Prelim Task, Contents page

For the contents page, I wanted to make it simple and clear but effective. I wanted to only use a few colours, rather than a wide variety. I want to use:

• White: The colour white would be a good colour to use in the background, as it's easy to read from when using dark colours. It's simple but wont make the rest of the page look 'busy'. 
• Black: When writing, black on white is the easiest to read and the most common. Black can be very strong when made bold so would be good for headings/subheadings.
• Red: I want to use the colour red as I can use it in a small photo and to make the rest of the page look more colourful but not overly coloured. Red is a strong colour and connotates many different things. 

Again, I want to make the contents page simple so I only want to add one photo. I want this photo to be artistic and creative of someone that would look like a student. This way, it would show the colleges creativity and also make the page look funkier! Below are some of my favourite photos I took.

Prelim Task, Cover Page

For the prelim task, we were asked to create a cover page and contents page for a free school magazine. Using the knowledge I have, I created them both using photos I took in an induction shoot around the college.






For the cover page, I used a photo of a boy against a brick wall. I used an iconic sign as I wanted people to recognise the photo as a person, rather than an object. The student on the cover is representing the college as a whole so the photo had to be appropriate. The model is against a brick wall in a hooded jumper. This makes him look 'cool' and trendy but gives him more attitude as well. I think that this photo works better than a a large group of people as one person can express more meaning and can connote more emotions. Also, using a brick wall as a background relates to the college building. 
    I used a blue font as it stands out from the rest of the photo. I used appropriate cover lines (e.g. about the college) as the main people that would read it would be college students that go to that college. I didn't incluse a price or barcode as it's a free school magazine so the students would be able to pick it up and not pay.

Shoot 2- Hannah

In my last shoot, I took images of a girl in a natural area with a guitar. I liked these photos but as I wanted to make my genre of music indie, I think that the cover image should be more recognisable instead of 'pretty' with flowers. For my shoot with Hannah,  I wanted her to be wearing a checkered shirt as when I looked at indie photos, I saw a lot of these. Below are 3 images I took.

Although I liked this photo, when looking at existing cover pages, I saw that many of them have medium close up photos, slightly to an angle. I thought that one at an angle would look more interesting and be more similar to these magazines. I also don't think the pose/facial expression is strong enough in this photo.

I took this photo as I wanted to use one that was to an angle and would have space around it for cover lines/writing. Although I also liked this one too, I think that the facial expression wasn't strong enough and looks like she wasn't ready for the photo. 

This photo is alike to the photo before but I changed the facial expression. I think that having a happy expression, makes the photo more lively. The way the girl is standing, makes it look more posed than being straight on with hands effortlessly down. I think that this photo was the most successful one of the shoot and if I was to use one of these, I'd use this one. The clothing that she is wearing is how I wanted it to be. However, I think that the photo isn't immediately in relation to music. I want to take a final shoot, in definite for it it to be for the cover page. I want to use the photo's I've taken of Hannah but if I did, I'd use then in the contents page.

Photo shoot 1- Charley

For my first shoot, I wanted to take photos of a girl with a guitar. By using a guitar as a prop, it immediately relates to music so the photos may be more effective- especially if I was to use them on the cover page. I chose to locate the shoot in a natural background, from within the trees to a bridge by a lake. I think that each of the places that I took photos at connotates peace, which would relate to what kind of artist the model is and what genre of music they're in. 
   However, I didn't want to just make all the photos look just 'pretty', I wanted to include other connotations through body language and facial expressions, making the indexical sign lost or sad. To continue this further, I chose the clothing to be simple. I wanted the model to wear white so when I put mud on it, it showed more.

This photo, unlike to others I took, looks uplifting and 'pretty' due to the bright colours, natural background and floral props. I used the guitar to relate to music immediately and by the way she's holding it and what kind of guitar she's got, you can see what kind of music she'll be playing- again linking to the natural, peaceful surroundings. I used a string of fake flowers to include more 'femininity' and 'prettiness' to it.
  I wouldn't be able to use this on my cover page as you cannot see the models face, so it's less obvious to who she is.



I think this photo, unlike the one before, is dramatic and looks more set up- even more so being black and white.I used the guitar as a prop again and made the girl lay down to vary the photos I had.
   I don't think that this is a strong photo so I wouldn't use it for my cover page.




















As said in the introduction for this shoot, I wanted to take photos that connote sad and lost feelings. I think that this photo does that well, due to the positioning of the model, the way she looks and the way she's dragging the guitar through the mud and dirt.
   The photo only shows the back of the girl, making it seem like we're following her. I think that the message and meaning to the photo is strong as there's mud on her legs and clothing, as well as having no shoes on.
   I wouldn't use this photo as a cover photo as it's not immediately recognizable but I think that it'd be a good photo to use on the contents page as people would want to read to what's happened to the artist.


I think that the images I have taken can connote different expressions and emotions. I think that the colourful ones could make the magazine lively and the black and white ones could make it look more emotional and dramatic. I have edited them to how I wanted to make them look but feel as well.