Double Page Spread Ideas

The first idea splits the page in two with images on one side and text on the other which is generally how most magazines layout double page spreads. The images are on the right page, the main image is an extreme close up of someones face as a side profile, I feel like this is an effective way of displaying an image and looks different which is what this magazine is all about. Next to the main image are smaller images made to look like polaroids to give a nice effect and stands out as the polaroid also acts as a bright white border. There is also a quote between the two images which is a commonly used feature in magazine to catch the attention of the reader and encourage them to read the full story.
On the left page is the story itself and the title. The title is at the top of the page in large font to stand out and the text follows underneath in two columns which take up the width of the page.

The second idea is spread out accross both pages, both the images and text are the width of the page and the title also runs accross both pages which is in large font to stand out and catch the reader and there is a tag line just below it to grab the readers attention further and get them to read the full story. There is a quote in the top left of the left hand page which is a commonly used feature and is very effective in getting people to read the story. The text is in very short columns but there are five of them spread accross both pages. The columns being different heights gives a nice effect however my final product could not use this feature as it is unprofessional for small text to go accross the middle as it sinks into the crease and becomes unlegible and therefore this is a design flaw. The images that spread accross the page would be fine and able to be seen however I think it would still ruin the effect slightly as someone give a big line going through them doesn't look professional and is unattactive.

The third idea follows the style of the first by having images on one side and text on the other which is also what most double page spreads do. The main image on the left dominates the page and would be a mid shot. The head of the person would be joined by the title on the left and quote on the right. I think this gives a nice symetrical effect and looks professional. The title is a large font to stand out and is at an angle to look unothodox. The quote is placed in a star to catch the readers attention even more than the quote already does. On the right page are two columns where the story will be written which take up the width of the page. The left column is shorter in order to fit in a sub-title for the story. The sub-title is bold to stand out and in large font but in a smaller size than the title to show the difference.

Contents Page Ideas

This first idea has the masthead at the top of the page along side the letter 'E' which stands for the title of the magzine which is exclusive. Above the masthead is the the magazine website, issue number and date which is useful for consumers and can be easily seen and found by their position. The main image is just below the masthead which is on the left, it is joined by two more images which a given the look of being a polarioid which is a nice effect. Each image will represent a cover story which will be mentioned in the list of content which takes up the majority of the right hand side of the page. Below the images is an editors letter which is a nice extra feature for the user and gives the magazine a more personal touch. There is a tiny image of the front cover on the right of the editors letter which is very conventional in magazines as research has shown.

The second idea again has the masthead placed at the top of the page in big text where it stands out clearly for the user to know where they are in the magazine. The letters of the masthead do not go in a straight horizontal line, they are spread out slightly which gives the effect of looking different and exciting which is suitable for the title Exclusive and as the target audience is teenagers generally it will attact their attention. The list of content goes down the page in cronological order but all the text is spread out in different places left and right across the page. This follows the same design of the masthead and again makes it look interesting and exciting. Where there are gaps in the text there is an image placed which will be an image relevant to the particular story next to it.

The third idea is very similar to the second, the list of contents follows the same pattern by going down the page chronologically and spread from left to right and again the relevant images are slotted into the gaps created by the text. The difference with this idea is that the masthead is vertical down the left hand side which again is unconventional and suits the magazine name 'Exclusive'. This means that the list of contents can start at the top but has all be moved to the right. Below everything else is a letter from the editor which is a nice feature for the user.

Front Cover Ideas

This is my first front cover idea for the final product and I have made it fairly busy following the usual conventions of my genre's magazines. Making it fairly busy shows that it is a middle class magazine which is what I was aiming for. Too busy and it becomes a lower class magazine but too little and it becomes a higher class magazine. The main image is a convetional mid shot which drifts more to the right of the page leaving room in the left third for text and other features. This could be however a problem as the image acts as advertising, a famous celebrity will encourage readers to buy the magazine and this will not be seen when the magazine is in the right hand side because the left third is usually on display when magazines are stacked. The main cover line and cover lines are on the left third alongside cover images which acts as promotion for the magazine as these stories and images will catch the attention of the reader and encourage them to purchase the magazine. There is a pug also on the left hand third. It's position is crucial as it needs to be seen by customers. A pug is a unique selling point of a magazine and if it is not initially seen it has little use on the magazine. There is a barcode in the bottom right hand corner of the magazine which is accompanied by a date and price. The barcode is not nessisarily a design feature however it is crucial on the magazine for the magazine to be sold. As it is not a design feature it is almost hidden in the corner and takes up little space. A downside to the barcodes postioning would be that as the image is also on the right, it covers up some of it which could be an important part to the image which needs to be shown. If I was to choose this idea I would look at rearranging some things. The final thing on this cover is the masthead. It is positioned conventionally at the top in big bold text. It stands out extremely well which is the main job of a masthead.

The second idea has the main image positioned in the middle and again the photograph is a mid shot. This means that the chance of a famous celebrity being able to be seen when stacked in shops is higher which is better for the magazine. The main cover line remains on the left along with a tag line in order for that to also be seen by customers however the cover stories and list of artists featured are on the right hand side of the image and the text would be shaped to fit around the image. The barcode on this idea is in the bottom left hand corner but still remains small and out the way. It would be accompanied by the price and issue number and as it is on the left it is able to be seen by the customers more easily and therefore they are able to see what issue this magazine is and the price which is a useful feature for the front cover. There is again a pug on the left hand side next to the image for it to be seen by customers and act as a unique selling point for the magazine. The masthead is again at the top of the magazine and the main image sits over it slightly but it is still able to be read easily and still very clear. The masthead is joined by the date and website of the magazine which sit just underneath it in a much smaller text. There is also a skyline above the masthead which acts as another unique selling point for the magazine.

Idea three unconventially has the masthead at the bottom of the page, this looks different to usual magazines and therefore could encourage customers as they feel like it is something new and different. This positioning also suits the title of the magazine 'Exclusive'. The masthead sits on top of the main image and is shown very clearly. The main image is again a mid shot which is slightly to the right of the magazine. This position leaves room on the left for the main cover line and cover lines to stand out and be seen by customers but this again may lose customers as they are unable to see a celebrity which encorages sales. There is again a pug on the left hand side which does the same job as the others and also there is a barcode with issue number and price. The barcode however is now positioned in the top left hand corner due to the masthead being at the bottom. However, I feel as though by the barcode being at the top of the magazine it stands out too much which is not what I want from the barcode. Although it is easily seen for customers to find out the price and issue number. Also above the image is the date and magazine website for extra information for the reader.

Story Ideas

Story Idea 1: 'Evolution To Fame'

This story is about a student who is an R&B star but also an accountant. He struggles to decide on which career choice to take. The readers should already know which choice he has taken but the story will unvail alll the details people want to know. The title gives away which choice he makes however it does not matter as they already know and care about the details. The title is still effective and I think it catches the reader and encourages them to read on.

Story Idea 2: 'Black's Collapse'

This story is about a R&B artist called Ciara Black who has collapsed after bad album reviews. I think the title is effective as it rhymes and is quite catchy. It draws the reader in and encourages them to read more. These kinds of storys are ones that people like to hear and enjoy reading so I think it is a definate option for the main story.

Story Idea 3: 'The Boys are back'

This story is about two boys who were Hip-Hop stars who wrote and perfromed music together. They broke up but are now reunited. As they were so popular with the teenage market people will definately want to know about their return and the audience they target is the same of my magazine. The title is effective as they used to be nicknamed 'The Boys' it will hook the reader to the story and hopefully the story will keep them.

The story I have chosen to be on the front cover and double page spread is 'Evolution to Fame' as I feel it is most effective towards the target audience. He is a music artist but also still doing well in school and I think it is inpirational and gives the teenage market a role model.
The other two stories will be used as cover storys on the contents page and possibly the front cover also.

Questionnaire Results

As well as the poll on my blog I also handed out written questionnaires with the same questions in order to get proper feedback and real answers because not many people actually answered the questionnaire on my blog. However, the results from both questionnaires gave the same answers generally.

What price do you expect to pay for a music magazine?

The majority of the votes from this poll were in the option of between £2-£2.50 which shows that my initial ideas of what my target audience are willing to pay is different as they are willing to pay more for their magazines. The second most popular answer for this question was the category of £1.50 - £2 so I will also take this into consideration and price my magazine around that.

Please pick your favourite magazine:

The majority of the votes went to the magazine 'VIBE' which shows that my target in audience are interested in my genre and I will aim to use VIBE as a guide in creating my 3 products by following its conventions.

What is your favourite genre of music magazine?

For this question the most popular vote was the one I had hoped for as it was R&B/Hip-Hop. This means that my target audience are interested in my genre of magazine as opposed to the other options. The R&B option won around 80% but the second favourite was the genre of pop. This fits into the younger audience and will offer my magazine a unique selling point by including pop elements.

Which age range are you?

The majority of these answers were in the category 16-20 which is exactly the age I was hoping would answer the questionnaire as it is the age range of my target audience. This tells me that the other answers are from people I am targeting therefore the information is stuff I can use.

Which gender are you?

Although I am targeting mainly teenage boys, this question showed that girls also answered the questions and also had the same views generally which is good as it widens my target audience. The majority of people however that answered were male which is good as it means my results are accurate towards my target market.

Colour Scheme

The colour scheme of a magazine is extremely important as the consumer is drawn in mainly by the colours of the magazine.  The colours must complement each other but also contrast slightly in order to stand out, 2 shades of a single colour will make something difficult to read. A good place to start is by using a colour wheel, this shows that generally opposite colours complement one another as they make each other stand out and be more affective.

3 Colour Scheme Ideas



RED GREY BLACK WHITE DARK RED LIGHT GREY

BLUE GREY BLACK WHITE SKY BLUE LIGHT GREY

GREEN GREY BLACK WHITE LIGHT GREEN LIGHT GREY

All 3 of my colour schemes are similar as they all have black, white, grey and light grey because I feel those are the colours which make a magazine look elegant and professional. A mixture of bright colours looks childish and tacky. What makes the colour schemes different is the main colours each of them has, each has the main colour and then a different shade of that colour. For example the first has red and dark red along with the black, white and two greys. Each one looks professional and all the colours complement each other. When used in the right way the colour schemes can help the magazine look excellent.

Experimenting With Fonts 2

Taking a second look at the fonts I originally chose I felt that they were not very professional looking and after playing around with the text on photoshop I changed my mind and went for a font which was more professional. Therefore my main font for the majority of text will be 'Franklin Gothic Demi'. I feel this font is more suitable for the type of magazine and target audience and looks much more professional.

Here are examples of the font in use and examples of how it would be used. I am much happier with this font and feel it suits its purpose better.



Experimenting With Fonts

These are some of the fonts I have looked at and thought suited the style and genre of my magazine. These 6 were my favourite from many different options. It is important that the font suits the genre and reaches the target audience which I believe these 6 do as they are not boring, they look different and cool. Whereas if I was to be doing a rock themed magazine for example, the fonts would be more bold, in your face and messy to suit that genre of music.

My favourite of the 6 which I feel is most suitable for my magazine has to be 'rtBrush' as I think it is stylish but not boring. I have chosen to use the name 'Excusive' for my magazine and I feel that this font looks exclusive.

A second favourite is the 'new facebook' font which I feel is even more exclusive as it is so different to regular fonts however I have opted out of using it in my magazine as I feel it could be perceived as looking childish and also could be fairly difficult to read.

I tested many fonts to be on the front cover but I feel that 'ArtBrush' was the most effective for the genre and target audience and looked the best out of them all.

This is my final font used in the final title for the magazine. I believe it is very effective and is perfect for my magazine.

Initial Magazine Title Ideas

- Exclusive
- Graffiti
- G-Mag
- Turnt Up
- The One
- Unorthodox
- BASE

3 favourite names:

Exclusive – I like the name Exclusive because it makes the magazine sound professional and different. It makes it sound like exactly what it is, exclusive. I think it suits the genre of music well and will attract the target audience as they feel like it is the new thing and they are special.

Graffiti – I like Graffiti as it suits the target audience extremely well as graffiti relates to the streets which is what a lot of teenagers who listen to this genre of music do. It sounds bad and teenagers like to feel bad.

Unorthodox – I like the name unorthodox as it clearly makes the magazine seem different as that is the meaning of the word. Being different is good as it attracts readers as they feel like it’s completely new however I feel some people may not know what it means and it may not suit a teenage R&B/Hip-Hop/Dance magazine.