School Magazine Mood Board

This is my school magazine moodboard, and it is showing the different aspects of school life. Such as the community of the school as a whole, after school activities, proms and the stuff that the children would be studying in school. I also decided to specifiy what the school specialises in, so that it could reach a certain target audience (those who were interested in Maths and Computing). I also wanted to include the aesthetics of the school itself, so that people would get a feel for how the school looked. This pre-judgment may be the difference between wanting to go to the sixth form or not.

Signs and Signifiers- Colours.

As I briefly mentioned in my last post, colours can signify a lot of different things. Certain colours can convey a certain message; to a certain audience. When (for example) you pick up a magazine; whether it be new and fresh, or years old-- you never really think about why they might have used that colour, it never really crosses your mind. The reason being, it isn't human nature. It's only when we look into it, and see what moods they possibly could convey; that we really see the reason behind it. 

Red: can signify romance, love, danger, fear, heat, horror or even passion. It is a bold colour, which may be used to highlight something which could be seen as urgent. It could signify blood, and may be used in horror movies, and things of a medical nature.

Green: this colour is commonly used when describing something to do with nature. It's a "fresh feeling" colour, and could symbolise new beginnings, regrowth, or a start of a new life.

Blue: is associated with something being calm, and mellow. On the opposite side of the spectrum though- blue can signify sadness and depression, so is often used for posters; for the commonly named "tear jerker film".  The same as green, nature can be associated with this colour too, obviously being linked to the sea and sky.

White: a whimsical colour. Very light, airy and neutral. Magazines of this nature, or those that are light hearted, may opt for the use of white throughout. It's common knowledge that a bride would wear a white dress to her wedding- so wedding magazines would heavily feature this particular colour. Also, religious imagery may come to mind with the colour white, as angels are seen (in many a picture) to be wearing white gowns, floating over white clouds.

Yellow: a bold, bright and happy colour. Commonly associated with that of the sun, and summer in general. As yellow is so in your face, it may be used for catching the eye of someone passing by; so magazines use it often to capture the attention of someone. Often to a big news story of the present day.

Gold: as the olympics have just finished here in the United Kingdom only a few weeks ago, it comes as no surprise that gold would signify that of a gold medal. Wealth also comes into it, which then links to jewellery as a whole. 

Silver: again, this symbolises both wealth and jewellery. Silver is often used in engagement/wedding rings, which could link to it being heavily used in wedding magazines (which could be said for gold also). It is also shiny, and metallic, and could grab the attention of a specific audience, or any passer-by in fact. 

...and lastly

Black: black is a bold colour, but when used; sets a serious tone- especially when it's being read by someone. It is often used in newspapers (and magazines alike), but as more "serious" newspapers such as, The Times or The Guardian use black text throughout, it is clear that it is trying to convey the message of being, as has been said, serious. Also as black is dark in colour (obviously), it may be used for movies that contain darker material (such as horror movies).

So, as you can see, colours do have hidden meanings, and can convey a lot of emotions to you; me; or anyone in fact. Even without knowing; colours may influence the way you perceive the text in front of you. And even though; really, it is just a colour-- it sends all sorts of messages. Without you even realising it.

An Introduction to Media.

Media Studies. An A-Level; delving into the world of social media, TV, Film and everything in between. And we land here- the grand old Web-Log, or to put it in simple mans terms- Blog. And; (which comes as no surprise) blogging is one of the many social tools which helps media grow and grow.

Magazines were the first thing on the agenda. Example: Here we have Mr Robert Pattinson in all his glory. And amongst the sea of words covering the front page (well- maybe a slight exaggeration) we ask the questions- Why is there BIG BOLD RED WRITING ALL OVER THE PAGE? Any symbolic meanings? Love, fear, danger; even romance? Who knows, but there is always a reason for everything.


I digress, magazines are little shiny booklets of information, serving certain purposes.

- To inform
- To advertise (companies and products)
- To make money
and most importantly
- Educate.

And for something with such few pages they contain quite a few different things, these include:

Advertisements, reviews, interviews, columnists, real life stories/events, celebrity gossip, agony aunt advice, free samples, recipes, horoscopes, fashion posts...etc etc (the list goes on).

So really, when you think about it, that is a LOT to go in one booklet of wonderment, isn't it?


So, as I finish off my introductory post on my media related coursework blog- we went into depth (as a Media Studies A-Level group) about what really makes a magazine, not just what we see on the surface. Uncovering things you wouldn't really even think about. Not everything is what it seems at first glance, and that goes for every magazine. Whether it be OK!, Women's Health or even National Geographic.