Main task skeleton designs

From my format research I have designed my own front cover, contents page, and double page spread for my music magazine, I will take these designs and apply them when actually making my magazine.

For my front cover I have taken a more basic design to go on, this will give me more room to do slight adjustments to it better fits my genre. I am planning to do a pop art theme which will include me editing my own photos to apply the theme so I am able to create a house theme. By editing photos it will give the magazine a more realistic look; which may draw in the reader more as it is not fake. I am also planning to put pain splashes across the design as a watermark, this will help to consolidate the house style.

My contents page will contain 3 images, each linked to a main story, it will also contain my main pop art image, this will need to be basic image as it will contain a lot of text over laying it. I don't want all the attention to be on the image as that defeats the point of having a contents page. I am using the same shapes and a similar set up to my front cover, solidifying my house theme, which will also be reinforced with colours and fonts when I design my magazine properly.

The double page will contain mainly a photo as this is what will grab the readers attention initially. I will link the photo to the front cover by using an image from the same photo shoot but from different perspectives which will also include another person. Including a quote makes the article slightly more personal which means the reader may connect more to it; it also brings down the intensity of the photo.

Main task - format research

As I am starting to design my music magazine but to do so I must do some more format research. I have chosen a rock magazine as that was one of my possible genres for my own design. This is similar to my previous work that I did over summer as preparation for my preliminary; other than the fact that I have not only analysed the front over but also the contents page and a double page spread.

This cover is designed to only appeal to a small section of people as it is not at all generic, it is only rock music orientated meaning it will only intrigue people who specifically like the genre. This is good because the magazine can then go to the extreme as they know all true fans will purchase it meaning they are sure they will be appealing to a percentage of people. 

   

The contents page is spread across a double page rater than a single one, this may appeal to some readers as the information isn't crowded in one place meaning it is easier to locate. There isn't really a need for it to be spread as the information could easily fit on one page but as the image takes up most of the first place this is not an option, this isn't necessary as there is a main image on the front cover.

The double page in this magazine I believe was very successful as the techniques used will greatly benefit the views this page will get. The text is small and compact which may intimidate the reader slightly but other than that i feel like i can take some ideas from this.






Although I have decided to not go with the rock genre I think that the research I have done will help me either way, I will still need to alter certain aspects to fit the different audiences but I am confident that I can use this information to design my own magazine pages to a high standard.

I have also done some individual covers that I have analysed of the pop genre, these will further my knowledge and I will be able to combine what I have found in order to create my own design to a higher standard.

In my opinion i do not think that this is a very successful magazine cover, I find this because it is very complicated and there is no where that can be specifically focused on and this may be intimidating to the reader which will sway them away from buying it. I will not be taking many ideas from this magazine as although it is a very well known brand it is still not very appealing, therefore will be looking at this as a 'what not to do'

This magazine cover is very successful as everything is clearly laid out and it has a very structured feel yet is still very comfortable. it has a harsh feel to it but that is toned down slightly with the colours as they are not very vibrant meaning they are fairly soft yet are still contrasting. Because it is a special issue it may attract extra attention, I may take this idea into consideration and take a special issue so I can adapt my ideas to a more specific target.

Introduction to my music magazine

I have chosen pop to continue with as my genre. I think this will be the easiest genre to adapt with, although rock has a variety of personalities I will have to make it very original or I will not succeed, I feel this task will be too difficult to recreate. I am confident that I will be able to adapt the pop genre to make my magazine stand out. I am wanting to do a pop art style magazine as most are very plain or very classy; I believe I can add a pop art spin to a classy magazine. If I am successful with this it means I will be able to aim  my magazine at a larger audience meaning i wont have to be so specific with my design. The pop genre as a whole has been around for a fairly long time now and has taken a variety of forms, by taking this into account I will use past magazine covers as inspiration so I can adapt them to my own style.

Music mood boards

I have chosen pop as a music genre to research and have made a mood board which includes everything that inspires me and will give me ideas for my own magazine design.

I have added a variety of images that inspire me in my pop genre, and put them all together in a mood board, this is a visual way to portray how I wish to go about my project, I will be deciding between pop and rock style magazines, by doing mood boards for each it allows me to grasp the style more comfortably and adapt it to my own design.

I have also done a mood board for rock to show classic magazines and some inspiration. by doing a mood board for both genres it will give me a better chance of choosing the right one as I can visually compare which I find I will be able to work with best.

There is a very clear difference between the two genres, pop generally contains a lot more colour, and the images are similar as the artists all have the same pose, this shows how generic the music is as a whole, whereas with rock all the artists have their own unique look. Rock doesn't have much imagery surrounding the genre as a whole as many of the instruments used are the same leaving the art side very scarce; but pop has a large variety of art surrounding it as pop art originates from the music genre this will make it much easier to design a cover.

Final magazine cover

I have taken into account everything that was said in my peer assessment and applied changes in order to improve my cover.

The first thing I changed was my pug, I enlarged is slightly and made the text larger and bolder, I also changed the colour of 'autumn special' as i felt it wasn't clear enough before. I also took into consideration the comments about my masthead, i changed the font and made it slightly bigger so it becomes more clear and can be easily read. Another edit I included was the text colour, I lightened all the colours on the black background; I didn't want it to seem like everything was the same so also changed the shapes in which the text is placed in, adding a gradient and darker outlines. The final change i made was the strap line, it will include one on every edition meaning it has to be something consistent, therefore i came up with 'your weekly dose of misbourne madness!' this allows students to keep up with any events but not be overly distracted.

I feel like these changes have improved my magazine cover as it is the little things that sometimes aren't as noticeable that make all the difference. I am now more comfortable with Indesign as i have had more chances to use it for various things.

Peer assessment and evaluation

I got someone else to evaluate my cover by answering some questions.

By reading through the answers that were given it is clear that I was correct about the colour scheme issue and that I should be using different colours which do not blend in with the background so much. I also included in the strap line about a 'teacher's love affair' which I meant o add in to add some humour, but in the peer assessment they mentioned it is not relevant to my target market as this is not the time in their life to be worrying about that. They also mentioned my pug, that I didn't make it bold enough, in my music magazine I will be sure to remember this and adapt it accordingly.

They complimented my house theme, I apprentice this as it is also something that i thought i did well, them agreeing shows i succeeded in this part of my task. On top of that my buzz words and puffs were also commended, i feel like these are good things to compliment as they are the most eye catching parts of a magazine cover, all the downfalls are smaller things that can be easily changed.

Final draft cover evaluation

I used Adobe Indesign to create my front cover, this is a software that I have never used before; because of this I faced many difficulties which may have hindered my performance.

This is my finished design, in comparison to my original design I have changed the main bulk of the upper half. I was very restricted on the shapes that I could and couldn't use, meaning I had to go further and further away from my initial design. Once i had got the hang of the software I didnt face many problems, I applied a house theme which I used across the cover and would be applied throughout the magazine if more was done.

If I was to change anything about this it would be the colours, I would use another colour as the blue seems too intimidating and dominant, I also didn't want to vary the shades too much as it would lose its house style. I would keep the black background as it makes the lighter colours pop just as I wanted but the darker text I would use a different colour. If I were to chose a different colour it would be one that contrasted with the blue adding a more pop art effect.

When I do my main task of a music magazine I will take all this into account and also the peer assessment that will be done promptly.