Drafting and Planning: Double Page Spread Draft v1

The following is the first version of the Double page spread for my music magazine. Currently I have not taken any original photography for my magazine and so I have used a place holder where imagery will be. This draft is representative of my final product. 

As you can see above, I have taken a large amount of inspiration from Rock Sound’s design for their double page spreads. In Rock Sound, they tend to do multiple Double Page Spreads about one artist/band. Because of this they have one double page spread that is almost an “Introduction” to the feature. On this page, there is one bar of text (as you can see on the right side of the page) that “sets the scene” if you will, they then go into much more detail in the following Double Page Spreads.

I have chosen a theme of white, black, the magazine’s house colours (redish) and *Blue*. *Blue* represents any colour that will create symbiosis between the artist and the magazine, for example, if the artist has a blue shirt on, I will use blue. I have chosen to use white backgrounds to my text boxes to give the text clarity over the main imagery that I will use.

In the bottom, left corner of the double page, I have included a pull quote, the positioning of this is not solid, when I have taken my photography and imported it into PagePlus I will decide a more permanent position for it.

As you can see, I have used a place holder where my main image will be, my main image will cover the entire double page spread, but will be set to the back – because of this I will need to take this into consideration when taking my photographs.

My page numbering is evens on the left and odds on the right, as though page one is the contents page. I have ensured that these page numbers are identical to the page numbers I have provided on the contents page, this gives the reader consistency.

*Currently, my article is incomplete, this will be added in once it is complete*

Drafting and Planning: Contents Page Draft v1

The following is the first version of the contents page for my music magazine. Currently I have not taken any original photography for my magazine and so I have used a place holder where imagery will be. This draft is representative of my final product. 

As you can see, at the top of the page I have created a title for the contents page. I have decided to use “Inside Outre” as a pun, I feel as though this will create a light-hearted feeling to the magazine as I do not want the magazine to feel too “formal” as it was indicated in my survey that most my target audience prefer informal language within this genre of magazine.

Below the title, I have used a placeholder to signify where an image will be placed once I have completed my original photography. Within the frame of the image, I am including the page number in big, bold text. To ensure clarity, I have made this page number red to match the rest of the page numbers on the page.

Below the secondary image, I have included “On the Cover:” to link to the cover page. Below “On the Cover” I have included a brief intro to the double page spread. I have used rhetorical questions that will be answered within the article to get the reader asking questions and therefore causing them to be intrigued.

Down the side of the contents page I have split the contents into 4 sections, “News”, “Featured”, “Regular” and “Album Reviews”. I have done this to mimic what Rock Sound do on their contents pages. However, I have differentiated my contents page by incorporating Rock Sound’s “Exposure” into my “Regulars” section. I have used a black banner and Times New Roman font to ensure that the sections are clearly different and that they stand out above the rest of the content on the page. Furthermore, for the page numbers I have used a red box with white font to create a consistent house style.

Above the table of contents, I have included a small image of the front cover, I saw this on the contents page of Kerrang and liked it. By doing this the reader will have an immediate reference to the cover without having to close the magazine, I feel this will be useful combined with “On the Cover”.

Finally, at the bottom left of the page I have a space for more secondary images/advertisements. I haven’t completely decided what I will be using this space for, but I am thinking about including an image of my double page spread. I could also use this space to advertise albums, e.g. using images of album covers. Furthermore, I could create some posters that will be sold inside my magazine, to act as a pug. 

Drafting and Planning: Cover Page Draft v1

The following is the first version of the cover page for my music magazine. Currently I have not taken any original photography for my magazine and so I have used a coloured place holder where imagery will be. This draft is representative of my final product. 

As you can see at the top of the page, there is a skyline which tells the reader what bands are in the magazine, this is designed to inform the reader of the smaller, “less important” bands that feature in the magazine. These bands mentioned in the skyline all feature somewhere on the contents page. For example, Gap Year appear in the “News” section, Lonely Division appears on the “Featured” section and Another January and The Pixies appear in the “Regulars” section as a sub title of “Posters”.

Next, the masthead is in the upper left third. This allows my magazine to be noticeable when stacked on a magazine rack. This will encourage readers who are familiar with the magazine to look for it and therefore increase sales.

My main cover line is made using the font Chanson Heavy SF. I chose this font as it is a loud font that screams for attention, while still bringing clarity to the cover page. I then used my “flagship” font Andre Light SF for my anchorage text. This is the font that I also used for my secondary cover lines and the body of text for my double page spread. I did this to show that the anchorage text isn’t as “important” or as “dominant” as the loud main cover line.

I have included 6 cover lines aside from the main cover line. These cover lines are separated from the main cover line using a red box. The colour red links to the masthead and the hose style of the magazine. These cover lines are set out with the band’s name at the top and a short title of the article.

I have included a bar code, date line and price. The date line is simply “February 17”, this lets the reader know that the magazine is published monthly. I have chosen to price my magazine at £3.00 as it is central to what most people who took my survey said they were willing to pay for a magazine of this genre.

Drafting and Planning: Complete Article

In preparation for creating my magazine, I need to create an article to go on my double page spread. The first draft of which follows:

Second Passing is back! Fans of the British Alt-Rock band Second Passing took to twitter to welcome back the band after an almost 2 year hiatus following the revelation that the lead singer, Rachel Basset, was struggling with an addiction to cocaine.

Back in March 2015, Second Passing’s management announced the band’s hiatus to “Focus on the wellbeing of the band members and to take a break from the spotlight of the industry”. It was revealed that the lead singer, Rachel Basset had been admitted into a rehab centre to recover from a cocaine addiction. On her personal twitter the day of the announcement, he stated “yes the rumours are true I am being admitted to rehab for cocaine I would like to thank Second Passing for being with me through my recovery” followed by a tweet on Second Passing’s account saying “We are proud of Rachel for taking this step towards getting better, we ask that you all support him during this difficult time”.

Now, almost 2 years later, and with a fully recovered Rachel, Second Passing are back. On her personal Twitter, Rachel said “I would like to thank everyone who helped me during my time of need. I would also like to thank the wonderful staff at the centre I was treated at. I met some amazing people with some amazing stories. Hopefully, this will encourage anyone who is struggling to get help, you’re not alone!”

Second Passing has released a teaser of their upcoming 3rd album, in fact as you are reading you can pre order “Clear Head” on iTunes!  It is said that 25% of the profits raised from pre-orders will be going towards charities that helped Rachael.

This is the article that will be going down the right hand side of my Double Page Spread.

Organisation: Photo Shoot Planning

 For my music magazine, I need to take photographs, in total; I will need between 4 and 5 different photographs for my cover, contents page and my double page spread. For my cover, I may need to take my photographs on a solid background that will be easy to crop out. Because of this I may need to use a white background.

For my Contents page, my photography will be surrounded in a black border and so I am freer with the background that I use. However, I will be using a red page number on top of the image so I will need to take that into consideration.

For my double page spread my background does natter all that much as my text will have a white background and so I will only need to ensure that my artists are not covered by text.

Drafting and Planning: Table of Contents Layout

Above is my Table of Contents that will be positioned on my Contents Page. As you can see, I have split articles into 4 different sections: News, Featured, Regular and Album Reviews.

“News” includes stories that may be seen as big news in the alternative music industry. I have kept this section small as my magazine is monthly, and not every month has masses of news. Furthermore, because of my target audience, I feel if I was to include too much “News” it may feel boring to read.

“Featured” includes all the artists listed on the left hand side of my cover. I have put the featured second to top because that is what will be the selling factor to my audience.

Below that I have “Regulars”. These are the articles designed to keep the reader interested and encourages repeat custom.

I took the idea of “Album Reviews” from Rock Sound. On their contents page they have a number of “Album Reviews” which are displayed at the bottom of the table of contents. I have only set these to be one page long because I feel like a Double Page Spread of these would bore the reader.

As you can see from the page numbers, I have mixed all of the features (except for the Album Reviews) throughout the magazine as I wanted to give the reader a variation of content, as personally, I find it boring when there is a strict format, e.g. all Features, then all Regulars, etc.

Organisation: Band Profile

The band I will be using on my front cover is called “Second Passing”. They are a made up band consisting of 3 female artists. They include: Rachel Basset – Lead Singer, Jess Simmons - Bass and Guitar, and Ruby Oldwood – Drums.

Second Passing originates from Birmingham, UK and was founded by Rachel Basset, when they were in school. The band started out small doing shows for free but were soon spotted by Lab Records Limited who signed them and brought them to the attention of the alternative scene. From there, Second passing grew rapidly, producing their first album “Thoughts of a Full Moon” under Lab Records within a year of being signed, which sold over 5000 physical copies and over 50,000 Digital copies, including iTunes, Spotify and YouTube. Following the release of Thoughts of a Full Moon, Second Passing was invaded to support Neck Deep on their UK tour in the summer of 2013. A successful first album was followed by their self-titled second album under Hopeless Records in 2014, which brought them into the American Alternative scene. In 2015 they announced a hiatus to “focus on their band members and family” following their lead singer’s admission to a rehab centre.