Final products.

Music magazine: Completed double page spread.

This is my completed double page spread. Overall i am very pleased with it, as i managed to incorporate all of the features that i intended to, without making it too heavy with text, or too full with far too many images. I feel as though it really resembles a double page spread in similar magazines, but with a slight difference as i have also added many of my own ideas. I like that the quotes and title is in the same colour as the red from the top, as it links the model to the text. Additionally, the purple from the quotation marks also creates a link to her hair colour, and tights. I believe that this would appeal to my target audience as it follows a similar theme to other popular magazines that they buy. It is a big improvement from my draft versions, as i have modified it so the reader would not be overwhelmed by the amount of text on the page, and the photographs have more space, making everything clear and easy to read. The colours used throughout the two pages all link to the model in some way, but the majority has remained black to ensure that it can be easily read.

I will now compare various parts of my double page spread with the features i originally analysed in my double page spread research.

After looking at other double page spreads in similar magazines, i realised that they often had two big images at opposite ends of the page, usually of the model standing up. When taking my own photographs i remembered this, so i had my model do a few different poses, mimicking a few images occasionally. As i had a prop, which most of the images didn't have, i had to also keep in mind that the instrument had to be seen, but not in a way that either took too much attention away from the model, or covered her in a way that meant she was not recognisable. 

Many pages had the magazines name, as well as a short description of what the main article was about, in one of the top corners, which is something i replicated when creating my own. Like the example on the left, i placed my magazine title in the right hand corner, and give a brief summary of what my double page spread was about. 

A long, memorable quote was often used as the title, and so i added this to my own double page spread. The font colour was generally the same colour as a prominent piece of clothing the person was wearing, and frequently had a black or white background behind it to make that colour stand out more. When creating my own, i made my own title the same colour as the red on my models festival top. 

Whenever i looked at examples of popular magazines double page spreads, i noticed that many of them used the same idea of having a certain quote, sometimes surrounded by a shape, written in a simple font, with big, colourful quotation marks added around it. As some of them are surrounded by colour, i decided to just colour all of my quotes the same as my title, so they would all have a connection.

There were smaller images placed in either a corner, or around the middle of the page as well, and so i decided to use this image of Josie, and placed the text around her. I then overlapped the advertisement over the bottom of her, which is a feature that i often saw before. These images usually feature a fairly plain expression, in an attempt to keep most of the attention on the main images and text.

The text on my double page spread was originally a lot heavier, but after looking at research of similar magazines, i edited out unnecessary text. When evaluating other pages, i noticed that the text was often in small columns, and was highlighted to distinguish between the interviewer, and those being interviewed. I used purple when using this technique on Josie's name, as it created a link to her hair colour and tights, as well as the purple on the front cover, and the contents page. The pale blue was used for the interviewer, as it was a similar colour to Josie's skirt.

Overall, i am very pleased with my double page spread. I used my research in a way that allowed to use my own ideas and those of similar magazines, to create an effective page that i think would appeal to my target audience.

Music magazine: Completed contents page.

I made my contents page using the same theme as the magazine Sugar, as i felt that as our magazines are mostly aimed towards the same target audience, the same layout would suit my magazine too. I changed a few features to suit my own magazine, and so that it would not resemble Sugar magazines contents page completely. Below i have included an image of my final, completed contents page, as well as one with notes on, which i compared to the contents page within Sugar.

Here are the notes and annotations that i added to my final contents page, comparing it to Sugar's.

Music magazine: The final front cover.

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This gif is to show the progression that the front cover for my music magazine went through. It shows my first initial draft, my second, and the end result.

This is my final front cover for my music magazine, and overall, i am quite pleased with the end result. I feel that by completing the minor changes at the end, i managed to create a music magazine that follows the same theme as other magazines aimed towards my target audience, as well as managing to tamper with a few things that needed to be addressed. Between my second draft and my final cover, i changed:

• The photograph: After looking at Sugar magazine, i realised that the photos are very rarely symmetrical, and the model is usually either at an angle, or posing in a way that creates many angles. In an attempt to make mine less straight, i rotated the image a few degrees. I then moved it further over to the right.
• I moved the price from the corner to over the image, and then outlined in white to ensure that it could be seen.
• The advertisement for the "Top 50 Festivals to Attend in 2011" and "Sites for the Best Band Shirts" has been enlarged, and the font size is higher too, this was so that there would not be excess white space left where the image used to be.
• The quote from the artist, "Josie Stuart" has been placed diagonally, as after researching Sugar magazine, i noticed that the text is hardly ever straight across the page.
• I kept noticing that the ukelele's left side was being lost in the white background because of the way the light hit it, making it disappear. In Adobe Photoshop CS4, i used the Eyedropper Tool to select the orange from the right side of the ukelele, and then used the Brush Tool to draw a line around the edge of the instrument. I then used the Eyedropper Tool again to select the pale orange colour that is under the ukelele strings, and then carefully filled in the area around the newly drawn in left side of the ukelele.
• "JOSIE STUART: BRINGING BACK THE UKE" has been slightly enlarged also. The quote text has been altered, and the small advertisement for the Gorillaz tour dates has been moved to the right slightly.

Contents page for my school magazine.

I have made my contents similar to the Sugar magazine i evaluated earlier in my blog. I have placed the image of students into the corner, keeping the text clear by using the biggest size font for the page numbers, and the main headers. Under each subheading i have included information on what that area contains, using a dark blue that was used for the magazine title on the front cover. I have kept the background white to ensure all of the text is clear, which is a reason why i have kept all the text underneath the subheadings in black. The lines fill the empty space while also creating a link between the image of the students studying, bringing the pink from the bench, and the green and blue from the school's logo onto the page. Additionally, i have used the space on the students folder as an area to place text, ensuring that there is no blank spaces that distract from the contents page as a whole. Overall, i feel as though the space has been used wisely, i haven't overcrowded the page, but there is a fair amount of information on there to keep the reader entertained.

Front cover of school magazine.

This is my completed front cover of my school magazine. Overall, i am quite pleased with how it turned out. The background has been blurred to keep the focus on the image and the text. In addition, i have kept the text fairly simple, leaving the students mostly uncovered, keeping the image clear. Also, the name of the magazine and the logo have been placed at the bottom, making them easily seen. Furthermore, the text has been kept at a fairly large size to enable it to be easily read by all. The colours used for the magazine title and the school's logo have been kept the same, and i have kept the text for the school's events white to ensure it can be read. In addition, i have included the issue number and the date the magazine was published.