Planning and designing of music magazine

The drawings below are my hand drawn designs for my music magazine, and the designs for the front cover, contents page and double page spread are included. These designs show how I thought up of potential designs and narrowed down to my final design by choosing designs and ideas to apply to the final design.

This is the first design for my front cover. As you can see, I have created 4 very basic designs just outlining where the image, masthead, sell line or cover line may go. The top left design was my first design, it has the title at the top and the sell line just below it to combine with the title. Then one image in the middle with cover lines placed around and below the image to make the image clear to be seen by the audience. And I have also placed the bar code in the bottom left corner out of the way of the rest of the magazine as it isn't what the audience want to look at, they are interested in the visual and written information on the page.

The top right design has the masthead at the top with the sell line just below. However the bar code is placed in the top right corner so the title isn't covering the top of the page, but a majority of the top of the page and aligned slightly to the left. This means the title isn't too stretched as it is only one word and I don't want it to be too wide for the purpose it was created to serve. Below this, there is one large image which takes up the entire section below and there are two cover lines placed around it so they don't overlap the image. There is one main cover line which is placed somewhere on the image, in the middle of the torso so that the audience will know it is about them.

The bottom left design has a sell line running across the top of the page, then has a masthead and a bar code running across the page just below it at the top of the page. Then in the lower section there is an image placed in the middle of the page which does run from the top to the bottom of the page and the cover lines are placed around it, and there are 4 cover lines, and one of them is a speech box to show they the story is about them and what they are saying, and this will intrigue the audience and think that there is an interview in the celebrity inside the magazine. This design gives the audience a chance to view visual and written information clearly, because the cover lines don't overlap the image and the image therefore can be clearly seen where as the written text can also be easily read.

The bottom right design has a masthead at the top and below the date and price with the sell line below that. The there is a large image taking up the whole section and there are 4 cover lines which overlap the image in places. This design prioritises the cover lines rather than the image to give the audience a chance to ingest written information rather than visual evidence.

 I preferred the bottom left and top right designs but decided to go for the bottom right design because it has 4 cover lines which the audience wanted in the questionnaire results. So therefore I will use 4 cover lines to meet the requirements of what the audience want. Also, The audience want one image on the cover and that design gives one image, therefore this cover should be a good hit with the audience, as well as being one of my favoured designs.

This is the second phase of designing the front cover. I have elected a design from the 4 initial drafted ideas. I chose the bottom left design. And on this I have drawn up a slightly bigger version, and thought of some potential mastheads, sell lines and cover lines. I have made many potential ideas so that I am not short of choice when it comes to choosing what features I want on the page.

Also on this design I have made it clear which features have priorities over other features. I have shaped cover lines around the image but on cover line will have to overlap the image, but it will only overlap part of the arm on the image which isn't a vital part of the image. The speech bubble shape of the cover line in the top right of the page is an innovative new idea from myself to show that the image on the front cover is saying this, and the effect upon the audience will be to know why they have said this. Therefore, this draws them into reading on further into the magazine to find the answer to this.

This is the final design of the phase of creating the front cover. I have added all details to the full A4 page design apart from the cover lines because I haven't decided which ones I will use yet. I have created cover lines on my designs but when I am creating the actual front cover, I will include the cover lines then because I will know how they will fit on the page, as I don't know how it will fit on the page currently.

I have placed the cover line boxes where I intend them to be and I have rotated them slightly to the right and this means the audience have to tilt their head slightly to read it, and if someone tilts their head, it normally means they are interested in what they are looking at and this effect I feel will psychologically interest the reader and persuade them to read on.

Also, The word in the masthead is Louder. The design has the "L" continue all the way under the bottom of the rest of the title. This is something to make the title stand out to the audience, to catch their attention to the magazine cover. Unique things catch peoples attentions, and this unique design is designed to do that, and bring the audience to be focused on the front cover of the magazine, and absorbing the information being presented on the front cover.

The overall impact is that the front cover is what the audience see first, and if the front cover isn't good enough, the audience can just dismiss the magazine and not look at the content within the magazine. This is disastrous for the magazine, so this is why the front cover is such a crucial factor on the magazine. A cover that is too plain will be boring and the audience won't want to read on and be bored by the content of the magazine. Too much writing on the front cover will have a similar effect, as the audience want a mixture of images and text on the cover, and too much writing will make the audiences eyes tired and bore them, hence they won't pay attention to the contents of the magazine, which creates the same factor of boredom as the previous example of a cover too plain. A cover fill with images and not any writing, will not give the audience any information of content within the magazine. Therefore, they won't know what the content of the magazine actually contains, and rather than wasting their time looking, they don't waste their time and turn their attentions elsewhere.

This is the first phase of designing for my contents page. I have created 4 designs. The top left design was the first design that I created. The title goes across the top of the page from left to right. This is done so that the audience will know the name of the magazine is on the contents, and so that they are still reading the right magazine. The image is a full page image on the left hand side of the page which taken up half the page width ways. Then on the right hand side there are two columns of stories available within the magazine. The audience were asking for two columns from the questionnaire results, so therefore I made a design met the wishes of the audience. There is a space just above the the columns which I won't put anything in, it will be empty space and I have done this so that the page won't be too compacted, so therefore it helps to stop the page being so congested.

The top right design is set with the sell line from the front cover running across the top of the page. Then below this is the title of the magazine and there is another space below, possibly to let the audience know its the contents page. Then below, you have an image in the middle of the page with a column either side of it. This allows the image to be a main focus to draw in the audience, and also it means that next to the image are the columns, which have written text in then, about stories available within the magazine. The image takes the attention, but with the columns of text next to the image, they will take notice of them too.

The bottom left design has the title running across the top of the page. Then one large column down the left hand side of the page. Then on the right hand side of the page is a large image. This is an experimental design as the audience were asking for two columns but I have decided to design something a bit different to see if it will look good.

The bottom right design has the title running three quarters of the way across the top of the page. Then there is an image which is from the top of the middle of the page. Then at the bottom there are 3 columns. This is another experimental design, using 3 columns instead of the 2 columns the audience asked for. The image being in the middle might capture the attention too much and the columns of text won't catch attention and the audience might not take in the information that is on the page.

I chose the top right design because the front cover I chose to use had the sell line running across the top and I want to use this feature throughout the magazine, and also, it has two columns,  the page less congested because the columns are placed either side of the image in the middle of the page.

This is the final phase of designing the contents page is an A4 on paper version. The sell line running across the top is there to give a sense of continuity throughout the magazine. This will constantly remind the audience of the magazine name and this can help the audience create a loyalty with the magazine brand. Then the title Contents page is just below the sell line and with the magazine title just before that. This helps remind the audience that they are on the contents page and also the magazine they are reading. Then the large image placed in the middle with the columns either side helps to make the page less congested, and doesn't clog all the page, and makes the page more organised and easier to navigate rather than having a page which has all the text clumped together and is unattractive to look at.

This is the first phase of my designing the double page spread. I have created 4 designs of potential double page spreads I could create. I have had to do this design land scape because of designing two pages, on a portrait page orientation would mean the design would be too squashed on the paper and therefore landscape means you can clearly see the design features.

The top left design has the title on top of the left page with a column of writing on the left side of the left page and an image filling the rest of the page. On the right page there is an image running across the top of the page and then 3 columns below it taking up the rest of the space on the iPod. This design shows large images and also a lot of writing to show both visual and written information. This design will mix the focus of the audience as there is information available on both pages so they will have to absorb written and visual information on both pages.

The top right design tries a different tactic to the previous design. On the left page is a full page image with no text or anything else on the page so the image is the only focus on the page. On the right page the title runs across the top of the page and the rest of the page consists of two columns of writing. This design has different types of information available on different pages. Visual information in the form of a picture on the left page and written information on the right page.

The bottom left design uses a title at the top of both pages, but not a title running across the top, the titles are both different titles. Then the the left page, the rest of the page consists of an image in the middle third of the page with 3 columns at the bottom of the page. This allows the image to be clearly seen with a title above it giving a headline to the story surrounding the person in the photo. Then the columns can give the story of what has happened with this celebrity in recent news.

The bottom right design uses another different style for displaying the title, which is having the title run across the top of both pages, which this means that the words will actually run across the fold in the middle of the double page spread. This could potentially cause a problem but doing this saves much more space for other features on the page so I will try to make the title clear by avoiding any placement of words too near the fold in the centre of the double page spread. The rest of the left hand page consists of a full page image. This helps show more of the celebrity, as well as showing greater detail. The right hand page has 3 large columns on, which will consist of the story regarding the image on the left page.

I have chosen the bottom left design because on the questionnaire research they asked for two images on the double page spread and this is my favoured design with two images because I feel the images are appropriately placed and have columns placed appropriately in order to have written information about news regarding the person in the photo. Also the titles are the top of the page are a good idea, however I might alter the design and use the title from the bottom right design as I like the idea of the title running across both pages and over the fold of the page because it will make the title apply to both pages and this is something I feel would be good for the magazine rather than having two titles about the same thing, it just saves time and I can also make the title bigger.

This is the final design of the double page spread, once again designed on a landscape orientation on A4 paper. The titles at the top are now aligned to show that the top border on both pages is just a continuous title. The images are the main focuses as they are large and taken up a majority of both pages with small sections of writing so that I will give enough information to satisfy the read but also not too much writing to put off the reader and bore them. There is still one feature which I haven't added to the design and this is because I am unsure whether to add it yet and I'm going to apply it when creating my double page spread to see if it is a good edition. This feature is the sell line which runs across the top of the page, which I used on the front cover and contents page. I wanted to have it on the very top of the page on every page but I'm unsure if it is necessary so therefore I haven't included it in my design as it isn't an essential feature, but if I feel it makes my double page spread look better whilst I am creating it, this feature will be added.

Basic Outlined Designs, Created on the Computer

Front Cover Page

The design above is the front cover design which I have created in publisher. It shows where I desire to put outlined features such as the sell line, the masthead and the cover lines and the image. The image is placed in the middle in order to draw attention to the magazine and by being placed in the middle in the place where it is highly visible to the audience. The cover lines will be placed around the image in order to inform the reader of information about the image and about other news happening in the world. The masthead is placed at the top because it helps to catch the attention of the reader, as well as giving a title to the page and also raising awareness of the magazine brand name at the same time. The sell line just above the title doesn't interfere with the layout of the page but also adds an element to the page and the magazine that will make the magazine on the whole seem a step better than the rest of the magazine producers, and that the information available within the magazine is exclusive and break taking news. The colour scheme that will be used on this page will try and compliment the background colour with the image but then the text will be designed to contrast and stand out so that the audience will see the text and pay attention to what the text says and the result of this is the reader acknowledges the information and this will urge them to read on further through my magazine. I will also use a san seriff font for my text because it will clear and easy to be read rather than a complicated font which will require the read to stress their eyesight to read the writing, and they won't bother doing this, and instead won't read the magazine and may choose not to buy the magazine next time.

Contents Page

The contents page layout is similar to the layout of the front cover page. This is because I am trying to apply an element of continuity throughout the magazine and using similar designs can help achieve this. I have also chosen to use the sell line across the top of the page to further the element of continuity, and this will help the magazine to feel more flowing when the user is reading through the magazine. The image will once again be placed in the middle of the page to catch the eye of the audience and the cover lines and stories will be in columns either side of the image in order to offer information to the reader when they look at the image. The page will be given a title of "Contents Page" or "Contents" to let the reader know what page they are actually reading so that they don't feel lost when flicking through the magazine. The colour scheme will be continued from the front cover, where there will be a complimenting scheme, but the text will be designed to contrast and catch the eye of the audience. The result of this will be that the audience will be attracted by the colour scheme and the contrast writing will stand out and they will notice this, and read and take in the information on the page. I also use a san seriff font on this page, similarly to the front cover. I want the reader to have no problems with the size and style of the font, and to make it easy and clear for them to read this information, and by doing this they will prefer to read my magazine which doesn't make them have to strain their eyesight in order to read the information.

Double Page Spread

The DPS (Double Page Spread) page is set out on two A4 pages. I have decided to put the title across the top of both pages, perhaps it will be a continuous title running across the fold between the pages or it could have an independent title on each page. Preferably the title would run continuously across the fold between the pages, but depending on the size of certain words and fonts, then I will have to see how the title fits into the position that I desire. I have already considered the problem with the fold in the middle of the page, and I cannot yet say how I will resolve this problem until I am actually creating the DPS. If I cannot put the title across the centre, I will have to either abandon a title or have two individual titles. The images on both pages are large so that they catch the attentions of the audience, and so that I don't overload the page with writing so that I don't bore the reader. By doing this I have sacrificed space for written information but too much text will repel the writing. I have used 3 small columns of text at the bottom of the left page. I have used 3 columns because if I had just one column the sentences would be dragging across the page and would make the page boring, whereas the sentences in columns are more short, sharp and to the point. They will give the readers eyes a break instead of them scrolling from one side of the page to another in order to read a sentence and it will bore the reader, make them tired and they won't pay full attention the written information.
On the right page, the large column of text is a little wider than the other columns, but not too wide. It allows a decent amount of content in the column and it isn't too wide to bore the reader. Overall over the two pages, there is enough space for a good amount of text to inform the reader and there are large images to capture the readers attention, and also to help relieve any boredom that the reader has acquired from reading the writing.