Evaluation 3: What Kind of Media Institution Might Distribute Your Magazine Product and Why?

Evaluation 2: How Does Your Media Product Represent Social Groups?

Evaluation 1: In What Ways Does Your Media Product Use, Develop or Challenge Conventions of Real Media Products?

Evaluation 1: In What Ways Does Your Media Product Use, Develop or Challenge Conventions of Real Media Products?

Double Page Spread Development

After consulting my target audience I have decided to change the gold accent to red to maintain the house style.

Double Page Spread Development

On the right side of the page I then brought in a photo of one of my models taken in a moody outdoor setting with industrial accents in the doors in the background, this mise en scene is ideal for indie photographs. To add a professional look and tie this side of the page to the left I used the same editing technique described here and eyedropped the dark grey from the left text as the overlay colour.

Too add artistic flair and help tie the 2 sides together further I created a circle shape and filled it with the orange-gold colour and changed the blend mode to Hard Light so that the photo was still visible behind whilst adding the vibrant colour as an overlay. I then took a large round brush with 0% hardness and painted out the corner of the clipping mask on the circle overlay to add interest and lessen the dramatic effect.

I used the exact same editing effect to add another photo of the model to the left side to fill the white space and introduce more of the gold on that page to keep the house style.

Double Page Spread Development

I then using the text tool created a large bold title to tell the what the focus of the page is. It is in a different yet complementary sans serif Circular Std typeface to split up the heavy uniform look and it adds fun interest with the large tittle on the 'i' and unusual curve shape in the 't' letterform.

I then incorporated some text to tell the reader who the article is by as this is a common convention of magazine articles. As this took up too little space I increased the tracking of the letters and put certain words in italicised sentence case to add further visual interest.

I then added some gold text in the form of a subtitle which is a common convention to add intrigue and make the reader read on to discover the meaning. It also broke up the white space further and helped maintain the house style as gold was also used for the poof on both the cover and contents page.

To spread this gold colour across the page further and tie it together I created golden lines underneath the topic titles to help further separate them.

Double Page Spread Development

I started by creating a Photoshop document A3 landscape to function as a double page spread made up of 2 A4 pages. In this way I could see how both halves of the spread looked together which would have been more difficult on 2 separate documents.

I then created a bleed border/gutter using the New Guide Layout option under View and then a margined centre line to split the page in half and complete the bleed border.

I then dragged a text box to fill the left side of the page and pasted in my pre-formatted article. I then used a free column add-on to create a 3 column layout within the text box. The faux drop cap here was created by indenting the first few lines to the same point, using the text tool to create a blown up version of the first letter and placing it in the space.

I emboldened both the topic titles and quotations to make them stand out to the reader and then increased the size of the quotes as this is a common convention and adds more visual interest to the page than just plain text.

Double Page Spread Development

My initial software choice for this section was going to be Adobe InDesign however due to problems with acquiring the software at home I opted for the next best available alternative, Photoshop. Although Photoshop isn't as well suited to word processing as InDesign, it offers better handling of images and as 50% of the double spread is an image that this software would be suitable. There is also the ability (through the use of an add-on) to implement a column feature similar to that located in InDesign within Photoshop which allows me to introduce another convention of the magazine. It adds more interest than the generic list style text and makes it easier for the audience to read.

Front Cover Development

I edited the chosen photo of the male model in the same way described in this original post. The black and white portrait is a common convention of certainly NME and I chose to do it this way because I think it delivers a striking and artistic look perfect for the indie genre whilst the monotone nature of the photo makes all other features on the page such as cover lines and masthead stand out, especially if in a contrasting red as I have done.

Contents Page Development

I have now added the main image to the page. It is a composite of a photo of the male model and the grey brick background from the secondary photo, this was done to tie the page together. The photo of the male model was also treated to the same editing as the secondary band photo for the same continuity reasons. Notice too that the photo of the model is unaffected by the layer mask on the right side, meaning it bleeds over the margin of the grey brick box. This was intentional and makes the image literally stand out.

Other noticeable changes are that the "TRACK" masthead was made red to stand out from the models dark hair, this also helped spread the red colour over the black dominated page to break up the monotony and add visual interest, the page number box was made red for the same reason. To make the "COVER STORIES" text stand out I added a natural looking lighting effect between the text and the image by using a white brush on a new layer and changing the blend mode to lighten.

Front Cover Development

I started with the skyline feature from my previous design comprised of the dark rectangle shape, contrasting text and barcode. I then changed the background rectangle from stark black to a faded dark blue which is easier on the readers eye. I then changed the font of the text to HK Grotesk (the same as my contents page and double page spread to maintain a house style), this also helped fill the unpleasant white(or rather black)space in the design as the font is larger.

I then created a rectangle of the same blue colour and dragged this to the bottom of the page. This would house some of my previously made cover lines so that they don't obstruct the main image. I then created a contrasting red title box which reads "PLUS!" which goes above this box to outline that this is the section for bonus features. This is a common convention of magazines such as NME. I then brought in the "NEWCOMERS SPECIAL" poof from my previous designs and put this in the same box to conserve space for the main image which I wanted to be the focal point.

I then brought in the 'TRACK' masthead and slogan and put these at the top of the cover, this time to fill the width of the page so that the main photo can sit on an above layer without completely blocking it out. It also makes it more eye-catching for the reader. I also made it red so it will contrast against the black and white main photo I plan to have.

I then duplicated the "PLUS!" title box, changed the rectangle shape to the dark blue colour and changed the text to "INSIDE". This would top my featured artists section on the cover which is also in HK Grotesk to match the house style. I alternated the colours and boldness on the list to add visual interest and just so they stand out from each other. I then created and inserted the "ZACK RUSSELL" cover line in the same house style but with the 10 in an edgy brush style display font so that it stands out from the other text and catches the readers gaze. I then created and inserted the main cover line using the same house fonts and colours. I then finally created a circle shape in dark blue and used the text tool to fill it with "ISSUE 8" to tell the reader which issue this is. This is a common convention of magazines but I chose to emphasize it on the page through the use of a poof and contrasting colours as I believe the reader of a magazine such as mine would be a monthly subscriber and collector.

This is all I can do until I take and edit my main photo.

Contents Page Development

After consulting with my peers, I have decided to change the background for the picture of the male model to add more visual interest to the page, having the same mise-en-scène for both images was noted to be rather bland. The new background is simply 2 excess photos of my male model with a red overlay applied over the top, the red tying into the house style and the artistic and unique look appealing to my indie target audience.