Double Page Ideas

Double Page Spread Analysis

Kerrang! Double Page Feature

The image spans both pages, with the text superimposed on in a mixture of ‘typewriter’ style fonts and a ‘drippy’ font. That adheres to the rock genre or being mismatched and unique, and also makes you think of a wall of posters/adverts with a mixture of different texts, advertising different upcoming gigs and events.

The mean and moody stances and looks of the all male band members, as well as the mish mash of clothes, yet again works with the rock-esk and dark colour scheme flow throughout the magazine thus far.

The main body of text, which pulls focus with the large T, is squished in the bottom right corner. However, wouldn’t that make it difficult to read? Seems odd to have all that space, and yet choose to push the text and therefore the focus of the article away.

‘In the company of darkness’ Dir En Grey is a heavy metal/rock band, and the metal/rock genre has often been associated in the past, and still now to some degree, as being a dark form of music, even demonic. This statement brings negative connotations with it, but also makes the reader feel that the band is something to be feared and respected in equal measure, daring them almost to read on.

Mix Mag Double Page Spread

Very bright colours! That all work nicely together to make it appear professional and neat. The only criticism I can see, is that the amount of pink used makes the spread seem quite feminine, three of the images are also female dominated, which further reinforces the feminine side put across by the colouring.

Unsuccessful parts I think would be the sheer amount of text, it seems like a lot to wade through, and it’s something I’m going to avoid in my magazine.

There’s northing really lost in the centre page fold, which is great, because I find it annoying when there’s text or a picture obscured by a big fold through it, again, something I’m going to avoid or at least try to avoid. I’ll do that by placing things so there can’t be any obstruction around the centre fold, this will hamper my layout choices a little, but I believe it’s worth it to get a professional looking result.

The images don’t really link wit the headers, they all look too clean to have been dancing all night, though I like the cheeky two finger sign on the top left hand page, gives the spread a funky, tongue in cheek vibe which is always great in a magazine, music or otherwise.

Q Magazine Double Page Feature

Boom! ‘YOU MUST HEAR!’ It’s a command in bold red letters, in a slightly old fashioned font. That gives off a vibe of ancient rules and commandments; they know what’s best for you like a parent does their child.

The casual stances of the band pictured, shows they’re easy going, and their instruments hit at them being an acoustic band, who are quite down to earth by the looks of their clothing.

The main text body is superimposed onto the main image which takes up both pages, the sticker interrupting the non covered picture, increasing the importance of whatever it says (too blurry for me to read :S).

I’d say it was a mixed gender spread, the all male band could go either way, and the simple black, red, and pine texture colour scheme isn’t gender specific. I’m inspired to make my colour scheme simple, however, I think this looks a teensy bit boring, even if it does conform to the magazine colour scheme.

One thing I find odd, is that its US bands only that are going to be featured, why not worldwide? But I guess it was to save space in the magazine, as to focus on one country would save a lot of research and time.

Alternative Press Double Page Feature.

I love the corkboard/brown paper background with the names of various band scrawled onto it like graffiti in the back of a notebook or on a wall.

It really links in with the punk subculture, as punk’s often modify clothing or an existing object, and are often associated with graffiti and being abit messy (scattered photographs).

It would also be likened to a yearbook, with photographs stuck about and big bold writing like someone’s signed it, the ‘Class of 2001’ being a big hint.

The colour scheme is relatively simple, and although I can’t comment on the house style, other then the red used is the same at the front cover logo I analysed, I feel it does fit in well with the alternative/indie scene.

Gender-wise, I think it may be a more masculine spread, as people don’t often associate the punk genre with women anyway, and all the images you can see have men in them.

Uncut Double Page Feature

All black and white! Ahhh! Hurts the eyes slightly! The black and white keys in with the ‘flashback’ article, but makes it all seem very dull. I like the low amount of text, but what text there is swamped by the Images.

Something odd I noticed, there’s no page numbers that I can see, which is odd, and makes the spread appear unprofessional slightly, although not all double pages in magazines have numbers on them.

All the images containing an instrument/s of some kind/s, really puts across the idea that these people know what their doing, and are professional musicians.

Definitely mixed gender, I can’t comment on the colour scheme as there’s only the greyscale and black, with a stark white background. I have a horrible feeling as well that this is some A level Media Students work rather then a proper magazine, and they’ve just used the same name.

Contents Page Draft

Tried to give it a mish-mash of styles that work together. I’ve included as little text as possible, and continued the house style with the banners on the top and bottom of the page, the vine-like stuff sprawling across the biggest image, and the ripped paper effect that’ll be more obvious with colour.

Contents Page Ideas

Contents Page Analysis

Kerrang! Contents page

It's rather busy, and quite cluttered, which is probably because of the large image sizes taking up most of the A4 space available.

For that reason, i'm tempted to make a double page contents page, in order to have nice big images and uncluttered text.

The colours are bold and striking, continuing where the front cover left off. There isnt much blank space, which overall makes the page seem busy and 'happening'.

The house style adheres to the colour scheme set forth by the front cover, allowing the the style to flow from page to page.

The mixture of band photos, live photos and album covers, shows the magazine covers a wide range of music mediums, which means that all kinds of rockers will find something to interest them in this issue.

Some images are slanted, and all have a shadow effect on. This makes them feel like they're popping off the page at the viewer, keeping up the edgy feel as put across by the cover and whole magazine/brand overall.

Mix Mag Contents Page

I'm not sure if this contents page is from the same issue as the contents page i analysed, so I cant comment on the flow, but it does share simular house styles, such as the fonts used, and the simple colours.

I like this contents page, its got all the information needed, but its uncluttered with nice big pictures.

Only problem i think, is that it looks abit boring, with lots of plain white space which although is used effectively, makes it slightly dull.

It's a mixed genre magazine, however, the mainly masculine images and just one, small image of a woman, can suggest that its aimed at either a female demographic, or simply a range of ages, as there is an image of a young man, of a middle aged man, and what appears to be a young woman.

The colours stand out well on the plain white background, the block of yellow on the lower image attracting the eye almost immediately, letting you know straight away that although its a serious magazine, it has a playful vibe.

Q Magazine Contents Pages

I know this contents page isn't from The Fader magazine, but i couldn't find a contents page for the Fader, so i decided to use a contents page from Q magazine, as it's in the same genre as my chosen magazine genre.

This is a double contents page, which im interested in doing for my magazine.

However, i'm unsure if i can, as i'm only allowed to submit up to 4 images, and i don't know if the double page spread has to be split into two images. If i can, id have more room for images and text, to stop it looking littered.

I like the big page numbers put onto the images, if you know what that image is, you know straight away what page o go to. because of this, i think they've stuck to the stark colour scheme, as you wont spend much time on it if your going to quickly skip ahead to the page you want.

If you want to read it thoroughly however, there is alot of information about every article and story inside the magazine, the imges being slanted wo make it appear jam packed, or perhaps like a sketchbook.

NME Contents Page

I chose this contents to do as I couldn't find a contents page for Alternative Press, and seeing as how NME Magazine fits my magazine genre, I can use this for analysis.

There are alot of images on here, with nice big page numbers like in Q Magazine. This draws the eye to each individual image, though the dull colours detract somewhat. In that sense, the theory of having stylish, dim images doesn't work well in the respect of having a vibrant and lively cover, but is successful in being visually striking. the dark colours contrasting with the plain white backdrop and the pale blue subscription prompt.

The page numbers on this contents magazine are black in a white box. Compared to the above Q Magazine page numbers of white in a black box, but one in a white box with black font, and one without a box entirely, has inspired me to have large page numbers on my images which are coloured to suit the image for maximum visibility. 

Uncut Contents Page

The one large greyscale image makes the contents page seem classy and neat. The clear colour scheme stands out well against the plain white background, and the greyscale adds a touch of nostalgia to the image, which it being a farewell article makes sense.

The large page numbers are also evident, and successful in getting across a no-nonsense vibe, as well as clearly stating what page has what featured on it.

The greyscale image of a man playing guitar with a drum kit in the background, suggest closeness to the performers, as if he’s playing for the reader directly. This can work to make the reader feel they have a commitment to the magazine, and so hook in the viewer emotively as well as visually.

Front Cover Draft

The picture is of Noel Fielding.

I'm thinking of having an image of him on my magazine, because he's wacky and alternative, and also he was featured in the 9/1/12 issue of NME Magazine, and the 31/1/12 issue as well. And seeing as how NME Magazine is in the right genre for my magazine, and so features relevant people, I’ve chosen him to feature in my magazine. Also because I like him, and his new show ‘Luxury Comedy’ on channel 4, it’s so quirky and out there, different to anything else I see on TV.

I have a bar code with a price and issue number on, as well as a main image and space for a logo on the top half of the page. I haven’t got a logo yet, as I’m not sure what to call my magazine yet. When I know, I'll create a few different logos, and choose my favourite from the lot, and then add it to the draft.

The keyring space I decided to add, as it’s nice to have a free gift with a magazine, especially seeing as how the magazine is £3.50, it can be an added incentive to buy, and look out for different versions of the keyring.

The border around the cover, gives it a definite house style that I can use and utilise throughout the magazine in order to get the best flow.

The writing is just a few ideas as to what stories and articles can be included in the contents pages, still have no clue what to put on the double page spread :S

THE BIGGEST EVER ISSUE! banner grabs the eye, it would be in a bold colour along with the logo and top of barcode, not only to make it visually appealing, but to aid in getting the magazine flying off the shelves.

Front Page Ideas

Front Cover Analysis

Kerrang!

Kerrang! features its main image of a scowling, arresting band member overlapping the magazine’s logo. That suggests arrogance and confidence that you’ll recognise the magazine without needing to see the whole name, as well as giving the impression that the band member is staring directly at the viewer, compelling them to dare try and buy the mag.

The band member himself is in a scruffy open jacket with messy hair, giving the viewer the impression that he’s dangerous and not to be messed with. The ‘shattered’ logo and ‘faded’ text, helps add to the dangerous, edgy feel of the cover, marking it out as something dangerous and off-key. There’s little text, but it’s bold and instantly grabs you by the eyeballs, giving you the information and telling you upfront what to expect.

The image and the magazine cover as a whole i think would appeal to younger audience of the kind of generation who know about the bands featured, and know just what to expect from an interview from them, as there are often big claims like the one seen here of 'the world's biggest cult band'. However, I believe that K! magazine isnt geared towards a particular age group, just a select demographic, enabling teenagers, young adults and older people to all enjoy a magazine about their music tastes.

It's a very masculine feeling cover, with the dark colours and the general stigmatism of a male audience being more likely to purchase a rock/alternative music magazine then a female. I will try and be non gender bias when making my magazine, or at least not in the front cover.

The layout of the cover, has the image full sized and the text and other images superimposed on it. This suggests that he's holding onto the front page, main image position, which is again slightly arrogant and puts across the picture that he's going to be the main feature of this issue.

His face with the glare at the reader is completely uncovered, allowing you to fully see the hair, tattoo and high collar. It shows him off best, which is juxtaposed to the unattractive, unflattering image of the man singing, or the little band picture at the right hand, bottom of the page.

Plus the fact that the glaring man is obviously younger, and his image is significantly bigger then the singing man, suggests that young talent is more interesting, and more important then old talent.

The dripping black paint on the relentless sticker, makes you think of urban graffiti, and the tattoos featured on the man’s neck and the other one’s arm adheres to the stereotype of rockers having tattoos and being creative.

The use of language is graphic. Words like 'blood, sweat, killer, cult, beer, relentless' further relate to the assumption that rock and alternative fans like booze, and have bad personal hygiene. This could almost be insulting, as doubled with the limited text, could be seen as slightly patronizing to the viewer by using terms that they'll understand.

Again, you would associate the male gender to that kind of vocabulary, as it is part of the masculine image portrayed by the media, which is contrasted to the feminine image, perhaps leading to some women choosing not to buy K! as it reeks of testosterone, and would get funny looks from the cashier if she bought it.

I like the rough style of the middle banner, like ripped paper. I'm inspired to use that effect in my magazine, which will fit with the genre of alternative/urban.

Mix Mag

The main image dominates the cover, the man’s pose seeming to point to the magazines name and indicate it as something higher up them him and better, the authority on music. The fact he’s got his back to the viewer, gives a view of the crowd from the performers eyes almost, giving a feeling of behind the scenes and control. It's not gender specific, women and men could both enjoy his figure, and can appreciate that he's a working, professional DJ on the job.

Bright white and orange work well together, and are symbolic of bright lights in a club or at a gig, and therefore adhere to the genre of clubbing that it’s geared towards.

The font too, is easy to read and non complicated, which is kinda like a club sign or text on a computer screen or mobile, which makes it appropriate for the cover.

It could be to a male or female demographic, as its a non gender exclusive combination of orange, white and indigo, which looks cool and will encourage people to want to buy it.

The text looks like it uses only two different styles of font, in a balanced, nice looking layout which doesn’t overlap the main image’s body. the tone of language too, is almost like a DJ announcement at a club again, with 'bang gangs' being slightly rude, and 'touchscreen turntables!' appealing to a technological sub-genre of people who are more interested in the behind the scenes. That's the type of people who're probably most likely to buy and read this kind of magazine, which I will avoid, as I want as wide a demographic as possible for my magazine.

It’s all uncomplicated, with a balanced layout, which is aesthetically pleasing to behold and friendly to the eyes.

I'm inspired by the simple, 3 tone colour scheme. However, this magazine genre isn't quite right for the genre of magazine i'm aiming for, and so I wont be able to use this as my style model.

The Fader

 The high quality image fills the page and overlaps the name, like I mentioned in the K! analysis, being the focal image and obvious feature of the current issue.

The man is holding some pink petals, relating to femininity, his funky hat and neck thingy all making him look harmless and child-like, appealing to our sense of humour.

There is a background of a quiet looking street, which looks 50/50 damaged and dirty one the left side, and quiet, almost peaceful on the left side.

This juxtaposition and the fact that he’s black, can link to the prejudice against black people, and how they’re seen as destructive menaces.

However, it could easily be seen the other way, in that we, and the magazine, now accept black people, and our modern acceptance of the African American race is like leaving behind the murky past, and going onto peace.

There is limited text on the cover, just the logo, who the man is, and what article is going to be featured most heavily.

I like it, its simple and effective, however, I’m not looking for as simple a cover as this, and so will only take a few elements from it, such as the top right text information, and the bold white name that almost looks damaged if you look at it in a certain way.

I think it may appeal more to a female demographic, as he looks quite sweet, plus the pink flowers give the cover a feminine vibe as pink is stereotypically linked to the feminine gender. Also, the fact that this issue features a fashion section, which is yet again typical of the female image in the media.

Alternate Press

This cover has a lot going on. The main image is spread over the whole page again, with the text superimposed. This is a good way to show that the band is so good, they deserve the whole page.

It doesn’t have a clear colour scheme, there’s red, white and blue going on, which reminds you of an American flag, but also yellow, which stands out the most. Also, yellow is believed to be an attention grabbing colour, which is useful for a window display or magazine.

Blue is believed to inspire trust and confidence in the customer, and is often seen in banks and with businesses. For the magazine, its putting across that you can trust it to keep you up to date, and the albums its plugging really are 10 classics. Red can be used to create a sense of urgency, used here its shouting at the reader to come read this, or buy this magazine, which with the use of black, is put across as a luxury, powerful magazine.

Again, the logo is being overlapped, and interestingly has the issue number predominately on display.

There’s a band member who seems to be diving out of the page, breaking the fourth wall. In my magazine, id like a humourus, arresting main image and good use of colour in order to really grab your attention. The sitting band member looking defiantly out of the magazine, daring you to question what on earth he’s doing.

Genderwise, this could be a male or female magazine, but with the sausage fest of the all male band on the front, tends to suggest more of a male demographic would be buying this magazine.

Uncut

very busy cover again, but this time with the text rather then the image attracting the eye first

a large portion of the page has a CD inserted on, with the main image being cut off. I wont use that as inspiration for my magazine, however, a small box for a keyring or something small would be interesting to have on the front cover, with a full range of the keyrings available on the contents page.

Its a mixed gender magazine cover, the red and the quite manly face of the main image, identify it as a masculine, but the gentle whites, off whites and beige, plus the female image, identify it as a feminine cover. Again, I'm going to try and make my cover as assessable to as wide a audience as I can, which is the common target of most magazines, music or otherwise.

There's two different styles of font used, which makes it seem less complicated and more easy to read.

I think the cd stands out the most on the cover, and links in well with the cover itself through use of the colour scheme, similar fonts and the '2011' logo.

Throughout my magazine cover, contents page and double page spread, ill try and matain a flow of similar style so they all work together, and each keeps the attracted audience.

Initial Ideas

Mood Board

In order to help me choose a genre for my magazine, I created a moodboard of bands and solo artists I like, and found out what genre each could be defined as.
The result was alternative/indie, which i'm going to link with an urban style magazine, a sorta gritty, bursting with information, little music mag.

Diary Entry One

It’s the first week of the main task!

I’ve started off by analysing the codes and conventions of music magazine front covers; I’m going to type up my analysis and post it on the blog as soon as I’ve submitted my prelimery task evaluation.

Before that however, I’m going to make a mood board of bands/solo artists I like, and what genre each one can be defined as, in order to help me choose a magazine genre to do.

I’m then going to look at and analyse magazine covers, contents pages and double pages in order to have an idea at what’s going to be on my mag.

Next week, I’m going to be continuing my analysis, and come up with a hand-drawn draft of each page needed for my magazine. I’ll then scan them in, and upload to the blog as soon as they’re finished and I’m able to do so.

Prilimery Task Evaluation

Fusion Contents Page

Throughout the prilimery project, I have tried to be organised and efficient by keeping a daily write up of what I’ve been doing. I completed the school magazine on the Tuesday, the same day that I started the main task of the music magazine.

 The style models I chose for my contents page were Fusion magazine, and Evolve.

Fusion has an image on the top of the page, and all the content written below in an easy to read font. Whereas Evolve has each category of content in a different coloured box with a heading.

I have tried to combine these two in my contents page, by having an image and text categorised into coloured boxes with bold titles. I don’t however, have a note from the editor as seen in the Evolve magazine, or a disclaimer as seen in Fusion, as I simply ran out of space.

Codes and conventions I’ve followed on both the front page and contents, are casual language aimed at the audience of teenagers and young adults, whom this magazine is aimed at. I’ve also adhered to the convention of having images of the school on the front cover, as well as having a student featured.

Evolve Contents Page

By utilising these conventions however, it allows the reader who knows the school, to immediately identify that this is a school magazine, and the lack of a barcode or price conforms to the fact that school magazines are very often free, and therefore have no need of barcodes or prices.

The colours I chose to adhere to the theme of the sea, as Whitley Bay is a short distance from it, and so I chose sea greens and blues, contrasted on the front cover to a deep burgundy which makes it striking and eye catching, and slightly edgy.

If I could change anything, I would add a big ‘FREE!’ label on the front, as well as a date and a strapline to help further promote it. I would also fiddle around with the contents page, as the overlapping bars look unprofessional, as well as the badly drawn bus and blank space on the top half of the page.

To document my research, I used Microsoft Word, and added colour with MS Paint, unprofessional I know, but I just wanted to quickly get it presentable and posted. I have had experience with a similar program to Photoshop which has helped a lot in learning to use it, and have access to the program at home, which is handy, as I don’t have Photoshop at home, but have Paint, Word, and Artweaver which is similar to Photoshop and free, enabling me to keep to the style and post things at home.

I will use Photoshop to add decoration, and to do brainstorms and things in the main task however, as I believe it looks more professional and neat.

I also used InDesign, which was easyish to learn as it’s similar to Microsoft Publisher, and uses a few of the same tools from Photoshop.

For the logo, I used Photoshop. I used two different styles of font (Lucinda Sans Typewriter and Minstral), and used a combination of the Brush Tool, the Healing Brush tool, and the Spot Healing Brush Tool. Each Text fragment was on a different layer, enabling me to move them about without affecting the rest. Towards the end, I Linked together the text layers so they all move at the same time, and moved them up and just under the ‘swirl’ to complete the logo. The ‘swirl’ was made with two different shades of blue, and blended together at certain points to create a wavy, watery effect like a wave.

The photograph I took with a school Nikon camera. It was on Auto mode, meaning I didn’t have to adjust anything apart from the zoom and the focus. I started taking pictures, but they came out blurry despite me focusing. They came out clear when the media admin took them however, leading me to believe that my hands were shaking slightly when taking the photo.

I set up a tripod, adjusted the focus, and took the picture while trying not to touch the camera much. The photo still came out quite blurry and grainy however, so I adjusted the brightness in Photoshop, and added a Sharpen filter which slightly improved it.

The other photos (the school, the car park, the sandwich, the artwork, the pathway) and images (the boat, the bus and the wave) were all taken by me, and images were created by me. The boat and the wave it’s perched on were made in Macromedia Fireworks, as I didn’t have access to Photoshop at the time of making them, and they needed creating quickly in order for me to keep to my plan. I have had experience in working with Fireworks, as I did ICT DiDA in my GCSE’s, and I used Macromedia’s programs throughout.

The artwork is from my diagram of a ‘perfect island’ that I created in my Philosophy lesson, its made from coloured paper, stuck together with glue, and drawn on and written on with felt tip pens. The same room it was created in, was actually where I took the photo of the car park from, as it offers a great view of it.

The photo of the pathway is actually of a pathway next to a main road in Percy Main. I was on my way back from work when I noticed it was a great photo opportunity, and I took it on my camera phone.

My Front Page 

My Contents Page

On InDesign, I added a glow effect to several images on the front cover and to the circle on the contents page, making it appear like a moon for aesthetic effect.

School Mag contents page

Contents page for the school magazine.

I'm not happy with the top image, and theres too much blank space for my liking.

School Mag front cover

Final version of my front cover for the school magazine.

I'm not happy how the main image came out, but I know now that I need abit more practise with the school cameras, as most images I took came out blurry.

Wednesday!

The photos I took were on my camera, and I put them into a folder on the diskbox. I'm going to use quite a few of them, and they've helped me think up possible articles and stories.

I made a draft of the contents page, it took the longest to type up the text.
Brainstorming was useful, and helped me know what picture to take for the front, main image.

Contents draft

Draft of my contents page, I have an image and text and a border, and a next issue sticker.

Front image

Research into what sort of image is shown on the front of a magzine.

Most of the conventions could apply to any magazine genre, and so this research will be useful when designing my music magazine.

Tuesday!

Finished off the rough draft I had already on Monday, and looked through school magazines for research.
This is great, as I now know what sort of things I'm going to be advertising as being in the magazine.
Of course, many of the conventions i've mentioned in my research, can also apply to any magazine, and so will be useful in the music magazine project as well as the school magazine.

Rough draft of school magazine

 I have the border style created and the logo/name made in Photoshop, also have a rough positioning of where things could be.
I decided on the name 'Wave Press', because Whitley Bay is near to the sea, so a sea wave is appropriate, and 'Press' as it's a magazine which is like a newspaper.
The swirling line thingy is like a wave which further identifies it as belonging to a place by the sea.
The logo and the border were both made in Photoshop using the text tool, healing brush tool and brush tool for the logo, and just the brush tool for the border with a blend of a green layer and a yellow layer.

What you see in a school magazine

 Further research I did into what is usually seen in a school magazine. This started off as research into what is on a front cover, but I quickly realised that I had already done a piece of research into that, and it'd be abit pointless to do it again. So I expanded it into a whole magazine analysis, which will be useful when making the music magazine as well as the school mag.

Research into possible stories/articles

I looked around in magazines and even in some newspapers for what kind of things would be intresting and suitable.

The colours are to add order to the brainstorm, and also to highlight the ideas i like the sound of best.