Contents Page - Final Piece

 I have finished my Contents Page for my Music Magazine and this is how it progressed:

My Example Magazine:

 

 

My Flat Plan:

 

 

My Contents Page:

 

 

 

The Development of my Double Page Spread

 

This is a movie to show how my double page spread developed.

 

 

A clearer picture of how my double page spread looks finished:

My Complete Front Cover for my Music Magazine

I have finally completed my music magazine's front cover, and in this blog post I will show the progression of my cover as I've made it, but also compare it with my flat plan and the cover which mine was inspired by.

My Example Cover:

 

What I liked about this front cover in which I chose to inspire mine off, is that I like the colour scheme due to the vibrancy of the orange - making it appropriate to the target audience that I had in mind. Hence it being similar to Rock sound's target audience.

 I also liked how busy it looks, as it symbolises the target audience's life style, as they may be very busy and loud people due to the type of music they like.

My Flat Plan:

 

I never really stuck with my flat plan, as I started to develop my first draft of my front cover with this flat plan in mind. However, I started my second draft that didn't follow the flat plan, and found to like it more than my first.

 Although I didn't stick with it as a whole, there are still aspects of the plan that I did follow. For example; I kept the plug and some of the kickers in the same place. Furthermore, I kept the masthead and sell line in the same place too.

 I feel like the flat plan did help, as it gave me a starting point to where I wanted my front cover to be like.

 

My Development of my Front Cover:

These were the five stages that I had whilst developing my front cover for my music magazine. I started by placing my main image onto the page, but I didn't crop the background out of it, because I wanted the location shot to represent a closeness between the artist and the audience. Although after I created most of my magazine, I wanted to see if I may have preferred a more blank, studio- like background. Therefore, I changed my background and changed the masthead accordingly, so it would stand out to the background. However, I preferred the location shot.

  I then started to add things like my masthead and my main headline with a pull quote. I also added an orange strip down the left third of the page, as I wanted to use it to try highlight the other kickers and cover-lines.
 

  I then began to add all my cover-lines to this strip, but either using the colour white or black, so they would contrast off the orange, and make them more noticeable. Moreover, I wanted most of my cover-lines to be in the left third as that's where people look first when reading. I also added the things you get inside the magazine within the sell line, in which I was featuring the free CD and the posters you get. I added inset photos here so I could show the audience a little taste of what you can get inside. You can see I changed some of the inset photos so that they would show a variety of people. Not only this, but I added a graphic feature too, in which I used the Reading & Leeds festival, and used this to correlate with one of my stories in the magazine.
 

  Ultimately, the last screenshot shows how I used a plug, in which I added a free CD. I tried to recreate the cover of the CD to try create physicality to it, and I also added puffs to this to draw more attention to it. I also shared some of the artists that would be inside the CD, to try grab the readers attention as there may be one of their favourit
e bands/artists on the track.

My Complete Cover:  

This is my final version of my magazine cover.

My Front Cover Drafts

In order to come up with my final front cover, I made up 3 drafts of my front cover and decided the pros and cons of them, and ultimately I will choose the best one to be my final cover for my music magazine.

Draft 1:

 

Pros:

 

• The blank background contrasts with the different elements upon the page.
• It uses the left and right third for cover-lines.
• It features a lot of information.
• It sticks to the same font.
• You can clearly see the name of the magazine.
• You can see the main headline.
• It keeps to a colour scheme.

Cons:



 

• It looks blank in some areas.
• It needs more inset pictures.
• It needs to emphasise more on the headline story.
• Needs a graphic feature.

Draft 2:

 

 

 

Pros:

 

• Follows a colour scheme.
• Uses a lot of technical values that associate with other magazines (puffs, etc).
• It has good anchorage.
• It uses inset photos.
• The use of a location shot makes the magazine more personal.
• You can clearly see the name of the magazine.
• You can clearly see the main headline of the magazine.
• It has a clear house style.

 

Cons:

 

• It needs a graphic feature
• I need to give it some finishing touches and clean ups.
• I may add a menu strip at the bottom.





Draft 3:

 

Pros:

 

• It has a clear colour scheme.
• You can clearly see the title of the magazine and the headline.
• It uses both the left and right third of the magazine for cover lines.
• The colours are eye grabbing.

 

Cons:

 

• It has a lot of blank space.
• It needs a graphic feature.
• The colour can be quite bright to be able to read. 

 

 

Ultimately, I believe I will go with draft #2, because it is the furthest developed, and I feel like when I add the finishing touches to it, it will look alike a real magazine cover.





Flat Plan for Music Magazine - Contents Page

Ultimately, I have created my flat plan for my contents page, using the same method as I did for both the double page spread, and my front cover, for my music magazine.

My Two Examples

My Flat Plan

 

Flat Plan for Music Magazine - Double Page Spread

After making my flat plan for my front cover, I proceeded to use the same process for my double page spread:

My Two Examples

My Flat Plan

Flat Plan for Music Magazine - Front Cover

Before I create my music magazine, I wanted to plan how I will order and construct the front cover. I did this by finding two examples of a magazine that fits my genre, and basing the flat plan upon that. This is how it went:

My Two Examples

 

 

 

 

My Flat Plan

 

 

Photoshoot 2

As another photoshoot I went out and did some more location shots. I know I wanted to get some studio shots but when I took the shots they didn't come out as good as I expected them to due to the facilities I could get. Although I believe I still got some very usable shots from this photoshoot:

I like this photo as it uses negative space to draw your attention to the subject. I also like the way that the subject doesn't address the camera, so you start to wonder what her attention is brought to. Although if I was to use this picture for my magazine, I wouldn't use the background as the window is too distracting.

I like this photo due to the same reasons as the one before, but this one uses a high angle to create interest and offers another perspective to a person.

This photo creates interest for many things, the pose that the subject uses is interesting as it looks quite inviting, because she is sat down which could suggest she is sat with the person looking as the camera could represent an objective view. Not only this, but her surroundings are friendly as they use nature.

This photo uses all thirds of the space in terms of the left, middle, and right third. This gives the reader a lot to look at, so they will spend more time looking at the magazine. Furthermore, the positioning of the subjects tells the reader who is the frontman of the band as they are further forward and in the middle third.
 This picture also offers balance, as because there are three people, it creates a symmetrical element due to the fact the two other members are stood equally beside the frontman.

I like this photo for it's high energy - something my target audience could relate too, especially since it's genre is going to be rock. I believe this picture could have been more effective if it had been done in a studio, however I could still crop out the background.

Ultimately, I like this photo due to it's culture and relation to the rock scene. The subject is doing a hand gesture of 'Rock n Roll', in which my target audience could relate to. Moreover, her smile is very inviting towards the audience, especially when I want to not only target men.

 

Photoshoot Comparisons

As I have done several photoshoots now, I have a collection of photos that I could possibly use for my music magazine. Whilst choosing these photos I thought I would compare my photos to those that are professionally done and look alike. Furthermore, I will comment on the similarities between our two photos:

I think these two photos are similar - not for the place that they were shot in, but for the pose and facial expression. They both have their head tilted up to the camera, but also have a blank yet compelling facial expression. Not only this, but their body language shows no movement nor emotion.






These two photos have similarities due to many things. The first factor, is that they are both location shots, in which we can see that due to the brick wall background.
 Moreover, all of the subjects are stood in a relaxed and static manner. Neither really have an facial expression and look comfortable to be there.

Even though one of these photo uses low key lighting to achieve a silhouette-like look, I believe there is similarities between the two picture due to the posing. Though it is not music related, it's something that is recognisable and gimmicky - something my target audience could relate to.








Both of these photos feature a low angle of the subjects, in a location shot. Though it may seem intimidating, its an interesting way to portray the band as some fans may think very highly of them.













I think these two are similar due to the formation of the subjects, There is someone that is stood further in front than the other two subjects of the photo. This informs the reader that they are the 'front-man' of the band.

These two photos use the same pose and are both location shots. The pose is significant as it symbolises 'Rock n Roll', which my target audience may relate to. They also have similar facial expressions, because they are both smiling, in which it is inviting to the reader as they won't feel intimidated

Semiotic Analysis - Kerrang! Magazine

As part of a semiotic analysis, I chose 3 issues of Kerrang! magazine to analyse using different prompts. This is my prezi that I made to do this:

Photoshoot 1

Today I took my first photo-shoot for the process of making my music magazine. I did them as location shots, and then made them into a contact sheet:

Here are my favourite photos from the shoot, and why I like them so much:

Favourite Shots

 

 

I like this one because of the different levels that the subjects have. I think this could be a possible photo for my magazine, though I think I'd rather have this sort of photo in a studio setting. Furthermore, I believe the low angle gives it more interest too.

 

 



 

I like the comical aspect to the photo, as it'd be read from the audience as a friendly and fun photo, that still holds some pop culture. I definitely think this could be used in my magazine, as there's room to place my cover-lines around the subjects.

 



 

 This photo I like, because it focuses on the facial expressions of the characters and you get to see them as individuals within a group.

 

 



 

I like this image, because it seems quite serious and semi sultry, and I like the facial expressions that the subjects have. I think the location shot works for this kind of photo, as they seem comfortable.

 

 



Again this photo shows a comical aspect to it, where as if it was a band, the audience would bond over the fact they're using popular poses that our generation find funny and trendy.

 

I like this photo a lot, as it reminds me of something you'd actually see in a music magazine because of how the subject is posed and their facial expression.