are also subcategories, for informal address you can either present the media in a colloquial or expletive manner depending on the type of audience you are pitching to. Mode of address is influenced by genre, format of media and your target audience.

Examples of when these modes of address:

Third person – in a magazine interview when referring to the person they are interviewing they may use “he/ she”

First person – this may be used in an editor’s note or in a quote for another person.

Formal –may be used in a newspaper article.

Informal – most magazines are written in an informal tone.

The Colour Wheel

A colour wheel is an explanatory organization of colour tones around a circle that shows relationships between primary colours, secondary colours and tertiary colours. The colour wheel is designed so that the user will be able to determine from it whether or not specific colours will complement each other or be contrasting. This is important when creating a magazine because if the colours you chose for your magazine do not go together then it may make the cover look chaotic and disorganised, giving your magazine an unprofessional quality.

Colours can be used to create mood, colours like red and black create an intense and edgy kind feeling and would be suited more toward a rock magazine for example. Colours like blues and light greens however are much calmer and create a sense of serenity so may be used in a home magazine or something similar.

Friday 11 September 2015

Typography

Typography is the arrangement and style of text that is presented on a page. This definition of typography includes typefaces, point size, line length, line spacing and use of colour. Typography is extremely important when designing a magazine as you must make your magazine easy to read and has to correspond with the theme and style of the magazine. Essentially the typography you use can be the difference between whether someone picks up your magazine or not. An example of typography would be serif and sans serif fonts:

Serif fonts are often used in magazines and other printed works as it is supposedly easier to read than sans serif fonts. This is because the defined strokes and thin lines in the serif font help make the letters more distinctive and recognisable, allowing our brains to process the words faster and more efficiently. Sans serif fonts are generally only used for shorter sentence, such as titles or subheadings as the regimented block-like lettering is not as distinguishing as the serif fonts and means our brains have to take longer trying to decipher the words.