What I Have Learnt So Far..

From starting the media course I have learnt so many things. The first thing I learnt was how to actually create a blog itself as before I had no idea that it would actually be so easy! I then learnt how to use the blog itself for example how to set a template, to rearranging the layout of my blog and creating a web link.

I then learnt the key terminology about the front cover of any magazine; this was the Masthead which is the name of the newspaper or magazine which is usually located at the top of the magazine. The Header; this gives information about the date of the magazine. The central image; which is the main image on the front cover of the magazine, graphic features; which is computer generated imagery, cover lines; that are short statements in which are found on the cover of the magazine that describes some of the articles inside and finally the ‘three colour principle’ which is a modern colour theory based on primary colours.

We then went onto looking at other people’s school magazines that they had created themselves which we then used the front cover of theirs and annotated what we thought about each one of the terminology. Doing this definitely broadened my knowledge further of the terminology for example I straight away found out that the Masthead is always at the top centre of the page and it should be bright and bold to give it the professional look but also to make sure that it is clear. The header which I originally thought was the masthead is actually the smaller information, which is usually located under the masthead. The information that it usually includes is how much the magazine is, the date of the magazine and sometimes if they have a website then the web address. I also saw a variety of central images which really did show the difference between a good and a bad central image. But also the littlest of things that I thought would be important, the way the model is actually facing or looking. But for the graphical features I really did learn that using a computer really does give it the extra finishing touch of it being professional. I also learnt that the cover lines of a magazine really is the line that will grab the reader’s attention as even though it is a line out of an article it is the only thing that the reader will see and then decide if they will want to buy the magazine. So I know that the line has to be good. The last thing I learnt was the ‘three colour principle rule’ which is believed that it will look better if you only use 3 colours. Personally I agree with this rule as from doing my annotations on the magazines, I believe that it looks a lot more professional using less colour as if you use a lot it makes it look very messy and scruffy and I don’t want this on my final design. However from doing annotations of a magazine it taught me the advantages and disadvantages of what to make a front cover look like.

I then looked at a different magazine which was an actually published professional magazine which I also annotated, however I learnt that it isn't all about the front cover of the magazine it is also about the contents inside the magazine and how they word it for example if it is persuasive writing about buying a product. However going back to the front cover the words they used ‘looks you’ll love’ really showed me that it is all about how well you word your cover lines that will get readers to buy your magazine.

Over all I am really enjoying media and all the new exciting things I am learning and I am looking forward to widening my knowledge and creating my own front cover magazine that will hopefully look neat and professional.