Front Cover

I have started creating my final front cover.
I am still debating whether to have the photo in colour or greyscale so here it is in both so you can help me decide!

Mock-up Sketches of Front Cover and Contents

These are my rough sketches of my front cover and contents. The title of my piece has changed since I drew these mock-ups however the layout has remained similar throughout my photoshop mock-ups and plans.

Mock-Up Double Page Spread

This is a very rough mock-up of my double page spread. I started by cutting out my model using the pen tool and pasting her onto an A3 landscape background. I then wrapped the text around the image and used two different shades of grey so the columns wouldn't get intermingled. I used software to change 3 photos into polaroids which gave them a sepia tone, making them look folky and old fashioned which suits the genre of music. I used a curly font for the main title and did an introduction in pink in similar font - this style gave the piece a personality similar to that of the person I was interviewing.
When I do my final piece I will use different images and fonts as the curly style was hard to read. I will also cut my model out better and make it more structured - the images and font are placed quite randomly as I didn't figure out where the middle of the article was.

Draft Interview

I asked my model Zoe a few questions, here is a sample of the double page spread interview. I will edit it further and blog it in the next couple of days fleshed out and perhaps photoshopped to look like a real magazine.

Draft Article

My Model For Front Page and Feature

Here you can see some of the photos I took of my model Zoe. I chose her as she looks very naturally pretty and folky, she fits well with my genre and will keep the magazine feminine whilst attracting male readers; thus keeping my magazine gender neutral. For my front cover I will use one of the midshots of her looking 'moody' but for the feature I will use ones of her playing the instruments and maybe some of the more natural, outdoor ones. With it being dark it was hard to capture a natural feel but I like the creepy effect these photos have. Some of these photos were taking just messing about but I like how natural they are, you can see the hint of a smile sometimes and it makes her look a lot more confident and less stiff and posed.

Edited Photo 2

Here is another image that Owain and I took with inspiration from a Blood Red Shoes photoshoot. It was taken with a canon camera, tripod and self timer against a blue background and we used fake blood to create the 'nosebleed'. The editing techniques I used were similar to the other one, I used the pen tool to cut us out and then feathered the edges to make it more realistic. I also changed the levels of exposure, contrast and brightness so we blended in with the background. I also used dropshadow to add a subtle shadow behind us.
I like this image but I don't think I'll use it in my final piece as it looks less realistic than the other one.

Edited Photo 1

Using inspiration from a Blood Red Shoes photoshoot Owain and I copied their poses and took this photo using a canon camera, tripod and selftimer. The left image is the original and as you can see it is very different, we are sat against a bright red wall and you can see things in the background. Using photoshop CS4 I firstly cut us out using the eraser to remove some of the background and then the pen tool to cut around our shape. I then feathered the edges to make sure we blended with the background and our edges weren't too sharp. I then took the colour from the original photograph and used it as the background for ours, however I made it more white near to the centre so it looked natural.
I then used dropshadow so it looked like we were against the wall and edited the contrast and brightness of us so we looked more like the original photograph and also blended in well with the wall - it looks like we are really against it rather than cut out and pasted on. The entire process took about 2 hours but it was worth it as the final product is really effective and I might use it as either the image on my contents page or double page spread.

Contents Mock-up

On Photoshop I created a rough draft of what my final contents page might look like. Firstly using the shape tool i created a long black rectangular strapline across the top of my page and with my logo, the word CONTENTS and the month of the magazine's release, this was to make it look professional.
I used black and white as the main font colour but with a pink/brown as the page numbers and date of release. I did this to keep the colour palette simple but effective and sophisticated.
The photo I've chosen is outdoors and natural, yet the pose is stiff and I used Photoshop to make it appear a little more washed out and Wintery as when I turned up the contrast and saturation it looked unnatural.
When I create my final piece I will have more article titles, a better photograph and perhaps a more developed colour scheme and seperate article titles into sections based on the content of the articles.

A Few Test Shots

Here are a few unedited photos I have taken whilst testing photos, methods and angles. I might use a couple in my final work as I'm really proud of what I've taken.

Front Cover Mock-Up

Click to enlarge image
Today I made a very rough mock-up of what my finished magazine might look like. I took a photograph of Blood Red Shoes from the internet and cut Laura-Mary out, originally there was a man in the photo and quite a bit of background. i cut her down so it was more of a midshot than midlength - we can only see her top half and a little of her skirt. I like this photograph as she looks very striking and I will get my model to pose in the same way. I took my title font from www.dafont.com and I chose this one as it has a very disco or 60s theme, it is also very noticeable and one of the most dominant things on the page. I used a font from the internet to write "BLOOD RED SHOES: UK dates announced." and had this writing on a white background layered slightly over her image, this is good as she is the main component of the page and this leads you to the headlines. I got an image of a barcode from the internet and put it sideways in the bottom right corner of the page with a fake website "www.thebeat.com" underneath. This made my mock-up look more professional. In a baby blue circle I typed the words "Our top 50 albums to look forward to in 2010!" and I think this looked good as it co-ordinates well with her lipstick but keeps the magazine looking unisex. When I make my magazine I will ensure that I use a colour scheme that doesn't clash with my models clothes or make-up. The botttom strapline says 'VAMPIRE WEEKEND: exclusive!' in a font I got online. This this draws attention to my magazine as it makes it stand out as the only one with this feature. I only have 3 features on the front of my mock-up and whilst I like the way that this keeps it simple and makes the image the main feature, I will add more coverlines to my final piece.

Font Experimentation

I have experimented with different fonts to use for the logo or coverlines of my magazine; however the ones I have used are too complicated to use as coverlines. Here is a selection of ones I liked, let me know which ones you think i should use :)

Audience Profiling Sheet

I took note of the type of people that would read my magazine and noted them down in the document below.

Audience Profiling

My Pitch

Here is my slideshow that I presented to the class when pitching my ideas. I made it busy with pictures rather than text so my audience didn't have too much to read and could concentrate on exciting photos. This also ensured that I didn't just read off the slideshow and had lines planned in my head.

My Pitch

View more presentations from mazisthebest.

Colour Scheme Options

Here are eight colour schemes that I have experimented with on paint. For each I chose 3 colours that compliment each other, and I think I will use a white background. Whilst I like the pink and purple schemes I believe that these may be too gender specific – my magazine would look directed solely at girls and young women. I will experiment with a couple of these colour schemes when I start creating my magazine but for now I think I will use one of the green or blue schemes as they are gender neutral and quite calm and naturalistic, this is what I am going for with the general feel and scheme of my magazine. Most of these schemes have a grey in them, this is because my picture will be monochrome and I want some of the coverlines to fit in with this scheme but I want others to stand out in a different, brighter colour. Red seems to be a colour that is used in many magazines schemes and for this reason I might consider it as it is bold and makes things stand out without looking tacky – a green or blue might not stand out.

Evaluation of Pitch Feedback

After pitching my ideas to the class and receiving their feedback, the first thing that they said which I have taken further is to use The Beat as my magazine title. Originally it was between Sounds and The Beat as they are both catchy, simple, and have a musical feel, but my audience unanimously agreed on The Beat so I have chosen to use it as my title.
Secondly they mentioned that my genre was a little too general as I said I would aim it at everyone so I have decided to narrow it down to mainly Indie/Britpop/Rock with elements of other genres. Some of my favoured music is Britpop such as Pulp, The Beautiful South, Blur, The Housemartins and Madness but as the majority of these bands have split up I decided that it was a dead genre and should only be a small aspect of my magazine.
Thirdly they said I should have a better developed colour scheme as I had little idea of what I wanted to do with the colours, so after a lot of deliberation and experimenting with colours on paint I have decided to use blacks and greys but with some blue and greens. This is because although I liked the purple and pink colours I experimented with, they were quite feminine and could put boys off my magazine. Blue and green are much more gender neutral and would stand out nicely against the monochrome whilst blending in with my outdoor photographs.
Overall I took quite a lot of my audiences feedback into my own work and am pleased with what I came out with after my pitch.

Feedback

Today I presented my pitch to the class and told them the basic details of what I plan to do with my magazine. I told them that I wanted to make it about general music but focus on Britpop/Indie/Rock music. My title choice was between Sounds and The Beat so I asked for people's opinions on title choice. I've also planned to have a monochrome colour scheme with one or two brighter colours to make it stand out, and decided to take photos of people in naturalistic, casual poses.
My feedback was that my idea was overall very developed and a good one to use but I need to think of conventions to make my magazine stand out. I have decided to call it the Beat as the overall consensus was that this is the most catchy, interesting title and it has a 'beat' to it.
Feedback for My Pitch

NME Double Page Spread Annotation

I annotated this double page spread to see which conventions I am required to use in my own piece of work. For my own article I have decided to keep the design and colour palette simple but to break up the text with pictures and quotes to make the page look more busy and the text less tedious to read.

Contents Page Annotations

I have annotated the contents page of Q magazine and have decided to take several techniques and components into my own work. Firstly I will use an image of a 'band' featured in the magazine as the main part of my contents page. Secondly, will have the number and main point of the features in a large different coloured font then give further insight into the article underneath in smaller black font. I might also seperate some features from the main text in boxes so to draw attention to them.

Annotated Front Covers

Click images to enlarge

In researching for making my own magazine I annotated these front covers in detail to see which features I wanted to use in my own work. Overall I have decided to use a simple, straight to the point design and three colour palette. The photo and majority of the cover may well be in monochrome, with colour used when I need to draw attention to a particular feature. I've decided to do this as I like simplistic front covers where the image is the main component.

Brainstorm Of Title Ideas

To help think of ideas for my magazine title I created a brainstorm on bubbl.us of words within the lexical field of music. At the moment I like muse, sounds, and antiphonal as prospective ideas. Antiphonal is a favourite because of the enigma code - not many people will know that antiphonal is the word for when two or more voices or instruments take turns to play in answer-question style, or in argument. I also like this title because it refers to a style of singing I enjoy.