MUSICMAGAZINEPRODUCTION

These are two of the photo’s that I took at my photoshoot. I had to decide which photo looked best for the front cover, however both photo’s were well taken and therefore were suitable for the front cover photo. The first photo had equal amounts of space either side of my model, meaning that it would be easy to put cover lines on the cover and not much modification would have to be made.

However, I felt the second photo was better for a few reasons. The first reason is that it has more colour than the first photo; the colours were too neutral. In this photo the blue and white go well together, and there is still enough space at both sides for cover lines. The second reason is that the pose by my model would allow the cover lines to go round her figure, bringing more attention to the cover. Also, the pose with her hand allows some clever placement of the masthead, as seen in the next slide.

I started off by selecting the second photo and then increasing the saturation, to bring out my models hair and face colours a bit more. Then, I experimented with different fonts and decided on the font MightyWindy. This is because it is stylized well and easy to manipulate to suit my needs. I then created the symbol underneath the masthead, which serves as a kind of logo for the magazine brand. I chose blue for the masthead because it suits the photo well, however in future editions of the magazine the colour could easily be changed due to the flexibility of the masthead font.

Next I created a bar that goes across the front cover, advertising the main feature of this edition. I chose white for the background of it because it stands out well, and light blue for the outline just so it corresponds with the other colours on the cover. I then had to decide whether the bar would go from bottom right to top left, or the reverse. I decided on the first option because it allowed me tosplit up the page better. Next I typed in the text for the bar, using the font Eras Demi ITC because it is clear and precise. I decided to keep it as a blue colour at this time just so it blended well together; I could change this in the future once all the features of the front cover are done.

Next I created my barcode and placed and resized it in the bottom right hand corner. I decided this was the best place for it without experimenting because it is clearly out of the way of the rest of the cover, but clear enough to be able to spot it at the checkout. I then entered the price and date information, located immediately above the barcode. Next I obtained a basic star shape, and edited it to increase the intensity of the yellow in it; I also used a dark blue outline on it to help it stand out on its own. After that I entered the text to be located in the star, using the fonts Eras Demi ITC, Eras Medium ITC and Impact. This helps to keep up the clean but slightly quirky theme I wanted the magazine to have. I also created a badge at the top right hand corner, advertising a promotion located in the magazine. I once again used the fonts found in the star described previously, along with a new font Brushed. This helped to bring more attention to that feature of the front cover. I also created a cover line located below the advertising bar, in reversed out style.

Next I copied three photos from my photo shoot and edited them slightly, resizing them and placing a thin black outline around them. I then placed the three photos midway down the front cover to serve as a kind-of montage of the interview located inside. The three photos include the one I didn’t decide to use as the main photo for the front cover and the one I used for the double paged spread later on. Then I typed another cover line detailing that the pop-singer Ke$ha has got another number 1 song; this ties in with the fact that the magazine is called Chart It!, which would encourage thought that the music charts will be a major feature of the magazine; this helps to certify that thought. At first I coloured in the new cover line in the pink seen on the rest of the front cover, but on review I decided to change it to the same blue seen on the advertising bar underneath, with a more aqua blue used for the word “KE$HA”. I felt this breaks up the colours of the magazine well and is generally more pleasing on the eye.

Finally, I decided to create another cover line in order to fill up some space at the bottom of the page. I decided to colour this in with a slightly more paler shade of blue, rather than the blue used before on the front cover, simply just to break the colours up but to keep things clean and easy to read also. Once again I’ve used reversed out style on this cover line, and included an oversized exclamation mark at the side just to give that certain cover line more independence and originality. I feel this helps to keep the cover more interesting and eye catching to a purchaser. I also used some lyrics and placed them along the figure of my model, in order to give off the impression that the magazine is very stylized and slightly different.

I then moved onto creating my contents page. I decided to use this photo because it is once again easy to edit, and it is quite a strong photo aesthetically. The colours of the rose contrast well with the rest of the photo and are quite eye-catching. I used the Film Grain effect on the photo for several reasons. The first reason was to make it slightly different from the front cover but at the same time it also connects well with the front cover; there is a difference between them but not too much to break the connection. The second reason I used the effect is because it helps to increase the contrast of the colours in the photo, in particular removing the plain block colour background and making the image more interesting.

Next I had to decide was the format my contents page was going to take. I decided to follow the format seen in Kerrang, where there is a photo taking up the top half of the page advertising the main feature of the magazine, with the rest of the contents information at the bottom-half of the page. I copied the photo from the previous slide and placed it on the top part of the page; I then created the faint blue background for the bottom part of the page. I copied the masthead from the front cover and placed it on the left hand side of the bottom section, before creating a bar of dark blue along the edge of the bottom section and the top. In this bar I entered the website address of the magazine multiple times. I then took the star located on the front cover and placed it on the right hand side of the bottom section, entering the text for the competition shown on the front cover. I also inserted images, which I photographed, of a man and a woman, who would serve as the editor and executive producer of the magazine, just to give it more authenticity.

Next I entered the comments from the editor and executive producer and placed them correspondingly below their pictures. I also found several fonts that look handwritten and entered their names below their sections, copying the style seen in Kerrang and many other magazines where the production team are seen to be building a connection with the reader. I created a faint blue line that vertically split this section from the rest of the contents page bottom section.

Next I used the MightyWindy font for the heading of the rest of the contents page, colouring it in with the same pink colour seen in the logo for the masthead and outlining in the same blue seen in the dividing bar and masthead text. I copied the faint blue line used previously on this page and split the rest of the bottom section up in three sections and further stylized the editors and executive producers section of the contents page. The issue number is just below the Chart It masthead for customer reference, and I then entered the text for the main picture on the contents page, including the pages that the interviews are located on.

Next I copied the masthead logo and placed three copies of it in the space above the “This Week:” text in the centre of the bottom side of the contents page. I then created the first header for the contents, once again in reversed out style with the MightyWindy font being used in the header, and the Agency FB font being used for the page numbers. However, I decided to change the colouring of the header background from dark blue to the pink used in the masthead logo, because I felt that it would help it stand out more. I then carried on creating the rest of the text for the front cover, using the same format as before, with “Insaniburger” being the thicker font and “Franklin Gothic Book” font being the thinner font, used for description.

However, in retrospect I decided that the dark blue background for the headers was the better option because it blends in with the other colours, added to the fact that these headers don’t necessarily have to stand out in order to be seen; they are a crucial element of the contents page after all. By changing it back to blue, it also helped the text in the headers stand out better along with the main heading on the page, “This Week:” so it was a positive change in every sense. Lastly, I added the details of some of the production staff on the right hand side of the bottom side of the page, as is commonly seen in other professional magazines.

Next I started my double page spread. I chose the picture above because I felt it was a strong and striking image, which would be good on its own but also look fantastic when edited and changed. The colours also contrast well and help to

make the image more defined, added to the fact that there is a direct link between this image and the front cover image; an important part of the magazine

production. I experimented predominantly with two different effects; the Cutout effect is the one located in the middle of this slide and the Note Pad effect is the on located on the right. Both offered me a lot of flexibility in terms of the overall style and feel of the double page spread, however I felt the Film Grain one allowed the connection between the Front Cover, Contents Page and Double Page Spread to

still remain, something which the Note Pad effect severed.

I set up my A3 page on Photoshop and placed the image onto the left hand side of the page. I then measured out and placed a blue divider down the middle of the page for several reasons; to serve as a natural barrier and also to help me plan out the structure of the page. I then coloured in the right hand page in a faint blue colour because I wanted to prevent any white spaces being left on the page. I then created a faint barrier line on the right hand page and created the header, using the Poplar Std font for the “CATHY” text and the Lucida Fax font for the “WILSON” text.

I had two ideas for the design of the left hand page. The first one was to use lyrics from my model, who very graciously allowed me to use them, and scatter them around the left hand page, as similarly shown on the front cover. The other idea I had was to have the left hand page more minimalist, with some information scattered around the page. I chose the second option because I felt it was more aesthetically pleasing, and it allowed me to use more information from the interview. I also created a badge, located up the top right hand corner of the left hand page, which also contained a question and answer from the interview; the fonts here are a throwback to the fonts used across the front cover and contents page.

Next I mocked up a front cover for the models album and placed it just below midway down the right hand page. I then wrote up the opening paragraph of the interview, before then creating the page numbers at the bottom corners of the pages. Then I wrote up the rest of the interview, using the font “Impact” for the questions and the font “Times New Roman” for the answers. I chose to mix both serif and sans-serif fonts because I wanted the magazine to be cultured and informative, but at the same time for it to take itself too seriously and for it to be easy to read.