Magazine cover practical project

The best way to learn about a type of media product is to create one yourself. We are going to create our own magazine cover to learn the key conventions and design of magazines.

This will also be an excellent project for you to demonstrate your new skills on Photoshop.

Task: Choose an existing magazine and create a front cover for a new, original edition of your chosen magazine.

These are student examples that show what your work could look like: 

Magazine project: tasks

Create a blogpost called 'Magazine project' and complete the following tasks:

Task 1: Research and planning

1) Use Google images to research magazines that you could use for this project. Create a shortlist of three potential magazines and write what they are here. Extension task: embed an example front cover from each one. We recommend looking at lifestyle, sport or music magazines as these are easier to re-create.

2) Choose one of the magazines to use for your project e.g GQ or Vogue. Then do a Google image search to find three different front covers for your chosen magazine. Add them to your blogpost to show you have done your research. 

3) Write a list of things you notice about the magazine covers you have researched e.g. colour scheme, font, writing style, what kind of picture is on the cover, page design etc. What is the language or writing style? How are the cover lines written? What camera shot is generally used for the cover image? 

4) In your blogpost, write your main cover line - this is the main cover story that links to your central image. It must be 100% original - all your own words. Next, write the rest of the cover lines and any other text you need for your magazine cover.

5) Plan the image you are going to take for the cover - model, costume, make-up etc. At this point, simply describe the image you need to capture.

6) Sketch out your cover on plain A4 paper so you know where the title, image and cover lines are going to go. 

Task 2: Photoshoot in class

We will do a photoshoot in class next week with lighting and backdrop. You will need to bring in any costume or make-up you need for the photoshoot - plan this with your teacher and make sure it is appropriate and achievable. 

On the day of the photoshoot, while you are waiting to take your picture you can finish off your research and planning tasks. Once you have finished all of those tasks you can create a new A4 page in Photoshop and start adding the text to your magazine cover.

Task 3: Photoshop design

Use Adobe Photoshop CS6 to create your magazine cover. Create a new A4 page and then use the T tool to add the text you need. Once you have taken your photo in the photoshoot, you can add your main image to the cover.

Photoshop tutorials

The best way to learn Photoshop is simply to start creating your magazine cover and learn as you go. There are thousands of tutorials on YouTube to help you - here's just one example: 

Task 4: Save as JPEG and upload it your blog

Once you have completed your design in Photoshop, go to 'File > Save as' and save your finished Photoshop magazine cover as a JPEG image. Then you can upload the JPEG version to your blog. 

Task 5: Evaluation

Write a short evaluation of your work: have you succeeded in your project to create a new, original edition of an existing magazine? Does your cover look like a real version of the magazine? Why/why not? How professional is your work alongside real covers of the magazine?

Finally, what would you do differently if you completed this assignment again?

Extension tasks

Create your OWN magazine and design a cover on Photoshop. For this you will need to plan the following:

• The name of your magazine
• The type of magazine it is e.g. sports, music, lifestyle
• A slogan for your magazine
• Cover star and image
• Cover lines
• Any other magazine cover key conventions you can think of

Deadlines: exact deadlines confirmed in class

Denotation and Connotation

Understanding denotation and connotation is the starting point for all Media analysis.

Remember the definitions:

Denotation: the literal meaning of something
E.g. A rose is a garden plant

Connotation: the suggestion behind this literal meaning (reading between the lines)
E.g .The rose suggests romance and love.

When writing media analysis, you need to consider the following questions:

Denotation: what do you see?

Connotation: what is suggested? What does it mean?

Analysis: what is the effect on the audience? How is this effect created?


Example: Skittles

Denotation: There is some text with colourful streams behind each letter set around a pack shot of the product itself. The background appears to be sky.

Connotation: The advert builds on the slogan for Skittles ‘Taste the rainbow’. The connotation of the colour suggests that Skittles are joyful, fun and will provide a positive experience for the audience. The colours are vibrant and the sky in the background creates connotations of flying – this suggests to the audience that this is an exciting product. 

Analysis: The advert helps the audience understand the product as the colours reflect the actual Skittles themselves. In addition, the text across the top of the advert (referring to a ‘punch in the mouth’) uses humour to connect with the audience and suggests the brand doesn’t take itself too seriously. This adds to the positive, happy brand values that are suggested by the construction of the advert.

Denotation & Connotation blog tasks: advert analysis

Create a new blogpost in your Media blog called 'Denotation and connotation'.

1) Write an analysis of the WaterAid advert above using denotation, connotation and analysis. What can you see? What are the deeper meanings in the advert? What does the advert communicate to the audience? How might an audience react after seeing the advert?

2) Now choose your own choice of advert from Google images. Save it to your documents, insert it into your blogpost and write an analysis using denotation and connotation, explaining what the advert is communicating to the audience.

Extension: Print advert research

Read this design blog on some of the best print adverts of all time. Choose one advert that you feel is particularly powerful in terms of its use of connotations and analyse why it is so successful

Introduction to Photoshop: fruit bowls

The fruit bowl task is a wonderfully creative way to learn some key skills in Photoshop as well as develop our understanding of colour.

Once you have finished your fruit bowl, you need to post it to your blog. Create a blog post called 'Photoshop fruit bowl' and complete the following tasks:

1) Save your fruit bowl as a JPEG image in Photoshop - remember to save it in your own folder on the Media Shared drive in the Student folder. To save as a JPEG image, go to 'Save a Copy' and then use the drop-down menu for 'File type' and choose JPEG.

2) Post your fruit bowl (or fruit bowls if you did more than one) to your blog by clicking the 'add image' icon and locating the correct JPEG image from your folder on Media Shared.

3) Write a short explanation of the colour palette you used and the effect you were trying to create when designing your fruit bowl.

Welcome to Media!

Welcome to Media - we have a brilliant journey ahead of us and can't wait to get started! 

This year will be a fantastic introduction to the skills needed in the media industries - photography, editing and much more. 

Your first job is to start your Media blog and sign up to Google Classroom. 

You can find step-by-step text instructions to starting your blog here. 

Once you have your blog URL, email it to your teacher. The URL is the address on the browser that ends with .blogspot.co.uk or similar. For example:

Mr Pall's blog: http://mediamacguffingcse.blogspot.co.uk/ 

IMPORTANT: It is absolutely essential you use your Greenford Google login details to create your blog when using Blogger.

First blog task

When you have set up your blog, it's time for your first blog post! Click on 'New Post' and put the title as 'First 10 questions'. You need to answer the following questions (detailed answers in full sentences please) as your first post:

1) Which part of Media are you looking forward to the most?

2) What device do you use most to access the media? (The media = news, TV, music, film, social media etc.) 

3) What is your average 'screen time' (or equivalent) on your phone each day. Is this about right, too little or too much? Why? 

4) What was the last TV programme or film you watched?

5) What device or subscription do you use to listen to music?

6) Do you play videogames? If so, what do you play games on and what is your favourite game?

7) Are you on social media? If so, what social media do you have and why do you like it? 

8) Finally, do you think the media is a positive or negative thing for young people? Why?

Extension tasks

Watch this clip from acclaimed BBC drama series Doctor Who - recently revamped in conjunction with Disney:

Why was the casting of Ncuti Gatwa a significant moment in the history of Doctor Who?

What aspects of this scene do you think an audience might enjoy? List at least three things and explain why the audience would enjoy each aspect. 

Note: If the YouTube clip isn't working please let your Media teacher know.

Finish these questions for homework if you don't manage to get through them in the lesson - due date on Google Classroom.