Drafting and Planning: Page Plus Exercise

In preparation for creating our own magazine, we were tasked with creating a mock-magazine using a piece of publisher software called “PagePlus”. Within this program we could import pictures from the internet to create a realistic-looking magazine. On our magazine’s front cover we had to include; a masthead, the issue date, the issue number, a URL, a barcode and a main cover line and accompanying main image, as well as some secondary cover lines. We also had to create a contents page and a double page spread. I tried to keep my magazine consistent throughout to keep a sense of realism. To do this I used the same colour scheme throughout as well as using the same cover star on each of the 3 elements. Furthermore, to keep the magazine consistent I ensured the page number I displayed on the contents page for my double page spread is identical on the actual double page spread.

This task is useful for me as when I start to create my real magazine I will be familiar with the software that I am using which will allow me to complete it in a more efficient manner and I will know how to do all the things I need to do in order to achieve realism with my magazine.

Drafting and Planning: Layout Task Self-Assessment

(The following is my self-assessment of my layout experimentation task which can be found here)

What Went Well?

• I have justified most of my reasoning behind the decisions I made when I created the front covers.
• I have included all but one of the codes and conventions of music magazines on all my covers (URL, Price and issue number – I forgot about the date line).
• Most of the artists I used for my cover lines matched each other in terms of their genre and style of music.
• In my opinion, my “Music_X” magazine was the best as it includes secondary imagery. This magazine was also the most fun to create.

Even better if:

• I should have included he date line to give a sense of realism to the covers.
• At times (for example on the cover of “M” magazine featuring “The Hippy Hive”) I could have used a more interesting font to match the artist’s style of music.
• On the other cover of “M” magazine my main cover line of “Drake” blended in to the main image making it hard to read from a distance. I could have fixed this by either moving the cover line to a different location on the cover, or I could have chosen a different font or font colour.

This task was useful for me as in the future, when it comes to creating our real magazine, I can look back at this task and I can see what colours work together, what fonts work for what genre, etc. I think because of this task, the process of creating my magazine will be much smoother.

Drafting and Planning: Layout Task

To practice layout designs we had to lay out the main cover line, and 3 other cover lines of 5 different magazine covers. When it comes to making our real magazines, it will be useful to come back and see what I do and don’t like in terms of layout and colour scheme, and will help me to create a nice looking final piece.

For this magazine cover – featuring “The Hippy Hive” I chose to use a purple colour font for the main cover line to create symbiosis as the female member of the band in the centre of the image is wearing a purple dress. I used two layers for the main cover line, as I used white for the second part. This was to separate both parts of the cover line as I want to grab the reader’s attention using the name of the band. I also put the secondary cover lines in red boxes to match the colour scheme of the magazine. Finally, I used a skyline puff to encourage the reader to buy the magazine.

Similarly with this cover I used a font that matched the gold colour on drake’s shirt to create symbiosis with the artist and the magazine. I like the font I used as I feel it matches a “street” or “urban” artist – like drake. However, I feel as though the colour or the positioning meant that it doesn’t stand out at a first glance, which could be improved by simply moving the cover line, or by changing the colour. I used the same design for the secondary cover lines to create a sense of continuity between both “M” magazines.

 With this cover, I used a bold white font to match the bold white colour coming from Marilyn’s face – therefore creating symbiosis. I also used a similar font, but in a different colour for the secondary cover lines. I used a similar colour to the masthead to create a sense of continuity and formality. I feel as though I could possibly have chosen a better font as from a distance it is hard to clearly read the text.

I found this magazine cover especially hard as I wanted to match the font of the Kings of Leon logo; however by doing this I find at a quick glance it is hard to see what the main cover line says (“Walls”). Due to there being a lack of negative space to put the secondary cover lines I found it looked the best to put them in “bubbles” across the main image. I used simple fonts in a white colour. I did this to make them stand out less even though they are quite obviously there with the big red circles around them. I chose to put the artist/bands name in sentence case, and put the topic of their feature in capitals. I feel this enabled it to look a small bit more professional

I found this magazine the most fun to make as once I had found Björk’s logo and saw it had a purple theme to it I decided the purple looked nice against the black background. Because of this I used the colour purple as the colour for my secondary cover line boxes. At first I had the secondary cover lines set out like on the “M” magazines, however I found this too repetitive and wanted to try something different, so I chose to retrieve secondary images of the other artists featured in the magazine, and put the secondary images alongside the cover lines. I feel as though that added a great look to the cover.

Research into Similar Products (Vive Le Rock Issue 39)

Cover Page

In the above image I have highlighted the key features used on the cover of Vive Le Rock, issue 39. As you can see, Vive Le Rock follows many of the codes and conventions of music magazines within this genre. Vive Le Rock tended to feature older rock bands that have been on the scene for a long time.

Contents Page

This contents page was a simple contents page with nothing much on it. However, from the fact that there is only a title for “regular” features we get the feeling that this magazine has a long standing audience and doesn’t get that many new people, so they only actively advertise the regular features because that may be what their target market wants. This contents page includes images of 2 double page spreads that are in the magazine as a preview of what to expect from the magazine.

Double Page Spread

In the above image I have highlighted the key features of a double page spread in Vive Le Rock, issue 39. As you can see, Vive Le Rock follows the codes and conventions of a music magazine within the rock genre. The main image takes up the entire double page spread, and “morphs” the body of text around it. This gives the sense that the cover star is more important than the body of text. Because the photography takes up the whole double page spread, it is impossible not to miss it. Furthermore, symbiosis is created between the band and the magazine’s brand as the letter “O” in the title is replaced with The Mission’s logo. This symbiosis is further developed through the use of pink – the band’s colour. 

Research into Similar Products (Terrorizer Magazine Issue 217)

Cover Page

In the above image I have highlighted the key features of Terrorizer magazine, issue 275. As you can see, Terrorizer magazine follows many of the key features of a music magazine in this genre. Terrorizer magazine is more hard core rock than the other magazines I have analysed, however I wanted to ensure a good variety of magazines within the alt/rock genre.

Contents Page

The contents page of Terrorizer has quite a simplistic design which is effective in what it does. The contents page includes the regular articles, which appear on many, if not, all issues of Terrorizer. These are usefully segregated from the other features as returning readers may prefer to be able to just be able to skip to them without having to read through the other features.

This contents page also includes secondary imagery that accompanies the contents tables. These images are paired with page numbers to help readers navigate to that page.

Double Page Spread

In the above image I have highlighted the key features of one of the double page spreads in Terrorizer magazine, issue 217. As you can see, the main image of the double page spread takes up both pages. This is because the darkness of the image was placed across both pages and the empty dark space was used as a background for the body of text. This is effective because of the white font colour used for the body of text.

The use of anchorage text at the end of the page acts as a break in the flow of the text and gives the reader a short rest before continuing reading. This prevents the reader from becoming bored.

Research Into Similar Products (Rock Sound Magazine, Issue 219)

Cover Page

In the above image I have highlighted the key features of the cover of RockSound magazine, issue 219. As you can see the magazine follows the codes and conventions of a music magazine in this genre. RockSound used blue as a house colour as it creates symbiosis between the band and the magazine brand. This house colour is used throughout the cover. RockSound also include an “Also inside” section on the cover which only features the names of other artists in the magazine and not a short description of the story. This keeps the focus on the main cover line.

Contents Page

This issues contents page follows the same structure as other RockSound magazines. As you can see, 3 double page spreads have been selected and displayed on the contents page. These double page spreads have been linked to the contents table by a faint blue line which allows the readers to see the page number that the reader can find the double page spread.

Double Page Spread

In the above image I have highlighted the key features found on one of the double page spreads in issue 218 of RockSound. As you can see, RockSound include anchorage text as a short introduction to the feature. In the imagery, the cover stars are not making direct address. This could symbolise that Green Day are so well known they don’t need to convince the reader to read the feature.

Research Into Similar Products (Kerrang Magazine, Issue 1641)

Cover Page

In the above image I have highlighted the key features found on the cover of Kerrang, Issue K!1641. As you can see, the cover page follows many of the codes and conventions of a music magazine in this genre. One thing that stands out on this cover is the skyline, this skyline shows a continuation from the previous issue (K!1640) where the cover star was Green Day, and within the editor announced that the story was going to be covered in more than one issue.

Contents Page

In the above image I have highlighted the key features of the contents page of Kerrang, issue K!1641. As you can see, this contents page follows the codes and conventions that this genre have. This contents page includes the use of a puff, or a free gift, in the form of the 6 posters. This will encourage the reader to buy the magazine for the added value that these posters bring.

Double Page Spread

In the above image I have highlighted the key features of a double page spread of Kerrang, issue K!1641. As you can see, the double page spread follows the codes and conventions of a music magazine – despite the fact that it is a special edition double page spread. The use of the different colour text boxes secludes each separate “story” which shows a change in topic/subject. This enables the reader to feel as though there is not much to read despite the fact it looks a lot.