Preliminary Project - Magazine Design 1

I thought of a variety of different names which were short, snappy and memorable. It had to relate to the topic/theme of the magazine, so I came up with the following:

• 'Down' With Sixth Form
• The Next Step... (...what now?)
• Student Says
• Colleged
• Postponed
• Sixth Sense

Then, when considering a name for a magazine, a catchy slogan of some kind is generally beneath the title in a smaller font, for example, 'Britain's No.1 Magazine!'.  With my chosen name, 'The Next Step' would be a slogan, 'What now?' This might be a common question that teens ask themselves, so they might feel encouraged to read on.

I chose to call the magazine 'The Next Step', as going into Sixth Form and thinking about your future is 'the next step' into your life; it signifies the planning of the next stage your life. Initially, the generic names, such as 'Colleged' and 'Sixth Sense', were going to be my choice's as it's obvious who the target audience is, but it's for students also going to college, or getting apprenticeships, which are also big steps in someone's lives, so 'The Next Step' isn't just for sixth formers, but for everyone aged 15-19 going through similar changes. With the help of the young student on the front page, it's obvious who the target audience is and what sort of education stage they're at in their lives.

Colour schemes for my magazine follow as:

• Navy and white
• Neutral colours
• Bright colours, e.g. yellow and blue so it's eye-catching
• Red and yellow
• Red and blue

I chose to use the navy and white colour scheme as it's not too difficult to look at; it's easy on the eyes, and the white font would stand out against the dark background.  I didn't choose the bright colours as they're very bold colours which can be off-putting to readers, and so navy and white would be slightly more inviting. I didn't want to go for black and white as it's quite common and also a little boring.

The logo, like with many popular magazines, is going to be the title, as it would be more recognisable than a logo and a title, so they're going to be the same.