Contents Page First Draft

I have just finished creating a first draft for my contents page. I had to think carefully about the amount of pages that i would feature inside as there had to be a realistic number therefore i have created around 250 pages.

I decided to feature a 'band index' on my contents page so it is clear what artists the reader can expect to find inside and that they can access them easily. I included a range of different fonts to ensure that all the text is easy to read and that the different sections of the contents page look unique. I also included a small banner on the top right hand corner of the page and included a competition prize in this to make the reader feel that, by buying the magazine, they will be getting more for their money. I have also included social networking details for my magazine to keep up with the current technology zeitgeist of this age and subscription details are also easy to be found.

I have included small images of other artists that I have included inside my magazine to show variety and as they are less well known, the reader is given the chance to recognise these artists before they read about them.I have also included an image of my cover model and feature artist on my contents page and have made it very clear which pages she is featured on. As well as titling the featuring articles in the magazine, I have also given a brief description of them such as what we have talked about or what they can expect to find.

Here is the first draft for my contents page:

Double Page Spread First Draft

We had to created at least two double page spreads and I decided to use one and a half of these for placing my article and a single page for a full bleed image of my feature artist.

On my first double page spread, I included a title and decided to make 'arrived' bigger than the rest of the text to signify that she is a dominant artist in the music industry. I included a small introduction to the rest of the article to set the tone and explain that kind of contents that will be included in it. I also chose to include a banner, both at the top and the bottom of the page, where I was able to display the page numbers, the name of my magazine and the type of article it was, an exclusive.

I decided to include two images, both ranging in size and a pull quote from the actual article. I chose images that went well with the tone of the article and therefore the audience could relate to them. I simple cut the images out and came to the conclusion that I didn't need to edit them. I then went on to add the text and used a 'text wrapping' technique to make sure that there was little white space around the images and that the whole page was covered. I also had to be careful where I placed the images because of the fold in the middle of the page, therefore I decided to put one on each side. Again, I stuck to the colour scheme of my magazine and used the same fonts that I had used on my front cover.

Here is the first draft of my first double page spread: 

On my second double page spread, I decided to go for a different layout. I chose to include one side finishing off the text from the article and used the other for a full bleed image. However I still included the banners at the top and bottom of the page.

I created the Polaroid frames myself by taking a white square and a black one and adding a drop shadow to the white one to give it a 3D effect. I then added the images that I had cut out on to the black square so they appeared as a photo. I thought that it looked good it I had parts of the images coming out of the frame to make them look realistic and 3D and I believe that this has created a unique look to the images, instead of just putting them on the page. I included two pull quotes on this double page spread and used the contrasting colours of red and white over the full bleed image on the second half of the page, to make the text stand out.

I believe that I have included a sufficient amount ofimage sizes and different shot sizes to show that I have taken a variety of images, however I might choose to add some form of background to my full bleed image to avoid all the blank space that there is at the moment. I made my models hair brighter in the full bleed image because I wanted it to match with the colours in my magazine and as there was a shadow on her hair, I removed it and made the whole image brighter. I thought carefully about the page numbers that I was going to use as I wasn't sure where the feature article usually appeared in a magazine but after researching this, I found out that is usually placed in the middle of the magazine or just before, hence why I chose to start it on page 36.

Here is the first draft of my second double page spread:

Front Cover First Draft

Last week I completed the final draft for my front cover. This task took me longer than expected to complete because I decided to change my image. I originally chose to use a close up of my model on the front cover to build a relationship between them and the target audience. However in the end, I decided to go for a more exciting pose that made my front cover stands out. I believe that the image I have now chosen creates a statement and fit in with the genre of my magazine better.

On some of the sell lines on my front cover I have chosen to add effects such as a drop shadow to ensure that the text is easy to read and stands out on the gradient that I placed on the background. I have also tried to lay out each sell line in a different way so that they all look different. I used a combination of four different fonts throughout my sell lines to make them all look different and to give the cover some variety. I chose to add a gradient overlay to my background because I though that a plain white background looked to boring and having a bit of colour makes it look more busy.

I decided to include a button for one of my sell lines and used bevel and emboss and a drop shadow to created the illusion of a button from a plain circle shape. I also came up with the idea of including a 'song challenge' on my front cover where the reader will be given the lyric to a line of a song written by an artist appearing in the issue and they will have to find out what song it is from. I think that this will intrigue the readers and make them want to by the magazine but it will also give them a sense of achievement by doing so.  

Once I cut out the image, I chose to edit it by making it brighter as there was no need to remove any blemishes on my model. As there was a shadow on her right side, I removed this and this made the image look mush brighter. I decided that I wasn't going to make my front cover look too busy so I made my cover image large to it attracted most of the attention and it was clear that the model was the main feature inside the magazine.

Here is my first draft of my front cover:

Diary 12

In the past few weeks I have been creating the first drafts for my magazine. I am doing this to begin to find out what my magazine will look like once it is finished. I have included the necessary conventional aspects of most magazines within my own such as a masthead, sell lines, a bar code, price, website etc. I have also had to make sure that i included a wide range of images that i took from my photoshoot to give a variety to the pages I am creating. I have made sure to keep to the same house colours that I selected earlier to make sure that my magazine flows. I have currently created a front cover and two double page spreads and I am now working on my contents page and will hopefully have completed this by tomorrow. I have gained a lot of skills through working with photoshop in creating my magazine such as how to cut out images, create different effects with the text and how to wrap the text in my articles around the images.

Tutorial: Cutting out an image

I created a video of me cutting out an image on Photoshop to evidence the skills that i have gained and been able to develop since creating my preliminary task. This video is also proof that all the photos I have used throughout my magazine were mine and were cut out by me. Also, doing this helped me because I was able to practise cutting out images to make sure that when I came to using the images on my actual magazine, they were of a better quality and looked tidy. Furthermore, before I started to work on my magazine this year, I had forgotten a lot of the skills I had from last year and this task also helped to refresh my memory of what to do and I even learnt how to use the 'refine edge' tool in order to make the images even better.