Final Double Page Spread & Analysis

This is the final double page spread for my music magazine. I chose to feature my friend Fran Caines in the article as she is the lead singer of a new punk –rock band called ‘Same Thing Different Story’. I thought that this would be a relevant and appropriate feature to include in my magazine as the band is fresh and new so therefore fitting into the “Bands Not Brands” motto my magazine has, and the punk – rock genre of music is relevant to the genre and style of my magazine.

When creating my double page spread, the hardest part was choosing an appropriate colour scheme. I already knew the layout and images that I wanted to use but trying to find the right colours that worked was challenging. I already knew that the image included black and white on the clothing and an orange/wood effect on the guitar and Fran’s hair. Also band logo is in black and white. I knew these colours fitted with the colours I had used on the previous pages of my magazine so I then had to decide on two other colours to use on my double page spread to keep it consistent with the other pages. I chose a gray background because I had already used black on the two previous backgrounds so I wanted a change and therefore chose grey. I then decided on green as the first bright colour. I chose green because it hadn’t yet been used in my magazine and complimented with the grey background. I originally had the three boxes behind the secondary images all in white but I realised this made the page look to plain so I decided to leave one white, have another a slightly lighter shade of grey and the final green to match the strip down article. I finally chose to have the significant writing in an orange colour as coordinated with Fran’s hair and the guitar.

I decided to have a green strip down the centre of the article to break up the writing so it is easier to read and take in, one big block of writing doesn’t look appealing to anyone. I also decided to include a quote from the article as this is common feature that most magazines have. It gives indication the reader what the whole article is about, and if they are interested in that one quote they are more likely to take the time to read the whole article. I chose to use a slanted font for the quote and put it on a white block background and have orange quotation marks around it so its stands out on the page.  

The choice of images on the page is very important; they need to be fun and eye catching. I chose to have the main image as a full shot of Fran holding a guitar and pulling a funny face. This shows personality and will make the reader interested in the article. For the secondary images on the page I used two full shots and one medium shot of Fran, I wanted a variety and not all the same shots. I think the effect of Fran wearing ‘geek glasses’ makes the images look fun and relatable.

Final Contents Page & Analysis

This is the final contents page of my magazine. When I first had this idea for my contents page I thought it would be challenging and I wouldn’t be able to accomplish it as well as what I did, but in the end it turned out just as I planned.

I wanted to keep a consistent housestyle to my magazine and therefore again I chose two colours to use on the background colour, this time I decided on purple and orange because they complement each other even though at the same time they clash. Instead of just using one plain background colour I decided to have the effect of a jagged split down the page, leaving half the page white and changing the other half to black. I did this by using the ‘paint bucket’ tool to create a block of black and then I used the ‘eraser tool’ to erase some of the black to leave a jagged edge.

I repeated the masthead ‘Untitled’ on the contents page and used the trademark font so that it can be identified. I also used this same masthead design at the bottom of each page alongside the page number. Under the main masthead on the contents page I added a pull quote ‘Bands not Brands’. I chose this phrase because my magazine is going to feature bands as they are new on the scene and therefore haven’t been heavily influenced by the media and are making music for their love of music and not just for the money, which some bands/singers have resulted too. This is in black and white and a statement font. The lettering looks like it has been cut out of a newspaper and stuck down. I think this is effective because it shows variation and not just the same old standard fonts. The contents sign is also in black and white, this is creating a realistic colour scheme that doesn’t make the page too hectic.

The image is placed on the white side of the split background. Due to the black clothing the model stands out on the white. She is slightly leaning in as if she wants to get to know the reader and show what the magazine is about. She is holding out her jacket and showing the Rolling Stones logo, this is also indicating the rock theme.

My favourite part of the page is the ‘This Week’ lettering. I think it is fun and eye catching to the reader. I have duplicated the writing and alternated the colours of the letters so they are at contrast with each other and this makes it stand out. This is the main feature of the page as it is where the reader has to look to find out what’s in the magazine so I think it’s significant that it stands out.

I have kept to the same colours of orange and purple when it came to the writing on the page. I thought it was best for the main body of the text to be clear so when on the black background I changed the writing to white so it would be clear, and when on the white background I alternated it and had black writing as that would be most visible. If I had changed the writing to orange or purple it may have looked like too much detail and might have become unclear. I used orange as a background colour to the subheadings and purple as the page number to keep the colour scheme consistent and the page to look fun.

Final Front Cover & Analysis

This is the final front cover of my magazine. I struggled with aspects of it such as trying to get the arrangement on the page correct and choosing the colour scheme but overall I am happy with the final product.

I chose to have a dark colour scheme to my magazine as it fits with ‘rock theme’ that I wanted my magazine to have. Therefore I decided to have a black background and then accompany it with red, blue and a white masthead. After varying the colours a lot, I feel in the end the colours complement each other and the cover on a whole works.

I used many of the main codes and conventions that most magazines follow such as a significant masthead, an eye catching central image, some secondary images, a skyline, a side bar, magazine details and a barcode. It is essential to include features like these otherwise my magazine would not be realistic look like a real magazine.  

The image on the front cover is one of the most important features to a magazine. It tells the reader what sort of stories are going to be included inside, due to the storyline that goes with it, and helps to set the theme of the magazine. I chose this image because I think the guitarist is at an interesting angle and I like how you can see the clear detail on his tattoo; I think it is one of the most positive aspects of the image. I increased the contrast of the image to bring out the colours in the guitarist tattoo. I think the tattoo helps to set this ‘rock theme’ to my magazine and fits perfectly with what I was hoping to achieve. I like how the guitar draws in your attention because it is a bright white and overlapping the other images. It complements the white masthead ‘Untitled’ and the band name ‘Boys Like Girls’ as they are the most significant things on the page.

I used the online font website ‘DaFont’ to get the front of my masthead. I tried out a selection of fonts, as shown previously on my blog, until I found one that I felt would go with the theme of my magazine. I wanted it to be interesting and not just in a standard boring font because that wouldn’t catch anyone’s eye on the shelf, and as it always going to be identifiable with my magazine it needs to be effective. I therefore used an eroded font where the letters are slightly positioned out of a straight line. This adds personality to the masthead.

I chose to have a skyline because I think it is very common in magazines. I got the idea of having featuring band names between stars from a cover that I had previously looked at. I think it works well with my page and subtly adds more detail and colour.

Research - Photographer

Nigel Barker is a sucessful Englsih Photographer. He started his career as a male model in England and quickly made is name known world wide and started working for  big names such as Giorgio Armani, Ralph Lauren, Donna Karen and Valentino!

Barker then changed his career path and switched to the other side of the camera and by 1998 was a famous fashion photographer and had opened is own photo studio in Manhattan, New York. He later became a judge on the pannel of America Next Top Model and worked besides big names in the industry such as Tyra Banks and Twiggy Lawson.

I think he is a very talented photographer and i like the style that he uses. His images are always very eqgy with a specific effect thats grabs your attention. The model is always gracefully captured and centre of attention. I like how he uses a lot of back and white effects and uses alot of subtle colours but the image still stands and looks interesting.

This is a link to Nigel Barkers official photography Website http://www.studionb.com/

Flat Plan - Double Page Spread

Flat Plan - Contents Page

Flat Plan - Front Cover