Double Page Spread Article: Contents

I discovered a form of media called Scribd which presents documents in a neat form, which I am then able to embed onto my blog. This document includes the text which is in my DPS.

Double Page Spread - Contentspdf

Double Page Spread Research (2)

I like this magazine DPS because of it's modern layout and contemporary feel. Ignoring the fact this magazine DPS is a hip hop article and also ignoring the title, I really like the way the text is laid out. I like the fact that each question is in red to contrast with the answer, which is in black. I might try to experiment with writing text blocks of my magazine DPS like this.

Double Page Spread: Picture Editing

I decided the picture which had been taken for my font cover wasn't right, as there wasn't enough space for a masthead, or indeed subheadings and article titles. I used the magic wand tool to edit out the picture of me, and pasted it onto a picture of trees from before the winter near Cabot Tower in Bristol. I prefer this backdrop because it is much more dramatic than a car park! Also, this left me more space to create a mast head and other cover features like a barcode and pricing etc. The program I used to edit the photos was Photoshop CS5, which I had previous knowledge of using from GCSE photography. Editing these photo's for my magazine, however, further developed my skills in using photoshop.

Cover/ Double Page Spread Mockups

Double page spread mock up:

Front cover mock up:

Cover Analysis (1) - ONE and Kingdom

ONE and Kingdom magazine aren't music magazines, but I like the layout of the front covers. I like the minimalistic design with a simple masthead and just a few bold sub headings and article headings. I like the way ONE magazine puts it's article headings in clusters of two words, with the first word being white then the second being green. The green colour doesn't really count as a key colour because the only other main colour is deep blue, which doesn't contrast naturally but is effective as it stands out and looks contemporary.

Photo Shoot

This are my favourite photos which were taken for my magazine. I am not sure just yet where it will go, however through some experimenting on different ways to use it, I think it probably looks better as a font cover image. (Will make blog on mock up covers/ double page spreads). I am going to experiment with them and try to develop them, using photoshop, to make them look more exciting for my magazine. I might cut out the outline of the picture of myself and use it as a standalone figure on my DPS.

I decided to make the photo black and white, and add an edge blur to give the image a more rustic. Next, I increased the highlights, as well as increase the sharpness and the noise which made it look sharper and more defined.

This is the photo where I got the idea from. This was taken from ALMANAC and I think it represents someone of the average age of my target audience - about 22-24 years old.

Flat Plans

I used my iPad to sketch out my flat plans. I used the program Adobe Ideas which is a cut down editing tool for the iPad.

Double Page Spread: Mock Up

Here is a basic mock up of one of the pages for my double-page spread. I took my inspiration from the magazine ALMANAC, researched below, and briefly made up an idea of what I could do for my final piece. Here I have used a picture from ALMANAC to use as a basis for the mock up. I took the inspiration from the title of an article from the catalogue, used Gurmukhi MT font. I like the way it is clear yet effective and almost bold as a title which is the effect I was trying to go for. Below is an introduction in New Peninim MT, which is underlined and in italics to separate the title from the main piece of writing. The base text of the page is made from Georgia. This is a modern and contemporary font which is similar to the font used in ALMANAC and is proven to keep readers attention in contrast to a more boring font such as Times New Roman.

Note: this is a very basic idea of what I want to create.

Target Audience

My target audience is generally aimed at people from between the age of 18 to 28. The majority of the readership will belong to those who have finished university and have a job, with the money available to buy higher-end products. They will typically belong to the BC1 demographic spectrum and have an interest in art, literature and other similar pass times; they may be readers of the Guardian, Telegraph or the Times. I have deliberately missed out category A because I don't believe my magazine will at all include the upper classes, this is very much aimed at the younger, but monied middle classes.

Magazine Title Name, Fonts and Design

Title Name Ideas.

I like the idea of 'unsigned' but this wouldn't be so original as there is already a very similar magazine title. I had a think and thought that translating the word 'unsigned' into French could give the magazine a slight twist. The nearest translation to unsigned is non signé. Magazine titles normally have just the one word rather than two, but I will try mock up covers to see whether this convention can be broken.

Update: I prefer the name Unsigned

Fonts and Design.

Here is a list of the fonts I particularly like:

-Georgia (This font)

-Gurmukhi MT

-New Peninim MT

These fonts all fit the style of the Aubin & Wills style catalogue I like; making it easier to design a similar layout, paying homage to the original.

Adverts in my Magazine

Adverts in my magazine are aimed at the demographic of BC1. The readers of my magazine will come from a middle class background, and as the magazine is generally a music-lifestyle mag, the readership may have a majority of women but is very much men friendly. Brands that could advertise in my magazine could be any of the following companies:

Ideas - Music: Targeted Audience

The music which I would like the audience of my magazine to listen to will probably include some of the following. This is because the music will hopefully fit the lifestyle of the readers. I am planning on my audience to read literature, be educated and the like and this music reflects a mix of a modern persons music, which should be perfect.

Elbow

The Drums

Joshua Radin

Magazine Analysis - ALMANAC

The Aubin and Wills Catalogue, ALMANAC, is something I really want to look into because I might create a double page spread which is inspired by this magazine. Although this isn't specifically a music magazine, ALMANAC has a section which looks for up and coming bands.

(Not completed)

First Thoughts: My Ideas for Magazines

I enjoy every genre of music, from Rock to Drum & Bass, so trying to decide on a specific genre of music wasn't initially an easy task. I particularly like the idea of searching for up and coming talent, which is what JWunsigned is designed to do. Jack Wills is a lifestyle clothing company, so naturally it tries to find unsigned music artists which should appeal to their own target market. Some of my favourite artists have been found from JWunsigned such as Andy Knox. I like the design of the magazine that has been made to coincide with the website, which is available here.

I quite like the design of the front cover, because it pays homage to Victorian shop designs, except so subtly you could easily miss it. I like the use of the key colour of baby green, which is used to highlight important view points on the magazine, such as the 'interview' and the large number 1, which indicates the number of the issue. I might try to incorporate a large issue number on the front cover of my magazine as I think it looks really effective. The number 1 is most likely connected to the preppy clothes you can by from Jack Wills as many of the sporty tops like Rugby shirts have large player numbers on the back. I'm assuming the use of green will not stay the same, as it is likely a different colour will be used for the next issue.

I like the way the pictured band is in black and white which fits in with the rest of the design. They almost look like cartoons to match with the shoe design. Looking back to the hint of Victorian inspired design, the companies preppy-private school educated clothing design image is created. A clearer design of this can be seen from one of the 'handbooks', a seasonal catalogue (pictured right). The only thing i'm worried about is the way this magazine goes quite far away from the normal private school image Jack Wills normally conveys, especially in contrast to the handbook. On the other hand, I agree that JW has probably understood that as far as marketing music for the middle classes goes, they couldn't edge too far away from what people already knew. This is most likely why they went for a relatively underground, but fresh look to the magazine.

I particularly like the pages inside. I'm interested with the layout of the magazine layout, with the three columns of interview with the band Monte Carlo. I think the continued use of green is effective throughout the magazine. We could connote from the colour green that the magazine is representing 'new beginnings and growth'. Although, ironically for the magazines first issue, this could also symbolise a 'lack of experience'.

I really like the way this page (right) is designed to look like a record on a record player. Again, the use of green depicts the most important points of view, like the centre of the record, which says 'Reviews'. This is the title of the article, which is interesting and creative as opposed to the normal magazine articles which tend to have a large article title across the top of the page or double page spread.

New Technology

2011 is entering a new age of technology. Convergence is the idea that people can connect media devices together and they can communicate with each other. The more connected portable media devices like phones and tablet computers get, the more people rely on the use of connectivity and 'technological convergence' in communicating together. Prime examples in 2011 are iPads and Kindles.

Preliminary Task

My Preliminary task involved creating a student magazine, involving research of other magazines and the creation of a new one. During my research on the current school magazines I realised that most were all trying to follow the crowd of being contemporary and modern. The problem I found was that students didn't really read them, which seemed a waste as they are essentially written by students. The program I used to create the cover and contents was Pages by Apple.

My idea is to focus on creating a magazine front cover and contents which would in part emulate a magazine students may buy. I took inspiration from popular magazines such as Cosmopolitan which has a very distinct front cover. The difference being that the cover includes a picture of a student within surroundings of a relevant article in the magazine. This way, students may be more inclined to read the magazine themselves.

Below is a very simple idea as to the layout I wanted to achieve:

Except for the bottom banner subheading, I wanted to create a conventional lifestyle magazine layout which students could naturally relate to.

Instead of the usual panic school magazines appear to have when having to work out what to include in the issue, I decided to be more specific with the content. Therefore, instead of just articles about students achievements and trips, useful information for University and news about parties could be more relevant for my target audience. This magazine would actually give students a real sense of journalism and freedom on what to write as opposed to the standard school magazine. The magazine is aimed at the students, who will both write and edit articles.

Names

Other names I could have used included

• School
• YSN (Your Student News)
• Voice
• Talk
• Study

I chose 'Outspoken' on the basis that it was slightly more controversial and relevant than the others, as well as being the most creative. 'Outspoken' is word which really describes many teenagers desires to be heard. My slogan is 'Your Student Magazine', giving readers a sense that the articles are written for them and by them.

Front Cover:

Masthead

I opted for 'Outspoken' to be in 'Hiragino Kaku Gothic StdN' font, which is clear, loud and modern. I think this font worked over 'Arial Black' and 'Charcoal CY' because it closely resembles lifestyle magazines and moves away from normal school magazines.

Subheadings

I tried to put subheadings of articles in key places that people tend to see first. As an example, the title 'Unveiling of the NEW All - Weather Pitch' has 'NEW' in bold in the exact spot people first see when they look at a magazine cover. The other font that is prominent on the cover is 'Didot', which is very clear and works well on lifestyle magazine front covers.

Bottom Subheading

For 'The Top 10 list of University's for...' heading I decided to emulate what I found frequent on school magazines. I used the shadow function which definitely splits the rest of the cover from the main section. I thought the use of the 'Didot' font was useful as it conveys a clear and tangible heading which should lead the reader into the magazine.

Main Image

I liked the cover image as the background was blurred and the picture of Simon is stereotypical of school magazines. The picture is relevant to the content of the magazine as it would feature the opening as an article inside.

Left Third

I chose to insert a subheading for jobs in the left third. The significance of this is that students are always looking for jobs and this section is eye catching, with the addition of 'Jobs' in bold font.

Contents:

I really liked the idea of carrying on the picture of Simon on the All - Weather pitch onto the contents page. I also liked the quality of the picture, however I think I should have played around with the fonts more as I believe the contents page could look slightly better. On the other hand, I wanted to keep to the same font scheme with 'Hiragino Kaku Gothic StdN' for the heading and 'Didot' for the main writing font. I think perhaps the contents page could be improved by only having grass as the background, instead of the grass including people playing football at the top of the photo. This way, the contents could have quite an effective back ground.

Here is a picture of an alternative contents page based on my ideas for improvement:

Note how I have changed the main text font to 'Hiragino Kaku Gothic ProN' and zoomed in on the background photo. I am not completely sure which I think is more effective, however I prefer the second one as it is clearer than the first one.

Conclusion

I believe I have created a new, modernised school magazine which is more aimed at students themselves rather than teachers, parents and perhaps family. This magazine should be used as an opportunity for students to pursue an interest in Journalism, job search, party search and read about news and events which are completely relevant to them. The magazine could easily be extended out to the rest of the school, despite it being aimed at sixth form students.