How my final layout has expanded from my original designs

Mastheads

This is the background colour I later used for my final design when making the Masthead, it is a very deep red and black surface with a rough edge to it, I believe this bodes very well with the genre of music my magazine is revolving around. It also fits very nicely with the rest of the page, and later the double page spread where I continued the same graphic style.

 This is the Advertisement I used on my banner, as the banner is not a completely straight figure across the top of the page I placed this pop out 'bursting' out from the top right of the page, at a vertical angle - almost cross cutting through the masthead itself. This effect is used on many magazines within this genre of music, especially Kerrang!.

This is the final masthead for my front cover. As you can see the masthead is being cross cut through by a picture and almost by the 'EDITION #007' effects I have implemented. However I still believe it is a very successful masthead.

As in a previous post, this is a masthead I designed and later went against. This was due to many reasons, the background image did not suite the rest of the magazine, it would have been at too much of a contrast to keep it as it is. However if I would have simply changed the background, the shade of blue, the 'FREE' writing and also the picture, would all have looked out of place, and the overall masthead did not look well presented. Hence why I created a much simpler masthead that I believe delivers a much more potent effect to the front page of my magazine - providing the viewer with all they need to know about 'freebies' and also the information about what they will receive within the magazine.

Front Covers

This is a front cover I originally made very early on when first starting my project. It provided me with a lot of vital information when I eventually came to making my final front cover piece. Many effects that I used on this rough copy I genuinely followed through with and used on my final copy. Such as the band name almost 'splashing' in from the left, from research and analysis I concluded that this was a very attractive feature, and the contrast of colour it brings to the background and main graphic style makes it a great addition to any front cover.

This is my final front cover, and the expansion from my initial design, I believe, is monumental. It provides much more impact on a viewers eye with a varying contrast in colours, all of which maintaining a similar graphic pattern. The pictures are manipulated much better, and the font is at a maintaining high standard throughout. The masthead provides more information about advertisement and freebies and the title stands out a lot more, as one query I had with my initial design was that the title was not potent enough within the page. However I believe that now the title is very much the main attention grasper for the cover, bringing a simple yet vibrant colour to attract the viewer.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

From this, you can see a clear difference in the quality between the two, in both my Front Covers, and Contents Pages. The double page spread, as one was not necessary within our preliminary task I did not produce one, however the Double Page spread for my finished product I believed turn out fantastically. The front cover for my preliminary piece lacks various features relevant for that of a music magazine; the title of the magazine is not clear, it lacks information and the pictures are square, block images, with no contrast to the background image. Also, the text present throughout the front cover is very bland, it does not extract any sort of attention from the background and hence making it useless. With my finished product I have tried to eliminate these factors, making a large, obvious title for my magazine, bursting out of the page in a 'PUNK' font, with the colours in relation to that of the background, although with a slight differentiation to make it stand out from the rest of the cover. Also many other features such as the images, I have used Photo shop to extract various images from their background and place them unto more suiting backgrounds for the style of magazine to which I have taken upon. Other features such as the bursting images as a teared background to the band name, from the left of my finished product front cover, set it in a different standard to that of my preliminary piece.


















In relation to this, with the contents page for my preliminary piece, it has various features that I genuinly believe suite the style of magazine in which it is portraying, for example, the boxes outlining the various page numbers and cover stories within them are a great asset to the page. Also the variation in green/yellow along the bottom, also contrasting with the text along the bottom and top (the title/main cover story) along with the smaller story in white along the bottom, make for an overall good look. However it lacks originality and the factor of belief. If this magazine was placed on the shelves it would not generate a fan base, its potential target market would not be interested due to its lack of images, and also due to the fact that its too block coloured. However with my finished product, again I have become neglegate to block colours, I have used various texts, along with colour schemes to create a contrasting effect. Also, the main image itself has been extracted from its background to set it aside from the rest of the page, pulling it out of the background. The promotional posters on the bottom right have been specifically cut and enhanced using a horizonal adjustment feature on Photo shop. This sets them aside from the rest of the magazine, making sure none of the features blend together as not to make it boring.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Before constructing this product, I had yet to be introduced to the wonders of photo shop - how dissecting an image could be made one hundred times easier through much simpler tools. I also learnt how to make media effective, for example, when creating such a project as a magazine, it is not necessarily what you enjoy - it is mainly what the potential buyers of the magazine enjoy. Research helped me find out what people within the bracket of the target audience for my  magazine desired, and the technologies I was introduced to within this project helped me to accomplish and meet these desires. Photo shop (CS5) has many features which enabled me to meet the requirements and targets set from the potential market for my magazine. I didn't use many other programs aside from Photo shop when creating my magazine pages, although other programs have been helpful, I used 'Paint'; to take effective, high quality screenshots and post them through my blog. This brings me on to my blog, blogging was a new phenomenon to me at the start of this project, and having never blogged before in my life, the concept of sharing your ideas and thoughts through a 24/7 available system was genius. As I first started blogging, I came to realise the possibilities that it possesses. With features available such as editing previous posts, posting images and videos and commenting on other peoples work and taking ideas you like and don't like to help with the progression of your magazine.

How did you attract/adress your audience?

Addressing a potential fan base for my magazine was no issue for me, as the target market for my magazine revolves around youth, ageing from 16-22. This was ideal for me as the pupils at my school ranged through these ages and a little below. However when referring to the 21/22 year old bracket. I focused on the era that my brother possesses, for him and his friends are greatly interested in this genre of music I asked them to be part of my surveys/evaluations. Therefore all areas of my target audience were met.

When attracting potential buyers/readers of a magazine of this genre I did various things, I went along with my brother to certain Gigs (mainly involving Death of an Artist) and took the views of those people who's lives revolved around this style of music/media. They all gladly participated in answering the questions within my questionnaire which helped me to take an overall view from all ages within my target audience. I also posted notes throughout my facebook page, using web 2.0 interactivity, to help people find the band's page, once again recruiting more people to help me with my evaluation and research.

Who would be the audience for you media product?

My music magazine mainly revolves around post hardcore/rock. This; however, limits the potential target audience for my magazine, it also, in many retrospects increases the potential fan base for a magazine like mine, this is due to an increase in the number of people interested in local, upcoming bands, which again, is a unique selling point to which my magazine revolves around. Much research has been looked into the speculation that a magazine will not gain a large fan base, unless it includes global music affairs, however I have decided to go against the grain of this statement, by keeping my magazine as a mainly promotional magazine, with certified features including other larger bands, relating to playing in smaller venues locally - this attracts a specific type of reader.

The age group I have targetted with my magazine, would be ranging from 17-22. I have stated this throughout my research as I feel people of this age are most likely to be open to the possibility of upcoming bands progressing through a wider fan base. A significant amount of the creation of my magazine, was based around the feedback I recieved throughout the research stages, and then after its completion. I revolve everything I do to do with my magazine, around feedback, as I see it as the most essential part of a magazines success in its bracket.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My media product is clearly targetted at a specific audience, as it as one unique selling point alone - the music. The bands promoted within the magazine are better known as 'Up-Comers', and therefore are not known on a large public basis. This means that the only people interested in reading my magazine, would be people genuinely interested in the promotion it possesses, and the music to which it is promoting. The images and text I used; however developing upon already established, globally recognized magazines, do not target a specific audience, the questions are fairly personal and could create a large amount of media attention.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

I think that the distributor I would choose to distribute my product would be 'Ditto Music'.

This is a company globally known throughout the music industry which target local and smaller areas of Britain and the US, to promote smaller magazines and bands alike. This company would be ideal for my magazine, as the magazine would be shipped to 700+ smaller cities, towns and companies to promote its ideas. From here I could look into promoting my magazine further, although as it does not revolve around affairs involving the public, it may not reach a higher public fan base.

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

This is a question that I have addressed various times throughout the production of my Music Magazine. There are many magazines on the shelf in a similar genre to that of my magazine, including Kerrang!, Q, Rock sound etc. All of these have been great influences in the creation of my magazine - in the sense that I have used ideas and styles in my magazine, that were originally presented to me in the form of an already established magazine. My magazine; I feel, also challenges forms and conventions of globally known magazines, as my magazine possesses certain attributes, not seen within established magazines. This gives my magazine an enhanced media edge as these styles and graphics used within my magazine are not found already within the media industry.

Starting with the title of the magazine. For the title of my magazine I used various quantitative research, and also some un-posted qualitative research to find out what potential buyers (target market) for my magazine were looking for. The name ORIGIN, found 100% of the participants questioned preferring it over any of the other name ideas I had - and also over some already established magazines names. I think the name is highly relevant with the genre of music to which my magazine is based around, however in great contrast to the graphic style I followed within my magazine; as the font I used, is a very evasive font, clearly extracting itself from the bland background I selected. Also the colours I used are followed throughout the magazine, and the black and blue idea is sub-consciously known within the media and music industry through already established products, e.g. songs from such artists as Mike Snow.

The images possess features of Mise-en-scene that are greatly in contrast to many other magazines on the shelf. I used very bland graphic styles to excel various features of the pictures, for example the picture on the front cover, has been sharpened using Photo shop. I did this to create a stronger feel about it, and to bring it out from the background. As the background is quite bland in itself, this also gives the same effect to that of other pictures throughout the magazine - such as the background and main image on the contents page. All of the main images throughout my magazine are selected specifically, extracted from their original backgrounds and placed unto background images that I feel were more suited to the genre of magazine I have taken upon. A prime example of this would be the double page spread, where the picture of Mark (singer + guitarist of Death of an Artist), has been extracted from a very dark, almost black background, and placed unto an image of a gig crowd. This again relates back to developing forms and conventions of real media products as I expanded on this idea from a 2008 edition of Kerrang!

The people within my magazine are fairly vague, their clothes/costumes, and expressions tell of passion. This is essential for a magazine of my genre as people within the Rock Music industry understand that it is not all about fame and money, it is mainly about creating music that is globally loved, and music being the thing that you love. The clothes that the people are wearing throughout the images I used within my magazine represent the global rebellion that is present within our society. That people are wearing clothes to express how they would like to be represented. Two out of the three main images were of the band in action, this gives an essential effect to the viewer as it shows them the band are interested in the music they produce, and the fact that their clothing is fairly bland and doesn't try to draw attention (unlike someone such as Lady Gaga), that the music is the most essential thing within this band.

The written text within my magazine, follows very similar forms and codes to that of an already established magazine, the convention of the questions asked within the double page spread are partially personal, although relating mainly back to the antagonist idea within the magazine (the band). However, one thing that sets my magazine aside from already globally established magazine, is the fact that the headlines, and cover stories are not about what is happening within the music industry as a whole, but mainly focuses on particular bands and specific outbursts within a very niche range of music. This challenges conventions of established magazines as their main worry is the profit behind their product, therefore main stories about popular bands and artists must be included for them to be assured of sales.

The layout of my magazine is very conventional, as I was yet to study music magazines as a whole before this project, I felt it was essential that I took ideas from already established magazines, to be reassured of what the target market for my magazine was looking for. The layout I used in-particular also allows me to expand and develop the ideas of established magazines, as I have created more room within the pages to allow for more promotional offers and advertisements, I believe this was a great feature of my magazine, as it does not assess or address global scenes or features, my magazine is strongly revolved around the promotion of local bands. The theme behind the layout of my magazine was similar to the conventions of the already established magazine Kerrang!, this is because I know through experience that Kerrang! delivers what the public, and target market for my magazine want to see. Therefore I developed graphic techniques used by Kerrang! to create an individualised magazine of my own.

My magazine revolves around rock music, post hardcore and partially indie - this is established through the various graphic techniques I used. Titles crashing out of the background images, giving a very up-front view on the main idea proposed on the page. The images being singled out, and placed on different backgrounds to represent the style of music to which I am addressing is another technique I used. Also the language used within my magazine is similar to that of many other established magazines, and therefore the forms and conventions of real media products are hence used, developed and challenged within my magazine.

Qualitative Evaluation - Music Magazine

As part of my evaluations for my Music Magazine, I decided to film short clips of what people thought of my magazine as a whole...

From this video you can see that everyone really enjoyed my magazine, other comments from my quantitative analysis proves that people would not set it aside from other well recognized magazines; such as Kerrang! and Q. Many people commented on the layout, graphic styles and pictures of my magazine (especially the Double Page Spread). As most of my magazine was focused around maintaining graphic layouts, this is reassuring to know that it makes my magazine stand aside from those already globally known.

Quantitative Evaluation - Music Magazine

As Part of the evaluation for my music magazine, I did a survey 50 pupils from my school, all ageing from 16-19 (as i believe this is the main target audience for my magazine). I asked the pupils various questions and recorded the answers.

1) (For this question i showed the pupil my magazine front cover, along with three other magazine front covers from Kerrang!, Q and Rock Sound)  Does the front cover of my music magazine attract you to it, setting it aside from the other magazines on offer?

2) Which part of my music magazine most resembles that of an established magazine you already know e.g. Kerrang!.. Q.. etc; The Front Cover, Contents Page or Double Page Spread?

3) Which part of my magazine do you prefer, The Front Cover, Contents Page or Double Page Spread?

RESULTS

1)

As you can see from my results, 49 out of the 50 pupils asked, prefered my magazine cover to that of an already established magazine. This may be down to the boredem of having seen the other covers before, or whether my cover possesses something the others did not. I personally believe my magazine cover had special features, setting it aside from the others, for example, the outline of the title - most established magazines expect people to know the title of their magazine, and sometimes (clearly in this isntance) this is not the case.

2)

From this pie chart it is clear to see that all of the pages of my magazine clearly resembled that of an already established magazine, however the Double Page Spread stood out the most - getting 20 out of the 50 students asked, saying that it mostly resembled that of a globally recognised rock magazine (e.g. Kerrang) I was very pleased with these results, as it shows me I presented an all round magazine where no specific part was better than another, however all of which were still of a high quality.

3)

I was delighted with the results of this question, as most people said they preffered the double page spread, and as this was personally my favourite part of the magazine; it helped for me to know that other people appreciated its style and the graphic techniques i used throughout the double page spread.

Making my Double Page Spread + Screenshots

This was the background picture I decided to incoorperate into my music magazine double page spread - I took this photo from a live gig I went to, and, although not from a Death of an Artist gig; I believe the photo works really well with the layout of my double page spread. From the research I did I found that the double page spreads that were most successful, were those that had audiences as backgrounds, I believe this is because it doesn't catch the eye of the reader, although it gives a sense of realism, and makes the magazine feel more lifelike, almost as though you were at the gig yourself. The picture in for forefront is that of Mark, the singer/guitarist from Death of an Artist. I used photoshop to cut him out of the background he was originally on to use as a standing image in the front of the double page spread. This gives a great effect with the background as they both follow a black and white graphic style.

At this stage of my magazine I used a unique style to which I think works really well with my magazine. I twisted the initial background to the left slightly, and put a background behind it, following a red graphic style (the same as the front cover). This is a recognized style used throughout globally recognized magazines, and therefore i believe it is a great asset to my magazine. I also edited the background to give it a 'Bubble Wrap' effect, I think this draws the attention further away from the background, as it gives it a blurred effect. However I also think it still looks professional, as many other magazines I've studied use a similar technique on their background pictures, as the main aim of the double page is to provide information, not to draw the attention of the reader away from the information with a background picture.

At this stage of my magazine I did two things, both of which makes a large impact to the double page spread, however small the changes themselves. Adding page numbers, allows the reader to understand what they are reading by referring back to the contents page. It also helps the reader find what they are looking for from the contents page, for example if the reader wanted to find a specific peice of information, page numbers would allow them to find this in a shorter amount of time than scanning the whole magazine - giving it a dynamic edge. I also added a small promo, giving options to lead readers to the website for the magazine for more information on specific details not taken into detail inside the magazine itself. It also has a 'World Exclusive' tag attached to it, I did this using photoshop and paint, it gives the reader a sense that they are reading something never seen before, giving my magazine a social edge and making it harder to attain.

At this stage of my double page spread I added small pictures to the bottom of the page, slightly to the right. I believe this enhances the look of my magazine, as many recognized magazines throughout the world follow a similar style within their magazines. It gives the reader something to look at through peripheral visions, this sub consciously attracts the reader, and intises them to read the information given, as it may relate to the pictures. The pictures also give information themselves, as the reader can then see what to expect within the magazine, and also the reader to see what they are going to look for within the magazine; e.g. what looks like it would interest them etc..

 This is where I gave my double page spread a title. This is probably the most essential part to the spread of a magazine, because if the title is entising, the reader will be intregued as to what the articles following posses. The title of a spread can determine whether a reader continues to read your magazine, or puts it back on the shelf. Because if none of the titles interest a reader of the target audience related to your magazine, they will not be interested to read it. The colour scheme I followed with the title is that I have used throughout my magazine,a slightly lighter shade of red, and a dark blue. This links the title back to other areas of the magazine. The font is 'Scorchwood', a font I downloaded specifically for my magazine because I believed it was fitting to the genre of music my magazine revolves around. The title is also a quote, this lures the reader into a state of interest as they want to know who said it, and why - leading to them reading on.

At this stage of my double page spread, I added the text to the layout. I believe the text of a magazine is the deciding factor in relation to its success. The text i've used is a simple font, from word - layed out on a black background, it also has a small title - 'James speaks to Origin!' I believe this intises to reader to read on throughout the text, as this sub title clearly relates to the main title, and that is what they came to the page to find information about so a clear interest is already present. In the sub title I used a larger J, at the beginning - this small difference to the rest of the text interests the reader; as it catches their eye.

 At this stage of my double page spread I added the three CD's to the bottom left of page 1. This is because I believe the space was empty before-hand, and that inserting these CD's just gives the reader something else to look at. As boredem is a factor when making a double page spread, if the reader gets bored the magazine cannot succeed. The CDs' may also be seen as a promo for the magazine, advertising other pages within the magazine, keeping the reader intrigued as to what is inside.

At this stage of the double page spread, I added the right banner, this is an essential part to any music magazine, as after the reader has read through the original text on the page, and the article within - more information is needed to keep them attracted to the page. Therefore I added this banner to the space on the right of my magazine, following the same graphic style to that I have succeeded to attain throughout the other pages - it tells of other information within the magazine, as well as promos. Some of the promos along the side are for CD's. Other are for various bands and cover stories that a reader would later expect to see within the magazine, this again gives more information to the reader, keeping them attracted to the page.

Final Edit Below.

This is the final stage in the making of my double page spread; I added another small quote, just above the CD's - with a tag attached to it. I accomplished this through using photo-shop, and I believe it is a great asset to the double page spread. It fills a small gap in the magazine, it is also a quote, and therefore requires to be followed by a covering story. The tag attached to the magazine took a long time to perfect, however I believe it enhances the quotation and gives the reader more to look at within the double page. The colour scheme I followed when makes this specific graphic enhancement to the page, follows that of the rest of the magazine, at a deep red on a specific word 'ROCK' and the rest of the quote in a beige colour, linking to the whiter colour located on the right banner - relating the two stories. I later enlarged my double page spread to the right size (15.2/10").

Flat Plan + Photo-Flat Plan for my Double Page Spread

Making my Contents Page + Screenshots

These are the initial stage of the creation of my contents page. This is the photo I decided to work with, the reason behind this is that I think it is in contrast to the world today, that most 'rock stars' are all about fame and money, and I think the blander colours and meaning behind this picture gives the magazine a more rural look. I also decided to enhance the picture with the insertion of light in the top left-hand corner of the page - I feel this brings out a lighter side to the world, uncovering the roots of the Rock stars within, getting the reader thinking and intrigued in the magazine; and to what is inside. The picture, as earlier stated, follows a very bland colour scheme, however I feel this is necessary in a background picture, as to not draw attention from the main features of the contents page.

At this stage of the creation of my contents page, I inserted two promo's to the bottom right hand corner of the page. I also touched up these pictures by adding a graphic style 'horizontally creased' - using photo-shop. As the pictures themselves, without the enhancement, were not as fitting to the style of the magazine. I also cropped the promos down before putting them on the page, this was because I did not think that the flat edges, and cutting corners of the magazines fit with the rough exterior of the background image. The promos are explained in later stories on the contents page - both of which are related to the relevant pages to which you can find the information within the magazine.

At this stage of the creation of my contents page, I inserted the main image. It is that of James Leatherbarrow - the lead singer of 'Death of an Artist'. I did this as they are the main antagonist within my magazine, with most of the cover stories, along with the main article, revolving around them. I cropped the picture out from a previous live picture I acquired at one of their live gigs - and applied a 'Black + White' effect to it, as the picture itself in original colour, was far to contrasting in relation to the background and promos. The picture itself, I believe is a great addition to the look of the contents, it works effectively with the background image, and also doesn't contrast in relation to the promos.

At this stage of the creation of my contents page, I added the title. The layout of the title is in a two, three, three pose. Where the word is separated into smaller phases. I believe the graphic style  used in the title works incredibly with the magazine overall, especially in relation to the genre of music to which the magazine is based around. The colour scheme I decided to follow is the same as that on the front cover - a black word, with a small shaded blue outline. I followed the same text colouring scheme because from my research into various other magazines, I personally believe this is the most preferable way to advertise a magazine, getting the readers used to a colour scheme, so they know what to look for when identifying the magazine on the shelf when wanting to purchase a copy.

This is where I started to insert the smaller cover stories unto my contents page. The first of which '"WE FINALY DID IT", James's success.' Was an initial idea to which I decided to follow throughout the magazine, relating this to my double page spread article. The word finaly is spelt wrong, however for a reason, it is due a tattoo the lead singer has which is barely view-able on the pictures I have used. It relates to when the band started and how far they have come, this is all explained in the information on the double page spread. I decided to follow a similar colour scheme to the title, and I intended to follow this scheme throughout the contents page and the rest of the cover articles.




The second article line "CRY ME A RIVER - DUBSTEP'S FINEST' was used due to many people within my qualitative and quantitative research saying that they would buy a dubstep magazine, along with alternative rock (the genre of my magazine). I later added more cover stories, all of which following the same colour scheme. As you can notice, the colour scheme is also in relation to that of the title of the contents page, again linking back to the front cover.




At this stage of the creation of my contents page - I added another, small promo the right hand side, just sitting above the two I added at a previous stage. This was because the promo had a relation to one of the cover stories, and was therefore in constitution with the rest of the page. I also liked how the corners of the promo itself were not vivid, and therefore could not be considerably noticed by a viewer. The colours within the gig poster (promo) - were also very fitting, and complimented the rest of the page. I hence decided not to do what I did with the previous two gig posters, I added a different photo shop style to this promo - Poster Wrap - I believe this enhanced the picture, bringing out the colours, once again making it more complimenting to the rest of the page.

Final Edit Below.


This was the final stage in the creation of my contents page - where I added a couple of CD's in between the three posters in the bottom right corner of the page. I liked the contrast in colours to the rest of the page and therefore only darkened the edges of the CD's on photo shop before editing them in. I used an overlapping graphic scheme in-cooperating all three promos. I believe this was a great addition to the contents page - as the reader was then informed that CD's may be a promo within the magazine, or, indeed, that a cover story may be in relation to the CD's themselves. This is a style I intend to take unto my Double Page Spread. I later enhanced my contents page to full size (see front cover for dimensions and size comparison)

Flat Plan and Photo-Flat Plan of my Contents Page

All of this is under-layered by a blurred image, following the same graphic style to that of the front cover.

Making my Front Cover + Screenshots

This was the background image I decided to use for my Front Cover, much like many music magazines of this genre, the backgrounds to most pages are not simple. The term 'simple yet effective' - does not apply in this genre of magazine. This is due to colour being a major factor as to whether a person even looks at a magazine on the shelf. The background image I have used brings a vast range of diversity to my magazine, setting it aside from others on the shelf. The colour red, is often associated with many different emotions: hatred, love, passion etc. This can be linked to the genre of music my magazine is focused around. The graphic style on the image also gives a dark feel, with black almost oozing out of the page, and dripping down to the foot of the image, it gives a sense of disturbance, intriguing the reader.

This is a banner I decided to use on my front cover - it was the first thing I placed on the background. This was due to it obviously being in the upmost of foregrounds in relation to the rest of the front cover. It tells us, of the main cover story within the magazine, its contrast in colour to the background immediately grabs the attention of the reader and the blurred images behind the writing are an added feature. I created this image by taking vast amounts of small images when watching 'Death of an Artist' live at chords, and merging them, using lighter and darker effects on Photoshop to create the desired look. The text, however bland it may seem, is the text the band use as their logo - this is my reasoning behind not using a more vibrant text/colour. Its positioning is also vital, at a slight angle (around 80%) this puts it in contrast to the rest of the images and text I plan on using on the front cover, according to my draft - setting this particular cover story aside from the rest.

The title was the next addition to my front cover. Keeping the colour simple, I used a bold font named 'PUNK' from http://www.fontspace.com/category/emo - however I decided to expand on the font itself by implementing areas of dark red, and sharpening the corners. This was due to the front itself being slightly too bland, and possessing a strong enough presence within the cover. The slight variation on colour within the gaps in the title provide it with a stronger essence above the background. The title itself 'ORIGIN', was decided when I did a piece of research to construct the most popular title (research was done within peers at my school ageing from 17-20). The most popular by far with 100% of the votes was 'ORIGIN' - hence why I decided to use it for my published magazine. The pictures at the foot of the page provide a more indie effect to the cover - whilst still maintaining a Rock era with the images themselves (James - singer of the band, screaming. And a live photo of the band playing a gig). The images were individually enhanced using photoshop, where I added various effects such as darker and lighter shades whilst still maintaining a sharp image in itself. I also used photoshop to trim the edges of the picture, this gave them more ragged edges pulling the images from the background, also blending in with the banner pushing in from the left.

Here I added a small promotional offer, crossing the header of the page and also making its own small banner along the right hand side. The offer itself is of free T-shirts, bought with this magazine. Promotional offers are used to attract attention to a magazine, to get readers interested in the cover and make them want to read on to get a better insight as to what is inside the magazine. These offers attract a vast amount of attention to magazines in general - as people may buy various magazines regardless of its genre, due to offers it possesses setting it aside from other magazines on the shelf.

Here is where I added more pictures to the very foreground of the Front Cover. In the bottom left and bottom right of the page I added the images of hands, however these hands were taken from pictures I took at the same gig as the images used in the banner stretching in from the left. These hands give the page a more desirable need towards readers. The colouring used on the hands was tempered with to get the same effect to that on the images behind the 'Death of an Artist' banner. The images themselves are used in representation within this particular genre in the sense that people will want the magazine and the bands within it. People are holding their arms in the air screaming and shouting for the bands within the magazine, this interest shown from people in the crowds for these bands when playing at gigs; will promote the attention and publicity they aquire outside shows and especially in my magazine.

Here is where I added the main banner (header) to the Front Cover; it is in the same colour as the majority of the text within the cover itself and is also used as a promotional mechanism. It reads "MERCHANDISE FROM THIS WEEK'S HOTTEST BANDS.. ONLY IN ORIGIN' - Also, just underneath the banner reads "EDITION #007", this is used to make the magazine fit in with more magazines already established on the shelf. Issue numbers are located on vast amounts of magazines within this genre of music, including Kerrang! and Q. The header itself as I earlier stated is used as a promotional offer. The merchandise links with the image in the top-right-hand corner of the page. Linking areas of my front cover is one of its features which sets it aside from other magazines on the shelf. It keeps viewers interested as every section they read will lead them back to an earlier section, or a new section of the magazine.

This is where I added some more text to my front cover, similar to that in the masthead. It reads 'JAMES SPEAKS TO ORIGIN ABOUT THE NEW SINGLE!' "REPULSA", the name of the single 'Repulsa' - Is genuine and I asked the band about the up and coming single to get information for the double page spread of my magazine. I used a similar font to that in the masthead within this text, apart from the name of the song itself, where I used the genuine text used on the bands page. The colour scheme is kept white, this is because I am following a text colour scheme throughout my magazine cover as I feel it worked really well when creating my practice front cover.


This is the image I manipulated to use on my front cover, this is a screenshot of the image after I had manipulated it, I believe this is a great asset to my magazine as the images are manipulated specifically for reader attention, I feel they bring a sense of lighting and a variety in colour to the magazine also. Here is the image once I had placed it on my front cover (below left). I believe it brings a fantastic effect to the magazine. The range in colours in contrast to the black and white pictures along the footer is incredibly attractive for a viewer and this picture helps push my magazine out in comparison to others on the shelf. I believe the picture also gives viewers an idea as to what gigs are like in lower case bands. With this new addition my magazine has all the necessary requirements to be a very successful up and coming post hardcore magazine.

This is my final front cover stretched to the correct size of a national music magazine (standard magazine is 8" by 10", a magazine of this nature I decided to use 7.5" by 10"). Click to enlarge to the correct size!

Flat Plan + Photo-Flat Plan for my Front Cover

 As part of my research into my cover for my music magazine, i made a flat plan, and photo flat plan. Immediately above here is a flat plan; a flat plan is a publication as it is being produced. It shows where all articles and adverts/ promotional offers are laid out, and in what order. It allows complete control of the publication production, avoiding confusion. This flat plan i have made allows gives me a base in which i can work off when creating my front cover, it allows me to see where the pictures i have taken should be placed to get the best effect, and also where each feature would look best. For example the promotional offers would look good placed at the top; to the right, as this is where the reader is most likely to look when picking up a magazine, this immediately grabs their attention.

This is a photo plan i made for the front cover of my magazine; this allows me to see how my magazine would look with my photos in. (I need to get a main header, and also different fonts for the text). It gives me an insight as to what my magazine will look like when it is complete, and allows me to compensate for any mistakes and preview the magazine, allowing time for adjustments if they are needed. I especially like the background I have decided to use for the background for my front cover, after considering the look of the red background through this photo flat-plan, I can clearly see that it is too vibrant; hence drawing far too much attention away from other essential areas of the magazine, e.g. promotional offers and cover stories. Therefore I have decided to incorporate a black and red background, darking the colour significantly. I hope this will achieve its purpose in being less eye catching so the readers can concentrate on the main aspects of the magazine cover.