Magazine practical task research and planning

 Research

1) Use Google to research potential magazines that you could use as your brand/design for this project. Create a shortlist of three potential magazines and upload an example front cover from each one. We recommend looking at lifestyle magazines or a similar genre as these are more achievable to re-create.

2) Choose one of the three magazine brands to use for your project e.g GQ, Vogue or The Gentlewoman. Then find three different front covers for your chosen magazine and embed them in your blogpost. Analyse the fonts, colours and typical design. What is the language or writing style? How are the cover lines written? What camera shot is generally used for the cover image? You need to become an expert in the design and construction of this magazine and its branding.

Planning

1) In your blogpost, write your main cover line (also called the 'main flash') - this is the main cover story that links to your central image. It must be 100% original - all your own words.
Play Hard. Rise Higher.

2) Briefly plan the image you will need for the cover - model, costume, make-up, lighting etc. At this point, simply describe the image you need to capture. 

Aim is to capture a footballer in the up and coming 

Model - Wisdom Djan

Costume - football kit / football  

Make-up - none needed 

Lighting - mix of low key + high key 

3) Write the cover lines and any additional text you need for your magazine cover. 

From Playground to Pitch - The journey of a student athlete who refuses to settle for average

The making of a future pro

4) Sketch out your cover on plain A4 paper using your written planning. Take a photo of your sketch and upload it to your blogpost.

Photoshoot

We will do a photoshoot in class next week with lighting and backdrop. However, if you prefer you can arrange your own photoshoot for the cover image in your own time - you can use your phone or your own camera to take an image. If you don't have a phone or camera that is suitable, you can sign out a camera from Mr Ray.

1) On your planning document blogpost, state the date, time and location of your photoshoot and the name of the model or photographer you will use (you can choose anyone to be your cover model or you can be the cover model yourself).

Tuesday 28 April 2026

MR Pall media classroom DF01 

Model - Wisdom Djan 

Maya Guru Syed-Shah - photographer 

Photoshop or InDesign?

You will have one Media lesson to create your magazine cover on Adobe Photoshop or InDesign but you will probably need more time than this. In order to complete this work, you will need to work in DF06 when you don't have other lessons or use Photoshop/InDesign at home. You already have access to Adobe at home via our fantastic Adobe Creative Cloud subscription (worth around £25/month!) as long as you have a PC or laptop that can run it. 

-> MY MASTER PEICE 

Publication to blog and evaluation

3) Write a short evaluation of your work: have you succeeded in your brief to create a new, original edition of an existing magazine? Does your cover stand up alongside the genuine covers of your chosen magazine? How professional is your work alongside those genuine examples?

My magazine cover successfully meets the brief because it presents an original edition that still follows the key conventions of my chosen magazine. The layout, fonts, and cover lines match the professional style of real issues, and the main image is framed in a way that feels authentic to the genre. Overall, my cover stands up well alongside genuine examples and looks polished, consistent, and industry‑standard.

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

I would complete this assignment differently by choosing a more difficult and challenging magazine cover that is more complex to see how i undertake the difficult pressure.