When designing my front cover,

contents and DPS I had the idea

of simplicity and clarity. Easy to

read fonts, evenly spaced and a

well captured front cover image

to stand out and sell my

magazine.

Ashlee-Rose Brisley

This was my first idea. I loved the sideways title and the issue information neatly

underneath as I think that fitted my quirky image nicely. However I felt the cover was

too bland and looked like something was missing which I couldn't work out what it

was that wasn't making me love it. I liked the image and the cover lines but the bolder

title 'Erin Ashman' didn't have the right look that I had imagined, yet there was nothing

closer to my goal. This was as good as it was going to get.

I got fed up with looking at my cover and not being impressed by it. It didn't look real and had a fake made up quality that I thought

was preventing me from showing what I can really do. I think I was to concerned about the genre style and not enough about how I

wanted the magazine to relay to an audience. I felt this cover was far more appropriate and sold the type of edgy urban indie artists

in the way I was portraying them much more effectively. I think this cover communicates my fresh take on indie/acoustic/folk music

with a modern twist and the light style of music genre contrasts the the heavy lighting that appears in the mise-en-scene in this cover

photo. The two shot is very styled and shows the close relationship that the artists feature in this issue. I kept the original idea of the

sideways mast head but due to the positioning of the person in the frame I couldn't incorporate the date and issue details in the same

fashion. So instead I tucked them away in the bottom as they don't need to be as prominent on the cover as the cover lines. The style

of photograph I took had a very old school record feel, so using inspiration from indie film studio paramount vantage I used the idea

of the punched label maker look for my cover lines. This worked well for two reasons: 1) it looked good for the genre and showed my

connection to other indie media influences (such as film) and 2) it made the cover lines stand out and readable against the dark

clothing in the photograph. I kept the layout of the left third and used a light blue as my colour scheme which really came out nicely

against the greys and blacks on the cover. I liked the way this stood out as it showed who my main feature artist is for the issue and

she's in the middle. I was much happier with this result.

I was really pleased with this cover, however I did feel that although I fulfilled the

left third, the right third was lacking some content. So I played around with moving

my barcode and dateline; yet this looked messy and unsymmetrical so I moved it

back to where it originally was and used that choice as part of my magazine’s

quirky take on layout design.

After a few final tweaks and adjustments for my main cover line (width and

centering) and making sure my alignments were perfect I finished my cover.

This was the first stages of my contents page. I wanted to keep the magazine brand style consistent, so using the

sideways title I liked I thought I would use that for my 'contents' title. I really liked how it came out as it stands out

but looks really classy and fits my style. I was toying with having a puff type cover line over the bottom right

section of her hair to plug her feature within the magazine, but I still wanted to use the same font and colour

scheme as the title to stay consistent, yet there was something again about it that didn't look right, so I decided not

to keep it in and remove it. The top left hand side of my right page features one of my artists in the cover lines, and

I kept to the black and white so the colour scheme didn't look odd. I also used the same fonts that I used on the

front to show the link between the cover lines and what's inside the magazine issue. I really like the layout of how

it come out and the mix of bold, normal, size and italics as it all looks the same style but there are differences that

keep it interesting and stop it looking amateur or boring.

Finding an image that would fit the odd spacing on my contents page was really difficult as I had lots of photos I wanted to

use for the contents page, unfortunately when I tried to edit them in the proportions looked ‘off’ and it seemed to cramped.

I thought about using this image because it fitted ok, however the white background of it was off putting because it made it

to dramatic and drew attention away from the rest of the page. I removed the bold difference by choosing a different image

in the end. I think this was a good decision as it was off putting and didn’t fit the rest of my design idea. Although the

images were cohesive, the difference in background was something I needed to focus on finding a match for the rest of

the page. Something that wasn’t bright and dominating. I also added in a little detailing about how the readers could

connect with the magazine through social media sites and follow what was happening with each issue. I think that this

showed my understanding of target audience by including something that shows I know what sort of entertainment and

interests they will have. I used the same font and opacity as my title for both my contents and from cover to show a link

between my design ideas and how my choices and decisions back up my understanding of how real magazines plan their

layouts and spreads.

I found this image which I think fitted nicely with the rest of the page, the backgrounds blended quite well and it clearly

displays my chosen artists face, it is a different shot type to what I have already used and didn’t have any proportions

that made it look stretched or adjusted badly. I also changed the layout of my new social media feature in the bottom

right corner. I think this way looks more thought out, as the other seemed a little random, as though it had just randomly

been stuck there. This presentation looks neater and more in the style of my magazine. I think it’s less obvious it had

been placed there and fits nicely with the spacing. It’s something my readers would expect and want this sense of

professionalism when reading a magazine. I also added in black boxes that I used for my front cover to give more

cohesion and show a link in my design work. I used the same blue font colour to show a link between my main artist

and her link with the issue. This worked well as for the same reasons it worked well on the cover, it showed up clearly

and having the whole page of my main artist as an image by the title reaffirmed that link with her and the font. I think it

also made the subtitles for ‘FEATURES’ and ‘REGULARS’ more prominent. I showed my genre understanding by

having the tape style to it.

I then added in a little plug/caption as originally planned but tried it with the idea of using the

black tape and blue font to push the link with my main artist and the magazine. I think this

worked well as it now looked more professional but still had the same words as what I wanted

before hand. Having the black tape look made it easier to read and the colouring fitted into my

colour scheme. This added a little something extra to my once blank page.

I then added in a pull quote to give the plug more substance. It also made the

caption seem less random and more thought out. It still kept to the layout and colour

scheme design, but just bulked up my design idea slightly. I then went on to add a

page number before calling it the final piece.

My double page spread was tricky, but I think my idea of how to use more than one photograph

worked out okay. I really wanted to use a simple right hand column as it kept to my classy style of

professional looking magazine and I have seen it work well in other magazines. I wanted the same

fonts to keep the consistency and the black and white photographs, but where I took so many I

didn't know which one to use. So I thought about what creative style is popular with the genre of

music I am writing about and collages is something that connotates indie music. I thought how I

could layer my photos to reflect this inspiration and I started to build up some of my favourite

pictures from my shoot to create a page and a half of photos.

The first thing I changed to my DPS was the background colour. I wanted it to link to my contents and cover so I sued the

same grey I had used previously. This instantly added a more stylish and professional look to my work and when I edited

the colours of my title and reused the black tape effect with the blue it showed a link with the rest of my design work. I

changed them because I wanted to have the cohesion with the rest of my designs and to make sure the titles were clear

and readable. I added a by line to make it appear as though it was professional journalism that would be found in a

published magazine. I finished off the rest of the article and added a ‘continue reading’ bracket like a professional

magazine would. I was really pleased with my choices in how I presented my titles, the thing that was letting mw down

was my images. I wanted to add colour to my page so I edited the colours into soft tones that fitted into my colour

scheme’s spectrum. I didn’t like the lime green/yellow colour of my smallest image so I decided to change it, so it wasn’t

so distracting (the same reasons as I changed my picture on my contents page).

I chose the red, turquoise and purple for my image colours as they weren’t too similar with each other but

didn’t clash. I think only having three was a good decision as it didn’t look too out of place or odd. I changed

my image from the lime green to a two shot in black and white, I think it made it look less crowded and more

stylish. The shot was very nice, simple and showed a link to the front cover. I think the images depict what my

readers would want and expect so I think I showed that I kept my target audience in mind throughout my

process. This layered effect I think worked well and the sizing of the photographs as nice and varied. I was

really pleased with this result and the choices to change minor details I wasn’t happy with made a huge

difference.

I finished off my DPS by adding another internet/social element to put alongside my page number (much like

my contents page) I think this added a little extra to the look of the left page, as it wasn’t just imagery. The link

between my contents page and my DPS by having the internet link shows my understanding of synergy and

how my magazine can be used on a multiplatform. I think that having a video element fulfills my target

audience’s wants as fans would like access to this kind of material. I made sure I used video sites that were

suited to my target audience and within the aims of my demographic by picking popular sites they would use.

This showed my understanding and awareness of how to attract/address my audience. This was the final

touch before finishing my DPS.