Music Magazine Front Cover

This was my first ever draft of my front cover. I realized that it lacked presentation and any sort of Photoshop skills. Due to this I decided to start again and this time asked for feedback and comments as I made progress. Before creating my magazine I already decided to have a blue color scheme  which is why my first draft has a blue background. But then i took my pictures and decided to have an background that would relate more to my picture and my theme and yet keep a blue based background.I used a reality image background and placed my model in front of it.

I had no lack of knowledge with creating magazines therefore decided as a ‘practice test’ used an existing Asian model to see how my magazine may look as well as what type of camera shot and angle I may need. The celebrity image did help me a lot to choose what camera shot I should use which was Medium Shot. I adjusted the background for my practice test to suit the image colors. This also helped me to gather a good layout which I kept and used for my music magazine.

After creating my practice magazine, I decided to start my magazine again however using the same title as it reflects to my Asian theme.

Student Feedback –

  • Looks a bit boring
  • Plain
  • the background doesn’t work with the picture as it make the model look pale
  • The two smaller models looks quite out of place
  • it doesn’t look like a magazine
  • The layout looks good

With the student feedback received, there was something wrong with the magazine. No connotation was used for example a Grey background does not match a Asian magazine. Due to all the negative response, I decided to edit my magazine by changing the main image into something more appealing to both genders. (Relating to my questionnaire results). I am also going to be editing the background by changing it to something more appealing and attractive.

My magazine image above clearly shows a sense of improvement

The two images above were used to show the help I received from my research on magazines. One convention i found out was that magazines most of the times place the central image over the main title text. This persuaded me to follow the same format. I also wanted my central image to show importance in which now it does as she covers the ‘Main Text’ of the magazine.

 

This is my front cover after the adjustments were made. My magazine is now starting to look like an actual magazine. To back this up I decided to get students feedback:

  • The front cover doe not look too busy
  • Has enough of information displayed
  • All basic features are used such as bar code, Issues Price etc
  • The ace and spade design at the bottom does not relate with the magazine as it looks a bit unnecessary
  • The ‘music on another level’ fits well with the magazine
  • Colors used are of a good combination
  • The model is appealing to both genders and does not look low quality, pixel are not weak.

My feedback was really positive but only a few minor negative responses such as the spade ad ace design located at the bottom of my front cover. I decided to delete the design and it already start looking more professional.


My questionnaire results stated that buyers would like to see vouchers and free gifts inside my magazine. So i decided to include this by offering a free MP3 demo inside. However, the background of my new idea was too dark and overpowers the rest of the magazine. So I decided to reduce the opacity as shown. The effect was not very visible, however, the line is not as solid as it was before. I changed the opacity from 100% to 75%.  

 

 

 

 

 

Contents Changes

 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 


 

The image displayed is my first ever attempt to cerating my contents page. I decided to use the same font so it can relate to my front cover. I have print screened my front cover to help show where to locate the articles on the front cover.

As you can see, my contents page has improved a lot. This was through research and time. I looked at the NME contents page as a draft to analyze what sort of information should be provided on contents pages. I found ‘Features’, ‘Regulars’ and ‘Interviews’. I will be using these in my contents pages. y using NME as a guideline would not impact my magazine too much as they are of different genres. I am looking at the conventions not the information. Ive uploaded the NME contents page that I used to create my page.

Student Feedback –

  • The contents page looks good but with more information would look really busy
  • The images are taking too much space
  • The layout is good but not magazine based
  • The colours used are attractive for your genre
  • The features could be hard to understand

The feedback was not that positive and was not that negative. I want to make my contents page the best so decided to make changes.

After receiving feedback, I changed the layout of my contents page by reducing the images size and replacing the features and regulars.  This was not still working. I ask my teacher and was told that it looks to plain so i decided to add a very faint but asian like background.

This image is with my Asian background and i started to like my contents page more. The back ground brush shows flowers and patterns and designs. This connotes nature and relates a lot with a Asian tradition, ‘Mehndi’. This helps to reflect back to the theme.

The contents page was looking better but I didn’t like the layout as it looked like things have just been placed on. I edited it and my new contents page looked better.

The image above shows my edited contents page. To help see whether it has improved, I got student feedback –

  • The regular looks out of place as it doesn’t look as important as everything else
  • The features and the image of the two people below that and the title go good together
  • The colour scheme is good
  • the background looks a bit too fade but doesn’t overpower the text too much which is a good thing

I decided to add ‘Interview’ to my contents page and moved one of the images to have a diagonal pattern with Features, Regulars and Interview. I also tilted the title of each one to show a sense of similarity.

There was an part of my contents page that was left as I did not know what I should place there. To help me make a decision, I decided to ask random students from my college by asking them a question of what they would like to see a lot of and showed them my contents page. The results were that out of 12 students, Eight said another picture should be included to back up one of the features. The rest said to edit the contents page or add text. I took this into account and decided to add one of my models showing the feature ‘Entertainment on another level’.

The contents page looks really busy as all the texts and images are pressed together. So I reduced the opacity of the background and changed the color slightly to a lighter blue.

The difference is that the boxes behind the text are weaker making the writing and the production more visible and less packed.It also helps to show the background more which is one of the similarities of my magazine.

Article Changes

My article was a hard part of my coursework as it was new to me. The image above was my first draft. I began with gathering the text and separating

it within the pages in which I then start placing the images. I placed an image in between both pages and made sure the actual image of  the person does not get creased as the magazine closes. I did this to show that both pages are based on the same article which is a convention fr a typical magazine.

Student Feedback –

  • Looks Really boring
  • Does not show any connection to a Asian Magazine
  • The text is not placed correctly
  • Images look randomly placed anywhere
  • There is a lot of text
  • images used look a bit relevant

The feedback but it was my first draft so I carried on with my task taking it all into account.

The image above is my second draft.  I added a background and used some conventions that are article normally used for example using quotes goin in between texts. I also used more of the space provided by adding text.

The title to my article was not catchy enough so i decided to erase it completely and start again after researching and receiving feedback. I analyzed my own work and did not like the background color as it does not look very attractive but more dull. The quotes are good and are placed in relevant places, as well as the pictures. To improve this I am going to change the font color and size and the actual font. I am also going to be make my article look unique in some way to help increase its attraction in the market.

I cropped  the image above to make sure that the image of the two characters  does not get affected/creased when the magazine closes. The two people were close to each other but the I used the cropping tool to separate them.

The image above shows my new look for my article. I wanted to increase its attraction so decided to add more color to it. The article is already looking better as it looks more appealing.

Student Feedback –

  • The background is dull but goes really well with the article
  • the layout of the text is really good
  • The pictures are displayed nicely and don’t get creased when the magazine closes. (I closely looked at conventions of a ordinary article)
  • The first paragraph is a bit difficult to read
  • The main title is not appealing at all and does not relate to the magazine much
  • The back of the title overlaps both pages, looks a bit unprofessional
  • font for text is suitable

The feedback was good. To make my article better, I decided to edit my first paragraph to make it more visible, decreasing the size of the color behind the main title and change the font of my main title. Students are like the customers, so student feedback is really important.

Student Comments –

  • The main titles looks more important now as it bold and thick.
  • The quotes are easy to see
  • The pictures do look good with the article
  • the colors used reflect with the front cover and contents colors compared to your previous article.
  • The title and image of the celebrity is standing out

I analyzed my three production and realized that the article is missing a similarity apart from similar colors used in all three front cover, contents and article. To help viewers understand which magazine this article belongs too, I decided to use the same brush I used earlier on the contents page which will add more effect such as attraction to the background and give it the ‘Asian’ sort of look.

The screen shot above is my article after I edited all the negative points through responses. The title is already relating to the article more. The first paragraph is easier to read and helps readers to understand how its not part of the celebrities words

I designed this background with Photoshop by using the website http://www.brusheezy.com/ I made this by adding the brush onto a black background. I then copied this onto InDesign and used it on my article to show a similarity with my contents page.

The background is overpowering the article a lot as the text is difficult to read and the article now looks very messy from a distance. Due to this i decided to change the color of my background and reduce my opacity to make the text and article overall more clearer.

I decided to now edit my this creted image by changing the colors to a blue. This would be more efficient as it relates more to my color scheme and also looks less visible on the article due to less opacity.

The article is looking much better as there is a background still there and it does not overpower the text too much. The article looks more professional and easy to read.

Student Feedback –

  • The article looks professional
  • The image in the middle looks as it is floating
  • The colors combine well together
  • The text is displayed out correctly
  • The fonts used relate well with the article

The feedback was very positive which tells me the effect of the background.

The three screen shots above are all my parts of my magazine put together.

Similarities –

  • Color scheme (Blue, white, black Grey)
  • Similar fonts
  • Articles and text relate to each other
  • Similar backgrounds
  • Same model used