Ludus Consilium

This school magazine is created by the Islamia Girls Secondary School, in London. It was started in 2006 and is published twice a year, at the end of the summer term and the autumn term.

The name of the magazine, Ludus Consilium, it not an overly eye catching, powerful name, but it may mean something to the people of the Islamia Girls School, who are the target audience for the magazine. The front cover does not appear to be very professional, like a publicly sold magazine might, but is still colourful, with a range of attractive fonts used and a big centre image. As the magazine is solely for the students at the IGS School, students will be encouraged to take a copy, no matter what the front cover looks like. This, plus the fact that it is the only magazine issued in the school, means that the magazine has no other competitors so the students that create it do not have to worry too much about people not choosing to look at their magazine. Although the front cover may not appear to be too professional it is a nicely presented front cover and has on it a list of the features that are in that issue of the magazine. This will encourage students to pick up the magazine to see if there is anything in that issue that is of interest to them and if there is, to look through the magazine itself.

The layout and presentation throughout the magazine is simple, like the front cover. However, this is effective as it makes it easier to read, especially as the target audience is the 11-16 year old girls who attend the school and the younger students may not have read a lot of magazines before, so would not appreciate a complicated design. This is probably also the reason for the language and words used in the magazine. There are no difficult words throughout the magazine and some of the articles include words relating to the specific Islamic religion that all the girls follow.

The articles this magazine includes have been specifically chosen, yet again, to suit the target audience. Some articles are religion based, discussing matters associated with Islam. These articles are appropriate due to the school being a solely Islamic school. Other articles are on topics that would appeal to youths of their age, especially girls. Examples of these types of articles include ones about animals, funny jokes, the latest movies and even a games page. Another type of article that this magazine includes is educational. An example of this in this particular issue is one called ‘Exams, exams, exams…’. The article gives advice on revising and being prepared for examinations. This is particularly important for a magazine targeting school pupils who sit yearly exams.

The pictures are each a page from the December 2007 issue of ‘Ludus Consilium’.