Prelim Exercise

For our Prelim Exercise we were set the task: '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 masthead.' 

Final Magazine Cover!

This is my completed magazine cover which I created on Photoshop. I knew that I wanted to produce a magazine that focused on cooking and the food available at our school, so I decided to photograph two students that showed the process of cooking in the food technology rooms here at King's. Although there are two people in this cover, your main focus is left on the boy on the left, as he is closer to the camera, and I have taken a candid photograph as to make it look less posed, as well as conveying the action of cooking itself. 

In terms of composition of this cover, I decided to place the main boy on the right so that when I imported the masthead it would create a z-formation. When you initially see this magazine you would first notice the title, then move onto the highlighted person, read the information and text, and lastly notice the banner at the bottom. 

As for colours and text, I wanted to keep the text as simple as possible so it was easy to read, but at the same time interesting, therefore I made it mostly black with a white glow outline to focus the reader's attention. I've created smaller text in blue with less of an outer glow so that it's read last as this information is less important for the magazine. I'm happy with the font I found on dafont: 'Relief BD', because it's very simple but eye catching and this exactly what is needed for a magazine cover.  

Original Image

Overall, I'm really pleased with how this cover turned out as I wasn't too sure on the image at the beginning, but after editing and cropping the original photograph, placing text and other image layers over the top, I can say that it looks appropriate for a school magazine.