13/09/10 - School Magazine Research

This magazine does not seem appealing to me at all as i feel the colours are garish, and clash too much. The students outlined in yellow and green blend into the background, and so it looks blurry, which leads us to believe it is of bad quality. Also, the students faces are undefined, leaving the picture unclear. From the writing on the side of the magazine we can assume the theme of this issue is sports, but again it is quite unclear. The sports equipment is almost hidden away in some places, and it took me a while before i even saw that one of the girls was holding a tennis racket. The writing on the side that says, "Junior Athletics On The Go!" overlaps, making the writing less clear. There is white writing in the bottom right hand corner that says, "see back page sports news", but it took me five minutes to realise this is what it said. In addition, the block of writing in the bottom left hand corner is just shoved there, and personally if i was reading this magazine, i would not be drawn to read it. As the magazine seems to be based on sports, the picture of a girl horse riding, the American flag and the camera come across as irrelevant. The logo for the school looks as though it should be for a car company, or an estate agents, not a school. It also is very plain, and takes up quite a lot of the space available on the front cover.

I like that the focus of the magazine cover is on the student, but i feel as though the image could be of someone more enthusiastic. Also, the picture could have a better background, instead of what looks to be a tree, part of a building and a pond. The magazine comes across as too simple and uninteresting. The font, although fairly simple and easy to read, is a colour that blends into the background far too easily. The writing at the bottom of the magazine is written in a colour that clashes with the greens and blues used throughout. In addition, the writing in the top left hand corner that reads, "November 2009" with some writing underneath, is so unclear and pale, blending into the background, that i can not read it very well at all. Many of the words are in a font too small to read easily.

I like the focus on the artwork by the student, but she is posed quite awkwardly. The font used for "Magazine" in the top right hand corner could be seen as too elaborate. Furthermore, "Fall 2009" is rather faint, in the corner, and blends into the background. The writing underneath "Tallulah Falls School" can not be interpreted at all, due to the colour being the same colour as the background it is on, but fainter. It also looks rather blurry. The bottom of the magazine has some writing on it, most likely talking about what the magazine contains and the features, but it is written in white. It is all too faint for us to see what it says immediately, which would in turn, leave the reader impatient, and unwilling to read the inside properly.

On this magazine, i like that as the magazine is focused on science, the students are participating in what looks to be a science lesson. Although the image links into the magazine's purpose, the student used, even though he is in a natural pose, does not seem to be at ease. The little smile almost seems too false, and so, it would possibly be better if he was either posing completely, or having his picture taken during an actual lesson, in a more natural state. The logo for the magazine is clear, large and bold, which is effective. "The Science on Energy Smart Schools" seems almost thrown onto the front cover to use space. Also, the edges of the letters as edged in white seem to blur into the image of the uniforms. Addiotionally, the writing on the bottom of the magazine is far too small to read. The colours used blend too much into the background, making the words seem almost blurry.