Progress towards double page spread

Layout 1
I decided to plan two different layouts as i was not sure on what would connect most to my front cover and contents page as a whole "house style".

Using inspiration from previous articles I have shown, I decided what picture I was going to use for my double page spread, the picture below shows what I have chosen for my main image. Most articles when researched had one main image which would stand out.

I chose this picture for my main image as it clearly shows her and her figure/outlook of the artist, which is what the reader likes to see. In addition, the photo links to the music side of the article by clearly showing that she can play the keyboard and it is involved in her music. The lighting was changed and the contrast, I made sure it was the same change from the front cover images which were edited. Therefore, they look similar and add to the house style I am looking for.


Also, the exemplar articles had more than one photo on the double page, they included little photos, which interest the reader in more of what the artist looks like and their style. I decided to use an effect I had seen once when researching poses for the model. Clearly, it shows a strip made of a black border with the photos included inside the boxes, like a storyline. I enjoyed designing this on photoshop, having to the line tool to design the right sizing and placing the images inside. Furthermore, to enhance the pictures inside, I edited their brightness as the black clothing dimmed the picture altogether, when changing the brightness I had to make the
contrasting the same to even the effect of the image.

When designed the strip, these were the pictures I decided to use at first, however, I did not like the fact that she was wearing the same clothes and wanted something different to attract the reader more.




This was the chosen layout I had hoped for, however, when I had nearly finished I decided that I did not like the way it had outcome. The pictures I had edited, I did like them and wanted to use them still, especially the storyline strip of photos.



Therefore, I decided to change the whole layout and go back to square 1.

Finally, layout 2.

Firstly, I planned out my new layout, I wanted the pictures the most to stand out, as music magazine are an easy read and I wanted to reader to feel eased and to have to read a hard reading difficult to understand article. Therefore, pictures that are interesting would stand out the most.



Therefore, I wanted one whole side of the article to be pictures, I planned to use the pictures in the strip as I really liked the idea and the effect of the framing. However, to make the layout work I would have to re-organise the storyboard.




This was the chosen layout of the images. In a rectangular square frame, to match the layout of the double page spread.

I liked...
The way the black top contrasted with the white background and how the hair is put up, which contrasts to the front cover image of the long brown hair all flowing down below her shoulders. The red lip stick which is used constantly enhances the image more and links to the red colours used throughout the whole project .





When choosing fonts, it becomes very difficult. For the content "Florence Taylor", I wanted it to curvy and italic just like way in which it was used on the front page. Therefore, I attempted to used the same font as the front cover "Mono type Corsavia". However, it was not curvy enough, therefore, I searched through the list and came across the font "Edwardian Script".

Once the article had been overlooked and corrected, to finish the double page, all was left to enter was the content and choose a outstanding quote. Therefore, the content was inputted and I decided to make the question which the interviewer asked in bold, to make clear who was speaking whether it was the question or the answer. Also, the font used "Times New Roman" for the text was inputted as it was the clearest text and was small enough to read still. It was very basic and clear.

The quote used, I enjoyed changing the style of the font used, and making the outline of the text bolder to enhance the quote. The quote used involes comedy and irony. I used the artist known as "Miley Cyrus" as it is commonly known that the people who enjoy the genre music of "alternative rock", dislike or hate Miley Cyrus or her other pop side "Hannah Montana". She is well known and would grab peoples attention as it talks about her being caught changing.
This content had to be text wrapped between all of the articles context to enhance the quote more.
Lastly, the final part was inputting page numbers on to the bottom of the page, which matches most research shown on the real music magazines. I decided to only put one page number on the first part of the page (the same page number as shown on the contents page). I only used one page number as the second page of the article was full form the images used and the page number would look out of place. The font style used was very clear and easy to see/read.

Research on articles

When analysing the previous articles...
I looked at their house style and how they made the style link to the genre and whole colour scheme etc.

Even though, I had already planned my layout, I wanted to attain a second approch to make sure my current plan and layout was matching the current layouts used in the real music magazine industry.

The magazines articles I found were from "Rock Sound", I noticed many of the articles designed all have one large main image, which captures your attention the most and then it may have a few smaller images to enhance on the connection of the reader and the artist itself.

The main colours used for all articles were the bright, common colurs blue, red and yellow.

Colloquial Language Used...
to enhance the connection with the reader, making it more easy reading, and quicker. Also, it builds a better relationship with the artist and the reader to what they are saying in the interview/article.

Such as,

"he tried to 'GET OFF' with his mum"

"I have had a lot of men flashers at me"

"this is the real shit"

Language that is colloquial definately matches the genres and the music magazine, due to it being more social and an easy read, something that interests you should always be an easy read and not difficult to understand. Therefore, the language should link with the readers.

Layout of doublepage spread

The layout states where everything has to be in order for my plan to work, I want the pictures to all be boarded around the edges and the main photo to be placed in the centre, with the text wrapping around the outline. I enjoyed this layout the most as it has a lot more opportunities allowing me to play around with the software and learn more techniques.

Inspirations of double page spread ideas.

These layouts were found from a magazine called "Rocksound, I noticed they all have the same shade of colours. However, their layouts are different in every spread, I will use this as a guide to planning my double page spread. I found it interesting, learning the different ways in which pictures could e used in many different ways to make the article look more effective.

Front Cover and Contents page analysis

To find out whether or not, my magazine was reaching it's set out target of an Indie, rock favoured young audience, i wanted to do some research to make sure. Therefore, I ask two students who fit the criteria for my target audience and asked them to write down any negative or postive advice and comments they would like to make.
The picture above shows what they have written down. However, to make things more clearer i have done a translation to make it easier to read.

Person ONE

Front Cover - Photo - bright, fits with genre, outfit matches colour theme, good use of lighting.
Fonts - main coverline is different font to the others, stands out and is feminine.
title font is unique.

Contents - Layout - organises and continuous house style.

Person TWO
- Colours used fit in well with the colour of the image.
- The image and pose are really individual and different.
- The different fonts work well together and with the genre.

Final Contents Page

This is the finished piece for the contents page of my coursework. I tried using the same layout as i drew, therefore I could try sticking with something iIplanned in the first place. I used the same house colours as the front page and we do the same probably with the double page spread also. I am very pleased with the finished work as it links in well with the front page, and has had good feed back from a target audience.

More progress

Once the main layout was finished, I began adding on extra content to create the final outlook on the contents page. Before adding actual content for the magazine and the articles. I added the picture and described where the readers could find the main feature of "Florence Taylor" (front cover artist.

I "free transformed" the image to fit into the space left for the main feature. I then added the text showing the artist's name, describing what the article was and what page the reader could find the information on. To make this more clear to the reader I added a white rectangular box behind it. The transparency was also changed so the picture could still be seen in a little to give it an extra effect.
I made the page font very big in contrast to the other texts therefore the reader could see it clearly.







After the main feature had been finished, the content had to be added to the page.


This was the first stage of adding content, I chose to use the bottom corner space of my magazine to persuade the reader to subscribe, this would gain more money for the company. I clearly state how much it would be to subscribe and give an example of a magazine which they would receive. Also, contacts were shown clearly. Throughout all of the pages edited i have used the same colours and font as the previous project (front cover).







The news for the magazine was then added to my contents page, I decided to write a main headline of what was going on in the music industry in clear black writing to stand out for the readers, then added a bit of detail below, to expand on the story, which would draw the attention to readers. I made sure the page numbers were increased fonts contrasted to the news content to make it clear.











The reviews section was laid out differently, as I wanted all of the sections to be different to the rest. Also, seeing as the lists of reviews were meant to be listed and only had one page number I listed them in a column, however to add a twist i made them not list in a straight line. To make the layout more interesting.










This was the last step to completing my contents page. The features were the story lines of the magazine, which were shown on the front cover. Therefore, the main stories are all shown in one place to be found easier by the reader.

Picture for Contents

This is my chosen photo for my contents page, it shows the front cover artist "Florence Taylor". I chose this photograph as it shows the same colours and clothing as before therefore linking it to the house style. Furthermore, I enjoyed working with the model and this pose a lot. I gained my inspiration from other models in fashion magazines. It felt more spontaneous.

When editing this picture, I used the tools shown below, which involved me changing the "adjustments" of the picture.

I increased the brightness and the contrasting quite high and the same for the vibrant. The brighter is looked the more the photo stood out When changing the brightness it began to make a black circular outline around the picture which i automatically liked.

Progress towards contents page

These are the steps used to create my final content

At first I created how the whole layout was going to look , it intended to look like the start of the first layout i had drew. I used the black blocks to show and guide me where to put text and contents for the page. I used black, therefore i could you a light font colour to put the text over the top. The lightness of the colour would link to the cream colours from my front page.















Next, I added in the main title and the subtitles. I used all the fonts that were used on the front cover, and I also used the same font which i used for "shoegazing" on both pages. Therefore they could both link and become noticeable and recognisable to the readers. The subtitles were used in the cream colour used on the front cover, therefore the black would contrast with the cream and stand out. I set it out so that the monthly subscription information was in the corner and the main features and news were laid out all around the sides.

Layout of contents page

This layout chosen for my contents page, has been using ideas from 2 different magazines, NME and Rocksound and the way that they vary when creating a their contents page and how they layout the content.

Final Front Cover

Final front cover

This is the finished cover for my coursework, which I am very happy about. For the finishing touches and to use the space which was created on the sides, I inputted more information on the bands which would be introduced inside the magazine and on the contents pages. On the left hand side, I inputted a list of bands which will be involved, at first they were all the same size in a list. However, it looked to neat and tidy, therefore to make it suit more to a music magazine I changed the sizes of the texts to a variety from a range of 12pt to 20pt. This was very successful as it suits the outlook of the whole front cover. Furthermore, on the right hand side I included two other bands but also showed what kind of story about them is inside. This allows the reader who may want to purchase the magazine a chance to get an overview of what the magazine is about and whether the reader is interested in any of the bands included.

Overall, I am very pleased with the work I have done to make this magazine successful, I now plan to design a contents page which will link in a way to the magazine by using colours and layouts of a "House Design". The final front cover, differs from the first time I ever drew out my layout. However, I believe that when I started using the layout as a guide, I expanded my ideas in making it look more like a music magazine for the readers.

More progress.

After I edited the photo for my front cover I decided to begin my title. At first, I wanted it to be a flowing, mystical looking font with a bright colour such as red to enhance the cream colours in the background. However, while planning where to place the title I came across the font "Fabianestem", this style looks very random and out of a place as the title name.
Also, I decided to keep the title colour very natural and bland.













The colour of the title is quite grey and creamy and therefore camouflaged into the background. Therefore, I edited the title's features by adding a drop shadow, and outer glow and embossed the font to make it stand out from the background colour which is only a bit darker

In addition, after completing the title, the issue number, date and price was placed just under the title to show clearly what magazine it was. The font used was going to be used for my title as it was curvy and flowed, however I thought it suited more for the date and issue number. This font was called "Lucida Blackletter".

The main feature of the magazine is "Florence Taylor" and an exclusive interview about her music and lifestyle. The font for her name is "Monotype Corsiva", it worked well as it leans and is quite italic. It compares with the quote below which uses the font style of "Dirtyheadliner" it contrasts well with the curviness and the boldness and strong structure of the quote. I chose the quote " I was hooked no drugs", as it stood out from the interview the most, it can also attracts you t buy the magazine as it seems as though it will be an interesting storyline.

The red dots at the bottom are used to seperate texts from other content, it will become more clear when the other stages are introduced.

The next stage was producing the bottom of the front cover magazine, I planned to design a strap line, barcode and the content of bands which will be involved in the magazine.

As I did not use the red for my title, I decided to use the colours red and cream for my house design colours and use them for the little parts of content, such as the bands that will be involved like "Joseph Cure" and "LCD". This link with the red dots and work well together.

When creating the barcode I used the title name of the magazine and placed it on the side of the barcode, to make it clear that when purchasing the magazine you would be purchasing "Shoegazing".

This was the tool used to change the effects of the strapline to enhance the names and make them clear to the reader, I used the same effects exactly as I used for the title, outerglow drop shadow and embossing the text.

Colours used throughout the front cover.

#ce3837 - Red #c54440 - Dark Red/Orange #8a7f78 - Grey #e9e2da - Cream