DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD CONVENTIONS, LAYOUTS, RESEARCH AND PAGE FURNITURE

CONVENTIONS;
-Large image (direct address usually left hand-side)

-A quote (pulled from the interview) maybe presented as a headline

-Artist name in bold (stands them out) 

-Stand-first (bold introduction to the text)

-Text (usually Arial, with drop cap and set into columns)  

-Color scheme fits house style and goes well.

EXSISTING

This double page spread is from NME. 

The feature is about Lily Allen, she is seen posing with her hands of her sides which suggests that she is confident in what she is saying. 

There is a very large title beside the image and in white with a black contrast of background color for each individual letter,  each letter has its own font size. The title takes up three quarters of the page making it almost equal to the image. 

The text is quite short however, on the page it  is split into four sections and the strap line is also below the title. The image is of the music artist and she is wearing a red shirt with stripes on it.

The title “people think I’m an attention seeker, but I’m just honest” suggests to  the reader, that Lily Allen is annoyed and fed up and the article is purely made to make people see her side for once. 

The title has been printed the way it is because it has a great impact on the reader making them feel very sympathetic towards Lily Allen and also it’s the type of text that makes you want to read on about it. The title has been typed in Sans Serif which tells us that it is a more modern magazine and it’s something that almost a lot of music fans read. 

The colors that have been used are: red black and white which fits the house style.  It also draws in the audience and shows consistency.

LAYOUTS

SO FAR...

DOUBLE PAGED CONTENTS

Adding second page to make a double paged contents page I thought was necessary in order to show that i can produce a higher standard of work, and fit more in than i would in a single page. I decided upon having a big feature take up the page, the image on the right is in fact 3 single images I adapted to 'tell a story' as they/it draws empathy to the feature.

After printing out my first effort of a double contents page I saw that the text on the right hand side was way too big to be in a magazine and read as a feature when at the size of a subheading. So i decided upon decreasing the size of the text and adding a subscription block of text which is commonly found on music magazine content pages.

I added the social media column because part of my Magazine identity was to be one with the readers, working together and sharing ideas, so having the readers input on the contents page would show this.

SINGLE CONTENT PAGE PROGRESS

I have made the title the main focus, with an edgy 'smashed' effect. Included the editors letter talking about what would be found in the magazine, this is common in most music magazines.

Also started to add the content categories 'news' 'reviews' 'features'

Added all the categories of contents and then also an image with headlines and page numbers.

More features and page numbers added

After everything was added it became a matter of arrangement and making sure everything fits/works.

Fixed layout matters eg. where the page numbers go, previously there was a struggle of being able to see which page number went to what feature.

Added issue number and date in order to push a realistic music magazine. 

CONTENTS PAGE PROGRESS

This is my first attempt to style my content page mock up. I don't really feel that it fits the certain style I am trying to create to fit the genre of music magazine I have chosen. I feel the masthead looks too Punk Rocky than Hip Hop. Therefore I have dis-guarded this mock up and will carry on creating different styles in order to produce one that fits house style with the cover in order to become part of my final piece.

LAYOUTS FOR CONTENT PAGE

CODES AND CONVENTIONS OF A CONTENTS PAGE

• Name of magazine
• Title (CONTENTS)
• Page numbers
• One main image
• smaller images (Varied & Interesting) 
• pull quotes
• Competitions 
• follows and compliments the same house style of front cover
• Constancy (the way headlines and features are written - artist first line, information second, same size/font use.)  
•  Layout usually consists of column use (about 3 or 4)
• subscription/editor information 
• categorized, similar articles together

This is a professional content page from NME magazine;

The color scheme is consistent with the front cover. It splits its contents into categories like; features, news, live etc. This enables the reader to find what they are looking for quickly. The canvas is white which works well with the other colors as well as it allows to keep attention to the main text so the reader to not get distracted. The main image relates to the feature article of the magazine and has the largest headline. Also there is a reference to subscriptions and competitions which follows the codes of a content page.

FINAL COVER

I have chosen this to be my final cover as I think it is the most realistic to be a hip hop/ R&B magazine, the color scheme i have chosen is red white and black, i think it pushes a 'danger' type of vibe and the image portrays dominance, i think the image and color scheme compliment each other. I chose a square masthead in order to fill more space with the image and features. The headline I have made the biggest because i feel it needs the most attention. I have put the features on the left hand side in order to force a visual syntax, as the readers eye falls from right to left, following the masthead, image, pug, headline then features. I used guidelines to structure my features, in order to keep a certain neatness to the cover. 

POTENTIAL COVERS

PLAYING AROUND WITH FRONT COVER MOCKs

I have tried to initiate a house style on my covers, that i can use throughout my pieces, using a range of different fonts, images and colors in order to see what goes well and what doesn't. In some i have tried to used a more dominant looking image in order to in force a deeper stereotype of the genre of music. i have used color schemes such as deep ocean (Blues, Purples, White, Black) Traditional (Reds,Black, White) Sympa (Browns, Black, White) to see what goes well together, I played with the placement of texts and mastheads to create an cover that generates impact through structure.

Including key conventions of a magazine cover;

• Masthead
• Pugs
• Features
• Image
• Banner
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

FRONT COVER PROGRESS

This was my first magazine mock up, I tried to contrast the black and white with the red to initiate a house style. 

After producing this first draft without a plan of action I realized i couldn't just shove everything on a page.

Good things;

• central (main image) 
• size of headline
• follows a layout

Bad things;

• text is askew 
• only one font in use
• image is hidden by masthead
• faded text highlight not align
• messy

                                                                  

To fix the majority of he problems above i had to control structure. using guidelines and also kerning in fireworks helps keep text align.

With the features on the left I used the guidelines and kerning tool in order to have all the text taking up the same amount of space.

I found using different types of fonts on the cover would look more appealing than just the same use of one all over.

Having 'exclusive' in a different color grabs and attracts attention.

Simply adding an issue date/number and a bar code, increases the professionalism of the cover.

• + is too angled
• bar code is wonky
• 'Janelle' font could be changed
• Possibly reconsider of color scheme

I will keep altering what I do to get it to the best possible standard i will do this by;

• using guide lines to keep structure
• play around with different color schemes and my photos, see what goes.