Drafting and Planning: Experimenting with Layout for Double Page Spread

I expanded the article in my double page spread and tried a different layout which I may/may not use.

I'm not entirely sure on the layout, since the previous version looks a lot more interesting, but I had to squeeze in more text, so I tried to make space by changing the entire arrangement; moving the image to the top center and wrapping the text around it. I like the look in one way because it shows off the image more and the colours within the tree which I find very pretty, but the text area looks rather boring and I'm also worried in case the article is too 'trivial'.

Perhaps if I changed the yellow highlight of the questions to be either black or red, it'd link in well with the HARK general look. I'm not so sure if the Pull Quote is appropriate but this is all just a new, general idea of how I could do the double page spreads. I'm very open for many improvements and don't think this is worthy to be the final product yet. But what I DO like is that line on the bottom with 'Little Blue' next to the page numbers. I think it adds a subtle professional touch.
There's also a few problems with the image I need to adjust; When I rose the saturation of the tree, the cover star's saturation increased too so I had to cut out a separate version of her and overlap it with the 'too saturated' cover star. But I didn't overlap the image enough; it looks a little out of place.

Just looking at the contents page and double page spread, I know there's plenty of things I could do to give this layout the HARK look!:

As I said in my previous blog post, the use of red and black really is vital to finish the look of this double page spread; the magazine would be incredibly inconsistent if there wasn't red and black in the DPS! And to avoid the 'trivia' side of the article, cutting off some about her tour and perhaps including something about her and what she stands for would be valid. The use of white creates emptiness and the audience needs to think they're reading something jam-packed! So black would tighten the pages together, making the whole look miles more complete! I'll set out to accomplish this as soon as possible!

Drafting and Planning: Even More Improved Contents Page

I improved my contents page in accordance to the feedback I got:

I adjusted the 'charts list' to 'HARK HITS' instead to add a greater sense of individuality. I also altered the page numbers to make it seem there's more pages than there are, and I altered the order of some of the articles, putting Todd Taylor under Featured and rephrased TOP GIGS to TOP 100 GIGS so the 100th edition has a special article to it. I also squashed up the 'HARK HITS' list so I could include a 'listen to preview' section, I even made a little HARK logo alike the ones of facebook and twitter! And finally, I adjusted the 'ISSUE DECEMBER 2014' to 'ISSUE: JANUARY 2015' to update it and to make the phrasing more understandable.
For other improvements, I could move the 'Guide to Rock' to the 'Featured' section (I'm unsure of whether I should move the 'TOP 100 GIGS' to the Featured' section too) and make some of the page numbers over 100, since most music magazines tend to have more than 100 pages.

But other than that, it looks brilliant! It's really looking complete and the use of gold really ties everything together into an even stronger piece! I think my double page spread should be heavily influenced by the contents page, especially with it's use of black columns and thin threads of red. The red and black really does add a drama which wouldn't exist without it, and you need a bit of drama and moodiness with a rock magazine! I think it compliments the front cover very well as well:

The shadowing of the main cover line in correlation to the similar effect of the contents page heading makes each of the pages compliment each other very well and helped to set that dynamic theme which is prominent throughout! I love how Little Blue is now given a new powerful identity through the help of editing, fonts and colour! It really does help tell her story of her talent speaking for her rather than her general appearance (and even then she has the right facial expression for a rock magazine too, a sense of superiority and pride from her achievements.)

Drafting and Planning: Even more Improved Cover!

I improved the front cover in accordance to the feedback from my last post! And here's how it turned out:

I changed the 'PARADOLL'S PINNACLE SINGLE' TO 'PARADOLL'S PINNACLE ALBUM' to sail smoothly with the conventions of a well known, special edition music magazine. I changed '30 biggest gigs' to '100 biggest gigs' so the 100th special would have something to correlate to, and I also reduced the size of the 'Todd Taylor cover line. I also updated it so the magazine is the 'January 2015' issue.
This is most definitely my final version of my front cover! I don't think there's any more I could do to improve it, and it has certainly set the bench-mark for the rest of my pages. It's surprising looking at my journey to get here and the number of developments there's been throughout, but now I've got there! All there is to do left is make sure the contents page and double page spread matches up to the front cover! In order to do this I'll take the black, red, white and gold house style of the front cover and incorporate it throughout the rest of the magazine. I also have to make sure the cover star has the right attitude in the other pages, and if she looks too 'cute' and 'child-like' (like in the double page spread) I can give her a serious facade by the general structure of the page and colours used. Black is great with adding seriousness to something, and is great for tying things together into a whole, so black would be valuable to use for this double page spread.

Drafting and Planning: Feedback

I got lots of feedback from my latest versions of my magazine.

Front cover:

Alter the cover line 'Paradoll's Pinnacle Single' into 'Album'.
Perhaps alter the size of Todd Taylor's cover line.
(having looked at contents page feedback, perhaps change the cover line
'30 biggest gigs' to '100 biggest gigs'?)

Contents page:

Change the 'Issue December 2014' to either;
'Issue: December 2014' or change the date into 'January 2015'
At page 30, change 'Q's and A's' into 'Q and As'
Change 'Top Gigs' into '100 Top Gigs' (and in doing this, then change the cover line from '30 biggest gigs' to '100 biggest gigs')
Get rid of 'contact us'!
Also, re-arrange the page numbers into spreading over 100 pages; monthly magazines do have LOTS of pages! Make it look like it's worth £5.99!
Also, change 'Charts list' into something more original to HARK; For example 'Hark list' or 'Hark's top hits' etc. And compress the list down and write a section saying 'listen to previews on 'harkmagazine.com' or something around them lines to incorporate the online side of music magazines. Also, change the 'page 2' on the contents page to 'page 3' and keep in mind where the double page spread would fit in within the actual magazine. So would it actually be pages 20-21 or 21-22?

Double page spread:

Add in much more text and reduce the font size! Make sure the page numbers are consistent too throughout and count what page number the left page will be and the right page etc.

Drafting and Planning: Improved Double page spread

I've improved my double page spread too! Here's the original (you may not see too much difference):



And here's the improved version:

I not only put in the page numbers and put in the 'gold' theme again for the 100th edition, but I also corrected any typos amongst the article.

As I said in my last post, I feel I'm getting closer to the final product, but not yet still! I'm glad I put in the page numbers and the gold element, but I'm going to experiment with the new layout of separating the image from main body text like how I mentioned in many of my DPS posts. Somehow the layout as it is doesn't look professional enough; the front cover and contents page both have a sense of professionalism about them; the bold colours, the use of red and black and the 'serious' attitude of HARK throughout-this same attitude needs to be adapted in the double page spread too! I'm learning each time I experiment with this, so I'll take this on board and try some more ideas!

Drafting and Planning: Improved Contents page

I've improved my contents page! The feedback from my last versions proved very helpful and I'm so very pleased of how the new version's turned out!
Here's the original:


And here's the improved version!:

As you can see, I put in some subtle elements of gold to make it compliment the theme from the new front cover (by using the 'stroke' tool to give the headings and featured page numbers a gold outline).

I also put a white, semi-transparent background behind the three featured page numbers as well as a gold highlight to the actual page number. I also restored the colour back into the facebook and twitter logos and corrected any typos to give it more consistency! I also remembered the 'subscribe' box which most music magazines have with have a special offer!

Drafting and Planning: Front cover improved

I've improved the front cover from last time:
Here's the original:

Now from having read the feedback from my last post, here's my new and improved front cover:

I not only changed the cover-star's name to 'Little Blue' and added more cover-lines, but I also varied the font types; using a harmony of both delicate and bold fonts. I also-obviously-put the background back in, and altering the colour of the background to look more 'gold' as if to celebrate the fact of a 100th issue, also making the guide to rock 'definitive'. I made sure the cover-lines matched the highlighted articles in the contents page and gave a similar 'inner shadow' effect in the main cover-line as the headings are on the contents page. I changed the 'DECE' to 'DECEMBER' as well as reducing the price to £5.99 instead. I also put in a web address just above the date and price. Looking over everything, I think I've covered everything in terms of the conventions of a magazine front cover! So I'm very, very happy with my final result.

Though I think this is brilliant, I'm only getting closer to the final product. I'm not there yet. Just looking deeper into it, there's a few things I could improve on still, like the sizing of the cover lines and I just need to make sure it's cohesive with the rest of the magazine. But, having said this, the front cover acts as the bench-mark for the rest of the magazine to meet, so it's the contents page and double page spread that needs to compliment the front cover! I love the use of gold for the celebratory mood of the '100th issue' so I need to bring that through to the rest of the magazine so the audience would be constantly reminded that they're reading out of an exclusive edition of the magazine! The house style now would be red, black, white and gold; this is the pallet I need to thread through all the pages! I'm looking forward to approaching the rest of the magazine with this new golden vision! 

Drafting and Planning: Feedback on first draft

I got feedback from both a fellow peer and my teacher; feedback which I found incredibly useful and insightful! They critisized these pages:

For the front cover, I was told I should celebrate the fact it's the '100th' issue and perhaps the 'guide to rock' would be a 'definitive' guide to rock instead. Also, I could use with more cover lines, which I agree with greatly (I should incorporate 'Paradoll' and 'Todd Taylor' from the contents page too.
 I also should reduce the size of the coverlines too. I agree when it was said that the coverstar looks a little odd being pulled out the way she has, so perhaps I could still incorporate the original background and edit it to make it less 'gardening magazine-y' by either making the background more 'vibrant' (like I did with the double page spread) or making it black and white. Also the date says 'DECE' instead of 'DEC' for December (oops!), so I need to change that! Also, make it look like it's worth £6.99! So make sure it celebrates the fact it's the 100th issue!

The critique for the contents page is to perhaps add a subscription (which'd be hard to squeeze in but I'll try) as well as using the colour in the facebook and twitter logos and put a colon in the 'FEATURED' subheading (which I accidentally forgot to include) for the sake of consistency. Also, I noticed under 'REVIEWS' there's colons next to some of the numbers instead of full stops! So I need to change that also.  Perhaps too, I should make the 'ISSUE DECEMBER 2014' bolder.

There wasn't any critique for the double page spread, EXCEPT the fact there's no page numbers!!! I MUST PUT IN THE PAGE NUMBERS (one on the contents page too!) IT'S A NECESSITY!

Another critique was to perhaps use another font or two throughout; perhaps I could use another font (the 'Poor Richard' font) for highlighting the 'Little Red'n'Blue', 'Todd Taylor' and 'Paradoll' articles in the contents page.

Drafting and Planning: Complete double page spread first draft

I know I can improve this first draft, but it's a great start; I much prefer the way I laid out the pull out quote heading along the top, and I created white boxes behind the main body text so it's easier to read. I removed the background from behind the tree (which may not be that noticeable considering the original) and I've finally completed the article which I'm very pleased with!

I heightened the vibrancy of the tree so it'd have an element of something unusual and fantastical rather than realistic; in this case it's less like a gardening magazine and more like a pop magazine. I'll use this technique perhaps on the front cover instead of be-ridding the trees completely.

I made the secondary pull quote red so it's more readable and so it links in with the cover star's use of blue (as well as her red lips linking to the main heading.)

I do love this double page spread and I hope there wont be too many elements to change when it comes to making the official double page spread.
But since it's a first draft I do expect things to be criticised and changed. In my point of view, by just looking at it, I think there isn't enough text in there. And there aren't page numbers! I guess I got so caught up in the layout that I forgot to put them in. In the article most of the things on my checklist is mentioned, but there's some things I missed out since I ran out of room. An idea I repeated a few times (like in my last post) could be separating the image and text to make more room.
What I will include is the article so far along with the heading and edited main image!

Drafting and Planning: Double page spread so far

I done a another draft of a double page spread. It's certainly improved compared to the last attempt:

It's a little tricky to see the second question but I mainly just need to figure out what the entire article will say and position it around her without making it seem awkward, If the arrangement of the text around the cover star proves to be too awkward, then I'll have to use another one of my photos and in a different way. Perhaps when she's still in the centre, the pull quote running along the top with two sections on the far left and right where the text will be. What I also found a struggle was the interviewer calling her 'Little Red'n'Blue' the whole time, so I thought of nick-naming her 'Little Blue' instead-which I suppose I should use throughout the front cover and the contents page too so the audience wont get confused.
But what I do love is the way I done the pull quote heading. I love how the red compliments the cover star's lipstick and I love the jagged, informal way I positioned each word along the tree.
In terms of the editing of the photo, I cut out the cover star and made her more vibrant using the exposure feature, but I turned the surroundings black and white so she'd stand out all the more. This also compliments the 'black and white' house style running throughout the front cover and contents page!

But if I choose to reject the 'black and white' house style of the front cover, then I ought to do something else with the images instead. Perhaps vamp up the vibrancy of the trees to give them a 'fantastical' look, making it look more poppy, theatrical and more of a music magazine photo! In terms of the text, I'll put semi-transparent white boxes behind them so you could read it yet still see the image underneath.
Another thing I need to remember to do is put in a secondary image. I'll pick either this one:

or this one:

depending on the layout and whether it's easier to squeeze in a 'portrait' or 'landscape' photo.
I also need to include a pull quote. This quote ought to be something which would be a bold, interesting statement that Little Blue says in the article which would reel the reader in to want to know what brought her to saying that! And a final thing I need to include is page numbers! Little Blue will be on page 20, and knowing the contents page is on page 3 on a right hand page, page 20 would be a left page, and so 21 on the right!
I'll experiment further with this layout idea to make sure if I'm heading in the right direction. If I find it's too awkward to squeeze all the text in, then I'll try a simpler approach of the main image being separate from the main body text!