Stage 5

This is the final stage of the magazine production. I finished adding the text that I wanted, then I added an image at the bottom of the spread just to make the magazine look more attractive. I created it in Photoshop using the "Pen Tool"

Stage 4

At this stage, I decided that I didn't really like way the blue looked for some of the text so I tried the Red and I liked it. I also added text, about college trips, that made the magazine look more like a college magazine.

Stage 3

At this stage, I began to add some text to attract the reader. I tried to continue with the Red and Blue scheme. For the titles I used on of the fonts that I liked previously. Then by changing the size, it created the effect where the text has protruding spikes. I accidentally stumbled across this but it worked well.

Stage 2

Here is the second stage of the Magazine creation. I decided to include RED into my colour scheme; I used it for a border colour. Then I added text at the top just to sum up the magazine. I also changed the magazine name a bit from "Kingdom Factory" to "Kingdom Factor".

Stage 1

Here is the first stage of creating the Front Cover. I have included the magazine tile "Kingdom Factory". i have chosen to use mainly blue colour scheme.

Chosen Cover Image

After analyzing the results from the table, I have decided to Use this Image.

over Image Choice

This is a table that I constructed to help me choose which image to use. I printed the images off and then I went and asked some friends which would look best according to the type of magazine I was aiming for.

Image	Count
	5
	2
	3
	4
	3
	1
	1

Front Cover Image Ideas

Here are some photos that I am looking to use for my magazine cover. I tried to portray either college life or the theme of religion for my magazine.

College Magazine Proposal

Target audience

My main target audience will be male/female Christian students aged 16-18. This is because, being a Christian myself, I have a clear notion about what a Christian would look for in magazine that type of magazine.

·      What it will be about

I will hope to capture the diverse styles of gospel music that Christian students listen to. However the content of the magazine will also include sections for sports and other recreational activities that Christians participate in to socialise.

·      Ideas for Cover lines

I have decided to use such lines that will relate to the issues that most teen Christians face e.g. “How to cope with being a Christian”. In doing so I hope to make the magazine look appealing to my target audience.

·      The Title

I was really finding it hard to choose a title for my magazine. I was totally concentrated on making sure that it wasn’t too long but not too short and making sure that it really attracted my target audience. Considering those factors I came up with some ideas, these include: KP (Kingdom Project), GFM (Gospel Factory Magazine),

·      Fonts

The font that that I was thinking about using was “Princetown Let”. However after remembering that I could download a font online I have chosen to use “Birth Of  A Hero”, simply because it loos more appealing. Then the font for the context will be “Puritan 2.0 Regular”, because it looks basic and it suites the title font.

·      When & How often will it be published

I thought about the publishing times very carefully, thinking mostly about what kind of schedule would most-suite the magazine. After this consideration I decided that the magazine would be published every other week; the magazine needs too be quite frequent but not too frequent because the target audience is quite small.

·      Imagery and colour

For the front cover, I am expecting to use an image that shows both a male and female reflecting their Christianity. I will be taking these photos myself using my friends as models. On the contents page, I am going use images that will basically illustrate the content of the magazine.

·      Dimensions

The magazine cover will have the dimensions of 8.5 X 11 inches. I feel as though this is a standard size and it is also widely used.

Font Ideas

This is a table that I constructed in Microsoft Word. I wanted to get some feedback on some fonts that I liked and couldn't choose between. Since I didn't really like the fonts that were already available for use on my Magazine cover, I decided to visit a free font website. I went to http://www.1001freefonts.com/. So some of these fonts, such as "Birth of A Hero" was downloaded from that website. I constructed this table because I wanted to use a font that was preferred by a majority of people rather than a small minority.
So this table is a tally that shows the preferences of various people that I asked; I asked 10 of my friends to choose the font that they liked best and here are the results.

Font	Count
Princetown Let	3
Birth of a Hero	5
Tekton Pro	0
Myriad Pro	1
Bank Gothic	1

Blog Issues

For a while I was having some issues with my blog, it wouldn't let me access my account so I had to do my work without uploading it. However the issue has been rectified and I am now able to upload my work.

Initial Ideas

These are just some rough ideas about what I want my magazine to be like, I'm not positive that these ideas are exactly what my magazine will look like. Whilst creating the magazine I may completely ignore these ideas, they are just initial ideas.

• Magazine aimed mostly boys rather than girls
• It will be based mostly around music
• Will be aimed at Christians
• Front cover needs to be bright and eye catching- use strict vibrant colour scheme
• Front cover should have a musician on he front playing an instrument.
• Could have college students laughing together (Reflect college life)

Flat-plans

These are my two flat-plans for my Cover page and my Contents Page. I looked at other designs of magazines such as Vibe magazine to have an idea of how these pages should look. Although these are only designs, as I begin constructing the pages they may not look the same as these plans.

Cover Page

Contents Page

The 5 Magazine Covers that I chose

Essay

Essay

Bliss Magazine

The colour scheme of this cover is Light pink, Baby blue and White. Not only do these colours complement each other effectively, but they also create a young, cute and trendy feel. In correspondence to the page’s colour scheme the cover girl (Cher Lloyd) is wearing a school uniform-looking outfit that is white and light blue in colour which matches the colour scheme. The subject, (Cher) is holding her bow-tie either side and tilting her lips as she poses, this shows innocent yet rebellious attitude. The cuteness is also complimented with the blue and pink hair clips in her long brown hair.

The cover includes text such as “Cher shares her secrets”; this is a good example of alliteration. It creates a flowing sense about the magazine when the reader is reading it, the words seem to just link together. There is also types of text such as “why I had a boob job at 16”. This kind of text is used on the cover as a tie-in; upon reading this, the reader would be instantly led into reader more about the story. A bonus on the magazine cover is the section that advertises the latest summer styles items.

More! Magazine

This magazine over has a colour scheme of Yellow, White and Black. These colours really work well together as they are complimentary. The main magazine cover is coloured white, the background is yellow, and the colour black is mainly used to highlight images and text. The cover girl of this magazine (Frankie, form The Saturdays) is wearing a glittery silver dress which corresponds to the white colours on the cover. She is posing in an appealing way; she is tilted with one hand on her neck, and one hand on her cheek. This suggests that the magazine is aimed at teenage girls and not younger girls.

The contents of the cover include a section that shows some of the “Hot Holiday Buys”; this section highlights the fashion and retail side of the magazine. I believe that this section has been included, because it corresponds with the colour scheme. The section features summer clothing and accessories and these clearly relate to the summery style colour scheme.

Shout Magazine

This issue of “shout” magazine has a magazine cover that doesn’t look too fancy. It has a more mature look to it. There isn’t really a strict colour scheme for this cover and yet the colours still work well together. The magazine title is featured in white and other text is featured in Black, Blue, White, Pink and Yellow. The cover girl of this magazine is simply looking at the reader with a big smile; the image isn’t too elaborate, it just looks like a red carpet shot. There is only one advert on the cover which is “Win a Gold iPod” but there are some tie-in pieces of text. On example would be “Are You Safe On-Line”, this question would definitely have the reader wanting to know more, because that question could be relating to quite a number of things.

Teen Vogue Magazine

This magazine is slightly different to the others, because it features a male on the cover. This subject is considered to be a heartthrob for young teenage girls. Including him on the cover of this magazine is would make more readers want to buy the magazine. The subject is pictured with a straight face with his right hand hooked on his scarf and his jacket is half worn, with only his arms through it. He is posing for the camera. The scarf is included in the photograph, because it is an October issue which is in the winter season.

The magazine is similar to “Shout” in the sense that it is more mature. It includes subheadings such as “Why more teens are going under the knife” these statements talk about the issues that surround teenage life and they bring an interest to the magazine. The colour scheme of this cover isn’t too strict but it isn’t too free either. It includes colours such as Yellow, Red, White and Beige. These colours don’t vary too much and they work well together.

 Cosmo Girl Magazine

This issue of Cosmo girl features Vanessa Hudgens on the cover. She is pictured side-on looking very cheerful whilst her right hand is on her straw hat. Her black hair and white sleeveless top compliment the colour scheme very well. It has quite a strict colour scheme of White, Black and Red. Some pieces of text are included to simply entice the reader. “My mom married my High School classmate” is an example of this. This statement is quite shocking and would real in the reader to want to read more about the story. “387 Hottest Back to School Looks” highlights the teenage audience that the magazine is being aimed at.

In my opinion, I believe that what seem to be the conventions of this genre of magazine are things such as Famous cover models, Enticing text, Complementary colour schemes and Appealing Adverts. All these features included in a teenage girl magazine make very good combinations, and they are the key to popular and bestselling magazines.

Magazines definitely play a big part in the lives of the teens that read them. They affect the readers in one way or another. Sometimes the effects are good and beneficial; however other times there are certain social ramifications that follow the representations that they offer.

Fashion- Most teen magazines include sections where they talk about the latest fashion. They either talk about what looks good or what doesn’t. For some teens this can be a good thing because they keep up with the latest fashion, but for some other girls this can be a bad thing because they would be looked down upon because they don’t wear what is said to be the latest fashion.

Boyfriends- Teen magazine tend to talk about relationships a lot. They talk about which celebs are dating who and that it is somewhat essential to have a boyfriend. Some teens may want and have boyfriends, but others may not. They may have religious issues against dating, the may be homosexual or they might not just want a boyfriend.

Body Size- This is a very big issue that relates to teenage girls. When they get to that age, they become so much more concerned about the way they look; they want to please others more and more. Most teen magazines feature people that are looked upon as the perfect size; these people may are a certain size that is considered to be as the perfect size. This idea is moulded into the minds of young teenage girls, and they try to look like the women featured in the magazines. Some teens go to the extreme of missing essential meals, simply to lose the weight that they feel isn’t needed.

I think that magazines aimed at teenagers are too stereotypical; they portray women in certain ways that make young teens want to be like those images of women that they create. Personally I would like to see more diverse photographs of women in the magazines, showing that all body shapes and sizes are acceptable. Also I would like to see the pressure on teens wearing the latest fashion items removed.