Katie Clements

I asked a couple of people what they thought of my magazine drafts so far, to see whether their opinion could help me improve anything that may not be up to scratch.

Oli: I think at first glance the magazine itself has a really good layout and it does give off a professional style. I think the masthead would look better in a more original font, instead of the one that has been chosen, because I think that it would attract the target audience more, as it would look more exciting and eye catching. I also think that although the layout in where the mast head and cover lines are placed, I do think that they need to go along with the route of the eye more, and the principle of thirds, mainly because that is how professional magazines are laid out, so that when you look at the front cover it is easy to read and see what is featured. The double page spread I think is your strongest part of the magazine because the picture being on the left and the text on the right, is how a lot of the magazines out now have their spread laid out, because the picture is the first thing you see.

Emily: When I first looked at the layouts for the magazine, I thought that the colours were quite plain, and I think if you could do one thing to improve the appeal of the magazine, it’s to change the original colours of the lettering, or even the fonts, so that they stand out more. I think the place in which you are planning on putting the stories and title is good because it is clear what will be going in the magazine and also what sort of genre the magazine will be. The main picture as well I think is good because it suits the style of magazine and it also looks professional with the editing that has been used for it. The double page spread looks good, I think the background colour in contrast to what the pictures are you’re planning to use together work well as well.

From my focus group, I found that to improve my magazine, I need to have a re-think about the colours and fonts that I’m going to use so that they look more appealing to the audience that the magazine is aimed at.