I myself am not a fan of the call of duty games, but I do like the way this double page spread has been laid out. As the main clump text has been placed on the left page the, it means the right page can be used for an image.
There are only two main colours used because of the background being that main focus, those colours are red and white. The white is used for all the text as if is a visible colour on the background and red is used just for the quote at the top of the magazine, to cause the magazine title to stand out more and for the ticks and crosses as on that part the white wouldn’t be as visible on that part of image.
The image its self is of a soldier fully encased in clothing showing no skin at all so as to remove the humanity from it, this along with the gun and the quote are there to show you that it is a war game and not all sunshine and daisies.
This double page spread consists of a large amount of text and a few images with their own captions and therefore don’t relate to the text. This particular story is quite focused heavily on what the writer describes.
The colours used on this page have been selected because they have a relevance to the topic. The black is a link to Batman the hero of the film which is being reviewed, and the green is a reference to the joker who is the villain of the film. By having a colour scheme that is connected to the topic it helps the reader to get completely absorbed by the article. Red is also used but this is more connected to the magazine itself.
The positioning and sizing of the pictures to be inline with the columns is used to create a tidier page as have half width columns would make it look scruffy. It also means that when a reader has finished reading a column that then follows to a image they will likely take a break from reading to look at the image.
Unlike the other contents page I have analysed this one is quite sparse and minimalist as it consists of a white page with an image that takes up 1/3 of the page and the rest is well spaced out writing.
The four main colours used are white, black, red and gold. Gold has only been used once, but it was on the large masthead which makes the magazine appear more glamorous and expensive which I get the impression is something the target market would admire.
White has been used as a background, most likely to divert the readers attention to the text and image.
Black has been used as a contrast to white and because of this both the lady’s dress and the thin bar at the top of the page stand from the background.
Red has been used for the page numbers and important titles such as ‘premiere issue’, this is to show that they are more important that the other text.
The image is of a woman in at a guess (women’s fashion is not my strong point) 1950’s clothing, this instantly makes her different to what would be expected as her clothes are different to the current fashion. The fact that the photo is in black and white also helps the reader to see that she is from a different decade due to the fact that colour television and photographs are a fairly recent thing.
One of the most noticeable things about this contents page is the word drummer in a large bold font and the large black and white image of someone playing the drums. These 2 things are grouped together not just because the man in the photo is playing the drums but also because the colours match each other with the writing being black and most of the photo being black or at least a dark grey.
Another of the more in your face items on the page are the date and word ‘Contents’ in the top left corner and the regulars section in the bottom left, this is because they are both in red boxes and red is a very eye catching colour. It is for that same reason that all the page numbers are either written in red or in small red boxes just for them in the corners of the pictures.
The pictures all link to a story which has been easily defined with the page numbers written in the corner of each image, and then a list of what each story is about this helps keep the page tidy and yet still full. This also gives the reader one place to look to find out what’s in the magazine and then using that they can see visual prompts.
The main colours are black, white and red, all of which stand out against one another and so can be used to focus the readers attention as red on white is more out standing than black on white, which is still effective.
The first thing you notice when you look at this front cover of Playstation magazine is the main story about the game ‘Uncharted 2’, easily identified by the words ’UNCHARTED 2’ spread across the width of page in white and in bold. The title of this game is in larger print than the title of the magazine and shows that its is there to be eye grabbing. The font is also very asserting on the page as it is a thick and easily read font therefore it draws the audiences eyes.
The second part of the main story‘s display is a picture of the main character from the Uncharted series, Nathan Drake, holding on to a rope with one hand and firing a gun at someone with the other somewhere in the mountains. This is a dramatic picture as he seems to be in a live death situation as, by the looks of it, being suspended over a long fall while someone else tries to climb up him, the weather also adds to the drama as the sky is full of dark clouds and is raining.
The picture also uses multiple layers as shown by the fact that Nathans head is in front of the masthead, and yet the rope his hand is gripping is behind it, it is also shown by his gun and legs. This is to show how he is leaning forward with and out stretched gun which in turn makes the reader feel as if this is happening in front of them.
The main three colours used are white, gold and red. These colours are used in every issue of this magazine because despite the back round at least one is likely to stand out, there are a few exceptions to the use of these colours but only when the background image contains a large amount of one of the three colours.
The white is used in text as it stands out against the darker areas of the image highlighting what is in the magazine.
The red is used to promote special stories within the magazine, this is because red is a very strong outstanding colour and when mixed with yellow because instantly noticeable even if its just in the corner of the readers eye, they will know its there and likely read what it says.
The gold is used to promote prizes that could be won or just good buys, this is because the colour gold is the same colour as the mineral gold which is a precious metal. They also depict stories with an air of something special about them, such as a world exclusive, this is to show that that story is more valuable than the others.
This is the contents page for school magazine, i have written certain things like the page number and story headline in different colours as a reference as to what colour they would be in the final product. i have stuck to 3 main colours (red, white and blue) for the same reason as on my frontpage. The images and text that goes with it are at angles as this fills the page more and therefore makes it seem like there is more there than there actually is.
I use Photoshop to create my background by merging a picture of the school and a picture of Arron.Next I added 3 new layers consisting of my school logo, the word magazine and a barcode.
The logo is the 3 letters in the top left corner SHS, which stand for Smithdon high school.
The word magazine is there to create a title for the magazine when it is read with the logo.
The barcode is positioned in the bottom right, despite this not being my image it is there to make the magazine real.
I then started adding headlines such as ‘skirts - yes or no?’, leaving an open unanswered question to give the impression that the magazine is talking to the reader. I have written it in a red circle so that it becomes more eye catching to the reader.
A few more things I’ve done are, I added another headline, but used some semiotics on this as I made the word ‘rotten’ green and over a splodge like shape.
I have used throughout my entire magazine three main colours so I don’t bombard the reader with colour to the point where they no longer want to read the magazine.
