Preliminary Task.

To show our understanding of Adobe Photoshop which I am using to create my magazine we had to complete a preliminary task. As I have chosen the area of print I had to create the front cover of a college magazine as well as block out the contents page.

This is my front cover for my college magazine. I chose red and blue as the main colours because I wanted colours that would stand out but also contrast each other. Also I understand that magazines have a limited colour pallet and would only use 3 of 4 maximum.
 The masthead is vertical down the left hand side and is in bold. I chose to have the title over the image as I wanted it to stand out more.

The image itself is a medium close up shot of a typical college student. I have edited the image by cropping it from the original as it was too large. Then I brightened the image using the tools on Photoshop and then made it more contrasting. I edited the image because I felt it was too dull and was flat compared to the text and boxes that I layered on top.

Overall I am pleased with this, I think it is well laid out. Simple, yes, but I think it stands out well enough without the need for too much to be going on.

Creating this has enabled me to understand how to use Photoshop and the different editing techniques.

This is my blocked out contents page. I used the same fonts for the writing as the front cover to make it flow from page to page as I understand the need to develop a house style for continuity. I decided to split the contents list into two sections, features and regulars, to make it a bit different from all the other magazines out there. I chose to place the photos on either side to help break down the text because I didn't want too much information on this page as contents pages are usually just brief notes about what will be in this issue of the magazine.
This was relatively easy and simple to create after my front cover because I had a better grasp of the program and a better understanding of how contents pages should be laid out.
I have continued with the red and blue colour scheme so that the magazine flows continuously from page to page.
I am happy with this layout as I think it works well how it is set out. I t has enabled me to understand how to layout contents pages which will be useful when I come to create my final coursework.