Preliminary Task Flat Plans

As part of my AS Media Studies coursework, I must create certain pages of a magazine to fit a music genre and to attract a particular target audience etc. I was also required to prove an enhanced understanding of the production of and the reasonings behind magazines by producing preliminary material; a front cover and contents page of a magazine that will be sold to the students of my college.

Before I created my Preliminary Task, I decided to produce some flat plans, or which I would follow in order to employ the correct conventions and to create the intended effect within the two pages.

Within the front cover flat plan, I included the masthead (a vital part of any magazine), several cover lines including a main cover line (to attract the audience and to encourage them to read the articles within the magazine), a date (in order to inform the audience of the time the issue covers), a price (in this case free, meaning that no barcode is necessary and informing the audience that they are free to pick up a copy for no price) and also the Sunderland College logo. I believe that the Sunderland College logo was a good factor of the front cover as it fully included the whole college and made it clear who the target audience was. It also added a personal touch to the magazine. I also added some additional information to the main cover line in order to encourage the audience to read on.

Secondly, the contents page flat plan was composed of a title (to inform the audience that this was the contents page), a main image (larger than others), two sub-images (provides a range), and articles and descriptions on each (in order to inform audience of the contents of the magazine). I also decided to include an editors note, which would give information on the edition and to elaborate on the time of the year and current ongoings at the college. I also decided to add some emojis to the page that would fill an area so there was no sparse area and because it fit my target audience's age range.

I believe creating these flat plans was a great idea as it allowed me to be organised and provided me with a staring point for my preliminary task. I will definitely use flat plans when it comes to creating my final product.