Stages in Production of my Double Spread

The first thing I did was create my document. I used a black background and added 6 columns so I could judge placement andsizes. Next I added the three pictures that I wanted to use in my indesign double page spread. I had already desaturated all three of the photos used, in Photoshop, then I simply added all of the the photos onto a blankbackground merged them together and saved it as it was to give me a filmstrip effect. The grab is below.

Following this, I had to come up with the title of my double spread. Therefore I thought I would use a similar font style to that on my front cover however, change it slightly. Therefor I went back onto dafont and selected a font which I believe compliments the page as a whole very nicely. However, I felt it was not enough, so I added a subtitle of the artists' name - "Sophie Rivers" and again changed the font to something less modern and more authentic. Again I felt this complimented the page and added a nice contrast.

Everything was starting to come together, so I began to add my text and soon found that I was warming to my double page spread.

I used the house style here again by putting the titles in the hot pink and the quotes underneath in white, again as a unisex colour scheme. I also found this font which I used for my text was one that suited the page and the interview. It was called "Moms Typewriter" and again I obtained such a font from dafont.

Finally I added page numbers on each sides of the double page spread.

Overall, I am pleased with my double page spread, and the whole of my work for that matter. I did not think I was this capable of producing work like this. Therefore, I am thrilled with my outcomes!

Pictures I will use in my double page spread

These are the photos I have chosen to put into my double page spread, I desaturated the pictures and then played around with the contrast and brightness to achieve this final outcomes. I have chosen this to go on the right hand side of the page as three smaller images. I felt these images looked better than the original image because of the positioning of her body and the shadows caused by lighting. I felt desaturating the picture would enhance the photo and make it more appeal and would suit the house style of my magazine.

Evaluation Question 7

Looking back at your preliminary task (the school magazine task) what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Since the beginning of my preliminary task I have learnt many skills which have aided me to end up with my final media products. I have learnt how to u

se professional programmes such as Photoshop, which has enabled me to end up with my final media product that is my music magazine. I have also learnt that the theme is one of the most important aspects of creating my music magazine. Also genre and knowing the audience you are targeting are also very dependant on the process in creating the magazine. For the preliminary I did not do much research as it was more used to get used to the tools, functions and gadgets involved with Photoshop and it was almost a "taster" into the new introduced programme that was Photoshop. Compared to the amount of

research I did for my music magazine, that which I did for my preliminary was very small. However, research that I did do for my preliminary consisted of evaluating others work and obtaining ideas that others did that I thought could be useful to use in my music magazine. The research I did consisted also of looking at house styles, colour schemes, image size and photo angles. However, for my music magazine I used magazines such as Mojo, NME and Kerrang! to help me identify house styles, conventions and to grasp the idea of layouts. I planned all of my work before I started each of my magazines, both my music and school magazine. This was to ensure that I could organise myself and make sure everything was done for the required due dates that were set. My research was successful as I was able to recognise and undertand how the high-selling magazines look and how they are able to maintain their high status.

From my preliminary and my music magazine, there is a very large co

ntrast of the two. It is distinct that everything in the preliminary is very basic and there is no house-style or eye catching aspects of it. The photo has not been edited at all, there is a drop shadow behind the title however, but the colour scheme does not compliment the photo, and there are no catchy effects such as use of blur, lighting and such. I believe form my preliminary I have made a vast improvement for my main task. I also believe it is apparent. However, looking back I do still belive improvements could have been made in my music magazine, for example having a wide range of cover lines, or changing soem slightly so that they can compliment the photo. Moving the coverlines around and changing sizes. Yet overall I believe my final piece of the music magazine with the front cover, contents page and double page spread was a success as it relates to my age range and is directed at my target audience-RAVERS

Evaluation Question 6

What have you learn't about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Through creating my magazine I have learn't many new techniques and have been introduced to many new programs to help create and assist me in my knowledge so that I could make my media product to the best of my ability. I have used new programs such as Photoshop, Microsoft Word, Indesign, Safari, Blogger and Dafont. All of these combined have enabled me to create my magazine. By incorporating them, I was able to research, create, style, learn and enhance my knowledge of the media market and media as a whole.

I used Photoshop for all of my creations and to manipulate the photos and text etc used my "4 to the Floor". This programme was relitively easy to pick up and enhanced my knowledge very quickly once I got the main grasp on the tools. I used such tools as, crop tool, drop shadow tool, eliptical marquee tool, contrast and brightness tool, colour picker tool and many more. These were the tools I used the most as I felt they gave varitey and showed off my magaizne in the way I used. Once I had taken my photos that I felt would suit my magazine I was able to incorporate my image with the colour scheme I chose using the photo and then I was able to build up from that.

I used safari for research which played a huge role in the making of my magazine. I also used the internet to update my blog and upload my work.

I used Indesign to create my double page spread, this programme however was not the easiest to learn, as it is similar to Photoshop the buttons are the same however there are different meanings behind them and so you can get easily confused. Plus there are many more tools and features in Indesign.

(picture)

I used Blogger for as a portflio to all the work I have done by using links and labels

(picture)
Dafont, played a large role in my magazine, as without this website the fonts for my magazine would be of a poor standard to fit and suit my house style. This website holds thousands of different fonts all of different kinds.

Microsoft word allowed me create all of my written work and help me compose my coverlines. I had used this programme before and so found this another helpful addition to my magazine.


I also had to use a wide range of technologies in the making of my magazine. Therefore before I could begin any of my designs I had to collect a wide range of photos using my Lumix Leica camera. Yet, even before the process of taking photos I had to research into real magazine to see what they had to offer and how to pose my models and what to include in the way of mise en scene.
Then after this, I used my digital camera for taking my photos for two reasons
1. It is easy to transfer my picture from my camera onto Photoshop and other programmes by means of importing the photo.
2. The camera I used was of high quality and was able to produce and give me high quality photos.
The camera I used was a Lumix Leica, which had many features on it which enabled me to manipulate my photos so I achieved different lighting and different effects to suit the mood and pose of the model. It is an easy to use and ligthweight camera for this purpose and I felt that I had complete control over my actions and what shots and pictures I wished to produce. However, as I first began taking my pictures it was clear that my pictures were weak however, as the weeks progressed and I continued to test out my camera and experiement with it to the fullest I was able to get high quality and decent images for my magazine.

Evaluation Question 5

How did you attract/ address your Audience?

I believe that I attracted and addressed my audience through many ways, however I think my main way was through my colour scheme and bold text accompanied by striking images. All of my mastheads were all capitals and in a bold font that screamed "READ ME" to the reader- this certainly would attract readers attention. I used a mainfont called "28 Days Later" which I obtained from the website dafont, I have previously mentioned this in my evaluation. The layout and structure of my front page was spread out and clear so that is was easily readable by my audience. I used another font called "[ank*]" to make other text stand out against the contrasting colour scheme and to compliment the different coverlines.

Also in my contents page, I have taken extra care to make sure there is a house style and to keep the same unisex colour scheme. I used a similar techniqueto that in my front cover, spaced out and clear, easy to read and with colloquial language. I felt it would help the audience find there way through the magazines as I used titles to outline the main pages of the magazine. Furthermore, I made sure my image used on this page was clear and eye catching to draw the reader in more, as it was clearly noticeable and the first thing you see when you turn onto the page. The image entices the reader, as her gaze is directed straight down the barrel of the camera and looks as if she is saying "read me, c'mon you know you wanna!" which from the interview on the double page spread is something which she would say. Collectively, by putting all of these factors together I believe it is perfect to attract my audience.

As my magaizne is based on a "Rave genre" theme and addressed towards "Nu-ravers", this does not have much competition as the "tribe" of nu-ravers is very new as it is in the new generation. Therefore, the starting of this magazine would be difficult due to the fact it would be a one and only, and all of my research has been on magazines that would take little bits from each to make my own. Therefore due to the rising of the new generation you would believe that magazines such as mine would become popular due to the popularity of new"tribes".

Evaluation Question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience that my magazine "4 to the Floor" is aimed at is both males and females aged 15- 26. I chose this age range for the magazine as I then have an idea of what to include inside my magazine and what people will want to know about, furthermore I will not include anything that would be irrelevant to the age group. Young adults go through may changes through their lives, discovering new things, making mistakes and taking risks. My article explains how taking risks and changes may be good through life, and is relevant to this age group.

I would describe my audience as "ravers" or "nu ravers" it would probably be closer to "nu ravers" as the music incorporates theuse of drum and bass, and a sub-bass which could be compared to dubstep. A typical nu raver would look like this or this or even this. Clothing consists of brightly coloured t-shirts and trousers with or without hoodies and flouresant paints smeered across the clothing face or other body parts. Usually there is eccentric make up which is crazy and wild. They are seen as creative individuals who are into weird and wonderful things, such as style of music, their clothing and makeup. I wanted my magazine to be unisex as it will attract both male and females and the magazine will be more desirable therefore increasing the circulation. The house style and colour scheme used conveys a unisex feel, I have used a colour scheme that shows pink, blue, black and white. Although this is a unisex colour scheme, it also shows off the most common colours that "nu ravers" are attracted to- pink is a huge favourite.

Kerrang targets 15 - 44 year olds (Predominately Male)
Mojo targets males (72%) and age range of 20 +
Q is more for open minded experience seekers, the Q audience do not define themselves by the music they listen to. Ages- 15-44

I do not think, and I would not like my magazine to not favour one or the other sex. I would prefer it if the customer breakdown would resemble 50% for each sex, both male and female. I have made sure my magazine is unisex as I have reason to believe that there is a gap in the market. I do not think enough magazines accommodate for both sexes. From this I see there is a gap in the market and by introducing this concept ofunisex magazines by use of my media product, I am hoping it would fill this gap.

My Audience
The main audience of my magazine would be Nu-Ravers / Ravers both male and female. They are classed as wild otugoing individuals. Hobbies include attending raves and clubs almost every weekend. A popular gig for the audience to attend is "Creamfields" situated near Manchester. They will travel from all over the country to attend this event. On a weekly basis listening to music and going out with friends and groups is also a hobby, as well as going to skate parks. There is no specific fashion style with this audience however, it is like a pick n' mix of styles that are made their own by ripping, painting, and decorating their clothing. Both males and females follow this styling pattern in attempt to attract the opposite sex.

Music my Audience would listen to:
The kind of bands that most of my auidence would listen to would be David Guetta, remixes or colaborations of artits that have previously released a song, example and chase and status. Others may prefer somethign more "heavy" and listen to Pendulum, Datsik, Nero or Subfocus, depending on the taste of music they have. Not all Ravers/ Nu Ravers like the same music, howeverusually there is a common trait with the music- they all have some sort of bass in the song, such as a donc, or sub bass.

Socio Economic Groups
After doing some research into Socio Economic groups I found that I had a clearer idea of catagorising my target audience. I have priced my magazine at £3.00 for a weekly issue, this is quite expensive, therefore I have to make sure that the readers are getting good value for money, as well as this I must therefore aim my magazine at a higher socio-economic group such as "C2", "C1" and "B". (INSERT TABLE WITH A, B, C1 C2 AND D IN) Yet this is not entirely accurate as although this gives an idea of the average yearly salary this does not necessarily mean these people in their professions will want to purchase my magaizne. Secondly my audiences age range starts at 16 and therefore unable to get a job, therefore not appearing on the socio-economic scale.

Social Status
This is considered to have a large segement in my target audience. A social status of Kerrang!s readers would be "moshers" and "metal heads", "emos" and "goths", whereas readers of magazines such as "Vibe" have a social status as being "townies" "trendies" or "urban". Social groups are important as they are ususally used by advertisers to acknowlegde who their product is to be or should be aimed at. The main aim is towards Nu Ravers and Ravers, however other Social Groups such as "Clubbers", "INDIEs", "Townies" and "Boy Racers" as my magazine will offer more than content just for one social group also the dialect is compelling to other social groups. (UKTRIBES) I used UK Tribes to help me establish different social groups, as they offer a wide range of information on different social groups, along with interviews, comments and pictures. The wesite analyses the different social groups aross Britain, and gives insight to the groups which has helped throughout my evaluation. it has also helped me to understand that the people who would purchase my magazine would fit into groups such as Ravers, Townies, Boy Racers and Nu-Ravers.

Boy Racers } Click on each to see a picture of each.

Townies

Evaluation Question 3

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

I have had trouble comparing my magazine to others in the magazine market as there are no magazine that are in my genre. Therefore, I have had to compare my magazine to those closest to it, such as Rock, Dance and Mainstream magazines.

After looking into other magazines and there publishers this is what I have found.

Kerrang! - Kerrang! is a rock magazine that is published weekly and the very first edition was published on the 6th of June 1981. The audience it is aimed at is a wide range, starting from 15 up to around 35. The gender it is mostly aimed at is male however, females are not put off and also read it. The distributing company is Bauer Media.

Mojo- Unlike Kerrang! Mojo a classic rock magazine. Also it is published monthly and its readers are mostly all males, as the sales figures suggest that 72% of readers are male. The first edition of Mojo was published in November 1993 and Bauer Media is also the distributing company.

Q- This is an extremely popular magazine and is read by the target audience which is primarily teenagers and young adults, both male and female, we know this because there are male and female musicians on the front cover. Age range is around 17- 30. However, not all the readers like this magazine, as it depends on the features and who the issue includes each week. Therefore readership varies week to week as it is a weekly magazine. First publication was in October 1986 by Bauer Media.

Kerrang!'s first successful period came under editor Paul Rees circa 2000 when the "nu metal genre" came to be. This is whent he magazine featured bands such as "Papa Roach", "Slipknot" and "Linkin Park", became more popular. Later on, they started covering other bands, like "Foo Fighters" and "Metallica". Rees went on to edit Q Magazine and Ashley Bird took over as editor from 2003 to 2005. However the magazine's sales went into decline^]and Paul Brannigan took over as editor in May 2005. Brannigan took the magazine into its most commercially successful period with a record ever ABC for the title of 80,186 copies. Brannigan left Kerrang! in 2009 and Nichola Browne was appointed editor and still is presently.

Kerrang!'s weekly circluation is 44,013

Mojo's monthly circulation is 91,678

Q's monthly circulation is 89,450

Therefore from these statistics you can see that Kerrang! has the highest circulation a month although measured on a weekly basis it averages out to be more than Mojo or Q.

Stuart Williams, MD of Bauer Media's Music & Film portfolio, commented:

"Kerrang! has had a resurgent year under new Editor Nichola Browne, who has refreshed, rejuvenated and refocussed the magazine on its core audience of late teen-early 20s rock fans. Kerrang! continues to be a powerful media brand with a strong online presence and a hugely successful radio station."

"In MOJO and Q, BauerMedia boasts the two best selling monthly music magazines in the UK. MOJO recently marked its 200th issue with Tom Waits guest-editing and, as ever, the Mojo Honours List awards attracted a veritable Who's Who of music legends including Jimmy Page, Kasabian, Roger Daltrey and Marc Almond. "

"Q will chalk up a quarter century in 2011 and will do so by continuing to extend its reach amongst audiences online, on TV, on Radio and at live events."

From these statements made by the Managing Director of Bauer Media, I believe it shows that they have great faith and trust in their magazines. Therefore, due to their wide range of magazine genre's I believe they would be the best to publish my magazine, they are a successful media publishing company. Also I think that the magazines that Bauer publish are of an older meaning, in so there is a gap in the magazine market, which could allow my magazine to fill and fit in comfortably. Under the guidance of Bauer Media I believe my magazine could reach its full potential. Bauer Media already show that they are an extremely successfulpublishing company and combined with my magazines potential I believe it will benefit Bauer and the market.

Completed Double Page Spread

Evaluation Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

I decided to aim my media product at a younger target audience at a ages range of around 16-26 both genders; male and female. This can be reflected to the price as I have priced my magazine at £3.00 per issue. Which also, from research shows this is a resonable price for this age range as it is afforable. The main artist of my magazine, in this issue is one that is aimed towards as being in the genre of drum and bass or dubstep. Most people associated with this genre of music are somtimes known as ravers. Yet the term "ravers" more refers to a different genre of music. It is more associated with garage, house and electronic genre's. However, although "ravers" are not associated with my genre. It is verysimilar to the actions and behaviour of "ravers" if not almost the same, however, there is just no "tribe" that fits with the genre of drum and bass or dubstep. Ravers are associated with attending many different parties or concerts, clubs or bars. They are also seen as having antisocial behaviour and drinking large consumptions of alcohol as well as taking drugs. However, in my magazine I hoped to convey that not all of those who listen to this genre of music need to be like this, and that there is a happier and less harmful way to enjoy the music this age range enjoys. The artist's clothes I have dressed in show a social group due to the fact that it is based on the way ravers dress, almost as a sterotype. The double page spread is an example that not all teenagers have to be under the influence of alcohol, drugs or antisocial behaviour. Also Sophie Rivers, the interviewee, says her experinces of that when you practice and put enough effort into something you love, you can achieve anything. SocialClass is not relevant in my magazine as the language used is quite colloquial, and it appeals more to the younger readers.

To get a more clear and better understanding about how my magazine and NME represent social groups, I will compare each of them.

Typical "Ravers".

From using the pink arrows I have identified where my magazine is similar to that of NME's front cover on one of their weekly issues. As you can see the first thing I noticed was the gaze of each of the front cover artists, both gaze's are aimed directly at the barrel of the camera and the only difference between them is the expressions given off. NME's artist's gaze is one that portrays a dark, mysterious and compelling look, whereas my front cover shows a gaze that shows openness and wonder from her body language which portrays her own demina. Also the posters column is on the same side as in NME's and has similar text to grab readers attention. Although I did not add pictures as how NME has, but I listed names of the artists that the posters that are inside, and have been included- like NME has done. I have added an issue number and date below the title of my magazine and this is similar to NMEs as their issue date and number is above the title. This shows a similarity between the two. Another similarity is the quote taken from the interview, I have mine positioned at the top left of my page yet I did not put my quote with my other cover lines, as I thought it would attract the attention away from the text at the bottom, and due to size, I knew I wanted to show my target audience that this was the main feature and most important. I have not done my quote like NME has, they have positioned them together, yet I believe mine could draw readers in as the quote will enhance the want to read the interview, when questioned about which interview it is, they can see at the bottom of the front cover that it is from one of three interviews- this could encourage extra reading by the target audience. Finally the gesture of the hands, each show a similarity but again are not exactly the same. For my media product I have both hands up cupping around the face as to show off the models demina and the gems were an additional extra. NME has also done this however for a different purpose, the hand is used by NME's model to move his hair out of the way of his gaze to show his dark, compelling look.

Evalutation Question 1

What ways does your media product use, develop and challenge forms and conventions of real media products

I first began by researching into different magazines for inspiration to suit my sytle and genre. I used magazines such as Kerrang! and X magazine to help me influence my media products. I first used X Magazine to get an idea of what styles and contrasts are out in the market and to have an understanding of what was required. I studied the pages of the magazine to see what was on offer and to get a idea of how the articles were presented. I used Kerrang! as another example and to use it in contrast to the X Magazine as they were complete opposites, I wanted to broaden my ideas for my own media product.

When I first started using Photoshop, I had no experience with this application. However, as the weeks went on I ganied more experience and furthered my knowledge I began using different tools and experimenting more and more and soon I was able to use Photoshop easily and quickly. These tools were such as "Drop Shadow tool", "Regtangual Marquee tool", using effects such as "Lighting Effects" and adjusting images using the "Contrast and Brightness".

Forms and Conventions

I believe that my magazine is similar to that of a real magazine as I began by choosing fonts which looked aesthetically pleasing to suit my genreof Dubstep and Drum and Bass. I wanted to give my magazine a feel that it was invting and more modern and would attract my target audience for ages 16-26 and for both ages. I wanted my magazine to give off a vibe that it was for both genders and not just males. This is also what magazines nowadays are trying to do give the magazine an inviting vibe and to make it more inviting both genders. I feel I have done this in my layout and my fonts, as the colours I have used the hot pink, blue and white give off this unisex appeal. I wanted to give off this effect as I felt it looked more entertaining. This is also similar to the contents page. The magazines I used, showed that there was a few pictures and a suitable amount of text. I wished to mirror this in my own contents page as it looked more pleasing and eyecatching. Which readers could say that they would be getting more for there money. I believe I challanged the exsisting forms and conventions of exsisting music magazines in my magazine as I have used a completely new genre which at this moment in time there are none of in the magazine market. This is because the popularity of the music has only just started to rise, more and more people are beginning to listen to this style of music. This hosted a challenge to me as I knew I would haveto research and incorporate exsisting magazine styles with this new genre of music. I incorporated such by usingmy font similar to that of Kerrang!'s but putting a less "shattering" and "noisy" feel on the font instead I decided it needed more of a "smooth" and "jittery" sense. On my front page I used one primary image, another image on the contents and then 2 in my double page spread, which also fulfills the conventions of music magazines.

PLEASE NOTE THAT I HAVE CHANGED MY TITLE TO "4 TO THE FLOOR" YET I HAD TESTED OUT THE FONTS YOU SEE ABOVE BEFORE I SET THE CHANGES.

Masthead- Mise en scene

The title of my magazine is called"4 to the floor". My inspiration to call my magazine this is due to the research I did to find out why magazines were called what they are and the purpose behind them. In my research I went through some of the techniques used in the making of Drum and Bass / Dubstep/ Nu Rave , withsuch words as "Donc", "Pulse" and "Bounce". However, When I came across the fact that the opposite to the beats used in Dubstep were called a "4 Bar" Dubstep rythmns usually work on a 2 step rythmn. Therefore I thought it would be ironic to use the idea of "4 to the floor" as usually the term "to the floor" is a term in which is used to say that something is good or has an amazing feel. So I thought this would make the magazine more pleasing. I also replaced the lettering of the number "four" to the numrical "4". This I felt would appeal more to young adult readers and they would be able to understand the meaning behind it. Again with this name I felt my chosen font also conplimented the writing, as it can be read clearly and thereis no struggle to read what it says. One of the effects I have used on my title is a grey drop shadow, behind the blue heading, and due to the colours being not so different, it makes it looklike it has a blur around the lettering. I adjusted the "spacing" on it so that the blurring was not too intense otherwise it would then become unreadable.

This is my title on my magazine front cover

This is my title on my preliminary task

As you can see there is a distinctive difference, although technique is similar.

In contrast, when we begun our preliminary task to create a school magazine, I had no experience in knowing how to set out a front cover or a contents page. Also I did not know how to use Photoshop. You can definatly see this as my title is not of very good quality. Although it has a drop shadow the colour scheme does not work together very well, and the font does not suit the rest of the layout of the fornt cover for the school magazine. I used the school colours in the title and wished to use it throughout the front cover too, yet, because of the background in my picture (as I used the picture as the complete background) the colours would not show up or the colours looked wrong in the placements.

Cover Lines- Mise en Scene

My front cover line use and develop and use conventions set by real magazines. I wanted to keep the house style used so i kept the blue in my cover lines and introduced the hot pink also so that it could recognised as a house style. I also used a font called "28 Days Later" from Dafont which could also be a house style recognition, also it suits the best font used in my magazine. The largest of my coverlines is situated at the bottom of the page. This is because, I learn't through my research, from looking other magazines and incorporating their techniques, that the size of the coverline means that its importance is due to size. Therefore I have ordered my coverlines on size. I also learn't that placement of the article is also important and the bottom of the page is where coverlines are most commonly placed. Therefore I used this technique on my media product. I have also placed and coloured my coverlines carfully as this is also another aspect that is important and used by other magazines in the market. To make the fonts more outstanding as colours play a big role with this in mind I used my background to my advantage and made the titles lighter in contrast to my dark background.

Mise en scene/ Props / Clothing

The clothing I had selected for my model to wear was a floral dress a grey coloured cardigan. I chosen this outfit as I felt that it was a stylish choice which can also be associated with the kind of clothing females would wear when attending a concert. Also so it is seen as being quite fashionable, therefore like real music magazines people might be inspired to dress like the person on the front cover, which is why I decided to dress her the way i did. Also her makeup is very elaberate. I put liquid eye liner running down the cheeks of her face, also she has blacked out eyelids for extra darkness for the contrast with her big bright blue eyes. Also with her makeup I put bright pink lipstick on and outlined her lips with a dark pink eye pencil. I used the pink to make another contrast of the black from her eyes. I chose to do this as her makeup as although not a sterotypical wear of makeup for those wholisten to my genre of music. It does convey some of the heavy and fast beat tempo of Dubstep. Also I chose the blue and pink as one small part of my house styles through the makeup and features of my model, the blue from her eyes and the pink form her lips. Finally, I added gems and jewels over one side of her face to signify the light shows and strobing of the shows. I used this idea of the wild makeup and use of gems as I noticed in my research to catch viewers attention they make the person on the front cover eye catching and to draw readers in. I feel I have acheieved this with my magazine.

This is the dripping eyeliner.

These are the gems that I placed on her face.

These are the "very pink" lips with eyeliner around the outside for definition.

Layout and colour- Mise en scene

I have used a colour theme throughout my media product. I have used blue, pink and white and balck which are all unisex colours and white and black being verycommon in magazines, which I found in Kerrang! and X Magazine. The blue and pink were inspired by the makeup and features of themodel I usedand work with the white and black and actually compliment each other also. For my front cover background I have used a black background as the pictures background itself it so similar to black, the areas where the picture did not cover I filled in with black. My contents page I used white as many of the contents pages I looked at were white and it worked quite well. Therefore I again wanted to mirror this and I incorporated my house style yet again. When designing my layout and looking at placement of articles I was careful with my research as I needed to ensure the placement would not darw attention away from my front cover picture. I therefore used the idea of different sized text from my researchtoinfluence my placements, and therefore my front cover began to look like a genuine front cover.

planning my double page spread

I have researched some double page spreads from various popular magazines, to widen my range of ideas for my own double page spread.

This is a double page spread from Kerrang! showing the lead singer covering the right page and small proportion of the left and also on the left page are the remaining band members. I think this layout shows readers a side to all of the band members. Although not entirely focused on the band as a whole I believe that the way it is set out shows its purpose for that particular interview. I would consider using this style of layout for my double page spread.

This double page is from NME and is on the solo artist Lily Allen. I really like this cover, as it makes it look like it is just one page that's landscape with the title and the picture overlapping each page, but enough to allow room for relevant text. This is my favourite double page spread as I like the contrast and the colour theme used. I feel it gives the page personality, similar to that of Lily Allens'.

This is my final double page spread I found that I thought could be of use to me for my layouts. It's from Kerrang! This shows all of the band members and there projects and plans for the future and how they're return is going to be "epic" and the "best MCR we can be!" The layout is complex and set out in a specific theme to the bands genre of music, which could be described as messy and shattering. Although this is not too say the music produced is not good! Personally I like this layout however, it might not be so relevant to my genre of music.

Therefore overall, I will base my double page spread on the NME cover including Lily Allen. I don't want it to look exactly like the NME one however I will apply some techniques to my double page spread. I did not choose the first Kerrang! double page, as firstly my artist is solo and the interview layout was more based on the band as a whole, however i could incorporate the positioning of the text into my double page. I did not chose the second Kerrang! layout as I felt it was too busy for my genre of music and it would overpower the point of my interview.

finished contents page

This is my finished contents page. From my previous stage it is obvious to see that I have added the articles with the page numbers and subtext under most of the articles. I used the same text as the articles of the front page, it is called "28 days later " and is again from dafont . However the article sections that are headed are a different text called "[ank]*" (also from dafont).

I put the page numbers in the hot pink from the lips of my model which is the same as the front cover, therefore I have connected both pages in this way. Finally I added a barcode at the bottom right, this is because I did not put a barcode on the front cover.

These are the Sub headings I wish to use in my contents page. I doubt they will stay in this positioning as I have to put in the articles and their page numbers. Yet I feel like my title page is coming together slowly, but surely. The text used is the same throughout and is the same as the "this month" in the title I feel this gives it originality. I plan to use a bit more variety of colour in the articles as it does not have a lot of colour on it, and is looking bland, so I will experiment with that.

Stages of Producing my Contents Page

As an outline to where I wish to put my articles I have outlined different areas on my page using lines or "boarders". I will keep these boarders as I feel they give the contents page some direction and formation. next I am placing in the article sub headings and before I write the articles and then page numbers to go with them I felt the boarders where necessary.

Stages of Producing my Contents Page

Using the grey line a a guide to the page size this is the first step in creating my contents page. Here I have added my titles and my chosen picture, I have arranged them on the page according to size and placement to suit my further steps, although I may have to move them to be appropriate for the page setting.

Final Front Cover and its adjustments.

This is my finished front cover of my magazine!

I have also adjusted many things to do with the cover. Firstly I have changed the positioning of the "posters". I moved them lower down the page to compliment the bottom half of the page and behind the titles added a black box using the square marquee tool. I felt this was needed due to the contrast of the clothing of the picture and it was slightly hard to read what it said. On the "posters" text I added in a drop shadow and outer glow to make it stand out more as it did not stand out from the other text.

From moving the posters down I was then able to add in a quote from what will be my double page spread of the "artist" on my front cover, although the quote may be a little extreme I felt it suited the front cover well and would attract readers- "The moment I heard the first beats of Dubstep I was hooked, like an addict on HEROIN"

I have re-arranged the back ground image so that it cover the sides of the page instead of having the background as a boarder. I have also removed the barcode and will put this is the contents page instead. In it's place I have placed a "competition circle" which explains about winning tickets to a Bass-loving festival, again as if to attract readers and my target market/ audience. I have added a date and issue number underneath the title also as I felt it was necessary to include one of these on the front cover, as every other magazine I have looked at also has one. I have changed the text at the top which used to read "Band Tours". I changed it as firstly I realised that many of the artists below were not actual bands instead were DJ's and solo artists, therefore the title was irrelevant and incorrect, and therefore I changed the artists to all solo artists and dual DJ's.

I adjusted the very bottom text to do with the artists' interviews. I felt in ratio to the magazine the "EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW" text was too large therefore I made it smaller and made the spacing more relevant. Then added pink bars to make the interview still look interesting and important.

Finally to top off the final stage of making my magazine complete I included an "INSIDE!" piece to further attract more of my target audience. And again used the black boxes to highlight their importance. However, I couldn't make these to big as I did not want to draw the attention away from the interview at the bottom.

Overall, I am pleased with my front cover, I enjoy putting the effort into it and with the effort I feel rewarded with what my work has accomplished!