Final Contents Page + Initial Designs

My contents page is one of the easier documents to create because whilst designing, I have been looking at different magazines such as VIBE magazine and NME for different ideas. I thought looking at these two magazine would be ideal for me because they both target my potential audience. 

I started my contents page by editing the main image, which covered the whole page. The image shows a music artist looking down, symbolising concentration and determination. The fact that readers cannot see his eyes also creates a mysterious atmosphere. I used the posterize effect in order to achieve a cartoon affect (I have used this same effect on my front cover image), I thought this enhanced the aesthetics of the image. 

The heading 'CONTENTS' is in the same font as the front cover, 'Defused'. There is also a yellow stroke around the lettering. I have kept this font throughout all my documents the same because it stands out and is consistent.

I came up with six sections for my magazines, for example 'Gigs', 'Win' and 'Reviews'. I used the font Myriad Pro, which looks simple and professional. By looking at many magazines, I realised their contents page is simple yet effective. the first draft of my contents page had only the section titles aligned against the left side because I thought this would be the first place where the readers eyes become attracted to and by aligning the text on that side, the image becomes more powerful because readers can see his jacket.

The second draft has more text, however one thing I realised when receiving feedback was that my font size varied magnificently. For example the words 'DRAKE 2011' and 'DJG' stand out from the rest of the text, although this was intentional because they were both front cover story's, it made the document look unprofessional. i also numbered the section, in white white font colour with a red stroke, which enhanced the aesthetics. I also added a slight yellow stroke to the lettering of the section titles, which attracted readers.

For my third draft, I made the text size 12 so that readers can read the document without becoming confused. The story's that are not covered on the front page, are in the white font colour and the sky blue colour for the story's that are. By using the brush tool, I was able to produce a star symbol. Also by putting them in the bottom and top corners of the text is effective because it enhances the aesthetics.

For my final draft, which can be found at the bottom of the post, I have kept all changes from the third draft, however I have placed the magazines name at the bottom right hand corner of the document to create brand recognition. 

Final Contents Page

FORWARD NOT FORZARD

Many of my peers seem to think my magazine masthead is called FORZARD OR FOR 3 ARD. 

The masthead clearly states, FORWARD with a rotated 90' clockwise 'W' with a thicker stroke outline then the other letter therefore attracting the reader.

Final Front Cover + Initial Designs

Designing this document has been really enjoyable because I have had the ability to further my understanding of the software, Adobe Photoshop. I chose to use this software because the the interface is easy to use and images can be edited much further with more advanced tools rather then programmes like Serif PagePlus.

I started by thinking of a name of my magazine. I thought of much music has affected today's society and tried summarising it in one word. I came up with the title 'FORWARD' because these days, the music industry is moving our society forward, with the help of iPods, iTunes and festivals such as Glastonbury. Once I had the name, I thought about making it unique and original. I rotated the 'W' 90' clockwise and made the font size larger. The reason I had done this was to symbolise the fact that music is moving forward. the rotated letter looks like an arrow. 

The font I used for the heading is called 'Defused'. I downloaded the font from http://www.dafont.com/, which is a legal website where anyone can download a variety of different font. I chose this font because it stand outs and will get the attraction of the reader. I plan to keep consistent with this font throughout the headings of each document. I also have black font colour with a yellow stroke around the lettering. 

My house style is black and yellow, a modern colour combination coming back into fashion. 

I downloaded an image of an arrow off the internet and placed the behind the text, below the letter 'F' symbolising the heading 'FORWARD'. 

The image I used for my front cover was taken by me. I have chose to make the artist, DJG a signed artist because it would attract readers. I used the posterize tool in Photoshop to give the image a cartoon affect. 

I think the image used is powerful due to many reasons such as:

-The artist is wearing expensive items of clothings such as Ralph Lauren, Louis Vuitton and Nike. This symbolises the high class and expensive lifestyle. 

-It is quite large, in that it takes up most of the page. 

-The artist is looking directly at the reader, getting them involved.

From my music research, I found that all front covers need:

-Masthead

-Barcode

-Lures

-Image

-Price

-Issue number & date. 

I have realised that other magazines in the hip hop market are using all those key words, so I incorporated that within my own magazine. 

My first lure was vertical text, in turquoise. I thought it was a good idea at first because it was unique, however as I received feedback from my peers, I learnt that it was unusual and was not suitable for my magazine. The price was also unrealistic and place within a explosion shape. my third draft does not look professional. due to the unsuitable lures and pricing. I decided to change the white background to a gradient background between black, yellow and grey. Although my magazine stood out, it was not what my potential market was looking for. I found this out by asking my friends and family. 

I then decided to change the background to plain black, which stood out because the text was in different colours and sizes. when readers look at my front cover, they will realise the consistency and the fact that not every word is the same size, or same style. 

By simply increasing the size of one word and decreasing the size of another I have the readers attention. I have also made certain words bold and certain words italic, for example 'Top', 'MP3', 'Month'. 

I have also made the pricing alot more realistic at £2.20. This will enhance the quality of my magazine. 

Final Front Cover: