Rule of thirds explained

The rule of thirds is when photos are split up into thirds with two imaginary lines vertically and two imaginary lines horizontally. This creates three rows and three columns which splits the image up into nine sections. The rule of thirds is a photographic composition. It origins from the theory that an audience is drawn to the intersection points when photos are split into thirds.
This is an example of what the imaginary lines would look like. The rule of thirds is used in a variety of different photo compositions such as portrait images and landscape images.

When using this rule in a landscape composition the horizon line should either be positioned near the upper horizontal line or the lower horizontal line. Where the horizon is positioned in terms of which horizontal line; will depend on what the photographer wants the focus of the photo to be. For example if the photographer wanted the focus to be the sky, the horizon will be positioned on the lower horizontal line. If the focus was going to be on the land rather than the sky, the horizon would be positioned on the upper horizontal line. This is an example of the rule of thirds being used in a landscape image, the main focus of the photo is the land as the horizon has been positioned near the upper horizontal line resulting in majority of the image being the land and drawing the attention of the audience towards the land.
When using the rule of thirds in portraits if the person is looking straight on at the camera like in the example, the eyes often tend be positioned so that each eye is on the (upper) intersections where the two vertical lines meet the horizontal line. In result of having the eyes positioned on these intersections it will mean that the other key facial features like the nose and mouth will be in the centre of the photo on the middle square section, like in the example.

The sources I have referred to throughout this blogpost and have used images from are:
http://learnprophotography.com/rule-of-thirds
http://www.ultimate-photo-tips.com/photography-rule-of-thirds.html

Final contents page

Identifying key conventions in contents pages

In magazines the contents page is used as almost like a map of the magazine. It gives a further insight to what articles and features are in the magazine than the front cover does, and it tells the reader what page to find each article on. It also can give a brief overview of what is in each article and feature in order for the reader to gather an understanding of what sort of content they will be reading. Some features shown on the contents page may also be a regular addition for each issue that is produced. For example, a monthly quiz or a particular person's column that they always write.

When creating the contents page there is guidelines that must be followed to keep the contents page layout and design looking professional and not messy. In order to achieve this rulers and grid lines must be used to construct the design layout that is desired. An example of how the rulers and gridlines work is, when creating the contents page the rulers will tell you the measurements of how big an image or column is etc. and how far away everything is from each other. The grid lines help you see where the centre of the page is and can make a perimeter within the page of where all the features can go, for example keeps everything a specific distance away from the edge of the page.

Typically, on a contents page there will be the title (usually saying 'contents') at the top on the page. this is sometimes accompanied by the magazines masthead and other features like the issue date, and other ways to access the brand like their web address and their social media usernames if they have any form of social media. For example, if the magazine brand can be found on Twitter then they will have it on the contents page.

Generally on a contents page there will be either 1 or 2 columns which contain the information of where the different sub-headings (each article and feature) is in the magazine and a bit about each one; this is the blurb for each article. With each of these sub-headings there are numbers that go with it to direct people to the page that they can find the article on. Every contents page will have this. Sub-headings (each article and feature) will be written in a bigger font size that the blurb underneath the headings. This is done to put more emphasis on the headings as it is the key part the audience would be looking for and is the purpose of the contents page overall; that the audience can find which page each article/feature is on. A typical guideline to follow when deciding a font side is no bigger than 24pt and no smaller than 10pt.

Another convention that is used in a contents page is photos that relate to an article. the images will have a written caption and number with it (the number is the page number that the article is on), this is to give anchorage. The way that importance of articles is shown through the images is that the larger the image the more important the article it relates to is.

Finally, on a contents page there is also usually an editors letter which can be a message to the audience reading the magazine. Sometimes there is also a callout box, this is where the magazine subscription information usually would be found.

Here is an example of a contents page.

Contents page analysis

Contents page layouts

Final front cover of school magazine

School magazine draft

School magazine photos

Plan for photos

The photos I want to take for my school magazine is a photo of a Jai who is a current sixth former at the school because i think it will be good to have a current student to represent the school on the front cover. I would like to take the photo somewhere in the school because I feel that if it is a school magazine then the pictures for the magazine should also be taken in school. For example, the photos could be taken in the library at one of the computers or at a desk or just in the hallway by some of the other students work that is on the wall etc. In the photos I want Jai to be either in her school uniform or in some nice presentable clothes in order to represent the school. In the photos i would like Jai to either be looking like she is doing some work on a computer or at a table or to at least be standing by some work on the walls that other students have done. This is to show that the students at Plantsbrook school are hard working individuals. I would also like Jai to be looking at the camera smiling, in order to represent the school in a positive way, showing that it is a happy school that students are happy to go to. the camera shot I would be doing is either a medium close up (MCU) or a medium shot because I feel that those 2 camera shots are the most suitable for my magazine. These are two example of a medium close up shot and a regular medium shot, that I would be using in my photos.
       

Masthead ideas