Evaluation

Evaluation of Around Haydon:

For my preliminary task I am going to evaluate my magazine, my magazine is called Around Haydon, I called my magazine this because it is giving everyone the latest news from Around Haydon. The colours I have used are blue and yellow this is because it’s the colours of Haydon School, so this then is recognizable to everyone associated Haydon and people know it’s a Haydon product. I had originally planned to have a black and grey background with blue writing. I did this to make the writing contrast but I felt that the Haydon colours were more recognizable and contrasted just as well. On my magazine the type of font I used was Broadway for both my sell lines and masthead this was too add a sophisticated look to my cover and contents page. The font I used varied between sizes the masthead was sized 42 pt to make it a lot bigger compared to the sell lines which was sized 24 pt this was because it is a  normal size so it wasn’t too big or wasn’t too small. The main image on my front cover was of the hero 6^th former who saved a Year 7. I did this because it is my main headline so it was based on my main story. I also have the Haydon logo in the top right hand corner, this is my magazine logo which anyone associated with Haydon can recognize.

For the contents page I have pictures of a main entrance, the café sign, a year 7 posing in her new uniform and the Haydon stag which is going to be a common theme throughout the magazine. I had again the same school colours as a background colour as they contrast really well.  My pictures on the contents page are rotated to make it like a ladder of progression throughout the day. The contents lines are in yellow so they contrast with the blue background also it stays with the Haydon school colours theme. I have used the same type of font with the same sizing as it’s not too big and not too small. Each contents line has a page next to it, this shows the reader what page they have to go too to see the story to each different headline.

In conclusion the good points about my magazine is that the writing is the same font throughout the magazine, I feel this is good as it doesn’t create confusion for the reader as they know exactly what they are reading also if anything such as adverts are placed on my magazine they will instantly know the difference. Also I felt the layout of pictures on the contents page was a good idea because it shows what the year 7 will experience on a day to day basis. I believe I have met the criteria on my preliminary task

To improve next time I fell my magazine could be of a better quality as it still looks fairly amateurish compared to some examples I had researched before starting mine. To improve I feel I need to get to know the programme a lot better and feel more comfortable when using it. Also I feel the photo on my main cover is of a fairly bad quality, to make my magazine better I could have an improved picture this would improve the quality of my cover.

I feel I used InDesign fairly well considering it was a first attempt, but want to have more knowledge and confidence when using it. When using photoshop I felt again I need more knowledge and confidence when using it. 

I will make sure I do all of this when it comes to the real task as I have learnt many skills on using programmes such as InDesign and Photoshop which will only benefit me in the near future.