Analysing Previous Student Work

Analysing Previous Student Work

Name of Magazine	Strengths	Weaknesses	Grade I  awarded  and reason
IMAGE	The design of the pull-quote is professional and unique. The house style colours are consistent – it stands out. The images and logo used are very professional and not pixelated. The photoshop/editing on the images is professional looking.  The density of the font is good. The contrasting colours on the contents page look professional.	The cover line colour clashes against the red lines in the background. The “Scan box” looks out of place – it would have looked better on the contents page. The font is almost “too standard” in the article. The main image on the cover has shadows that seem unnatural. Bad grammar has been used in the double page spread. The background colour on the contents page is too bold – texture could have been added. There is no anchor on the double page spread – readers wouldn’t know what the image is/who the image is of.	B
Sound Check	The photos used have been took at concerts and not taken from the internet. They have included “posters” which are common in music magazines. Band logos have been used.  Anchors have been used for the images.	The photos are too dark – although being good shots of the band members. The photos used are quite dark which clashes with the grey and black house style which makes the whole style seem bland. The text used in the contents page and double page spread is too unprofessional. For the background of the contents page and double page spread is just a block colour – texture could be added to make it look more appealing.  The page number is also incorrect for the contents page and the numbers in the contents page are random.	C
Strobe	The photographs used are good quality. Photoshop has been used effectively – putting images in front of the text.	The layout of the double page spread is pretty simplistic – the background colours are completely bold which makes it look quite un-professional and not very aesthetically pleasing. On the front cover, some of the text blends in with the colour behind it which makes it hard to read and almost hurts the eye when straining to read it. The white background could have a slight texture to it to make it look less flat and more professional. The use of photoshop on the front cover doesn’t look right – the blur tool used to create the smoke effect.	C

What have I learned from looking at last year’s student work?

I have learned that I need to pay close attention to photos that I take – making sure that they are not blurry/out of focus. Also, I have learned that attention to detail will increase how aesthetically pleasing. Using block colours as backgrounds make the magazine look quite unprofessional, so I will try to avoid doing that.

How will I apply this to my own work?

I will make sure that my photos look professional before creating my magazine – if possible, using the studio when taking the photos. I will make sure that to give my magazine more depth – aesthetically – I will not use block colours, instead non-block colours – e.g shading.