To help with my research, i looked at other students school magazines, this helped me decide what i thought looked good and what i thought didnt work very well. Below i have explained and given my reasons why.
Above is an example of another students school magazine. You can straight away tell that it is a school magazine. One thing you notice straight away is that the people pictured on the front look quite old. Therefore it is likely to be for a sixth form. Having both a girl and a boy featured on the front is something that is important, it shows straight away it is for both people and isnt a single sex magazine. They are smart, and look happy which straight away gives off positive vibes.
The colour scheme i dont think works very well. They have done the right thing to stick to a minimal amount of colours but the black and purple don't go well together. They should have chosen colours that contrast each other, or even a brighter shade of purple for it to stand out a bit more. The writing on the right at the bottom which goes above the picture, you cant see clearly what is said, this should be re arranged so the alignment goes around the edge of the picture.
They have the right idea of offering the reader something 'free', readers are always interested in these types of things.
One thing that is quite clear is that there isn't enough on the page. There is too much blank spaces on the page, front covers should be filled with cover lines and offers and discounts which straight away make the reader want to buy the magazine.
This magazine above is an example of what exactly not to do. This person has not thought about anything they have done. They have included the right things, like freebies and a picture of a school girl and the date. But they havent thought about the colours or the fonts of backgrounds.
The writing is all different colours, there is text in five different colours. When designing a front cover you should stick to three main colours which contrast each other, otherwise there will be too much going on which is exactly what has happened here. Because of the background, you cant see the writing properly, the font chosen has a slight shadow behind the writing so makes it hard to read. The colours also blend in, they arent bold colours and the text is too thin to be able to read. This magazine has not researched into other magazines about what is good and isnt.
I definately know that researching into other magazines is important now. At first you may think its a waste of time but it gives you an idea of things to consider and things which you should definately make sure you dont do!