Preliminary Task

Moving on, I now have to complete a preliminary task: creating a student magazine front cover and contents page. I began by analysing some examples of the previous year's work to get an idea of what I would eventually have to do myself, in particular the cover of a magazine called "Squash". It stood out as a magazine front cover due to the stereotypical masthead and strapline, as well as advertising its range of articles and offers. The audience was for academic students aged 16-19 who took their studies seriously and planned to go to university. The audience is successfully targeted through many of the magazine's conventions. The masthead is colourful and bright, in an informal and stylized sans serif font, and the person photographed is of the same age as the targeted reader, and also is pulling a face, both this and the informality of the masthead removing some of the seriousness abotu the magazine's subject and making it more fun and approachable, thus appealing to a wider student audience. The articles are student related, for example "How 2 apply for student finances" and "Top Ten Revision Techniques", and also abbreviated text-messaging style language is used (e.g. "How 2 get...").