Module 1: What is Astronomy?
Pretend that you are the creative director for a magazine that features information about Astronomy. In this role, you are responsible for creating the magazine cover concepts and graphic design layout of each issue. To successfully complete this assignment, you will need to select the type of magazine that you want to represent (i.e. fashion magazine, cooking magazine, news magazine, travel magazine, etc.). Think about and pick topics that would represent Astronomy. Since this is a magazine cover, you must include pictures and original headlines that would grab the attention of your audience and make them want to buy your issue off of the newsstand. You might include topics about some of the following:
- Measurement in astronomy
- The scientific method
- Tilt, rotation, and/or revolution
- Lunar phases
- Lunar and solar eclipses
At a minimum, you must include:
- A masthead - the magazine title
- A dateline - the date of the issue
- A selling line - the magazine's motto (i.e. a news magazine might state on the cover "Your world at a glance")
- A main image - the largest image on your cover representing the biggest article
- Two cover lines with images - these should be highlights of other magazine articles that would be appealing to your readers
- The selling price of your magazine
Create your magazine cover from the resources that you have gathered. Remember, your magazine cover is a summary of the contents inside the magazine. You might want to look at the cover of current magazines to help you visualize and organize your Astronomy magazine cover. Before you begin, access the Astronomy Magazine Cover Checklist to make sure you have included all of the needed items required for full credit. You may need to use resources outside of this course to complete this assignment. If so, please submit a Works Cited document. If you need assistance, visit the Developmental Module for information on citing any resources that you use.
Suggestions for completing and submitting your magazine cover include:
- Hand-draw the assignment and then take a picture of it for submission to the assignment’s dropbox.
- Hand-draw the assignment and then scan it for submission to the assignment’s dropbox.
- Create a new file in a paint or graphics program and utilize the software to create the assignment. You can then submit your work to the assignment’s dropbox.
- Use a mobile or computer-based application to create an image or document. Then, email or export the final product for submission to the assignment’s dropbox.
Once you have completed your magazine cover, please submit your work to the dropbox.
Once you have completed this module, please complete the module test.