Double Spread Page Developments

For my double-spread page I used the image of my models from my photoshoot and I thought this image would look very good for my double-spread because on the left side there was a lot of space which I thought I'd use for my article. On the left side it was a mid-shot picture of them both in which they look a bit intimidating which is how they look in the majority of their pictures. I used a black and white image because it looks very dark and I like the colour scheme of black/white/grey all together because it really gives it a rock-like vibe. I used the same font (Plane Crash) for the masthead and the 'Plugged/Cover Story' because its the house style I chose. The article is based around Forsaken's career in music so I wrote a lot about how they managed to be successful within the industry, and some other personal details about themselves to make it seem realistic.

Contents page developments

I've developed my contents pages even further. Firstly, I finished writing up the article titles and page numbers. The reason why it's quite crowded is because I've noticed that in a lot of rock music magazines, the contents pages tend to be filled up with a lot of text, so I thought I would do the same. I also added a 'subscription' box with an image of the front cover to show the audience that they can subscribe and get a lot more issues, which is also something a lot of magazines in general seem to do. Secondly, I've used my new photoshoot images to indicate that there are more artists featured in the magazine. The page numbers are over the images and they also have article headlines within the contents page so it feels like a real magazine where they can follow through easily. The images are edited with a similar colour scheme as my front cover - they're faded/muted down a lot to give it a much more grunge/rock feel.

Photoshoot 2

 For this photoshoot I've used 2 different models (Sara and Safwana). The images are quite bright and I've used the colour red as its very suitable for a rock magazine. I'm going to edit these images and mute the tones of the colours because I want it to suit my front cover which also has a lot of muted tones, but there is still a splash of colour to it. For Safwana (My first model) I took pictures by a building which I really thought would suit my magazine because it is slightly scruffy looking. Her makeup is dark which is what I did for my first photoshoot, and she's wearing a band t-shirt so it shows that she is into music as well as being a musician in my magazine. For Sara (My second model) I took pictures in the school building by the stairs because the cage in-between the staircase looked very old and also scruffy so I thought it would also suit my magazine. She's also wearing dark lipstick and has a red plaid shirt on with a black shirt on the inside which again, suits the style of my magazine and the things my target audience would like to wear (A lot of red/black, simple everyday clothing).

The images above are the edited images I used for my contents page. I cropped the images as well as playing around with the colours so the image of Sara focuses on her facial expression - she looks serious - and Safwana's is a midshot so it shows the building, her clothing and her face to give it a feel of the atmosphere in the photoshoot.

Contents page developments 3

I used 'Q' magazines contents page as an inspiration to develop my front cover. I've decided to change the top half of the contents page as my first one was too similar to Kerrang's contents page. I put a black frame on the left hand side which is where photos from my new photoshoot will go. I put a black and white picture on the right of 'Forsaken' to show that its this magazine issue's cover story.

Contents page developments 2

To develop my contents page I've started to add articles below the main image. I used the same house style (fonts) as before. I carried on using the kerrang contents page as an inspiration because it fits my genre and the layout/style works well for my contents page. I need to develop this even further with a lot more articles, images and editors notes.

Contents page developments

For my contents page I have taken inspiration from Kerrang magazines contents page. I've used the same fonts/design as my front cover because I wanted to keep the house style consistent. I've used another image from my photoshoot and adjusted the tones to fit the colours of the image of my front cover. The white space at the bottom of my contents page is where all the articles, page numbers, editors notes and extra images will go. I've also left a space below where it says 'Get ready to rock' because I am going to have a picture of the doublespread page which features 'Forsaken' (the models-band in the image) and I've already done the mini banner with the band name and page number to direct the readers to that page.

New front cover developments

I decided to change my front cover image as I realised that a lot of music magazines have coloured images on them. I used an image from my photo shoot which I thought was suitable for my cover as the image is a portrait of the models and is a midshot. This gave enough space for me to write my text on the top and left/right sides (I didn't have to change the layout a lot). The text around the models also add a nice frame so it makes their faces the main focus. I also tried to make the text red which is the same colour as the lipstick of the models, but I didn't think it suited my magazine a lot because red tends to be used in a lot more rock/metal magazines as its a bold colour. Also the black/white font colours were much more bold and stood out, especially over the grey and black text boxes. My magazine is more gothic-rock so darker colours are better. 

Final cover [1]

This is the final cover for my music magazine. All of the text except the masthead and slogan has a tab behind it. I used two fonts which is 'Calibri' which is the font used over the grey tabs, and 'Plane crash' (from dafont.com) which is over the black tabs and is also used for my Masthead and slogan. The reason why I chose these fonts was because 'Calibri' was very simple yet bold, and it was a perfect font to use for my articles. I chose 'Plane crash' for the much more important text on the cover such as the titles of the articles (e.g. Top 100) and for the masthead/slogan. Its a very striking font which is fit for a rock magazine as the font has speckles/shatters in it, similar to the Kerrang music magazine font but much more intensified. I chose 'Plugged' for the name of the magazine because it reminded me of an electric guitar being 'plugged' into loudspeakers, or headphones being plugged into a music device, so I thought it was very relevant to the style of my magazine. For the slogan I used 'Get ready to rock' as its easy to remember because the genre of the magazine is specifically rock, and also it makes the magazine much more vigurous. Even though its a gothic-rock magazine, the two different sides of it being energetic, yet dark fit well together.

The image is in black and white because I wanted to stick to it as a consistent theme throughout the magazine, including the doublespread. However, I may use coloured pictures in my contents page to show the different sides of the magazine, and that its not just plain/dull. Black and white gives it a darker and tenebrous feel, to relate to the idea of my magazine being quite gothic-rock.

I chose the name 'Forsaken' for the girls on my cover as it means to be abandoned/rejected, and I associated this with a stereotype of teenagers (especially ones who like rock music) that like to be lonely, independent and individual, so I thought the name of the girl band reflected this and almost sent a small message out to the audience. 

I made up the articles on the cover and I thought they would be very suitable. The 'competition' article is something I tend to see on a lot of teen magazines because teenagers love to be able to participate and be a part of something (like concerts) and so saying 'win tickets everyday' gives them a chance to be within the rock community. For the article for 'Forsaken' I used a small quote "We're being ourselves." which shows the girl band said this quote, and its a small indicator of what the audience will expect to see in the interview in the magazine. 'Top 100' shows the best music in the current charts which will help teenagers discover new songs and briefly expand their knowledge of rock music. This will also increase the amount of people in my audience as they may share it with their friends as teenagers tend to listen to music with their friends. The black text boxes for the title of the articles are tilted so the front cover isn't so structured and makes the cover look more interesting.

Front cover developments - Final stages

These are the final stage of developments for my front cover. I added a brief slogan underneath the masthead of the magazine which is 'Get ready to rock'. Its an easy slogan to remember and it makes the magazine's style much more bold. I made up a band name for the two girls on my front cover; 'Forsaken', so it shows they're featured on this particular issue of the magazine. I also added a list of other rock bands down the side which I noticed a lot of rock magazines do. The picture down below shows where I took inspiration from. I also added a banner at the bottom with a short list of music festivals which I thought would be suitable since its a rock music magazine.

Developments of my cover

I took inspiration from this front cover of 'spin' magazine. Under the text of the coverlines, I put grey tabs behind the black text and black tabs under the white text. This helped to distinguish the two as the white text over the black tabs are generally a mini title for the grey tabs with the black text over it. Overall, I think it fits with the colour scheme of my magazine (black, grey and white).

Extra images from my photoshoot (coloured)

First attempt of my front cover - Ideas and developments

I wanted to use this font and name for my cover because it was the font I chose out of the other ones I had. However, it didn't suit my front cover as the text was too thin and wasn't in proportion with the image. I also had to change the tones of all 3 of my developments as it looked much more sepia toned before, whereas I wanted it to be black and white.

I tried the name 'loudspeaker' with its original font but I didn't like the way it looked because it looked really squashed on the masthead and wasn't very clear. However I do prefer this font to the 'plugged' one.

I decided to use the font from 'loudspeaker' and use the name 'plugged' and I think it looks a lot better as its clear, easy to read and bold on the masthead. I didn't want to use the name 'loudspeaker' as my images from my photoshoot aren't wild looking like covers of metal/heavy rock magazines, so plugged is much more subtle.

I used the eraser tool on photoshop to rub out the bottom part from the letter 'L' and 'U' so it would be placed behind the models head. It looks much more professional as when magazines are stacked on shelves in stores, the titles are usually placed behind the models' heads so everything is placed properly on the page. It also looks a lot neater.

I edited the second possible image that I may use to make the tones/shadows much darker which make the masthead and the models the main focus of the cover. It made the black and white effect bolder too.

Photoshoot for my magazine

The use of the black and white effect on every photo gives it a much more intense feel to them. As my genre is rock, the models poses are generally quite dauntless which makes them look much more intimidating and frightening to show the power and fierceness of rock music.

The stairs make the photo's look much more grungy so it isn't sophisticated and in a well presented environment.

This low shot can be good on my contents page as it puts the audience in a position of weakness and makes the models seem like they have power, which shows the strength of the genre and the models themselves.

This photo and the one before it isn't as fierce as the others and are much more natural. It shows the two models having fun whilst they're listening to music, so it also suggests that rock music is also enjoyable and lively and not always serious.

This photo can be really good for my cover page if I crop the models in a portrait format. There will be enough space for the masthead & other things on a magazine cover. With one model standing up and the other crouching down, they both look undaunted yet innocent at the same time. Usually on the front cover of rock magazines the band/singer will be posing and they look quite daring, which is what I was trying to achieve.

This photo could be really good for my double spread as the models are quite far apart so they would be placed on each page. The image itself is very bold and it isn't too dark so it makes it look much more professional and makes it more suitable for the double spread.

I really like the lighting of this photo as the surroundings look quite light but the models themselves have a darker shadow over them, again this makes them much more intimidating.

The fence being in front of them makes it more basic and not so done up so it shows the models being in a laid back environment.

I like that this midshot of the models is in a mysterious looking place as there's fences/trees, which shows the models also being quite dark and strange and fits in with the rock genre.

This picture was taken slightly off guard but I like the way it looks as the close up of their faces shows that they're not always so serious and fierce looking, but they still look like they're strong and powerful because of the model on the left having her hand out towards the camera. 

This picture can also be good for my contents page, maybe my double spread as the door looks quite big and the angle almost looks as if there's a fish eye effect, and the model is pushing it open so it makes them look strong and authoritative.