Front Cover - Final Version

This here is my final magazine cover that I have created. From the first draft, I have changed the background and I have also changed some of the positioning of the sub-images and I have also added some text. The main change, is the background, predominantly the colour and the style. I have changed the colour of the background to a dull blue, this fits the genre better. I have then added a text shine in the background, adding dimension and style to the cover. I have also added what the reader will be winning and I have also changed the layout for the posters, this has a better flow to the last layout.

Front Cover - Changes

This post shows the changes that I have made to my front cover. I have played about with different colour schemes to see what they would look like with the illustration and also to see if a different colour would be more suiting to the genre of rock. Also, I wanted to see if the colours would be more suitable for a younger audience.

Front Cover - Self/Tutor Feedback

This here is the feedback for my front cover that I gave myself and what I got from my tutor. I have given myself  mark and a grade for my magazine front cover. I have then talked about the strengths in my work and the things that I can improve on in the future. I have given appropriate marks based on this piece only. I have given myself A's and B's in my work, I think these are roughly correct for the work that  have presented. I have said how I have used bold images which help the cover to stand out.

There have also been some points made by my tutor that I could change to help my magazine and grade improve. It is important that I get the perspective of someone else as it is good to have a fresh mindset review your work, as sometimes they can be more useful and critical of your work. Some of the things I need to look into are...

• Spelling Mistake
• Change Barcode
• Social Media Icons
• Tagline

Magazine Cover - Peer Feedback

This here is the feedback for my magazine cover. I got a lot of good feedback for my magazine cover but I also got some things that I could improve on. Here it is...

A lot of people have told me that the cover is very good, this gives me lots of confidence going into my contents page and double page spread. People also like how I used illustration on the cover instead of using photos, this means I am going to continue this style as I know it will have a positive reception. There were a few points that said I have made a mistake in the background, this is very helpful because I can now change this and it will improve the cover. Some people said that I should use a different barcode because it isn't correct, I will do some more research and see if this is true. If so, I will change this easily and then there won't be any big mistakes.

Based on this feedback, I am going to...

• Research Barcodes and change the Barcode on the front cover.
• Change the background text as I have made a spelling mistake.
• Try changing the tagline

Magazine Cover - Final

This here is the first draft for my magazine front cover. I have created this illustration on paper with ink. I have then scanned it in and used it for the magazine's main image. By doing this, the magazine stands out because of its unique style. I have stuck to a controlled colour scheme, making it have a professional look to it. There are mistakes and they will be brought forward when I get feedback. I will then change them to get a finished product.

Magazine Cover - Flat Plan

Tis here is the flat plan for my magazine front cover. I have lain out how my magazine will look when it comes to making it. I have draw out what the magazine will include, how big everything will be and also where everything will be placed. This flat plan shows the setting of my front cover in detail. I will be sticking to this flat plan when it comes to making my cover. The flat plan makes the making process easier as you already have an idea of what it looks like, you aren't starting out from scratch. I have chosen this flat plan over others because the layout has a great flow, everything is evenly spread and the main image is positioned in a professional way. The magazine layout looks great and everything fits in a neat and precise manner.

Magazine Cover - Original Drawing

 

 

This here is my final drawing for my music magazine front cover. I have drawn this image of Alex Turner from the band 'Arctic Monkeys'. I am very happy with the outcome of my drawing. I have drawn him in Black and White because it stands out well and it looks more professional looking than a sketched drawing. To do this drawing, I gridded the paper and the image on the computer, I then sketched out the drawing and went over it with a black Sharpie and a smaller fine-liner. This cleaned up the drawing and got rid of the sketched look. I will be using this on my magazine cover as it works very well and it matches the style of my Rock magazine.

Contents Page - Feature Ideas

Win Concert tickets: This appeals to my audience because they enjoy going to different gigs. A free competition makes the reader more likely to buy the magazine because they aren’t going to get this opportunity in a different magazine.
Poster Special: This is a feature for a selection of free posters in the magazine. A lot of other similar magazines include free posters because of their younger audience. Readers like free posters because they see they are getting extra things from the magazine.

Social Media: Images of the logos to the different Social Medias. The majority of my audience are young and use all of the social media. By connecting my magazine with social media, I am connecting with the audience and this will help the magazine stay new and current.

History of Rock: This will be one of the contents page listings. This will add variety and will appeal more to the slightly older readers.

Kings of Leon Album Review: An album review is one of the many ways you can make your magazine unique as it is a personal opinion on something. There isn’t going to be an album review that is the same.

Editors Notes: This makes the magazine more personal and it lets you understand the magazine better. It is used like a writer’s message in a book.

Main article: This will have an image that will fill up half the page. The main article is the main focus of the reader because it is featured the most. The feature will have an original image and a caption. The magazine uses a main article to have the focus on one particular thing. The main article is the thing that the magazine thinks will attract the most attention.

Magazine Article - First Draft

Earlier this week we sat down with arctic monkeys lead singer ‘Alex Turner’ in Newcastle for a short interview. Alex Walked in wearing a pair of worn-out jeans and a casual T. He sat down opposite me and the interview began.

Hi Alex, How’s it going?

Hi, really great to be here. It’s going great, just finished up at a few radio stations, promoting the new album. Yeah, it’s definitely a little crazy right now, but it’s a god crazy if you know what I mean. How’s everything going here?

Well it’s great now you’re here. So the album is out now, what can we expect?

What can you expect? Well, the thing is you aren’t going to expect anything. For this album we’ve tried out new things. We didn’t want to put out another record that was the same as the last. We didn’t want the album to sound like a re-release of the last. I mean we know what our sound is but that doesn’t mean you can’t try out new things and freshen things up.

Could you go a little bit more into detail on that, please?

Yeah, absolutely. Well we have introduced new instruments, for example. The guys have been playing different instruments in the back of the songs. We’ve changed the tempos of songs on the album. You know, faster and slower songs. The album has this chilled out feel to it whereas some of the last albums have been a bit harder and full on.

Do you have any favourites on the album?

Honestly, I really like every song on the album. And you might think I’m just saying that to make people go and buy it but, hand on heart, I really love and am proud of what we have done with this album. But I think each of us have our own personal favourite on the album because of what we’ve written to contribute. The album has the more commercial songs that are fit for radio but what the album has and this is said for our last albums is more personal, more emotional and deep songs and I think those are always going to be my favourite types of songs.

Do you have any plans to tour the country?
Yeah, we’ve played about here and there to get ready for the tour and yes, there definitely is going to be a tour. We’ll be going top to bottom and we’re hoping to take the tour to America and all around the world. Tickets will be available soon.

Fantastic, really nice to meet you Alex. Enjoy the tour and I hope to speak to you again soon. Thanks for coming in.

My pleasure, definitely. Thanks for having me.

Preliminary Task - Peer Feedback

This here is the Feedback for my pitch that I did, discussing the good and bad points of my preliminary magazine/areas to improve. I asked for two good points in my preliminary magazine and one area that I could improve. I asked for peer feedback as this acts as one massive focus group with lots of honest feedback. My preliminary task was a magazine about Sunderland College and was aimed at students who are thinking about going to the college. Most of the feedback was good and there weren't any major flaws in the magazine. This gives me confidence for when I will make my actual music magazine.

Some of the areas to improve on weren't major issues and they are things I could easily change from my preliminary task. Some of the suggestions were...

• Change the font
• Make some of the text bigger

Although I wont change these things, it gives me more knowledge of what to do and what not to do on my magazine cover.

Pitch

Magazine Cover Drawing - Reference Photo

 

This photo here is of Alex Turner from the band ' Artctic Monkeys'. I will be using this photo as a reference photo for my final magazine cover drawing. This photo is very relevant to the style of my music magazine. My magazine is a rock magazine and the Arctic Monkeys are a rock group. He also looks like a good representation of the audience look. He is wearing a leather jacket, this is often associated with the 'Rock look', as well as the dark blue jeans. He is smoking, this is also associated with the rocker look and a lot of the audience will relate to this. The image is a good choice because of it's relatability for the magazine audience. I am going to draw this for the cover. I am doing this to make my magazine stand out from all of the other magazines. A drawn image as the cover of my magazine is the unique selling point for my music magazine. It makes it stand out and it gives the cover a more personal look. It also makes the cover much more bold. 

 

 

Front Cover - Image Options

To come up with the image I want to use, I had to do some research into different images that would be suitable for a magazine cover. I went onto Pinterest and made a board, displaying 14 different options that could all be used as the inspiration for my front cover illustration. By doing this, it gave me lots of ideas for the over and it helped to pick an image. Below is the link to see the board.

http://www.pinterest.com/benj96/front-cover-photograph-options/

Colour Schemes

This here is a collection of different colour schemes that I have created for my magazine. I have selected these colours by taking into consideration; the music genre, the gender of my audience, the age of my audience and also the style of art that I will be using in my magazine.

The first colour scheme is very modern and is something that would relate to my music genre very well. I am creating a black and white drawing so this would match the style very well. The red will stand out against the black, white and grey. The second colour scheme is very similar with the simple colours. However, this colour scheme uses a dull blue colour that contrasts well with the white and black. The next colour scheme is much more colourful and is much brighter. This would work well and appeal with the younger audience my magazine has however it may not be relating to the genre of rock. The last colour scheme is another modern scheme. The gold and grey contrast well and have the feel of a classic rock magazine. However it isn't like the colours you would find on a Kerrang Magazine. The final colour scheme will be a mix of 1 and 2. I like the red and blue together and the black and white will help the colour jump out.

Masthead - Font Samples

All of these fonts I have found on Dafont.

CF Punk Attitude
This first font that I have selected is called CF Punk attitude. This font stood out to me because of the grunge, rough style. The font uses negative space to create each letter for the word. The font is very bold and it's style matches well with the magazine and the genre of rock. Each word is broken up into separate letters, all unique in their own way.

CF PunkForever
This next font is just like the last one but this time the letters are all together. The font uses negative space to build up the word. This type of font is very unique because it is the opposite to the other fonts. The letters in the font are not filled in, it is the space around the letters but you can still make out the words clearly.

Angel
This font here is probably my favourite font out of the different ones that I have found.  This serif font has a very unique style. The font has some sections removed but you can still see what the word is. I like this font because it is quite unique. This font stood out to me because of the ridged edges and the bold lines.

Stucco
This font is like the first two fonts because of the use of negative space and because of the style. This font is like a splattered stencil font and this effect makes the lettering stand out much more. This effect makes the font eye-catching and this would be a good font to use on a magazine cover.

Wreckers
I like this font because it is slightly all over the place. The font has a cluttered feel and this relates to the audience of my music magazine. Magazines in the rock genre would normally look cluttered and this font would match this style completely. It is in all caps so it stands out great and also because of the boldness of the font.

RH Shmatter 
This font is a very bold font and it is very suiting to the genre of rock. The typeface has a shattered effect. This looks great and it stands out but I fear that it will look too similar to the logo and masthead of Kerrang. I want my magazine to be different and stand out, so I may not use this font.

Maverick
This font is very unique and interesting so it could be a possibility for my magazine. I would have to see what it looked like with an image because it is such a unique font. I could play about with different colours. I also fear that it will be too hard for the reader to make and as it isn't 100% clear.

NHL Wild
This font, again, is very unique and interesting. The font looks like it is sliding apart. It is very subtle but it is a very significant part of the type. I like this because it is quite thick so it stands out well. It is also fairly wide so it will take up a lot of space at the top of the page.

Nervous
This font is probably one of my favourite fonts that I have font. It has a very cool effect and it really catches the eye of the reader. It would match the style of my magazine but I feel it isnt as clear as it should.

Cheatin
This font is another really great type face  that I have found. Like the first few fonts, this font uses negative space. However, this font has a much cleaner look but the lettering is much less clear. I like this font but I fear it wouldn't work as well as some of the other fonts that I have found.

Magazine Advertisements

These here are all magazines that I could use in my magazine. I have selected these advertisements based on modern products, this is because I want the magazine to be current so I am using new and current advertisements. I have selected them from my questionnaire results and my reader profile. I have chosen Converse, Play Station 4 and Grand Theft Auto V. Here are the advertisements...

Double Page Spread - Mood Board

This here is a mood board that I have created using different double page spreads that I have found from various magazines. I have looked into different poses and angles of the photography. I have created this mood board to help me with deciding on what poses my drawings will be in. Although these are all photographs of people, they still show me what poses look good and which don't. The drawing that I will create will still use the poses I have researched. I will also need to draw different poses to see which looks good, bit I will do this when I have designed some characters. A lot of these double page spreads use one image and spread it across both pages. This catches the eye of the reader and it stands out. Some also use lots of bright and bold colours in them, this appeals to younger audiences. Depending on the audience, this amount of text is different. The magazines that are most like mine don't take up much room. This helps me because it gives me lots of different ideas for what I can make my double page spread look like.

Contents Page - Mood Board

This here is a mood board that I have created using different contents pages that I have found from various magazines. I have looked into different poses and angles of the photography. I have created this mood board to help me with deciding on what poses my drawings will be in. Although these are all photographs of people, they still show me what poses look good and which don't. The drawing that I will create will still use the poses I have researched. I will also need to draw different poses to see which looks good, bit I will do this when I have designed some characters.

Apart from the images, it shows me what different layouts and fonts I could use. A lot of these layouts and contents pages are filled with large images and little text some but some have a lot of text as well. This mood board will help me a lot when trying out different layouts.

Time Management - November